How do we understand what we are told, resolve ambiguities, appreciate metaphor and irony, and grasp both explicit and implicit content in verbal communication? This book provides the first comprehensive introduction to an exciting new field in which models of language and meaning are tested and compared using techniques from psycholinguistics.

Reviews of the hardback edition:

'If you want to understand how your knowledge of the world shapes your use of language and your grasp of its deepest significance, read this book. Experimental pragmatics began in the 1960's; forty years on, this book marks its coming of age. Its leading practitioners show that pragmatics is far from a peripheral topic but integral to the fundamental mechanisms of language. The chapters are accessible, and the book will provide the basis for an excellent course in experimental pragmatics.' - Professor P. N. Johnson-Laird, Department of Psychology, Princeton University, USA

'Psycholinguists have been investigating the pragmatics of discourse since the early seventies; but it is only recently that linguists working in that area have felt the need to resort to psychological experiments to test their models. Experimental psychology and linguistic pragmatics interact also in the study of reasoning. A new field is emerging - experimental pragmatics - to which this book, the first of its kind, provides an exciting and most welcome introduction.' - Professor Francois Recanati, Institut Jean-Nicod, France

Autorentext
ADRIAN BANGERTER Groupe de Psychologie Appliquée, Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland JOSIE BERNICOT Laboratoire de Psychologie, Langage et Cognition, Université de Poitiers, France ANNE L. BEZUIDENHOUT Department of Philosophy, University of South Carolina, USA GENNARO CHIERCHIA, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università di Milano-Bicocca, Italy HERBERT H. CLARK Department of Psychology, Stanford University, USA SEANA COULSON Cognitive Science Department, University of California San Diego, USA STEPHEN CRAIN Department of Linguistics, University of Maryland, USA AIDAN FEENEY Department of Psychology, University of Durham, UK OFER FEIN Academic College of Tel Aviv Yaffo, Israel FRANCESCA FOPPOLO Università di Milano-Bicocca, Italy RAYMOND W. GIBBS Jr. Department of Psychology, University of California Santa Cruz, USA RACHEL GIORA Department of Linguistics, Tel Aviv University, Israel SAM GLUCKSBERG Department of Psychology, Princeton University, USA ANDREA GUALMINI Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, MIT,USA MARIA TERESA GUASTI Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università di Milano-Bicocca, Italy SIMON J. HANDLEY Department of Psychology, University of Plymouth, UK VIRGINIE LAVAL Laboratoire de Psychologie, Langage et Cognition, Université de Poitiers, France LUISA MERONI Department of Linguistics, University of Maryland, USA ROBIN K. MORRIS Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, USA LINDA MOXEY Department of Psychology, Universityof Glasgow, UK ORNA PELEG Department of Linguistics, Tel Aviv University, Israel GUY POLITZER Laboratoire Cognition et Usages, CNRS, Université de Paris, France ANNE REBOUL Institut des Sciences Cognitives, Lyon, France A.J. SANFORD Department of Psychology, University of Glasgow, UK JEAN-BAPTISTE VAN DER HENST Institut des Sciences Cognitives, Lyon, France

Inhalt
Introduction; I.Noveck & D.Sperber PART I: PIONEERING APPROACHES Changing Ideas about Reference; H.H.Clark & A.Bangerter On the Automaticity of Pragmatic Processes: A Modular Proposal; S.Glucksberg Psycholinguistic Experiments and Linguistic Pragmatics; R.W.Gibbs Jr. Reasoning, Judgment and Pragmatics; G.Politzer Exploring Quantifiers: Pragmatics Meets the Psychology of Comprehension; A.J.Sanford & L.Moxey PART II: CURRENT ISSUES IN EXPERIMENTAL PRAGMATICS Testing the Cognitive and Communicative Principles of Relevance; J-B.Van der Henst & D.Sperber Contextual Strength: The Whens and Hows of Context Effects; O.Peleg, R.Giora & O.Fein Electrophysiology and Pragmatic Language Comprehension; S.Coulson Speech Acts in Children: The Example of Promises; J.Bernicot & V.Laval Reasoning and Pragmatics: The Case of Even If ; S.J.Handley & A.Feeney PART III: THE CASE OF SCALAR IMPLICATURES Implicature, Relevance, and Default Pragmatic Inference; A.L.Bezuidenhout & R.K.Morris Semantic and Pragmatic Competence in Children's and Adults' Comprehension of 'or'; G.Chierchia, M.T.Guasti, A.Gualmini, L.Meroni , S.Crain & F.Foppolo Pragmatic Inferences Related to Logical Terms; I.A.Noveck Conversational Implicatures: Nonce or Generalized?; A.Reboul Index