The Integration of Psychology and Linguistics from the Perspective of Cognitive Science—The Example of the Psychological Reality of Language

Abstract

In the traditional debate centered on the nature of language, the question of “the psychological reality of language” occupies a pivotal position. The key lies in the recognition of language (competence) as a natural entity that exists in the brain in some physical way. The empirical research perspectives supporting the psychological reality of language fall into four main categories: (a) linguistic perspectives based on introspective linguistic intuitions; (b) developmental psychology perspectives; (c) psycholinguistic perspectives; (d) neurolinguistic perspectives. In analyzing the four areas of research, it is clear that psychological realism does indeed reveal the physiological basis of language ability, but it does not fully explain how “reality” is expressed, i.e., at what level the operation and representation of language can be linked to human neurobiological mechanisms, and how the psychological reality of language is related to the semantic “material” reality of language. In essence, the ontological foundation of psychological realism is the logocentric tradition of “In the beginning was the Word,” while Chinese thought, which espouses “In the beginning was the Deed,” provides a transcendental framework for solving the dilemma of psychological realism by virtue of its self-cultivation theory of “heaven, in its motion, shows strength.” The focus is not on how language precisely maps reality, but how to mobilize the energy of language through the cultivation of the body and mind. This implies that human language and even its physiological basis develop according to how one learns to change the natural world, and that the most essential basis of language is the change in the world caused by its “doing” (self-cultivation), thus providing an adequate explanation for the problem of the psychological reality of language.