A plea for an experimental approach on slurs

•We provide a vademecum on the possibilities and the limits of an experimental approach to slurs.•We distinguish between off-line and on-line studies on slurs.•On-line studies may prove useful only if one can derive predictions about the processing of slurs.•We examine two theoretical debates in which an on-line approach may prove useful.•Slurs may prove a remarkable testing ground for research in cognitive & affective neuroscience.

The aim of our paper is to provide the reader with a sort of vademecum on the possibilities and the limits of an experimental approach to the study of slurs and derogatory language. We distinguish between off-line and on-line studies and underline the advantages and constraints of both methodologies. Empirical studies have already contributed to the investigation of slurs, at least as far as off-line experiments are concerned: we argue that on-line techniques might also provide interesting insights, but only to the extent to which one can derive predictions about the processing of slurs from the theories under investigation. We provide the example of two theoretical debates in which an on-line approach may prove useful in assessing various hypotheses – namely the content-based/non content-based dispute and the echoic approach to slurs. In closing we suggest an alternative domain in which experimental research and theoretical investigation on slurs might fruitfully interact: cognitive and affective neuroscience, and more particularly the investigation of how our cognitive system handles negative stimuli. Slurs may be seen as a prototype of aggressive behavior concentrated in a few words: therefore they are well suited for testing the reactions of our brain and peripheral nervous system to verbal aggression.