THE INFLUENCE OF LANGUAGE ON THOUGHT

Experimental psychologists regard the hypothesis that language influen ces thought to be disconfirmed. In this paper, we examine (a) traditio nal interpretations of the hypothesis, (b) the basis on which the disc onfirmation rests, and (c) experimental evidence supporting effects of language on memory, perception, problem-solving, and judgment. The pu rpose of this analysis is to question the prevalent view that the lang uage-thought hypothesis is disconfirmed as well as to motivate renewed experimental interest, especially in the study of social cognition, w here the social nature of thought is a primary assumption.