You've somewhat stated Miller's Law: "In order to understand what another person is saying, you must assume that it is true and try to imagine what it could be true of." In "Giving Away Psychology in the 80's: George Miller Interviewed by Elizabeth Hall," Psychology Today for January 1980, pp. 38-50 and 97-98; on page 46.

ozarque (Suzette Haden Elgin, the linguist and science fiction author) has a post on it, (http://ozarque.livejournal.com/302423.html) and there are others in her journal, I just can't find them right now.