LANGUAGE AND PERSON STUDIES IN LANGUAGE BEHAVIOR1

Abstract
Starting with an interest in basic psychological processes, whose complexity is matched only by the difficulty of their study, we developed what seemed to us to be more appropriate research strategies—the so‐called transpositional research—and forged a link between the acquisition of native‐like second language pronunciation ability and certain personality constructs, such as empathy. From there we pursued over the years a line of inquiry that studied the influence of language on person and person on language. While engaging in this basic research we were able to reap incidental pay‐offs in the several instruments we produced: the STP, MME and the MIGIT.