Experimental Approaches to Pragmatics

Experimental Approaches to Pragmatics examines how experimental methods clarify the cognitive and neural processes underlying language use in context. The volume focuses on the empirical testing of traditional theoretical constructs such as implicature, presupposition, and figurative speech. Contributors assess behavioral data and neuroimaging evidence to determine how listeners derive meaning beyond literal word strings. Specific attention is given to the role of executive functions, the processing of irony and metaphor, and the biological foundations of communicative intent across different social environments.

Researchers in linguistics, cognitive science, and neurobiology read this volume to bridge the gap between abstract pragmatic theory and measurable data. It provides them with specialized methodologies for designing lab-based studies on discourse. Readers gain a technical understanding of how biological constraints shape verbal interaction and obtain a framework for evaluating current models of communicative competence. By the end, the reader possesses concrete strategies for applying experimental paradigms to linguistic puzzles that were previously treated as purely philosophical.

Deep and outward-looking; a demanding read.

Best for readers like The Systems Thinker. Which reader are you?