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The Psychology of Language

From Data To Theory

• By Trevor A. Harley

• Price: $34.95 $31.46
• Binding: Paperback
• Pages: 544
• Published by: Psychology Press
• Publication Date: 23rd August 2001
• Illustrations: References, indexes
• ISBN: 978-0-86377-867-4

About the Book

The Psychology of Language (2^nd Edition) is a thorough revision and update of the popular first edition. Comprehensive and contemporary, it contains all the student needs to know on the topic, presenting difficult material in a lively and accessible way. There is coverage of all the core topics in language in the undergraduate curriculum and the author interweaves evidence from the various approaches including cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, and connectionist modelling. This edition includes expanded coverage of many topics including reading development, bilingualism, and the relation between language and memory.

Reviews

"The book provides a comprehensive review of this complex field. It’s a certain choice for undergraduate students. It also points the more advanced student towards a radical new agenda for psycholinguistics, in which neurological evidence will play a key role."Alan Kennedy, University of Dundee

"Harley's second edition covers psycholinguistic research with impressive breadth and depth, making it well-suited for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students. Remarkably clear and concise summaries of background material from linguistics and cognitive psychology should make psycholinguistic research and theories accessible to students with little background in either." Zenzi Griffin, Stanford University

"Dr Harley provides a very readable introduction to the issues, methods, and theories which frame the study of language from a psychological perspective. He has done an impressive job in writing such a comprehensive introduction to the field of psycholinguistics." Kathryn Kohnert, University of Minnesota

"The Psychology of Language (Second Edition) clearly integrates theory and research into a format that is clear and accessible by readers at the undergraduate and graduate levels ... the work is comprehensive, interesting, and challenging, and should stimulate critical thinking and further research by students. Highly recommended for courses dealing with language and psycholinguistics." Jeanette Altarriba, University of Albany, State University of New York

"It covers an impressive range of topics without abstracting away from individual findings, thereby not only providing information about many different research methods, but also enabling the reader to understand why the field's theoretical landscape looks exactly the way it does." Barbara Kaup, Florida State University

Table of Contents

Preface. How to use this book. Section A: Introduction. The study of language. Describing language. Section B: The Biological and Developmental Bases of Language. The foundations of language. Language development. Bilingualism and second language acquisition. Section C: Word Recognition. Recognizing visual words. Reading. Understanding speech. Section D: Meaning and Beyond. Understanding the structure of sentences. Word meaning. Comprehension. Section E: Production and Other Aspects of Language. Language production. The structure of the language system. New directions. Appendix: Connectionism. Glossary. References. Author index. Subject index.

About the Author(s)

2

Trevor Harley carried out his PhD work at the University of Cambridge on speech errors and what they tell us about how we plan language. He has been Head of the School of Psychology at the University of Dundee since 2003. His research interests include speech production, how we represent meaning, and the effects of ageing on language.