從語意處理及表徵到語意發展

From Semantic Processing and Representations to Semantic Development

過去四十年認知心理學的研究，在理論及技術上都產生持續的變化，相較於過去，此領域呈現出更多樣化，但卻更整合性的發展。此篇論文將以評論的方式，回顧中文語言研究的語意處理及語意表徵的流變，特別收錄來自台灣研究者在此議題的成果與貢獻。本文作者提出過去文獻中可能存在的限制，並且闡明一個研究方向的轉折，如何解釋或回答先前研究的不足。文中指出兩項研究方向的轉折，包括：由以成人參與者為主體的研究，轉變為融入以孩童參與者為主體的研究；由以行為測量為主體的研究，轉變為增加神經造影研究的趨勢。最後，這篇論文也提出三項延伸的議題，作為對於未來研究方向的建議。第一，研究譬喻相關的主題，探索大於字詞層次的語意理解。第二，增加語意歷程異常的病人研究，得以檢視語意表徵系統的功能性結構。第三，採用縱貫式的取向，對於檢驗語意處理及語意表徵的發展變化有更完整的瞭解。

In the past 40 years, the research of cognitive psychology has been changing in both theory and technology to make this field more diverse and yet more integrative than before. This article provides a critical review on the changes of semantic processing and semantic representations with a focus on Chinese studies of Taiwanese researchers. The authors point out what potential limitations are in the literature and how subsequent changes come to answer critical questions. Two trends of changes on semantic processing and representations are observed, including a shift from adult participants to child participants and a shift from behavioral measures to neuroimaging measures. In the end, three suggestions are proposed for future directions: exploring topics of metaphor to understand semantics beyond the character/word level, recruiting neurologically impaired participants to examine the functional architecture of semantic representational systems, and using a longitudinal approach to evaluating developmental changes of semantic processing and representations.