AND THOUGHT. Noam Chomsky Charles Osgood Jean Piaget Ulric N eisser and Marcel Kinsbourne

Transcription

1 DIALOGUES ON THE PSYCHOLOGY OF LANGUAGE AND THOUGHT Conversations with Noam Chomsky Charles Osgood Jean Piaget Ulric N eisser and Marcel Kinsbourne

2 COGNITION AND LANGUAGE A Series in Psycho linguistics Series Editor: R. W. RIEBER CLINICAL PSYCHOLINGUISTICS Theodore Shapiro CRAZY TALK: A Study of the Discourse of Schizophrenic Speakers Sherry Rochester and J. R. Martin PSYCHOLOGY OF LANGUAGE AND LEARNING O. Hobart Mowrer DIALOGUES ON THE PSYCHOLOGY OF LANGUAGE AND THOUGHT Edited by Robert W. Rieber A Continuation Order Plan is available for this series. A continuation order will bring delivery of each new volume immediately upon publication. Volumes are billed only upon actual shipment. For further information please contact the publisher.

3 DIALOGUES ON THE PSYCHOLOGY OF LANGUAGE AND THOUGHT Conversations with Noam Chomsky Charles Osgood Jean Piaget Ulric Neisser and Marcel Kinsbourne Edited by ROBERT w. RIEBER City University of New York and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons New York, New York in collaboration with GILBERT VOY A T City College and the Graduate Center, CUNY New York, New York PLENUM PRESS NEW YORK AND LONDON

4 Main entry under title: Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data Dialogues on the psychology of language and thought. (Cognition and language) Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Psycholinguistics-Addresses, essays, lectures. 2. Thought and thinking-addresses, essays, lectures. I. Chomsky, Noam. II. Rieber, R. W. (Robert W.) III. Voyat, Gilbert. IV. Series. P37.D ISBN-13: DOl: / '.9 e-isbn-13: Plenum Press, New York Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover 1 st edition 1983 A Division of Plenum Publishing Corporation 233 Spring Street, New York, N.Y All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical. photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher

5 Preface The scope and variety of interest areas identified with psycholinguistic research have grown enormously during the last decade or two. Although this recent flourishing has brought a great deal of new knowledge and interdisciplinary cooperation to the field, it has also brought its share of controversy and confusion as conflicting views on a number of important topics are hotly debated by their proponents. It is for this reason that we have put together this book, a collection of interviews with a number of leading scholars within the field, all of whom differ--sometimes widely- in their respective points of view. The idea of using a uniform set of questions as points of departure for each interview seemed to us a choice method for providing readers with a better understanding.of the complexities of the field. The questions we have chosen to work with are crucial questions for psycho linguistics since they form the framework for knowledge and research within the field. It is our hope that by offering several different points of view on psycholinguistic research, this volume will provide readers with a better sense of the similarities and differences of opinion within these different points of view. We would like to extend our thanks to the various contributors to this book for their cooperation and patience during the preparation of this book, and to the publishers for their steady encouragement during our work. November 1, 1982 R.W. Rieber v

6 Contents PART I: Introduction An Overview of the Controversial Issues in the Psychology of Language and Thought R.W. Rieber and Gilbert Voyat PART II: Dialogues Dialogue I: Noam Chomsky's Views on the Psychology of Language and Thought Dialogue II: Charles Osgood's Views on the Psychology of Language and Thought Dialogue III: Jean Piaget's Views on the Psychology of Language and Thought Dialogue IV: Ulric Neisser's Views on the Psychology of Language and Thought Dialogue V: Marcel Kinsbourne's Views on the Psychology of Language and Thought Index 165 vii