Consequences of Sensory Modality for Perspective-Taking: Comparing Visual, Olfactory and Gustatory Perception

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.701486 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Elsi Kaiser

Keyword(s):

Language Comprehension ◽

Perspective Taking ◽

Formal Semantics ◽

Sensory Modality ◽

Prior Work ◽

Modality Effects ◽

Context Dependent ◽

Gustatory Perception ◽

Taste And Smell

Perspective-taking is fundamental for language comprehension, including the interpretation of subjective adjectives (e.g., fun, tasty, and amazing). To understand these adjectives, one needs to know whose opinion is being conveyed—in other words, who is the attitude-holder or perspectival center. Although the perspective-sensitivity of subjective adjectives has received considerable attention in prior work in formal semantics, potential effects of sensory modality (e.g., sight, taste, and smell) on the process of attitude-holder identification have not been systematically investigated. This paper reports a series of studies testing whether interpretation of subjective adjectives depends on whether they refer to the visual, olfactory (smell) vs. gustatory (taste) domains. The results provide evidence that sensory modality has a significant impact on the process of identifying the attitude-holder. This outcome suggests that perspective-sensitivity is highly context-dependent, and the observed modality effects align well with the biological and social properties of sight, taste, and smell.

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When You're Happy and I Know It: Four-Year-Olds’ Emotional Perspective Taking During Online Language Comprehension

Child Development ◽

10.1111/cdev.12855 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 89 (6) ◽

pp. 2264-2281 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Melanie Khu ◽

Craig Chambers ◽

Susan A. Graham

Keyword(s):

Language Comprehension ◽

Perspective Taking

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Assessing visual requirements for social context-dependent activation of the songbird song system

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2008.1138 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 276 (1655) ◽

pp. 279-289 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Erina Hara ◽

Lubica Kubikova ◽

Neal A Hessler ◽

Erich D Jarvis

Keyword(s):

Social Context ◽

Driving Forces ◽

Sensory Modality ◽

Brain Activation ◽

Visual Input ◽

Related Area ◽

The Social ◽

Wide Range ◽

Context Dependent ◽

The Brain

Social context has been shown to have a profound influence on brain activation in a wide range of vertebrate species. Best studied in songbirds, when males sing undirected song, the level of neural activity and expression of immediate early genes (IEGs) in several song nuclei is dramatically higher or lower than when they sing directed song to other birds, particularly females. This differential social context-dependent activation is independent of auditory input and is not simply dependent on the motor act of singing. These findings suggested that the critical sensory modality driving social context-dependent differences in the brain could be visual cues. Here, we tested this hypothesis by examining IEG activation in song nuclei in hemispheres to which visual input was normal or blocked. We found that covering one eye blocked visually induced IEG expression throughout both contralateral visual pathways of the brain, and reduced activation of the contralateral ventral tegmental area, a non-visual midbrain motivation-related area affected by social context. However, blocking visual input had no effect on the social context-dependent activation of the contralateral song nuclei during female-directed singing. Our findings suggest that individual sensory modalities are not direct driving forces for the social context differences in song nuclei during singing. Rather, these social context differences in brain activation appear to depend more on the general sense that another individual is present.

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Context-dependent motor simulation in language comprehension

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e520562012-551 ◽

2009 ◽

Author(s):

Wessel O. van Dam ◽

Shirley-Ann Rueschemeyer ◽

Harold Bekkering

Keyword(s):

Language Comprehension ◽

Motor Simulation ◽

Context Dependent

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Spatial perspective-taking: insights from sensory impairments

Experimental Brain Research ◽

10.1007/s00221-021-06221-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Xavier E. Job ◽

Louise P. Kirsch ◽

Malika Auvray

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Ability ◽

Perspective Taking ◽

Object Representation ◽

Sensory Modality ◽

Sensory Loss ◽

Spatial Perspective ◽

Sensory Impairments ◽

The Face ◽

Spatial Perspective Taking

AbstractInformation can be perceived from a multiplicity of spatial perspectives, which is central to effectively understanding and interacting with our environment and other people. Sensory impairments such as blindness are known to impact spatial representations and perspective-taking is often thought of as a visual process. However, disturbed functioning of other sensory systems (e.g., vestibular, proprioceptive and auditory) can also influence spatial perspective-taking. These lines of research remain largely separate, yet together they may shed new light on the role that each sensory modality plays in this core cognitive ability. The findings to date reveal that spatial cognitive processes may be differently affected by various types of sensory loss. The visual system may be crucial for the development of efficient allocentric (object-to-object) representation; however, the role of vision in adopting another’s spatial perspective remains unclear. On the other hand, the vestibular and the proprioceptive systems likely play an important role in anchoring the perceived self to the physical body, thus facilitating imagined self-rotations required to adopt another’s spatial perspective. Findings regarding the influence of disturbed auditory functioning on perspective-taking are so far inconclusive and thus await further data. This review highlights that spatial perspective-taking is a highly plastic cognitive ability, as the brain is often able to compensate in the face of different sensory loss.

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Sensory-modality effects on shape perception in preschool children.

Developmental Psychology ◽

10.1037/h0030039 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 3 (3, Pt.1) ◽

pp. 358-362 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

J. L. DeLeon ◽

L. M. Rasking ◽

G. E. Gruen

Keyword(s):

Preschool Children ◽

Sensory Modality ◽

Shape Perception ◽

Modality Effects

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Understanding Sentences in Context

Current Directions in Psychological Science ◽

10.1111/j.1467-8721.2008.00609.x ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 17 (6) ◽

pp. 376-380 ◽

Cited By ~ 49

Author(s):

Jos J.A. Van Berkum

Keyword(s):

Language Comprehension ◽

Information Sources ◽

Human Condition ◽

The Other ◽

Brain Potentials ◽

Brain Waves ◽

Context Dependent ◽

The Human Condition

Language comprehension looks pretty easy. You pick up a novel and simply enjoy the plot, or ponder the human condition. You strike a conversation and listen to whatever the other person has to say. Although what you're taking in is a bunch of letters and sounds, what you really perceive—if all goes well—is meaning. But how do you get from one to the other so easily? The experiments with brain waves (event-related brain potentials or ERPs) reviewed here show that the linguistic brain rapidly draws upon a wide variety of information sources, including prior text and inferences about the speaker. Furthermore, people anticipate what might be said about whom, they use heuristics to arrive at the earliest possible interpretation, and if it makes sense, they sometimes even ignore the grammar. Language comprehension is opportunistic, proactive, and, above all, immediately context-dependent.

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