scholarly journals Spatial and Motor Aspects in the “Action-Sentence Compatibility Effect”

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Greco

The Action-sentence Compatibility Effect (ACE) is often taken as supporting the fundamental role of the motor system in understanding sentences that describe actions. This effect would be related to an internal “simulation,” i.e., the reactivation of past perceptual and motor experiences. However, it is not easy to establish whether this simulation predominantly involves spatial imagery or motor anticipation. In the classical ACE experiments, where a real motor response is required, the direction and motor representations are mixed. In order to disentangle spatial and motor aspects involved in the ACE, we performed six experiments in different conditions, where the motor component was always reduced, asking participants to judge the sensibility of sentences by moving a mouse, thus requiring a purely spatial representation, compatible with nonmotor interpretations. In addition, our experiments had the purpose of taking into account the possible confusion of effects of practice and of compatibility (i.e., differences in reaction times simultaneously coming from block order and opposite motion conditions). Also, in contrast to the usual paradigm, we included no-transfer filler sentences in the analysis. The ACE was not found in any experiment, a result that failed to support the idea that the ACE could be related to a simulation where spatial aspects rather than motor ones prevail. Strong practice effects were always found and were carved out from results. A surprising effect was that no-transfer sentences were processed much slower than others, perhaps revealing a sort of participants’ awareness of the structure of stimuli, i.e., their finding that some of them involved motion and others did not. The relevance of these outcomes for the embodiment theory is discussed.

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 305-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
KRISTEN SECORA ◽  
KAREN EMMOREY

abstractEmbodied theories of cognition propose that humans use sensorimotor systems in processing language. The Action-Sentence Compatibility Effect (ACE) refers to the finding that motor responses are facilitated after comprehending sentences that imply movement in the same direction. In sign languages there is a potential conflict between sensorimotor systems and linguistic semantics: movement away from the signer is perceived as motion toward the comprehender. We examined whether perceptual processing of sign movement or verb semantics modulate the ACE. Deaf ASL signers performed a semantic judgment task while viewing signed sentences expressing toward or away motion. We found a significant congruency effect relative to the verb’s semantics rather than to the perceived motion. This result indicates that (a) the motor system is involved in the comprehension of a visual–manual language, and (b) motor simulations for sign language are modulated by verb semantics rather than by the perceived visual motion of the hands.


2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nian Liu ◽  
Benjamin Bergen

AbstractEmbodied approaches to comprehension propose that understanding language entails performing mental simulations of its content. The evidence, however, is mixed. Action-sentence Compatibility Effect studies (Glenberg and Kaschak 2002) report mental simulation of motor actions during processing of motion language. But the same studies find no evidence that language comprehenders perform spatial simulations of the corresponding locations. This challenges simulation-based approaches. If locations are not represented in simulation, but are still understood, then simulation may be unnecessary for understanding. We conducted a Location-sentence Compatibility experiment, to determine whether understanders mentally simulate locations. People did indeed simulate locations, but only when sentences used progressive (and not perfect) grammatical aspect. Moreover, mental simulations of locations differed for language about concrete versus abstract events. These findings substantiate the role of mental simulation in language understanding, while highlighting the importance of the grammatical form of utterances as well as their content.


Author(s):  
Addie Dutta ◽  
Robert W. Proctor

Stimulus-response compatibility effects have been shown to persist even after extended practice. In the present study, two experiments were conducted to see if the effects persist when knowledge of results that allows subjects to set performance goals is provided. In the first experiment, summary feedback about mean accuracy and mean reaction time was provided after each block of 40 trials of practice in a two-choice spatial compatibility task. Subjects practiced the task for 2,400 trials, yet the compatibility effect was not eliminated. Compared to previous experiments, reaction times were faster overall, but the degree of change was the same for both compatible and incompatible assignments. In the second experiment, a response deadline was imposed on each trial. If the subject did not respond within the time limit, which was reduced as the experiment progressed, auditory feedback was presented. Summary feedback was also presented as in Experiment 1. Again, 2,400 trials of practice reduced but did not eliminate the compatibility effect. The greater reduction in the difference in reaction times for compatible and incompatible assignments, relative to other experiments, could be attributed to speed-accuracy tradeoff. The results indicate that the persistence of stimulus-response compatibility effects with extended practice is not due to poorer motivation to perform with the incompatible assignment. The results suggest that training will be insufficient to overcome difficulties in performance resulting from spatially incompatible assignments.


Author(s):  
Richard D. Morey ◽  
Michael P. Kaschak ◽  
Antonio M. Díez-Álamo ◽  
Arthur M. Glenberg ◽  
Rolf A. Zwaan ◽  
...  

AbstractThe Action-sentence Compatibility Effect (ACE) is a well-known demonstration of the role of motor activity in the comprehension of language. Participants are asked to make sensibility judgments on sentences by producing movements toward the body or away from the body. The ACE is the finding that movements are faster when the direction of the movement (e.g., toward) matches the direction of the action in the to-be-judged sentence (e.g., Art gave you the pen describes action toward you). We report on a pre-registered, multi-lab replication of one version of the ACE. The results show that none of the 18 labs involved in the study observed a reliable ACE, and that the meta-analytic estimate of the size of the ACE was essentially zero.


