Communication Systems

This area covers communication, language, and information processing in psychology — psycholinguistics and the human capacity to process and transmit information.

Scope

It includes language and speech, verbal behaviour and its critique, and the information-processing analysis of communication.

Sub-topics

• Linguistics & Language & Speech
• Mass Media Communications

Core questions

• How do humans process and transmit information?
• How is language represented and acquired?
• What are the limits of human information capacity?

Key concepts

• Information processing
• Channel capacity
• Language and speech
• Verbal behaviour
• Psycholinguistics

Key theories

Information capacity

Miller showed sharp limits on the span of immediate memory and information processing.

The critique of behaviourist language

Chomsky's review of Skinner argued language cannot be explained by conditioning, helping launch the cognitive revolution.

History

Drawing on information theory and the cognitive revolution, this area links psychology to language and communication, from Miller's capacity limits to Chomsky's critique of behaviourist accounts of language.

Debates

Is language learned or innate?

Behaviourist accounts of verbal behaviour contend with nativist views of an innate language capacity.

Key figures

• George Miller
• Noam Chomsky

Seminal works

• miller-1956
• chomsky-1959

Frequently asked questions

What does this area cover?

Communication, language, and information processing within psychology — closely tied to psycholinguistics and cognitive psychology.