Effects Of Body-object Interaction Research Articles

Context matters: How do task demands modulate the recruitment of sensorimotor information during language processing?

Many theories of semantic representation propose that simulations of sensorimotor experience contribute to language processing. This can be seen in the body-object interaction effect (BOI; how easily the human body can interact with a word's referent). Words with high BOI ratings (e.g., ball) are processed more quickly than words with low BOI ratings (e.g., cloud) in various language tasks. This effect can be modulated by task demands. Previous research established that when asked to decide if a word is an object (entity condition), a BOI effect is observed, but when asked to decide if a word is an action (action condition), there is no BOI effect. It is unclear whether the null behavioral effect in the action condition reflects top-down modulation of task-relevant sensorimotor information or the absence of bottom-up activation of sensorimotor simulations. We investigated this question using EEG. In Experiment 1 we replicated the previous behavioral findings. In Experiment 2, 50 participants were assigned to either the entity or action conditions and responded to the same word stimuli. In both conditions we observed differences in ERP components related to the BOI effect. In the entity condition the P2 mean amplitude was significantly more positive for high compared to low BOI words. In the action condition the N400 peak latency was significantly later for high compared to low BOI words. Our findings suggest that BOI information is generated bottom-up regardless of task demands and modulated by top-down processes that recruit sensorimotor information relevant to the task decision.

Can you touch the N400? The interactive effects of body-object interaction and task demands on N400 amplitudes and decision latencies

The effects of semantic richness on N400 amplitudes remain unclear. Some studies have reported semantic richness evoking greater N400s, whereas others have reported the opposite effect. Moreover, N400 effects of some semantic richness variables, such as body-object interaction (BOI), have yet to be demonstrated. BOI quantifies the degree to which a word’s referent is easy to interact with; words such as bicycle are high-BOI whereas words such as butterfly are low-BOI. We examined BOI effects on N400 amplitudes and decision latencies in two semantic tasks. We found that in a touchable/untouchable task, low-BOI words (e.g., butterfly) evoked greater N400s than high-BOI words (e.g., bicycle), but there was no difference in decision latencies. Conversely, in a concrete/abstract task, high and low-BOI words evoked similar N400s, but decision latencies were shorter for high-BOI than for low-BOI words. Our results show that semantic richness upstream and downstream effects are dissociable and task dependent.

Body-object interaction effect in word recognition and its relationship with screen time in Chinese children.

A sample of 144 s- and 150 fourth-grade Chinese children was recruited to investigate the influence of body–object interactions (BOIs) on word recognition, i.e., how easily they could interact physically with each word’s referent. The moderation on this relationship of children’s screen time for entertainment purposes (i.e., the viewing or use of any device with a screen) was also examined. In a lexical decision task, the children were asked to judge whether each item was a real Chinese word. Each real word was assigned a BOI rating score. Model analysis showed that the BOI rating was a significant predictor of the children’s word recognition performances. The children recognized the words with higher BOI ratings at higher accuracy rates and higher response speeds more than the words with lower BOI ratings, showing a BOI effect. These results suggest an involvement of sensorimotor information in processing concepts. As well, the results showed a moderating effect of screen time on the BOI effect. With the increase of screen time, the BOI effect was reduced in terms of response speed. Moreover, the influence of the screen time on the BOI effect was larger in the second graders than in the fourth graders.

Quantifying sensorimotor experience: Body-object interaction ratings for more than 9,000 English words.

