TYPE Edi o ial
PUBLISHED 25 Feb ua y 2025
DOI 10.3389/ psyg.2025.1569614
OPEN ACCESS
EDITED AND REVIEWED BY
Xiaolin Zhou,
Peking Uni e si y, China
*CORRESPONDENCE
An onio Bení ez-Bu aco
[email p o ec ed]
RECEIVED 01 Feb ua y 2025
ACCEPTED 11 Feb ua y 2025
PUBLISHED 25 Feb ua y 2025
CITATION
Bení ez-Bu aco A, Bo a A and Spalding TL
(2025) Edi o ial: Re iews in psychology o
language. F on . Psychol. 16:1569614.
doi: 10.3389/ psyg.2025.1569614
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©2025 Bení ez-Bu aco, Bo a and Spalding.
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Edi o ial: Re iews in psychology
o language
An onio Bení ez-Bu aco 1*, An onio Bo a2and
Thomas L. Spalding3
1Depa men o Spanish, Linguis ics, and Theo y o Li e a u e, Facul y o Philology, Uni e si y o Se ille,
Se ille, Spain, 2Depa men o Psychology, Facul y o Psychology, Uni e si à Ca olica del Sac o Cuo e,
Milan, I aly, 3Depa men o Psychology, Facul y o A s, Uni e si y o Albe a, Edmon on, AB, Canada
KEYWORDS
psycholinguis ics, cogni ion, language acquisi ion, second language lea ning, language
diso de s, language e olu ion
Edi o ial on he Resea ch Topic
Re iews in psychology o language
T adi ionally, esea ch on language ac s has ocused on o e linguis ic beha io s.
Linguis s ha e examined human languages o lea n abou hei undamen al componen s
and how hese basic pieces a e a anged in o mo e complex se s, om syllables o wo ds
o sen ences o discou ses. Typologis s ha e desc ibed hund eds o languages and ound
ha hey sha e a co e se o componen s and s uc u al p inciples, suppo ing he iew
ha all human languages a e simila ly designed and ul ill simila oles equally well.
Dialec ologis s and sociolinguis s ha e cha ac e ized di e en a ie ies o each single
language and show ha in alinguis ic a ia ion ollows simila pa hs and esul s om
simila igge ing ac o s as in e linguis ic di e si y. And he same is ue o language
change as cha ac e ized by his o ical linguis ics. None heless, o a long ime, languages
we e ega ded as cul u al a i ac s mos ly, like ood p ac ices, eligions, o ypes o
cos umes. In he second hal o he wen ie h cen u y, insigh s on how languages a e
acqui ed by child en s a ed o change his adi ional concep ualiza ion o languages (and
o language as a human dis inc i e ai ). Nowadays, language is gene ally cons ued as a
key componen o he human pheno ype, pa icula ly, o ou mind/b ain. Na i is iews o
language gained p eeminence du ing he las decades, o he ex en ha language was e en
hough o as an o gan ha g ows in ou b ain unde gene ic guidance. This iew has been
oned down, so ha bo h ou genome and ou en i onmen a e hough o con ibu e o
ou dis inc i e linguis icali y. In any case, i is gene ally acknowledged ha i we wan o
unde s and he ul ima e na u e o language, i is necessa y o del e in o he b ain black box
in o de o know which aspec s o ou mind/b ain suppo language and in pa icula , i
hey a e speci ic o language o domain-gene al by na u e.
Two ela ed disciplines ha e led such a c ucial line o inqui y: psycholinguis ics
and neu olinguis ics. The o me aims o know abou he men al p ocesses ha allow
us o unde s and and p oduce language, bu also o acqui e ou mo he ongue
and o lea n o he languages. The la e ies o iden i y and cha ac e ize he b ain
ci cui s ha suppo language p ocessing and language acquisi ion/lea ning. In o he
wo ds, psycholinguis ics is mos ly conce ned wi h he so wa e o language, whe eas
neu olinguis ics is mos ly in e es ed in i s ha dwa e. O e he yea s, as wi h linguis ics
mo e gene ally, psycholinguis ics has e ol ed o be mo e and mo e me hodologically
complex and heo e ically di e se. Many echnological ad ances (e.g. eye- acking)
F on ie s in Psychology 01 on ie sin.o g
Bení ez-Bu aco e al. 10.3389/ psyg.2025.1569614
allow psycholinguis s o conduc uly sophis ica ed expe imen s
o add ess ques ions p e iously impossible o answe . Simila ly,
di e en heo ies abou language p ocessing and acquisi ion
ha e eme ged wi h ime, and esea ch has become inc easingly
di e se, as non-Eu opean languages and non-s anda d a ie ies
o languages ha e been examined by psycholinguis s. Finally,
esea ch has also e ol ed o be mo e mul idisciplina y, as con ac s
wi h o he sub ields o linguis ics (pa icula ly, neu olinguis ics),
and o he disciplines (like compu a ional science, o biology) a e
helping psycholinguis s o cons uc mo e obus hypo heses abou
he na u e o language and o explo e new a enues o esea ch.
The aim o his Resea ch Topic is o ga he comp ehensi e
and up o da e e iew a icles on key aspec s o psycholinguis ics.
