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Fischer MH. On the embodied nature of knowledge: From neurons to numbers. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2024; 1537:5-12. [PMID: 38943430 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.15182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/01/2024]
Abstract
Interdisciplinary investigations of the human mind through the cognitive sciences have identified a key role of the body in representing knowledge. After characterizing knowledge at grounded, embodied, and situated levels, number knowledge is analyzed from this hierarchical perspective. Lateralized cortical processing of coarse versus fine detail is identified as a grounding substrate for the population stereotype few/left, many/right, which then contributes to number-related sensory and motor biases at the embodied and situated levels. Implications of this perspective for education and rehabilitation are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin H Fischer
- Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
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2
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Friedrich J, Fischer MH, Raab M. Invariant representations in abstract concept grounding - the physical world in grounded cognition. Psychon Bull Rev 2024:10.3758/s13423-024-02522-3. [PMID: 38806790 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-024-02522-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/26/2024] [Indexed: 05/30/2024]
Abstract
Grounded cognition states that mental representations of concepts consist of experiential aspects. For example, the concept "cup" consists of the sensorimotor experiences from interactions with cups. Typical modalities in which concepts are grounded are: The sensorimotor system (including interoception), emotion, action, language, and social aspects. Here, we argue that this list should be expanded to include physical invariants (unchanging features of physical motion; e.g., gravity, momentum, friction). Research on physical reasoning consistently demonstrates that physical invariants are represented as fundamentally as other grounding substrates, and therefore should qualify. We assess several theories of concept representation (simulation, conceptual metaphor, conceptual spaces, predictive processing) and their positions on physical invariants. We find that the classic grounded cognition theories, simulation and conceptual metaphor theory, have not considered physical invariants, while conceptual spaces and predictive processing have. We conclude that physical invariants should be included into grounded cognition theories, and that the core mechanisms of simulation and conceptual metaphor theory are well suited to do this. Furthermore, conceptual spaces and predictive processing are very promising and should also be integrated with grounded cognition in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jannis Friedrich
- German Sport University Cologne, Germany, Am Sportpark Müngersdorf 6, 50933, Cologne, Germany.
| | - Martin H Fischer
- Psychology Department, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse 24-25, House 14 D - 14476, Potsdam-Golm, Germany
| | - Markus Raab
- German Sport University Cologne, Germany, Am Sportpark Müngersdorf 6, 50933, Cologne, Germany
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3
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Malyshevskaya A, Miklashevsky A, Fischer MH, Scheepers C, Shtyrov Y, Myachykov A. Keeping track of time: Horizontal spatial biases for hours, days, and months. Mem Cognit 2024; 52:894-908. [PMID: 38153647 PMCID: PMC11111500 DOI: 10.3758/s13421-023-01508-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 12/29/2023]
Abstract
In many Western cultures, the processing of temporal words related to the past and to the future is associated with left and right space, respectively - a phenomenon known as the horizontal Mental Time Line (MTL). While this mapping is apparently quite ubiquitous, its regularity and consistency across different types of temporal concepts remain to be determined. Moreover, it is unclear whether such spatial mappings are an essential and early constituent of concept activation. In the present study, we used words denoting time units at different scales (hours of the day, days of the week, months of the year) associated with either left space (e.g., 9 a.m., Monday, February) or right space (e.g., 8 p.m., Saturday, November) as cues in a line bisection task. Fifty-seven healthy adults listened to temporal words and then moved a mouse cursor to the perceived midpoint of a horizontally presented line. We measured movement trajectories, initial line intersection coordinates, and final bisection response coordinates. We found movement trajectory displacements for left- vs. right-biasing hour and day cues. Initial line intersections were biased specifically by month cues, while final bisection responses were biased specifically by hour cues. Our findings offer general support to the notion of horizontal space-time associations and suggest further investigation of the exact chronometry and strength of this association across individual time units.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anastasia Malyshevskaya
- Potsdam Embodied Cognition Group, Cognitive Sciences, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24/25, D-14476, Potsdam-Golm, Germany.
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Krivokolenniy Pereulok 3, Entrance 2, Moscow, Russian Federation, 101000.
