TY - JOUR

T1 - A taste of words

T2 - linguistic context and perceptual simulation predict the modality of words

AU - Louwerse, Max

AU - Connell, Louise

PY - 2011/3

Y1 - 2011/3

N2 - Previous studies have shown that object properties are processed faster when they follow properties from the same perceptual modality than properties from different modalities. These findings suggest that language activates sensorimotor processes, which, according to those studies, can only be explained by a modal account of cognition. The current paper shows how a statistical linguistic approach of word co-occurrences can also reliably predict the category of perceptual modality a word belongs to (auditory, olfactory-gustatory, visual-haptic), even though the statistical linguistic approach is less precise than the modal approach (auditory, gustatory, haptic, olfactory, visual). Moreover, the statistical linguistic approach is compared with the modal embodied approach in an experiment in which participants verify properties that share or shift modalities. Response times suggest that fast responses can best be explained by the linguistic account, whereas slower responses can best be explained by the embodied account. These results provide further evidence for the theory that conceptual processing is both linguistic and embodied, whereby less precise linguistic processes precede precise simulation processes.

AB - Previous studies have shown that object properties are processed faster when they follow properties from the same perceptual modality than properties from different modalities. These findings suggest that language activates sensorimotor processes, which, according to those studies, can only be explained by a modal account of cognition. The current paper shows how a statistical linguistic approach of word co-occurrences can also reliably predict the category of perceptual modality a word belongs to (auditory, olfactory-gustatory, visual-haptic), even though the statistical linguistic approach is less precise than the modal approach (auditory, gustatory, haptic, olfactory, visual). Moreover, the statistical linguistic approach is compared with the modal embodied approach in an experiment in which participants verify properties that share or shift modalities. Response times suggest that fast responses can best be explained by the linguistic account, whereas slower responses can best be explained by the embodied account. These results provide further evidence for the theory that conceptual processing is both linguistic and embodied, whereby less precise linguistic processes precede precise simulation processes.

KW - Concepts

KW - Embodied cognition

KW - Linguistic Context

KW - Modality-switch effect

KW - Perceptual simulation

KW - Property verification

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79751512030&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/j.1551-6709.2010.01157.x

DO - 10.1111/j.1551-6709.2010.01157.x

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 21429005

VL - 35

SP - 381

EP - 398

JO - Cognitive Science

JF - Cognitive Science

SN - 1551-6709

IS - 2

ER -