This is a work in the epistemology of functional neuroimaging (fNI) and it applies the error-statistical (ES) philosophy to inferential problems in fNI to formulate and address these problems. This gives us a clear, accurate, and more complete understanding of what we can learn from fNI and how we can learn it. I review the works in the epistemology of fNI which I group into two categories; the first category consists of discussions of the theoretical significance of fNI findings and the second category discusses methodological difficulties of fNI. Both types of works have shortcomings; the first category has been too theory-centered in its approach and the second category has implicitly or explicitly adopted the assumption that methodological difficulties of fNI cannot be satisfactorily addressed. In this dissertation, I address these shortcomings and show how and what kind of experimental knowledge fNI can reliably produce which would be theoretically significant. I take fMRI as a representative fNI procedure and discuss the history of its development. Two independent trajectories of research in physics and physiology eventually converge to give rise to fMRI. Thus, fMRI findings are laden in the theories of physics and physiology and I propose how this creates a kind of useful theory-ladenness which allows for the representation of and intervention in the constructs of cognitive neuroscience. Duhemian challenges and problems of underdetermination are often raised to argue that fNI is of little, if any, epistemic value for psychology. I show how the ES notions of severe tests and error probabilities can be applied in epistemological analyses of fMRI. The result is that hemodynamic hypotheses can be severely tested in fMRI experiments and I demonstrate how these hypotheses are theoretically significant and fuel the growth of experimental knowledge in cognitive neuroscience. Throughout this dissertation, I put the emphasis on the experimental knowledge we obtain from fNI and argue that this is the fruitful approach that enables us to see how fNI can contribute to psychology. In doing so, I offer an error-statistical epistemology of fNI, which hopefully will be a significant contribution to the philosophy of psychology. / Ph. D.

Cette recherche porte sur la lexicologie, la lexicographie et l’enseignement/apprentissage du lexique. Elle s’inscrit dans le cadre du projet Modélisation ontologique des savoirs lexicographiques en vue de leur application en linguistique appliquée, surnommé Lexitation, qui est, à notre connaissance, la première tentative d’extraction des savoirs lexicographiques — i.e. connaissances déclaratives et procédurales utilisées par des lexicographes — utilisant une méthode expérimentale. Le projet repose sur le constat que les savoirs lexicographiques ont un rôle crucial à jouer en lexicologie, mais aussi en enseignement/apprentissage du lexique. Dans ce mémoire, nous décrirons les méthodes et les résultats de nos premières expérimentations, effectuées à l’aide du Think Aloud Protocol (Ericsson et Simon, 1993). Nous expliquerons l’organisation générale des expérimentations et comment les savoirs lexicographiques extraits sont modélisés pour former une ontologie. Finalement, nous discuterons des applications possibles de nos travaux en enseignement du lexique, plus particulièrement pour la formation des maîtres. / This research is about lexicology, lexicography and vocabulary teaching/learning. It is part of a project called Ontologization of lexicographic abilites for use in the fields of applied linguistics, nicknamed Lexitation, which is, to our knowledge, the first attempt at extracting lexicographic abilities using experimental techniques. The project relies on the assumption that lexicographic abilities play a role in teaching and acquisition of lexical knowledge, and not only in lexicography per se. We will describe the methods and results of our initial set of experiments, that are based on the use of so-called Think Aloud Protocol (Ericsson et Simon, 1993). We will explain how experiments have been set up and how we are currently proceeding with the extraction and modeling of various types of knowledge and strategies used by lexicographers while performing lexicographic tasks. Finally, we will present possible applications of our work in the field of language teaching, more specifically, teachers’ training.

Cette recherche porte sur la lexicologie, la lexicographie et l’enseignement/apprentissage du lexique. Elle s’inscrit dans le cadre du projet Modélisation ontologique des savoirs lexicographiques en vue de leur application en linguistique appliquée, surnommé Lexitation, qui est, à notre connaissance, la première tentative d’extraction des savoirs lexicographiques — i.e. connaissances déclaratives et procédurales utilisées par des lexicographes — utilisant une méthode expérimentale. Le projet repose sur le constat que les savoirs lexicographiques ont un rôle crucial à jouer en lexicologie, mais aussi en enseignement/apprentissage du lexique. Dans ce mémoire, nous décrirons les méthodes et les résultats de nos premières expérimentations, effectuées à l’aide du Think Aloud Protocol (Ericsson et Simon, 1993). Nous expliquerons l’organisation générale des expérimentations et comment les savoirs lexicographiques extraits sont modélisés pour former une ontologie. Finalement, nous discuterons des applications possibles de nos travaux en enseignement du lexique, plus particulièrement pour la formation des maîtres. / This research is about lexicology, lexicography and vocabulary teaching/learning. It is part of a project called Ontologization of lexicographic abilites for use in the fields of applied linguistics, nicknamed Lexitation, which is, to our knowledge, the first attempt at extracting lexicographic abilities using experimental techniques. The project relies on the assumption that lexicographic abilities play a role in teaching and acquisition of lexical knowledge, and not only in lexicography per se. We will describe the methods and results of our initial set of experiments, that are based on the use of so-called Think Aloud Protocol (Ericsson et Simon, 1993). We will explain how experiments have been set up and how we are currently proceeding with the extraction and modeling of various types of knowledge and strategies used by lexicographers while performing lexicographic tasks. Finally, we will present possible applications of our work in the field of language teaching, more specifically, teachers’ training.