Abstract
The languages developed by deaf communities are unique for using visual signs produced by the hand. In the present study, we explored the cognitive effects of employing the hand as articulator. We focused on the arbitrariness of the form-meaning relationship—a fundamental feature of natural languages—and asked whether sign languages change the processing of arbitrary non-linguistic stimulus-response (S-R) associations involving the hand. This was tested using the Simon effect, which specifically requires such type of associations. Differences between signers and speakers (non-signers) only appeared in the Simon task when hand stimuli were shown. Response-time analyses revealed that the distinctiveness of signers’ responses derived from an increased ability to process memory traces of arbitrary S-R pairs related to the hand. These results shed light on the interplay between language and cognition as well as on the effects of sign language acquisition.
Highlights
The discovery that in language the relationship between meaning and form can be arbitrary has been of paramount importance in language research and marked the dawn of modern linguistics [1]
Even though arbitrariness seems weakened in iconic linguistic forms that transparently express certain aspects of their meaning, it represents a pervasive feature of natural languages
While in spoken languages the effects of arbitrariness have a long evolutionary history, in sign languages its effects have occurred within a reduced time scale and involve a different articulator: the hand
Summary
The discovery that in language the relationship between meaning and form can be arbitrary has been of paramount importance in language research and marked the dawn of modern linguistics [1]. We first determined if the Simon effect varied across groups (signers vs speakers) and distractor (arrow vs eyes vs hand).
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