psycholinguistics

Noun

psycholinguistics (uncountable)

1. The interdisciplinary field of study which concerns the acquisition, comprehension and production of language in its spoken, written and signed forms, using concepts and approaches from linguistics, psychology and cognitive science.
   • Psycholinguistics is mainly concerned with the mechanisms by which language is processed and represented in the mind and brain: i.e., the psychological and neurobiological factors that enable humans to acquire, comprehend, produce and use language.
   • Psycholinguistics began with attempts to test the empirical validity of various formal linguistic concepts.1975, [Lawrence Erlbaum], Sam Glucksberg, Joseph H. Danks, Experimental Psycholinguistics: An Introduction, Psychology Press, published 2014, page xi

   Synonyms:

   psychology of language