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Understanding language processing in variable populations on their own terms: Towards a functionalist psycholinguistics of individual differences, development, and disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2023

Bob McMurray Open the ORCID record for Bob McMurray [Opens in a new window] ,
Keith S. Baxelbaum ,
Sarah Colby Open the ORCID record for Sarah Colby [Opens in a new window]  and
J. Bruce Tomblin
Bob McMurray*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA Department of Linguistics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA Department of Otolaryngology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA
Keith S. Baxelbaum
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA
Sarah Colby
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA Department of Otolaryngology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA
J. Bruce Tomblin
Affiliation:
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA
*
Corresponding author. Bob McMurray; email: bob-mcmurray@uiowa.edu
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Abstract

Classic psycholinguistics seeks universal language mechanisms for all people, emphasizing the “modal” listener: hearing, neurotypical, monolingual, and young adults. Applied psycholinguistics then characterizes differences in terms of their deviation from the modal. This mirrors naturalist philosophies of health which presume a normal function, with illness as a deviation. In contrast, normative positions argue that illness is partially culturally derived. It occurs when a person cannot meet socio-culturally defined goals, separating differences in biology (disease) from socio-cultural function (illness). We synthesize this with mechanistic functionalist views in which language emerges from diverse lower-level mechanisms with no one-to-one mapping to function (termed the functional mechanistic normative approach). This challenges primarily psychometric approaches—which are culturally defined—suggesting a process-based approach may yield more insight. We illustrate this with work on word recognition across multiple domains: cochlear implant users, children, language disorders, L2 learners, and aging. This work investigates each group’s solutions to the problem of word recognition as interesting in its own right. Variation in the process is value-neutral, and psychometric measures complement this, reflecting fit with cultural expectations (disease vs. illness). By examining variation in processing across people with a variety of skills and goals, we arrive at deeper insight into fundamental principles.

Keywords

adult language disorderslexical processingdeafness and hearing impairmentadult second-language acquisitionchild typical language
Type
Review Article
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 44 , Special Issue 4: Towards a Just and Equitable Applied Psycholinguistics , July 2023 , pp. 565 - 592
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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