...This chapter examines the basis of cognitive pragmatics, first by outlining certain fundamental methodological aspects. It considers instruments used to validate theories and how a theory may be falsified to determine whether it can withstand all criticisms. The chapter explores developmental...

...This book deals with cognitive pragmatics, the study of the mental states of people who are engaged in communication, and analyzes the relationship between communicative interactions and mental states by focusing on individual motivations, beliefs, goals, desires, and intentions. It also examines...

...This chapter, which discusses the evolution, development, and decay of communicative competence in the context of cognitive pragmatics and its theoretical aspects, makes a distinction between competence and performance in communication, and suggests that the sole proof of the existence of a given...

... of these cases provides independent evidence in favor of cognitive pragmatics. This chapter examines nonstandard communication, which encompasses those processes that must have recourse to classic inferencing procedures because of their inability to apply standard default rules owing to the latter’s...