Glossary / Lexicon

Thematic roles are ways in which items can be used in the context of communication..

In the psychology context, thematic roles refer to the ways in which participants in a sentence are associated with different types of semantic relationships. These roles are also known as semantic roles or case roles, and they help to define the meaning of a sentence.

Here are some examples of thematic roles and how they are used in psychology:

• Agent: The agent is the participant who performs the action in a sentence. For example, in the sentence "The dog chased the cat," the dog is the agent.

• Patient: The patient is the participant who is affected by the action in a sentence. For example, in the sentence "The doctor treated the patient," the patient is the patient.

• Theme: The theme is the participant that undergoes a change of state or location. For example, in the sentence "John gave the book to Mary," the book is the theme.

• Experiencer: The experiencer is the participant who experiences a psychological state or sensation. For example, in the sentence "John loves Mary," John is the experiencer.

• Instrument: The instrument is the participant that is used to perform the action. For example, in the sentence "John cut the bread with a knife," the knife is the instrument.

Overall, thematic roles are an important part of understanding the meaning of a sentence and how different participants are related to each other. By analyzing the thematic roles in a sentence, psychologists can better understand the way that language is used to convey meaning and how people understand and interpret language.