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Pragmatics: From Theory to Experiment and Back Again
Article first published online: 13 MAY 2010
DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-818X.2010.00203.x
© 2010 The Authors. Journal Compilation © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
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How to Cite
Katsos, N. and Cummins, C. (2010), Pragmatics: From Theory to Experiment and Back Again. Language and Linguistics Compass, 4: 282–295. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-818X.2010.00203.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 13 MAY 2010
- Article first published online: 13 MAY 2010
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Abstract
This article reviews some cases in which the collaboration of theoretical pragmaticians and psychologists of language has been most fruitful for all parties. Linguists have benefited from experimental data confirming the psychological validity of their observations and providing theory-critical evidence in cases beyond the reach of reflective intuition, whereas psychologists have benefited from having a wealth of linguistic phenomena to study as well as multiple theories furnished by semantics and pragmatics. Focusing on the much-discussed question of whether scalar implicature is a default inference, we aim to showcase the benefits of the experimental approach to pragmatics.