Research on working memory and language has followed two quite divergent paths. The first line of inquiry examines questions relating to the components and organization of working memory – whether there are specialized buffers, the nature of the link to long-term memory, and so on. For the most part, studies of this type have little to say about the workings of language per se – why it has the particular types of relative clauses or patterns of verbal agreement that it does, for example. These issues fall under the purview of a different line of research, which seeks to trace various fundamental properties of language to the cognitive processes involved in the storage and manipulation of information – working memory, broadly construed. The goal of the latter research program, which I will try to advance here, is to establish that general properties of working memory, however they are ultimately integrated into a theoretical model, can contribute to a deeper understanding of the human language faculty. I will focus here on three phenomena that help illustrate this point – a restriction on the interpretation of reflexive pronouns, a curious prohibition on phonological contraction in a type of wh question, and a baffling constraint commonly known as the ‘that-trace effect.’ A careful examination of their properties reveals a previously unsuspected finding: they are shaped by the need to minimize processing cost, a key factor in our understanding of working memory as well.

Scholars working on bilingual acquisition commonly assume that it involves acquiring two separate, autonomous systems. This chapter shows that the argument presented for this assumption, based on 'functional separation' is misguided. In particular, it is shown that the MDM model can handle functional separation without difficulty. Work on syntactic coactivation and priming supports the integrated hypothesis. If there is a processing cost to code-switching, it comes about as a result of disengaging one of the languages, not as a result of engaging a new system.

This final orientation chapter in Part I explores how a legal system that fails to account for comprehension asymmetries can exacerbate preexisting impediments to cooperative communication. After identifying those legal settings where comprehension asymmetries are likely to be most severe, the chapter concludes by suggesting general reforms that strengthen the speakers' incentives to communicate cooperatively with their audience.

This chapter explores "comprehension asymmetries," which occur when speakers have a greater ability to understand or process information relative to their target audiences. By synthesizing work from economics, communications theory, and information theory, we offer a simple conceptual model for understanding and locating comprehension asymmetries in legal programs.

Nobel prize-winning economist Herbert Simon warned more than 70 years ago that if we did not find a way to manage the flood of information that threatens to overwhelm us, we would find ourselves unable to make sense of it. This short introductory chapter explores the various ways that legal architects have failed to heed Simon's warning in legal areas as diverse as consumer protection, financial regulation, patents, chemical control, and administrative and legislative process. A number of significant legal programs in the U.S. are designed to facilitate the sharing of complete information, yet these programs often neglect to ensure that the information is also comprehensible to the target audience.