form–function distinction

a distinction between two fundamentally different ways of analyzing language, one with respect to its structural properties (form) and the other with respect to its communicative properties (function). For example, a formal analysis of the utterance Where are the pencils? would point to the use of where and the auxiliary verb be to frame a wh- question and the agreement between that verb and the subject pencils; a functional analysis would need to judge whether the utterance is a request for information or a request for action. See formal grammar; functional grammar.

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Psychology term of the day

November 23rd 2024

emotional intelligence

a type of intelligence that involves the ability to process emotional information and use it in reasoning and other cognitive activities, proposed by U.S. psychologists Peter Salovey (1958– ) and John D. Mayer (1953– ). According to Mayer and Salovey’s 1997 model, it comprises four abilities: to perceive and appraise emotions accurately; to access and evoke emotions when they facilitate cognition; to comprehend emotional language and make use of emotional information; and to regulate one’s own and others’ emotions to promote growth and well-being. Their ideas were popularized in a best-selling book by U.S. psychologist and science journalist Daniel J. Goleman (1946– ), who also altered the definition to include many personality variables.