Some psychological relations between action and language structure

This study investigated the relationship between complex grammatical structures and complex action sequences. A developmental progression of strategies for combining seriated cups identified in an earlier study (Greenfieldet al., 1972) was used to demonstrate some psychological consequences of formal parallels between language and action. The role of grammatical complexity and situational structure in language-action relations was explored. The results have implications for understanding the organization and development of complex action, its control by verbal commands, and the basic processes of speech comprehension.The research was supported by an NIMH grant to Jerome S. Bruner, Director, Center for Cognitive Studies, and a grant from the Milton Fund, Harvard University, to Patricia Greenfield.