| | - Alex Miklashevsky
- Potsdam Embodied Cognition Group, Cognitive Sciences, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24/25, D-14476, Potsdam-Golm, Germany
| | - Martin H Fischer
- Potsdam Embodied Cognition Group, Cognitive Sciences, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24/25, D-14476, Potsdam-Golm, Germany
| | - Christoph Scheepers
- School of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, 62 Hillhead Street, Glasgow, G12 8QB, UK
| | - Yury Shtyrov
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Institute for Clinical Medicine Aarhus University, Universitetsbyen 3, bldg 1719, 8000, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Andriy Myachykov
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Northumberland Building, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK
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Dalmaso M, Pileggi S, Vicovaro M. Face Age is Mapped Into Three-Dimensional Space. Cogn Sci 2023; 47:e13374. [PMID: 37950541 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.13374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Revised: 09/28/2023] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023]
Abstract
People can represent temporal stimuli (e.g., pictures depicting past and future events) as spatially connoted dimensions arranged along the three main axes (horizontal, sagittal, and vertical). For example, past and future events are generally represented, from the perspective of the individuals, as being placed behind and in front of them, respectively. Here, we report that such a 3D representation can also emerge for facial stimuli of different ages. In three experiments, participants classified a central target face, representing an individual at different age stages, as younger or older than the reference face of 40 years. Manual responses were provided with two keys placed along the horizontal axis (Experiment 1), the sagittal axis (Experiment 2), and the vertical axis (Experiment 3). The results indicated that the younger faces were represented on the left/back/top side of the space, whereas the older faces were represented on the right/forward/bottom side of the space. Furthermore, in all experiments, the latencies decreased with the absolute difference between the age of the target face and that of the reference face (i.e., a distance effect). Overall, this work suggests that the spatial representation of time includes social features of the human face.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mario Dalmaso
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova
| | - Stefano Pileggi
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova
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Körner A, Castillo M, Drijvers L, Fischer MH, Günther F, Marelli M, Platonova O, Rinaldi L, Shaki S, Trujillo JP, Tsaregorodtseva O, Glenberg AM. Embodied Processing at Six Linguistic Granularity Levels: A Consensus Paper. J Cogn 2023; 6:60. [PMID: 37841668 PMCID: PMC10573585 DOI: 10.5334/joc.231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2022] [Accepted: 06/13/2022] [Indexed: 10/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Language processing is influenced by sensorimotor experiences. Here, we review behavioral evidence for embodied and grounded influences in language processing across six linguistic levels of granularity. We examine (a) sub-word features, discussing grounded influences on iconicity (systematic associations between word form and meaning); (b) words, discussing boundary conditions and generalizations for the simulation of color, sensory modality, and spatial position; (c) sentences, discussing boundary conditions and applications of action direction simulation; (d) texts, discussing how the teaching of simulation can improve comprehension in beginning readers; (e) conversations, discussing how multi-modal cues improve turn taking and alignment; and (f) text corpora, discussing how distributional semantic models can reveal how grounded and embodied knowledge is encoded in texts. These approaches are converging on a convincing account of the psychology of language, but at the same time, there are important criticisms of the embodied approach and of specific experimental paradigms. The surest way forward requires the adoption of a wide array of scientific methods. By providing complimentary evidence, a combination of multiple methods on various levels of granularity can help us gain a more complete understanding of the role of embodiment and grounding in language processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anita Körner
- Department of Psychology, University of Kassel, DE
| | - Mauricio Castillo
- Center for Basic Research in Psychology, University of the Republic of Uruguay, UY
| | | | | | - Fritz Günther
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, DE
| | - Marco Marelli
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, IT
| | | | - Luca Rinaldi
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, IT
| | - Samuel Shaki
- Department of Behavioral Sciences, Ariel University, IL
| | - James P. Trujillo
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, NL
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, NL
| | - Oksana Tsaregorodtseva
- Department of Psychology, University of Tübingen, DE
- Linguistic Anthropology Laboratory, Tomsk State University, RU
| | - Arthur M. Glenberg
- Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, US
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, US
- INICO, Universidad de Salamanca, ES
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When time stands upright: STEARC effects along the vertical axis. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2023; 87:894-918. [PMID: 35718808 PMCID: PMC10017642 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-022-01693-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2021] [Accepted: 05/24/2022] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
According to the spatial-temporal association of response codes (STEARC) effect, time can be spatially represented from left to right. However, exploration of a possible STEARC effect along the vertical axis has yielded mixed results. Here, in six experiments based on a novel paradigm, we systematically explored whether a STEARC effect could emerge when participants were asked to classify the actual temporal duration of a visual stimulus. Speeded manual responses were provided using a vertically oriented response box. Interestingly, although a top-to-bottom time representation emerged when only two temporal durations were employed, an inverted bottom-to-top time representation emerged when a denser set of temporal durations, arranged along a continuum, was used. Moreover, no STEARC effects emerged when participants classified the shapes of visual stimuli rather than their temporal duration. Finally, three additional experiments explored the STEARC effect along the horizontal axis, confirming that the paradigm we devised successfully replicated the standard left-to-right representation of time. These results provide supporting evidence for the notion that temporal durations can be mapped along the vertical axis, and that such mapping appears to be relatively flexible.
