THE MENTAL LEXICON OF THE INDIVIDUAL

The mental lexicon has become one of the key subjects of linguistic research in recent years. Studying it from different perspectives helps explore the deeper layers of language and identify the features of language acquisition. Research on an individual’s mental lexicon provides insight into the processes of word perception and analysis. A comprehensive study of the mental lexicon requires examining an individual’s linguistic characteristics. This article investigates the mental lexicon of an individual using a survey method. The objectives of the survey include identifying people’s reactions to specific words through associations, determining the most frequently used collocates of a key word, and analyzing the factors influencing an individual’s mental lexicon based on the collected responses. For this purpose, the classification of age groups proposed by G. Abramova, known for her influential work in developmental psychology, was chosen as a foundation for formulating questions for respondents. The article presents various definitions of the mental lexicon proposed by researchers. The main sections of the study include an overview of research on an individual’s mental lexicon, a survey designed to identify influencing factors, an analysis of responses, and the determination of the characteristics of an individual’s mental lexicon.