Review of

Psycholinguistics
By Muhammad Hilbram Raska Aimar
 Psycholinguistics is a study that investigates
and describes the psychological processes that make
it possible for humans to master and use language.
The discipline is mainly concerned with the
mechanisms by which language is processed and
represented in the mind and brain; that is, the
psychological and neurobiological factors that enable
humans to acquire, use, comprehend, and produce
language. According to several psycholinguists,
Psycholinguistics have also extended their interests to

Introduction experiments in both humans nonhuman language

learning.
In seeking to understand the properties of
language acquisition, psycholinguistics has roots in
debates regarding innate versus acquired behaviors.
For some time, the concept of an innate trait was
something that was not recognized in studying the
psychology of the individual. However, with the
redefinition of innateness as time progressed,
behaviors considered innate could once again be
analyzed as behaviors that interacted with the
psychological aspect of an individual.
 Origins of Psycholinguistics
Psycholinguistics is the field of study in which researchers investigate the
psychological processes involved in the use of language, including language
comprehension, language production, and first and second language acquisition.
The field is interdisciplinary, with contributions from psychology, linguistics,
cognitive science, philosophy, anthropology, and neuroscience. Modern
psycholinguistic study originated with Chomsky’s review of B.F. Skinner’s book
Verbal Behavior (1957) which detailed how language is acquired from a behaviorist
perspective to which Chomsky claimed that behaviorist principles were not enough
to account for language acquisition or for higher order mental processes in general.

Presentation title 3
 Origins of Psycholinguistics
Meanwhile in its earliest stage, In 1936 Jacob Kantor, a prominent psychologist at the
time, used the term "psycholinguistic" as a description within his book called “Objective
Psychology of Grammar”. Kantor was an active and passionate writer throughout all of
his career and almost to the day of his death in 1984. He authored 20 books and over 120
papers. One of Kantor's biggest contributions to psychology was his development of
naturalistic viewpoints in psychology.
Kantor strove to create scientific method for studying psychology, much like the
scientific methods for biology, chemistry and physics. Kantor used this method of
objective psychology to research further in the areas of social psychology and behavioral
psychology. He also published numerous writings on the philosophy of science.

Presentation title 4
 Issue with Psycholinguistics

the study of psycholinguistics, despite being a subspecialty within the broader field of cognitive
science, has involved a wide range of topics. The history of psycholinguistics as a field of study has been
detailed by several authors. Concerning the interdisciplinary nature of psycholinguistics, debate has been
ongoing about how the melding of psychology, linguistics, and other fields has historically been
characterized by a “crossing of boundaries” between disciplines that The field of linguistics and
psycholinguistics has since been defined by pro-and-con reactions to Chomsky. The view in favor of
Chomsky still holds that the human ability to use language (specifically the ability to use recursion) is
qualitatively different from any sort of animal ability. The view that language must be learned was especially
popular before 1960 as Likewise, the behaviorist school of psychology puts forth the point of view that
language is a behavior shaped by conditioned response; hence it is learned. The view that language can be
learned has had a recent resurgence.
There are a number of unanswered questions in psycholinguistics, such as whether the human ability to
use syntax is based on innate mental structures or emerges from interaction with other humans, and whether
some animals can be taught the syntax of human language. Two other major subfields of psycholinguistics
investigate first language acquisition the process by which infants acquire language, and second language
acquisition. In addition, it is much more difficult for adults to acquire second language than it is for infants to
learn their first language (bilingual infants are able to learn both of their native languages easily). Thus,
sensitive periods may exist during which language can be learned readily.

Presentation title 5
 Psycholinguistics

A
Theories
Psycholinguistics is an integration of two
disciplines; psychology and linguistics. Psychology
is the study of mind and behavior; linguistics is the
study of language. So, in general, psycholinguistics
can be defined as the study of mind and language.
It is concerned with the relationship between the
human mind and the language as it examines the
processes that occur in brain while producing and
perceiving language thus theories have been made
in order to give a better understanding about
Psycholinguistics, theories such as :

Presentation title 6
 Psycholinguistics Theories

Behaviourist Theory
human behavior and language learning have applied a functional analysis approach to analyze language
behavior in terms of their natural occurrence in response to environmental circumstances and the effects they
have on human interactions. Language Learning involves a period of trial and error where the child tries and
fails to use correct language until it succeeds. Infants also have human role models in their environment that
provide the stimuli and rewards required for operant conditioning.

Innateness Theory
This theory proposes that children have an inborn or innate faculty for language acquisition that is biologically
determined. Chomsky believed that all human languages share common principles, such as all languages have
verbs and nouns, and it was the child's task to establish how the specific language she or he hears expresses
these underlying principles.

Presentation title 7
 Psycholinguistics Theories
Cognitive Theory
This theory propose that children do not think like adults and so before they can begin to
develop language they must first actively construct their own understanding of the world
through their interactions with their environment. A child has to understand a concept before
he or she can acquire the particular language which expresses that concept. There is a
consistent order of mastery of the most common function morphemes in a language and
simple ideas are expressed earlier than more complex ones even if they are more
grammatically complicated. Piaget's cognitive theory states that children's language reflects
the development of their logical thinking and reasoning skills in stages, with each period
having a specific name and age reference.

Presentation title 8
 Psycholinguistics Theories

Social Interactionist Theory

This theory incorporates nurture arguments in that children can be influenced by their environment as well as the
language input children receive from their care-givers. The interaction theory proposes that language exists for the
purpose of communication and can only be learned in the context of interaction with adults and older children.
Usage-Based Theory
The usage-based theory of language suggests that children initially build up their language through very concrete
constructions based around individual words or frames on the basis of the speech they hear and use. Basically this
means that children learn language from their language experiences and a language structure emerges from language
use.
Optimality Theory
It suggests that the observed forms of language arise from the interaction between conflicting constraints and like
other models of linguistics, contain an input and an output and a relation between the two. A constraint is a structural
requirement that may be either satisfied or violated by an output form and a surface form. is a development of
generative grammar, a theory sharing the quest for universal principles such as universal grammar but differs from
the theory proposed by Chomsky because optimality theory believes that these universal constraints are violable

Presentation title 9
 Psycholinguistics as a study of the psychology
of language is realized in language teaching. It helps
to study the psychological factors that are possibly
involved in languages learning. Psycholinguistics
focuses on the application of the actual language and
communication. It is necessary to make a decision in
applying various methods that allow students to
easily understand a language.

Conclusion Psycholinguistics has provided numerous

theories that explain the three points above. The
theories have been very useful in the field of
language teaching. Some experts use them as the
basic theories in developing language teaching
methods. It is known as psycholinguistics approach.
Psycholinguistic approach views that language and
thought as related but completely independent
phenomena. Learning is viewed as a cognitive
individual process happening within the individual
and then moves to the social dimension.