Ratings of body-object interaction (BOI) measure the ease with which the human body can interact with a word's referent. Researchers have studied the effects of BOI in order to investigate the relationships between sensorimotor and cognitive processes. Such efforts could be improved, however, by the availability of more extensive BOI norms. In the present work, we collected BOI ratings for over 9,000 words. These new norms show good reliability and validity and have extensive overlap with the words used both in other lexical and semantic norms and in the available behavioral megastudies (e.g., the English Lexicon Project, Balota, Yap, Cortese, Hutchison, Kessler, & Loftis in Behavior Research Methods, 39, 445-459, 2007; and the Calgary Semantic Decision Project, Pexman, Heard, Lloyd, & Yap in Behavior Research Methods, 49, 407-417, 2017). In analyses using the new BOI norms, we found that high-BOI words tended to be more concrete, more graspable, and more strongly associated with sensory, haptic, and visual experience than are low-BOI words. When we used the new norms to predict response latencies and accuracy data from the behavioral megastudies, we found that BOI was a stronger predictor of responses in the semantic decision task than in the lexical decision task. These findings are consistent with a dynamic, multidimensional account of lexical semantics. The norms described here should be useful for future research examining the effects of sensorimotor experience on performance in tasks involving word stimuli.

The linguistic context effects on the processing of body–object interaction words: An ERP study on second language learners

Embodied theories of cognition argue that the processing of both concrete and abstract concepts requires the activation of sensorimotor systems. The present study examined the time course for embedding a sensorimotor context in order to elicit sensitivity to the sensorimotor consequences of understanding body–object interaction (BOI) words. In the study, Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) were recorded while subjects performed a sentence acceptability task. Target BOI words were preceded by rich or poor sensorimotor sentential contexts. The behavioural results replicated previous findings in that high BOI words received a response faster than low BOI words. In addition to this, however, there was a context effect in the sensorimotor region as well as a BOI effect in the parietal region (involved in object representation). The results indicate that the sentential sensorimotor context contributes to the subsequent BOI processing and that action-and perception-related language leads to the activation of the same brain areas, which is consistent with the embodiment theory.

The influence of bodily experience on children's language processing.

The Body-Object Interaction (BOI) variable measures how easily a human body can physically interact with a word's referent (Siakaluk, Pexman, Aguilera, Owen, & Sears, ). A facilitory BOI effect has been observed with adults in language tasks, with faster and more accurate responses for high BOI words (e.g., mask) than for low BOI words (e.g., ship; Wellsby, Siakaluk, Owen, & Pexman, ). We examined the development of this effect in children. Fifty children (aged 6-9 years) and a group of 21 adults completed a word naming task with high and low BOI words. Younger children (aged 6-7 years) did not show a BOI effect, but older children (aged 8-9 years) showed a significant facilitory BOI effect, as did adults. Magnitude of children's BOI effect was related to age as well as reading skills. These results suggest that bodily experience (as measured by the BOI variable) begins to influence visual word recognition behavior by about 8 years of age.

An embodied semantic processing effect on eye gaze during sentence reading

AbstractThe present research examines the effects of body-object interaction (BOI) on eye gaze behaviour in a reading task. BOI measures perceptions of the ease with which a human body can physically interact with a word's referent. A set of high BOI words (e.g. cat) and a set of low BOI words (e.g. sun) were selected, matched on imageability and concreteness (as well as other lexical and semantic variables). Facilitatory BOI effects were observed: gaze durations and total fixation durations were shorter for high BOI words, and participants made fewer regressions to high BOI words. The results provide evidence of a BOI effect on non-manual responses and in a situation that taps normal reading processes. We discuss how the results (a) suggest that stored motor information (as measured by BOI ratings) is relevant to lexical semantics, and (b) are consistent with an embodied view of cognition (Wilson 2002).

The influence of print exposure on the body-object interaction effect in visual word recognition.

We examined the influence of print exposure on the body-object interaction (BOI) effect in visual word recognition. High print exposure readers and low print exposure readers either made semantic categorizations (“Is the word easily imageable?”; Experiment 1) or phonological lexical decisions (“Does the item sound like a real English word?”; Experiment 2). The results from Experiment 1 showed that there was a larger BOI effect for the low print exposure readers than for the high print exposure readers in semantic categorization, though an effect was observed for both print exposure groups. However, the results from Experiment 2 showed that the BOI effect was observed only for the high print exposure readers in phonological lexical decision. The results of the present study suggest that print exposure does influence the BOI effect, and that this influence varies as a function of task demands.