Because psycholinguis ics is a no ably dynamic and inc easingly
complex ield, as no ed, i is di icul (and u gen ) o esea che s
o be up o da e. In his Resea ch Topic, we ha e b ough oge he
10 con ibu ions om 30 schola s.
S a ing wi h a icles add essing basic aspec s o
psycholinguis ic esea ch, he a icle au ho ed by Sun and
Lin p o ides a s a e-o - he-a e iew o pas esea ch on
me onymy, a co e cogni i e ope a ion in language p ocessing,
acquisi ion, and change. The bibliome ic analysis pe o med
by hese au ho s e eals ha heo e ical and cogni i e issues
a e s ill a he o e on o esea ch on his opic, bu also ha
some unde explo ed aspec s a e gaining a en ion, pa icula ly,
he in e sec ion be ween me onymy and o he di e se domains,
including he emo ional sphe e, selec ed social and cul u al
dimensions, and o he communica i e modali ies, pa icula ly,
ision. In u n, Rens öm e iews he po en ial impac o p onoun
usage on gende concep ualiza ion, wi h some a en ion o
a i udinal issues, o unde s and bo h he esis ance and he
p omo ion o gende -inclusi e language and linguis ic gende
e o ms, mo e gene ally.
Re lec ing ample in e es , bo h pas and p esen , in he
psycholinguis ics o language change du ing he li espan, bu also
o language diso de s, we ha e included 3 con ibu ions on hese
issues in he Resea ch Topic. Ansa i e al. ha e conduc ed a me a-
analysis o ecen li e a u e abou wo d lea ning by child en wi h
De elopmen al Language Diso de (DLD), which con ibu es o
cla i y key ea u es o he p ocess, bu also o sugges ways o
imp o ing he in e en ions aimed o acili a e ocabula y lea ning
by hese child en. Janssen e al. discuss he ole o execu i e
unc ion in he (dis)abili ies o child en wi h DLD o s o y elling,
also wi h he ul ima e objec i e o achie ing be e s a egies o
amelio a e hei educed na a i e capaci ies. Finally, Lesecq e al.,
which also ocus on non- ypical child en, ha e ound ha gi ed
child en exhibi mo e he e ogeneous eading abili ies compa ed o
hei pee s.
Fo a long ime, he ield o psycholinguis ics has been highly
in e es ed in he mechanisms in ol ed in second language lea ning.
Two o he a icles comp ising he Resea ch Topic add ess his
issue. Zhang e al. examine he impac o pa en s’ in es men
beha io on he lea ning success o a sample o Chinese s uden s
o English as a second language (L2). They ound ha bo h
pa icipa ion and in es men by he pa en s ha e a posi i e e ec
on he mo i a ion and lea ning beha io o child en. In u n, Hui
and Chen p o ide insigh s on he e ec o socioeconomic s a us on
p agma ic awa eness, using a sample o Chinese s uden s lea ning
English as an L2.
Two addi ional con ibu ions o he Resea ch Topic examine
aspec s o he psycholinguis ics o language acquisi ion/lea ning,
bu wi h a ocus on me hodological issues. Ha ag e al. ha e
au ho ed a a icle e alua ing he u ili y o seman ic indices as
diagnos ic and assessmen ools o language change. Speci ically,
hey ocus on he ole o p oposi ional densi y, i.e. he amoun o
in o ma ion con eyed pe language segmen , as a eliable ool o
acking language change du ing aging. Wi h ega ds o he a icle
by Li and Zhong, i e iews he usage o eye- acking echniques
o gaining insigh s on he psycholinguis ics o ansla ion. Thei
e iew a icle highligh s se e al domains o which eye- acking
has been success ully applied, mos ly ela ed o human-machine
in e ac ion, as well as ongoing ends in he psycholinguis ics
o ansla ion, which seems o be e ol ing o be mo e
empi ical and mul idisciplina y, bu less heo e ically-mo i a ed
wi h ime.
Finally, he a icle by Bení ez-Bu aco p o ides a gene al
amewo k o language e olu ion s udies in he human species.
Acco ding o he au ho , mode n languages esul ed om selec ed
changes in ou cogni ion, including he eme gence o imp o ed
ways o p ocessing g amma ules. These changes migh ha e
esul ed in pa om ou end owa d mo e p osocial beha io s,
which also os e ed he cul u al e olu ion o languages. Ul ima ely,
he a icle a gues o a mul idisciplina y app oach o language
e olu ion in which psycholinguis ic esea ch would s ill play a
key ole.
Au ho con ibu ions
AB-B: Concep ualiza ion, In es iga ion, W i ing – o iginal
d a , W i ing – e iew & edi ing. AB: Concep ualiza ion,
In es iga ion, W i ing – e iew & edi ing. TS: Concep ualiza ion,
In es iga ion, W i ing – e iew & edi ing.
Acknowledgmen s
We would like o hank all he con ibu o s o his olume (bo h
au ho s and e iewe s).
Conflic o in e es
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absence o any comme cial o inancial ela ionships ha could be
cons ued as a po en ial con lic o in e es .
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on he pee e iew p ocess and he inal decision.
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F on ie s in Psychology 02 on ie sin.o g
