From Wooffitt, 1992: 117 discourse analysis a comparative and critical introduction by robin wooffitt

is not that different from the experiences reported by non-delusional people, and which are studied by parapsychologists. What is different, though, is the way the story is reported. In non-delusional people it is apparent that accounts are constructed to display the speaker’s normality, and this entails showing an awareness and rebuttal of alternative, sceptical versions of ‘what really happened’. But the delusional person whose account is discussed in Palmer’s paper shows no interest in this kind of delicate interactional work. His story seems to be informed by a different set of expectations and norms from those which demonstrably inform accounts from non-delusional people. Palmer goes on to suggest that psychiatry would benefit from these kinds of conversation analytic observations, because they lay bare the complex and subtle inter- actional practices on the basis of which we might come to see some people as sane and others as delusional. Summary • Rhetorical psychology restricts its focus to argumentation and ideology; and empirical research thus concerns a limited set of issues. • Discourse analytic studies of factual or authoritative language offer close description of the organisation and use of communicative resources, and in this they resemble conversation analytic studies of interactional devices and their inferential consequences. • Sacks’ substantive and methodological observations constitute an invalu- able resource for a range of discourse analytic projects. It is clear that conversation analysis can make a significant contribution to studies of how language can be used to produce authoritative formulations of events and opinions, both in the context of everyday discourse and in the pro- duction of controversial or contested accounts. But it may have a greater influ- ence and reach. In the last section I discussed three instances in which Sacks’ work on doing being ordinary connected with the concerns of other disci- plines, and suggested new avenues of research. But all of these disciplines are concerned with broadly cognitive phenomena: parapsychological experiences, autobiographical memory and the recognition and diagnosis of psychopathologies. Can conversation analysis contribute to the study of ostensibly psychological phenomena? To answer this, we have to consider discursive psychology, and that will be the topic of the next chapter. 112 CONVERSATION ANALYSIS AND DISCOURSE ANALYSIS 6 Discursive Psychology Discursive psychology is nothing less than a thorough reworking of the subject matter of psychology. Reflecting the concerns of Wittgensteinian philo- sophy Wittgenstein, 1953 and ethnomethodological sociology Coulter, 1979, 1989, it seeks to analyse reports of mental states, and discourse in which mental states become relevant, as social actions oriented to interactional and inferential concerns. It can be characterised by the claim that Attributions of agency, intelligence, mental states … are in the first place participants’ categories and concerns manifested in descriptions, accusa- tions, claims, error accounts, membership disputes etc., just as much as reality, imitation and authenticity are. Edwards, 1997: 319 Moreover, it is a critique of the assumptions which inform traditional psycho- logical research that cognitive processes and mental states drive social action and a critique of the methods which have been developed as a consequence of those assumptions that cognitive structures are best measured by experi- mental techniques, or can be inferred from discourse. There are two key texts in discursive psychology: a useful discussion of some early studies can be found in Edwards and Potter 1992, but Edwards 1997 provides the most comprehensive account, offering a critical analysis of the architecture of assumptions which inform theory and research across a range of topics in cognitive psychology, and pointing to new ways of conducting psycho- logical research. In addition to these texts, te Molder and Potter’s 2004 edited collection on discourse and cognition has significant contributions from conver- sation and discourse analysts which reflect a range of perspectives on the relationship between language and the mind. In this chapter we shall be mainly concerned to explore the empirical orientation of discursive psychology. To do this, we need to consider instances of language use in which cognitive states or mental processes seem to have an importance for the participants. Cognitions in action The next three extracts show speakers using a variety of words and phrases which either report or invoke the relevance of cognitive processes or mental states. The first comes from routine conversational interaction.

6.1 From JS:II: 219–20

Ben: Lissena pigeons Ellen: Coo-coo:::coo::: Bill: Quail, I think Ben notices the sound made by pigeons. But at the same time that Ellen begins to mimic the sound of the birds, Bill corrects Ben by pointing out that they are quail, not pigeons. This correction is accompanied by a report of Ben’s state of mind concerning the birds: he thinks they are quail. The second illustration is taken from McGuiniss’ 1983 account of the inves- tigation of a notorious murder in 1970. Captain Jeffrey MacDonald, a respected army doctor, claimed that drug-crazed hippies broke into his apartment, knocked him unconscious and brutally murdered his family. The police, how- ever, suspected that MacDonald was the murderer. McGuiniss was able to inter- view the main people involved in the investigation, including MacDonald himself. The following passage comes from a taped interview with MacDonald in which he is describing how, during a mealtime in the Officers’ Mess, he first heard that the police had named him as the prime suspect in their investigation.

6.2 From McGuiniss, 1983: 168

I was standing in line getting food, and I had just gotten through the cash register area and was beginning to sit down, when they had a news bulletin that Captain Jeffrey MacDonald, the Green Beret officer from Fort Bragg who six weeks earlier had claimed that his wife and children were brutally beaten and stabbed by four hippies, was himself named chief suspect. And I remember the truly – I don’t mean to use clichés, but I don’t know how else to explain it – the room was spinning again. MacDonald is able to recall in some detail this traumatic moment. He has clear and detailed recall of his movements at the time, and recollection of the news broadcast itself. Clearly then, here is evidence for the operation of memory, and a good one at that: the detail of MacDonald’s description implies the successful operation of processes by which information or perceptions at the time are stored as memories and than later retrieved. Finally, the last instance comes from an interview with two young women about personal style, appearance and membership of youth subcultures. 114 CONVERSATION ANALYSIS AND DISCOURSE ANALYSIS 关关