Flexible recruitment of semantic richness: context modulates body-object interaction effects in lexical-semantic processing

Body-object interaction (BOI) is a semantic richness variable that measures the perceived ease with which the human body can physically interact with a word's referent. Lexical and semantic processing is facilitated when words are associated with relatively more bodily experience. To date, BOI effects have only been examined in the context of one semantic categorization task (SCT; is it imageable?). It has been argued that semantic processing is dynamic and can be modulated by context. We examined these influences by testing how task knowledge modulated BOI effects. Participants discriminated between the same sets of entity (high- and low-BOI) and action words in each of four SCTs. Task framing was manipulated: participants were told about one (is it an action? vs. is it an entity?) or both (action or entity? vs. entity or action?) categories of words in the decision task. Facilitatory BOI effects were only observed when participants knew that “entity” was part of the decision category. That BOI information was only useful when participants had expectations that entity words would be presented suggests a strong role for the decision context in lexical-semantic processing, and supports a dynamic view of conceptual knowledge.

The neural correlates of the body-object interaction effect in semantic processing.

The semantic richness dimension referred to as body-object interaction (BOI) measures perceptions of the ease with which people can physically interact with words' referents. Previous studies have shown facilitated lexical and semantic processing for words rated high in BOI, e.g., belt, than for words rated low in BOI, e.g., sun. These BOI effects have been taken as evidence that embodied information is relevant to word recognition (Siakaluk et al., 2008a). However, to date there is no evidence linking BOI manipulations to differences in the utilization of perceptual or sensorimotor areas of the brain. The current study used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the neural correlates of BOI in a semantic categorization task (SCT). Sixteen healthy adults participated. Results showed that high BOI words were associated with activation in the left inferior parietal lobule (supramarginal gyrus, BA 40), a sensory association area involved in kinesthetic memory. These results provide evidence that the BOI dimension captures the relative availability of sensorimotor information, and that this contributes to semantic processing.

Effects of Emotional and Sensorimotor Knowledge in Semantic Processing of Concrete and Abstract Nouns

There is much empirical evidence that words’ relative imageability and body-object interaction (BOI) facilitate lexical processing for concrete nouns (e.g., Bennett et al., 2011). These findings are consistent with a grounded cognition framework (e.g., Barsalou, 2008), in which sensorimotor knowledge is integral to lexical processing. In the present study, we examined whether lexical processing is also sensitive to the dimension of emotional experience (i.e., the ease with which words evoke emotional experience), which is also derived from a grounded cognition framework. We examined the effects of emotional experience, imageability, and BOI in semantic categorization for concrete and abstract nouns. Our results indicate that for concrete nouns, emotional experience was associated with less accurate categorization, whereas imageability and BOI were associated with faster and more accurate categorization. For abstract nouns, emotional experience was associated with faster and more accurate categorization, whereas BOI was associated with slower and less accurate categorization. This pattern of results was observed even with many other lexical and semantic dimensions statistically controlled. These findings are consistent with Vigliocco et al.’s (2009) theory of semantic representation, which states that emotional knowledge underlies meanings for abstract concepts, whereas sensorimotor knowledge underlies meanings for concrete concepts.

Imageability and body–object interaction ratings for 599 multisyllabic nouns

We collected imageability and body-object interaction (BOI) ratings for 599 multisyllabic nouns. We then examined the effects of these variables on a subset of these items in picture-naming, word-naming, lexical decision, and semantic categorization. Picture-naming latencies were taken from the International Picture-Naming Project database (Szekely, Jacobsen, D'Amico, Devescovi, Andonova, Herron, et al. Journal of Memory and Language, 51, 247-250, 2004), word-naming and lexical decision latencies were taken from the English Lexicon Project database (Balota, Yap, Cortese, Hutchison, Kessler, Loftis, et al. Behavior Research Methods, 39, 445-459, 2007), and we collected semantic categorization latencies. Results from hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that imageability and BOI separately accounted for unique latency variability in each task, even with several other predictor variables (e.g., print frequency, number of syllables and morphemes, age of acquisition) entered first in the analyses. These ratings should be useful to researchers interested in manipulating or controlling for the effects of imageability and BOI for multisyllabic stimuli in lexical and semantic tasks.

