试论乔姆斯基对认知心理学发展的重要贡献

A Tentative Discussion on Chomsky's Significant Contributions to Cognitive Psychology

乔姆斯基是当代著名的语言学家和公共知识分子,但他对认知心理学的贡献却很少为学术界所研究。实际上,乔姆斯基是两次认知革命的代表性人物。他对斯金纳行为主义的批评为认知心理学的发展扫除了障碍;他所提出的哲学思想和语言学理论已成为认知心理学的一个重要理论源头;而其创立的转换-生成语法理论,为揭示人类的心智和语言能力的形成提供了一种理想的解释框架。在两次认知革命的学术转型历程中,乔姆斯基的理论一直影响着认知科学家们不断地探索前行。

Chomsky is a famous contemporary linguist and public intellectual of the age, but his contribution to cognitive psychology is rarely researched in the academia. In fact, Chomsky is a representative character of the two cognitive revolutions. His criticism of Skinner＇s behaviorism removed the obstacles to the development of the cognitive psychology and promoted the outbreak of the first cognitive revolution. The philosophy and linguistic theory he proposed have become an important theoretical source of cognitive psychology. The transformational - generative grammar theory, formulated by him, also provides an ideal interpretation framework for revealing the forma- tion ofthe human mind and language ability. In addition, Chomsky considers cognitive psychologyas the science that can explain the hu- man mind. Chomsky＇s linguistic theory has an irreplaceable theoretical value to cognitive psychology. From the middle of the last century till today, cognitive psychology has developed at top speed for half a century in the direction of mutual exploration of the mysteries of hu- man mind expected by Chomsky. However, over - dependence on advanced ：instruments and experimental data as well as overlook of the construction of cognitive theory and the model has gradually become a bottleneck factor restricting the development of cognitive psy- chology. Today, as empiricism -oriented cognitive psychology has landed its development in deep trouble, it becomes particularly important to integrate and construct a theory capable of interpreting human cognitive phenomena. If cognitive psychology is expected to have a breakthrough in the future, it＇s necessary to imitate Chomsky＇s linguistic theory, to build a principle with universal explanatory power in cognitive psychology. For a scientific research, it＇s more important to seek interpretations than to only describe and classify. The usage of abstract and ideal structure models, as opposed to mere empirical documentation, may elevate the research to a higher level of authenticity. With the international movement of cognitive sciencebreaking new ground, cognitive psychology research has made great strides and development in China. However, a lack of depth in theoretical innovation in a general sense has restricted China＇s cognitive psychology advancement to a bottleneck period. Therefore, it is essential for the national experts to take Noam Chomskyg theoretical results seriously, keep up with the overseas research developments in cognitive psychology, and have the courage for innovations. What＇s more, the interpretative theory and the mode for cognitive structure are, needed for probing the mysteries of human psychology.