Using Linguistics to Reveal the Flaws in Psychological Experiments

When Implicature Fails

In a recent New York Times review of Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011), by 2002 Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman, science writer Jim Holt observes that "Our everyday conversation takes place against a rich background of unstated expectations — what linguists call 'implicatures.' Such implicatures can seep into psychological experiments."  To see how Holt deploys this key concept in linguistics to dismantle some of Kahneman's claims, click here to read the full article (which is interesting in itself:  Kahneman argues that human rationality is over-rated).  Click here and here and to learn more about implicature.