Includes bibliographical references.

Preface; Author's preface; SECTION 1; Survey; 1. Introduction; 2. Acquisition: when I was a child, I spoke as a child; '... no language but a cry'; First words; The birth of grammar; Evidence for innateness; Childish creativity; Stages of linguistic development; 3. Production: putting words in one's mouth; Conceptualization; Formulation; Articulation; Self-monitoring; 4. Comprehension: understanding what we hear and read; The comprehension of sounds; The comprehension of words; The comprehension of sentences; The comprehension of texts; Comprehension concluded; 5. Dissolution: language loss; Neurolinguistics and language loss; Speech and language disorders; Concluding summary; SECTION 2; Readings; SECTION 3; References; SECTION 4; Glossary

Psycholinguists have shown that the comprehension and production of even the simplest language is a highly complex, almost miraculous, process. This brief introduction shows how psycholinguistic research can act as a window to the workings of the human mind.