Abstract
The aim of the present study was to test the functional relevance of the spatial concepts UP or DOWN for words that use these concepts either literally (space) or metaphorically (time, valence). A functional relevance would imply a symmetrical relationship between the spatial concepts and words related to these concepts, showing that processing words activate the related spatial concepts on one hand, but also that an activation of the concepts will ease the retrieval of a related word on the other. For the latter, the rotation angle of participant’s body position was manipulated either to an upright or a head-down tilted body position to activate the related spatial concept. Afterwards participants produced in a within-subject design previously memorized words of the concepts space, time and valence according to the pace of a metronome. All words were related either to the spatial concept UP or DOWN. The results including Bayesian analyses show (1) a significant interaction between body position and words using the concepts UP and DOWN literally, (2) a marginal significant interaction between body position and temporal words and (3) no effect between body position and valence words. However, post-hoc analyses suggest no difference between experiments. Thus, the authors concluded that integrating sensorimotor experiences is indeed of functional relevance for all three concepts of space, time and valence. However, the strength of this functional relevance depends on how close words are linked to mental concepts representing vertical space.
Highlights
The grounded view of language processing postulates that semantic representations in the human brain are obligatorily linked to sensorimotor representations [1]
To test the hypothesis of the present study, the data for the upright and the head-down tilted position were analyzed with an analysis of variance (ANOVA) for repeated measurement
As in Experiment 1, the data for the upright and the head-down tilted position were analyzed with an analysis of variance (ANOVA) for repeated measurement
Summary
The grounded view of language processing postulates that semantic representations in the human brain are obligatorily linked to sensorimotor representations [1]. The Functional Relevance of Integrating Sensorimotor Experiences during Word Processing are experienced according to the general physical laws on Earth. As a result words become associated with sensorimotor representations reflecting interactive experiences within our environment. When these same words are processed again at a later time, the related sensorimotor representations are activated in a simulation-like process to create meaning [2]. Evidence for the reactivation of such rich representations comes for example from a TMS-study which demonstrates specific functional links between action and language systems during lexical processing [3]
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