Biosemiotic Insights into Psychological Narratives: Advancing Biotechnological Applications in Behavioral Analysis

Abstract

This study employs a biosemiotics framework to analyze the narrative style of Henry James’s psychological novels, examining how linguistic features and lexical changes in his corpus can reveal underlying patterns of human cognition and emotion. By categorizing the symbols in James's works into likenesses, indicators, and statutes, and analyzing the lexical richness and the usage of specific word types such as color words and superlatives, we uncover significant trends in his narrative techniques that correlate with psychological portrayals and character development. Our analysis shows a marked lexical variance over time in James’s writing, with an average lexical change rate of 0.603 in his later works, suggesting a deliberate manipulation of language to enhance emotional depth and complexity in characters. The implications of these findings extend beyond literary analysis to biotechnological applications. The techniques developed here could be applied to refine algorithms designed for natural language processing (NLP) in psychological profiling tools, which are increasingly used in both clinical and consumer-focused biotechnological products. By understanding the subtle cues that dictate emotional expression in literature, biotechnological strategies can be developed to better predict, analyze, and perhaps even alter human emotional responses in various settings, thereby enhancing the efficacy of treatments and interventions in mental health and cognitive behavioral therapies. This study not only broadens our comprehension of Henry James’s stylistic evolution but also demonstrates the potential of literary biosemiotics to contribute to advanced biotechnological applications in behavioral science.