A Candidate Methodology for Analyzing Meaning Making

The Natural Logic of Grize

Abstract

This paper aims at presenting a candidate methodology for studying psychological processes involved in meaning making. The analysis of meaning making processes poses methodological challenges. Grize’s proposes a neo-Piagetian theory, Natural Logic, which can be used as a methodology approaching the making and the interpretation of meaning, approaching discourse as a complex process interrelating cognitive, social and cultural dimensions. The making of new meaning is nevertheless approached through language use, yet both as a creative process in choosing and assembling words together, and as an interpretative process of reasoning in listening to or reading discursive material. This paper presents some main features of a new methodology for studying meaning making and interpretation processes in psychology, and a quick introduction to its practice based on a short example of analysis. The objective is to contribute to detailed analysis of meaning making, as we find it in complex cognitive activities such as interviewing, presenting or listening to a political discourse, debating, or teaching.