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Kaup B, Ulrich R, Bausenhart KM, Bryce D, Butz MV, Dignath D, Dudschig C, Franz VH, Friedrich C, Gawrilow C, Heller J, Huff M, Hütter M, Janczyk M, Leuthold H, Mallot H, Nürk HC, Ramscar M, Said N, Svaldi J, Wong HY. Modal and amodal cognition: an overarching principle in various domains of psychology. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2024; 88:307-337. [PMID: 37847268 PMCID: PMC10857976 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-023-01878-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2023] [Accepted: 09/17/2023] [Indexed: 10/18/2023]
Abstract
Accounting for how the human mind represents the internal and external world is a crucial feature of many theories of human cognition. Central to this question is the distinction between modal as opposed to amodal representational formats. It has often been assumed that one but not both of these two types of representations underlie processing in specific domains of cognition (e.g., perception, mental imagery, and language). However, in this paper, we suggest that both formats play a major role in most cognitive domains. We believe that a comprehensive theory of cognition requires a solid understanding of these representational formats and their functional roles within and across different domains of cognition, the developmental trajectory of these representational formats, and their role in dysfunctional behavior. Here we sketch such an overarching perspective that brings together research from diverse subdisciplines of psychology on modal and amodal representational formats so as to unravel their functional principles and their interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Kaup
- Department of Psychology, Fachbereich Psychologie, University of Tübingen, Schleichstr. 4, 72076, Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Rolf Ulrich
- Department of Psychology, Fachbereich Psychologie, University of Tübingen, Schleichstr. 4, 72076, Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Karin M Bausenhart
- Department of Psychology, Fachbereich Psychologie, University of Tübingen, Schleichstr. 4, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Donna Bryce
- Department of Psychology, Fachbereich Psychologie, University of Tübingen, Schleichstr. 4, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
- Department of Psychology, University of Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany
| | - Martin V Butz
- Department of Psychology, Fachbereich Psychologie, University of Tübingen, Schleichstr. 4, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
- Department of Computer Science, University of Tübingen, Sand 14, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - David Dignath
- Department of Psychology, Fachbereich Psychologie, University of Tübingen, Schleichstr. 4, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Carolin Dudschig
- Department of Psychology, Fachbereich Psychologie, University of Tübingen, Schleichstr. 4, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Volker H Franz
- Department of Computer Science, University of Tübingen, Sand 14, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Claudia Friedrich
- Department of Psychology, Fachbereich Psychologie, University of Tübingen, Schleichstr. 4, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Caterina Gawrilow
- Department of Psychology, Fachbereich Psychologie, University of Tübingen, Schleichstr. 4, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Jürgen Heller
- Department of Psychology, Fachbereich Psychologie, University of Tübingen, Schleichstr. 4, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Markus Huff
- Department of Psychology, Fachbereich Psychologie, University of Tübingen, Schleichstr. 4, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
- Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Mandy Hütter
- Department of Psychology, Fachbereich Psychologie, University of Tübingen, Schleichstr. 4, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Markus Janczyk
- Department of Psychology, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
| | - Hartmut Leuthold
- Department of Psychology, Fachbereich Psychologie, University of Tübingen, Schleichstr. 4, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Hanspeter Mallot
- Department of Biology, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 28, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Hans-Christoph Nürk
- Department of Psychology, Fachbereich Psychologie, University of Tübingen, Schleichstr. 4, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Michael Ramscar
- Department of Psychology, Fachbereich Psychologie, University of Tübingen, Schleichstr. 4, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Nadia Said
- Department of Psychology, Fachbereich Psychologie, University of Tübingen, Schleichstr. 4, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Jennifer Svaldi
- Department of Psychology, Fachbereich Psychologie, University of Tübingen, Schleichstr. 4, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
- German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), partner site, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Hong Yu Wong
- Department of Philosophy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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Zhou T, Li Y, Liu H, Zhou S, Wang T. N400 Indexing the Motion Concept Shared by Music and Words. Front Psychol 2022; 13:888226. [PMID: 35837648 PMCID: PMC9275656 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.888226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2022] [Accepted: 05/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The two event-related potentials (ERP) studies investigated how verbs and nouns were processed in different music priming conditions in order to reveal whether the motion concept via embodiment can be stimulated and evoked across categories. Study 1 (Tasks 1 and 2) tested the processing of verbs (action verbs vs. state verbs) primed by two music types, with tempo changes (accelerating music vs. decelerating music) and without tempo changes (fast music vs. slow music) while Study 2 (Tasks 3 and 4) tested the processing of nouns (animate nouns vs. inanimate nouns) in the same priming condition as adopted in Study 1. During the experiments, participants were required to hear a piece of music prior to judging whether an ensuing word (verb or noun) is semantically congruent with the motion concept conveyed by the music. The results show that in the priming condition of music with tempo changes, state verbs and inanimate nouns elicited larger N400 amplitudes than action verbs and animate nouns, respectively in the anterior regions and anterior to central regions, whereas in the priming condition of music without tempo changes, action verbs elicited larger N400 amplitudes than state verbs and the two categories of nouns revealed no N400 difference, unexpectedly. The interactions between music and words were significant only in Tasks 1, 2, and 3. Taken together, the results demonstrate that firstly, music with tempo changes and music without tempo prime verbs and nouns in different fashions; secondly, action verbs and animate nouns are easier to process than state verbs and inanimate nouns when primed by music with tempo changes due to the shared motion concept across categories; thirdly, bodily experience differentiates between music and words in coding (encoding and decoding) fashion but the motion concept conveyed by the two categories can be subtly extracted on the metaphorical basis, as indicated in the N400 component. Our studies reveal that music tempos can prime different word classes, favoring the notion that embodied motion concept exists across domains and adding evidence to the hypothesis that music and language share the neural mechanism of meaning processing.
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Wolter S, Dudschig C, Kaup B. Reading sentences describing high- or low-pitched auditory events: only pianists show evidence for a horizontal space-pitch association. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2016; 81:1213-1223. [PMID: 27734156 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-016-0812-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2016] [Accepted: 09/20/2016] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
This study explored differences between pianists and non-musicians during reading of sentences describing high- or low-pitched auditory events. Based on the embodied model of language comprehension, it was hypothesized that the experience of playing the piano encourages a corresponding association between high-pitched sounds and the right and low-pitched sounds and the left. This pitch-space association is assumed to become elicited during understanding of sentences describing either a high- or low-pitched auditory event. In this study, pianists and non-musicians were tested based on the hypothesis that only pianists show a compatibility effect between implied pitch height and horizontal space, because only pianists have the corresponding experience with the piano keyboard. Participants read pitch-related sentences (e.g., the bear growls deeply, the soprano singer sings an aria) and judged whether the sentence was sensible or not by pressing either a left or right response key. The results indicated that only the pianists showed the predicted compatibility effect between implied pitch height and response location. Based on the results, it can be inferred that the experience of playing the piano led to an association between horizontal space and pitch height in pianists, while no such spatial association was elicited in non-musicians.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sibylla Wolter
- Faculty of Science, Department of Psychology, University of Tübingen, Schleichstr. 4, 72076, Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Carolin Dudschig
- Faculty of Science, Department of Psychology, University of Tübingen, Schleichstr. 4, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Barbara Kaup
- Faculty of Science, Department of Psychology, University of Tübingen, Schleichstr. 4, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
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