Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Strength of perceptual experience predicts word processing performance better than concreteness or imageability
AU - Connell, Louise
AU - Lynott, Dermot
PY - 2012/12
Y1 - 2012/12
N2 - A concepts are traditionally thought to differ from concrete concepts by their lack of perceptual information, which causes them to be processed more slowly and less accurately than perceptually-based concrete concepts. In two studies, we examined this assumption by comparing concreteness and imageability ratings to a set of perceptual strength norms in five separate modalities: sound. taste, touch, smell and vision. Results showed that concreteness and imageability do not reflect the perceptual basis of concepts: concreteness ratings appear to be based on two different intersecting decision criteria, while imageability ratings are visually biased. Analysis of lexical decision and word naming performance showed that maximum perceptual strength (i.e., strength in the dominant perceptual modality) consistently outperformed both concreteness and imageability ratings in accounting for variance in response latency and accuracy. We conclude that so-called concreteness effects in word processing emerge from the perceptual strength of a concept's representation and discuss the implications for theories of conceptual representation. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
AB - A concepts are traditionally thought to differ from concrete concepts by their lack of perceptual information, which causes them to be processed more slowly and less accurately than perceptually-based concrete concepts. In two studies, we examined this assumption by comparing concreteness and imageability ratings to a set of perceptual strength norms in five separate modalities: sound. taste, touch, smell and vision. Results showed that concreteness and imageability do not reflect the perceptual basis of concepts: concreteness ratings appear to be based on two different intersecting decision criteria, while imageability ratings are visually biased. Analysis of lexical decision and word naming performance showed that maximum perceptual strength (i.e., strength in the dominant perceptual modality) consistently outperformed both concreteness and imageability ratings in accounting for variance in response latency and accuracy. We conclude that so-called concreteness effects in word processing emerge from the perceptual strength of a concept's representation and discuss the implications for theories of conceptual representation. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
KW - Concreteness effects
KW - CONTEXT AVAILABILITY
KW - FREQUENCY
KW - Situated simulation
KW - Imageability
KW - Perceptual strength
KW - SEMANTIC DEMENTIA
KW - SERIAL-RECALL
KW - NORMS
KW - LEXICAL DECISIONS
KW - IMAGERY
KW - Lexical decision
KW - MODALITY-EXCLUSIVITY
KW - Abstract and concrete concepts
KW - ABSTRACT WORDS
KW - Dual coding
KW - Context availability
KW - MRC PSYCHOLINGUISTIC DATABASE
KW - Word naming
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84867403972&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cognition.2012.07.010
DO - 10.1016/j.cognition.2012.07.010
M3 - Journal article
VL - 125
SP - 452
EP - 465
JO - Cognition
JF - Cognition
SN - 0010-0277
IS - 3
ER -