Presents an argument in 3 parts. 1st, it is shown by reference to the role of semantics in a transformational grammar that semantic decisions are not determined by either syntactic or semantic selection restrictions but by the speaker's knowledge of the intended referent. 2nd, it is shown that current theories of word-referent relations are inadequate to specify the grounds for the above-mentioned semantic decisions. Finally, by the use of a paradigm case, a theory of reference in terms of a cognitive theory of semantics is advanced in which it is shown that a semantic decision, ie, the choice of a word, is made so as to differentiate an intended referent from some perceived or inferred set of alternatives. The implications include an altered conception of meaning, a statement of the relative information in words and in pictures, a hypothesis about the redundancy of the postulation of deep structure, and revised conception of the relation between language and thought.(46 ref.)(PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)