Embodied semantic processing: The body-object interaction effect in a non-manual task

AbstractBody-object interaction (BOI) measures people's perceptions of the ease with which a human body can physically interact with a word's referent. Facilitatory BOI effects, involving faster responses for high BOI words, have been reported in a number of visual word recognition tasks using button press responses. Since BOI effects have only been observed in button-press tasks, it is possible that the effects may be due to priming by high BOI words of the motor system, rather than activation of stored motor information in the lexical semantic system. If this hypothesis is correct, BOI effects should not be observed in tasks using verbal responses. We tested this hypothesis in three versions of a go/no-go semantic categorization task: one version required button press responses, whereas the other two versions required verbal responses. Contrary to the motor priming hypothesis, we observed facilitatory BOI effects in all three versions of the semantic categorization task. These results support the inference that stored motor information is indeed an important component of the lexical semantic system.

Body—object interaction ratings for 1,618 monosyllabic nouns

Body-object interaction (BOI) assesses the ease with which a human body can physically interact with a word's referent. Recent research has shown that BOI influences visual word recognition processes in such a way that responses to high-BOI words (e.g., couch) are faster and less error prone than responses to low-BOI words (e.g., cliff). Importantly, the high-BOI words and the low-BOI words that were used in those studies were matched on imageability. In the present study, we collected BOI ratings for a large set of words. BOI ratings, on a 1-7 scale, were obtained for 1,618 monosyllabic nouns. These ratings allowed us to test the generalizability of BOI effects to a large set of items, and they should be useful to researchers who are interested in manipulating or controlling for the effects of BOI. The body-object interaction ratings for this study may be downloaded from the Psychonomic Society's Archive of Norms, Stimuli, and Data, www.psychonomic.org/archive.

The Benefits of Sensorimotor Knowledge: Body–Object Interaction Facilitates Semantic Processing

This article examined the effects of body-object interaction (BOI) on semantic processing. BOI measures perceptions of the ease with which a human body can physically interact with a word's referent. In Experiment 1, BOI effects were examined in 2 semantic categorization tasks (SCT) in which participants decided if words are easily imageable. Responses were faster and more accurate for high BOI words (e.g., mask) than for low BOI words (e.g., ship). In Experiment 2, BOI effects were examined in a semantic lexical decision task (SLDT), which taps both semantic feedback and semantic processing. The BOI effect was larger in the SLDT than in the SCT, suggesting that BOI facilitates both semantic feedback and semantic processing. The findings are consistent with the embodied cognition perspective (e.g., Barsalou's, 1999, Perceptual Symbols Theory), which proposes that sensorimotor interactions with the environment are incorporated in semantic knowledge.

Evidence for the activation of sensorimotor information during visual word recognition: The body–object interaction effect

We examined the effects of sensorimotor experience in two visual word recognition tasks. Body–object interaction (BOI) ratings were collected for a large set of words. These ratings assess perceptions of the ease with which a human body can physically interact with a word’s referent. A set of high BOI words (e.g., mask) and a set of low BOI words (e.g., ship) were created, matched on imageability and concreteness. Facilitatory BOI effects were observed in lexical decision and phonological lexical decision tasks: responses were faster for high BOI words than for low BOI words. We discuss how our findings may be accounted for by (a) semantic feedback within the visual word recognition system, and (b) an embodied view of cognition (e.g., Barsalou’s perceptual symbol systems theory), which proposes that semantic knowledge is grounded in sensorimotor interactions with the environment.