%0 Journal Article
%A Jackson, Joshua
%A Watts, Joseph
%A List, Johann-Mattis
%A Drabble, Ryan
%A Lindquist, Kristen
%+ Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Max Planck Society
CALC, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Max Planck Society
%T From text to thought: How analyzing language can advance psychological science  : 
%G eng
%U https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0007-5B72-3
%R 10.1177/17456916211004899
%D 2022
%* Review method: peer-reviewed
%X Humans have been using language for thousands of years, but psychologists seldom consider what natural language can tell us about the mind. Here we propose that language offers a unique window into human cognition. After briefly summarizing the legacy of language analyses in psychological science, we show how methodological advances have made these analyses more feasible and insightful than ever before. In particular, we describe how two forms of language analysis—comparative linguistics and natural language processing—are already contributing to how we understand emotion, creativity, and religion, and overcoming methodological obstacles related to statistical power and culturally diverse samples. We summarize resources for learning both of these methods, and highlight the best way to combine language analysis techniques with behavioral paradigms. Applying language analysis to large-scale and cross-cultural datasets promises to provide major breakthroughs in psychological science.
%K Natural Language Processing; Comparative Linguistics; Historical Linguistics; Psycholinguistics; Cultural Evolution; Emotion; Religion; Creativity
%Z 1. Introduction

2. What Does It Mean to Analyze Language?
The Roots of Language Analysis in Psychological Science
Comparative Linguistics as a way to Understand Cultural Diversity and Universality
Natural Language Processing as a Tool for Studying Large-Scale Patterns of Cognition
Language Analysis as a Complementary Tool in Psychological Science

3. Three Case Studies
Emotion
Religion
Creativity

4. Conclusion
%J Perspectives on Psychological Science
%I Association for Psychological Science
%C Washington, D. C.
%@ 1745-6916