Chapter 14: pSYChOLINGUIStICS FUrther reaDING

As many readers who have got this far will have noted, psycholinguistics can be rather abstract and technical, given that the processes involved are below the level of conscious-ness and hard to observe directly. For the same reasons, published treatments can reflect the contentiousness of the field. Some textbooks (e.g. Harley 2008; Traxler 2011) and surveys of the field (e.g. Gaskell 2007; Traxler and Gernsbacher 2006) are goldmines of information, quite balanced in coverage, but daunting to the uninitiated.

Other texts (e.g. Aitchison 2003, 2008; Field 2005) are much more accessible, but can leave the more demanding reader unsatisfied.

A comprehensive treatment of language and mind from a staunchly modular perspec-tive is Fernández and Smith Cairns (2011). Altmann (1997), winner of the British Psychological Society Book Award in 2000, provides an engaging and entertaining intro-duction to language and mind. Ingram’s (2007) textbook concentrates on neurolinguistic theories of language processing, covering both modular and connectionist approaches, and including extensive treatment of disorders.

References to further reading on specific topics in psycholinguistics are given in 14.6, and – as indicated throughout the chapter – there are several readings on psycholinguistically- oriented topics in Language in Use: A Reader (➔ R2.1, R3.2, R3.5, R4.2, R4.3, R4.8).