Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Cultural Industries, University of Parma.
Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma.
Cogn Sci. 2021 Mar;45(3):e12953. doi: 10.1111/cogs.12953.
We performed three experiments to investigate whether adjectives can modulate the sensorimotor activation elicited by nouns. In Experiment 1, nouns of graspable objects were used as stimuli. Participants had to decide if each noun referred to a natural or artifact, by performing either a precision or a power reach-to-grasp movement. Response grasp could be compatible or incompatible with the grasp typically used to manipulate the objects to which the nouns referred. The results revealed faster reaction times (RTs) in compatible than in incompatible trials. In Experiment 2, the nouns were combined with adjectives expressing either disadvantageous information about object graspability (e.g., sharp) or information about object color (e.g., reddish). No difference in RTs between compatible and incompatible conditions was found when disadvantageous adjectives were used. Conversely, a compatibility effect occurred when color adjectives were combined with nouns referring to natural objects. Finally, in Experiment 3 the nouns were combined with adjectives expressing tactile or shape proprieties of the objects (e.g., long or smooth). Results revealed faster RTs in compatible than in incompatible condition for both noun categories. Taken together, our findings suggest that adjectives can shape the sensorimotor activation elicited by nouns of graspable objects, highlighting that language simulation goes beyond the single-word level.
我们进行了三项实验，旨在探究形容词是否能够调节名词所引发的感觉运动激活。在实验 1 中，我们使用可抓取物体的名词作为刺激。参与者需要通过执行精准或用力伸手抓握动作，来判断每个名词是指自然物体还是人造物体。反应抓握可以与名词所指物体的典型抓握方式相匹配，也可以不匹配。结果显示，在匹配条件下，参与者的反应时间更快。在实验 2 中，我们将名词与形容词组合，形容词表达的信息要么是关于物体可抓取性的不利信息（例如，sharp），要么是关于物体颜色的信息（例如，reddish）。当使用不利形容词时，在匹配和不匹配条件下，反应时间没有差异。相反，当形容词与指称自然物体的名词结合时，就会出现兼容性效应。最后，在实验 3 中，我们将名词与形容词组合，形容词表达的是物体的触觉或形状属性（例如，long 或 smooth）。结果表明，对于这两类名词，在匹配条件下，参与者的反应时间都更快。综合来看，我们的研究结果表明，形容词可以塑造可抓取物体名词所引发的感觉运动激活，突出了语言模拟不仅限于单个单词的层面。
