processing (n.)

An application in PSYCHOLINGUISTICS and NEUROLINGUISTICS of a term used in psychology for the cognitive operations which take place during LANGUAGE production and comprehension. Any LEVEL of language can be considered in processing terms (‘lexical processing’, ‘phonological processing’, etc.), and processing MODELS aim to represent the input/output relationship between these levels, both for speaking/listening and reading/writing. The language as a whole can be characterized in this way (language processing) as can the content conveyed by language (information processing). An analogous use of the term is found in COMPUTATIONAL LINGUISTICS, where it refers to the automated handling of linguistic information. There are different views of the relationship of processing to production: some see processing as separate from production; some see production as a part of processing.