Scalar implicatures (SIs) lie at the interface between semantics and pragmatics, and therefore have evoked great interest for language acquisition research. Many acquisition studies show that young children know the literal semantics of scalar items (like "some", "might", "start" and "or") but have difficulties in deriving the relevant scalar implicatures (e.g., Barner et a1. 2011; Chierchia et al. 2001; Foppolo et al. 2012, 2020; Janssens et al. 2014; Noveck 2001; Papafragou & Musolino 2003; Papafragou et al. 2018; Paris 1973; Syrett et al. 2017a, b, among many others). Regarding the late mastery of SIs, various explanations have been proposed. One approach is concerned with children's limited processing capacities. According to the processing account, the computation of SIs is cognitively demanding, and often exceeds the processing capacities of young children (e.g., Chierchia et al. 2001, 2004; Pouscoulous et al. 2007; Reinhart 2004; Su 2013; Wang 2021).This dissertation will investigate the processing account from three different perspectives. First, the dissertation will test whether there is any significant correlation between children's processing capacities and their computation of SIs. Second, this dissertation will investigate whether children's computation of SIs will improve when they have more processing resources available. Third, this dissertation will examine whether adults under a high memory load will compute fewer SIs. The findings of this dissertation will provide new evidence for the processing account, reveal a sophisticated developmental path for scalar implicatures, shed light on the processing mechanisms of scalar implicatures, and have consequences for the theoretical analysis of scalar implicatures. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]