2002 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 185-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia Laurie Rose ◽  
Laura Bennett Murphy ◽  
Lynn Byard ◽  
Katherina Nikzad

Using the five‐factor personality model, the present study explored the influence of personality factors on sustained attention and perceived workload. Ninety‐six college‐aged participants were administered a 12 minute vigilance fast event rate task. Following the vigil, participants were asked to first, rate their perceived workload of the task using the NASA‐TLX, and then second, complete the NEO‐PI‐R personality inventory. Traditional measures of hits, false alarms, and reaction times were examined as well as the signal detection indices of perceptual sensitivity and response bias. Extraversion correlated with false alarms (r = 0.181; eta2 = 0.055) and conscientiousness correlated with both false alarms (r = −0.275, eta2 = 0.097) and perceptual sensitivity (r = 0.227, eta2 = 0.052). With regard to perceived workload, neuroticism was related to perceived frustration (r = 0.238, eta2 = 0.057). The findings are discussed in terms of theoretical implications, impact of task parameters, and practical applications. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina Chamine ◽  
Barry S. Oken

Objective. Stress-reducing therapies help maintain cognitive performance during stress. Aromatherapy is popular for stress reduction, but its effectiveness and mechanism are unclear. This study examined stress-reducing effects of aromatherapy on cognitive function using the go/no-go (GNG) task performance and event related potentials (ERP) components sensitive to stress. The study also assessed the importance of expectancy in aromatherapy actions.Methods. 81 adults were randomized to 3 aroma groups (active experimental, detectable, and undetectable placebo) and 2 prime subgroups (prime suggesting stress-reducing aroma effects or no-prime). GNG performance, ERPs, subjective expected aroma effects, and stress ratings were assessed at baseline and poststress.Results. No specific aroma effects on stress or cognition were observed. However, regardless of experienced aroma, people receiving a prime displayed faster poststress median reaction times than those receiving no prime. A significant interaction for N200 amplitude indicated divergent ERP patterns between baseline and poststress for go and no-go stimuli depending on the prime subgroup. Furthermore, trends for beneficial prime effects were shown on poststress no-go N200/P300 latencies and N200 amplitude.Conclusion. While there were no aroma-specific effects on stress or cognition, these results highlight the role of expectancy for poststress response inhibition and attention.


2005 ◽  
Vol 93 (1) ◽  
pp. 519-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masayuki Watanabe ◽  
Yasushi Kobayashi ◽  
Yuka Inoue ◽  
Tadashi Isa

To examine the role of competitive and cooperative neural interactions within the intermediate layer of superior colliculus (SC), we elevated the basal SC neuronal activity by locally injecting a cholinergic agonist nicotine and analyzed its effects on saccade performance. After microinjection, spontaneous saccades were directed toward the movement field of neurons at the injection site (affected area). For visually guided saccades, reaction times were decreased when targets were presented close to the affected area. However, when visual targets were presented remote from the affected area, reaction times were not increased regardless of the rostrocaudal level of the injection sites. The endpoints of visually guided saccades were biased toward the affected area when targets were presented close to the affected area. After this endpoint effect diminished, the trajectories of visually guided saccades remained modestly curved toward the affected area. Compared with the effects on endpoints, the effects on reaction times were more localized to the targets close to the affected area. These results are consistent with a model that saccades are triggered by the activities of neurons within a restricted region, and the endpoints and trajectories of the saccades are determined by the widespread population activity in the SC. However, because increased reaction times were not observed for saccades toward targets remote from the affected area, inhibitory interactions in the SC may not be strong enough to shape the spatial distribution of the low-frequency preparatory activities in the SC.


Author(s):  
Claire Moyse-Faurie

This chapter investigates the main grammaticalization processes found in Oceanic languages. In connection with verbs of posture and localization (‘sit’, ‘be at a place’), of motion (‘go up/down’, ‘come’, ‘return’, ‘follow’) and with verbs such as ‘take’, ‘make’, ‘do’ as sources, different paths of development will be described that give rise to various grammatical morphemes, often preserving the original function and meaning of the verb. A few cases of grammaticalization involving nouns, as well as cases of relexification and unusual developments such as ‘degrammation’, will be discussed as well. The perspective of my analysis will be both a typological and a semantic one, underlining the importance of spatial representation, the contribution of serial verb constructions, and the role of metonymy and reanalysis in the grammaticalization processes found in Oceanic languages.


2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 835-852 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikhail Ordin ◽  
Leona Polyanskaya ◽  
David Maximiliano Gómez ◽  
Arthur G. Samuel

Purpose We investigated whether rhythm discrimination is mainly driven by the native language of the listener or by the fundamental design of the human auditory system and universal cognitive mechanisms shared by all people irrespective of rhythmic patterns in their native language. Method In multiple experiments, we asked participants to listen to 2 continuous acoustic sequences and to determine whether their rhythms were the same or different (AX discrimination). Participants were native speakers of 4 languages with different rhythmic properties (Spanish, French, English, and German) to understand whether the predominant rhythmic patterns of a native language affect sensitivity, bias, and reaction time in detecting rhythmic changes in linguistic (Experiment 2) and in nonlinguistic (Experiments 1 and 2) acoustic sequences. We examined sensitivity and bias measures, as well as reaction times. We also computed Bayes factors in order to assess the effect of native language. Results All listeners performed better (i.e., responded faster and manifested higher sensitivity and accuracy) when detecting the presence or absence of a rhythm change when the 1st stimulus in an AX test pair exhibited regular rhythm (i.e., a syllable-timed rhythmic pattern) than when the 1st stimulus exhibited irregular rhythm (i.e., stress-timed rhythmic pattern). This result pattern was observed both on linguistic and nonlinguistic stimuli and was not modulated by the native language of the participant. Conclusion We conclude that rhythm change detection is a fundamental function of a processing system that relies on general auditory mechanisms and is not modulated by linguistic experience.


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