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Borghi AM, Shaki S, Fischer MH. Abstract concepts: external influences, internal constraints, and methodological issues. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2022; 86:2370-2388. [PMID: 35788903 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-022-01698-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
There is a longstanding and widely held misconception about the relative remoteness of abstract concepts from concrete experiences. This review examines the current evidence for external influences and internal constraints on the processing, representation, and use of abstract concepts, like truth, friendship, and number. We highlight the theoretical benefit of distinguishing between grounded and embodied cognition and then ask which roles do perception, action, language, and social interaction play in acquiring, representing and using abstract concepts. By reviewing several studies, we show that they are, against the accepted definition, not detached from perception and action. Focussing on magnitude-related concepts, we also discuss evidence for cultural influences on abstract knowledge and explore how internal processes such as inner speech, metacognition, and inner bodily signals (interoception) influence the acquisition and retrieval of abstract knowledge. Finally, we discuss some methodological developments. Specifically, we focus on the importance of studies that investigate the time course of conceptual processing and we argue that, because of the paramount role of sociality for abstract concepts, new methods are necessary to study concepts in interactive situations. We conclude that bodily, linguistic, and social constraints provide important theoretical limitations for our theories of conceptual knowledge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna M Borghi
- Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, and Health Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185, Rome, Italy.
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, Italian National Research Council, 00185, Rome, Italy.
| | - Samuel Shaki
- Department of Behavioral Sciences, Ariel University, 44837, Ariel, Israel
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Ranzini M, Semenza C, Zorzi M, Cutini S. Influences of hand action on the processing of symbolic numbers: A special role of pointing? PLoS One 2022; 17:e0269557. [PMID: 35687556 PMCID: PMC9187111 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0269557] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2021] [Accepted: 05/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Embodied and grounded cognition theories state that cognitive processing is built upon sensorimotor systems. In the context of numerical cognition, support to this framework comes from the interactions between numerical processing and the hand actions of reaching and grasping documented in skilled adults. Accordingly, mechanisms for the processing of object size and location during reach and grasp actions might scaffold the development of mental representations of numerical magnitude. The present study exploited motor adaptation to test the hypothesis of a functional overlap between neurocognitive mechanisms of hand action and numerical processing. Participants performed repetitive grasping of an object, repetitive pointing, repetitive tapping, or passive viewing. Subsequently, they performed a symbolic number comparison task. Importantly, hand action and number comparison were functionally and temporally dissociated, thereby minimizing context-based effects. Results showed that executing the action of pointing slowed down the responses in number comparison. Moreover, the typical distance effect (faster responses for numbers far from the reference as compared to close ones) was not observed for small numbers after pointing, while it was enhanced by grasping. These findings confirm the functional link between hand action and numerical processing, and suggest new hypotheses on the role of pointing as a meaningful gesture in the development and embodiment of numerical skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariagrazia Ranzini
- Department of General Psychology (DPG), University of Padua, Padua, Italy
- * E-mail:
| | - Carlo Semenza
- Department of Neuroscience (DNS), University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Marco Zorzi
- Department of General Psychology (DPG), University of Padua, Padua, Italy
- IRCCS San Camillo Hospital, Venice-Lido, Italy
| | - Simone Cutini
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialisation (DPSS), University of Padua, Padua, Italy
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9
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Social Perception of Artificial Intelligence and Digitization of Cultural Heritage: Russian Context. APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/app12052712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/10/2022]
Abstract
The article considers the social perception of artificial intelligence (AI) as an essential factor having an impact on the digitization, transfer, and popularization of cultural heritage. The article aims at the theoretical comprehension of the digital ontology and implementation of AI in the context of Russian realia. The research relies on comprehensive analysis based on statistical data, using descriptive and comparative methods. The interdisciplinary approach adopted includes reflexive analysis of both positive and negative consequences of the digitalization process. The article examines the peculiarities of the “digital ontology”, deterritorization effect, new actors in the digital process, the effect of digital trust, and opposite views of AI-enthusiasts and AI-alarmists. The article describes objective and subjective reasons for the negative perception of digital artifacts, and states the need to consider the influence of key figures in digital ontology: influencers, stakeholders, and data scientists. The ambivalence of public perception of both artificial intelligence and digital cultural heritage is stated. The research reveals digitization frontiers, which involve three factors: the axiological factor, indicating the need for consistency between a human values system and AI development programs; the subject vector, emphasizing the role of a new type of digital heritage bearers and digital influence actors; ethical factor associated with the need to transform relations with information technologies in order to subordinate them to human reflection and comprehension. The authors conclude that cultural heritage digitization should be aimed at generating a human-centered future.
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Tessari A, Ottoboni G. Does the body talk to the body? The relationship between different body representations while observing others' body parts. Br J Psychol 2022; 113:758-776. [PMID: 35181883 PMCID: PMC9545991 DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12558] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2021] [Accepted: 02/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The way human bodies are represented is central in everyday activities. The cognitive system must combine internal, visceral, and somatosensory, signals to external, visually driven information generated from the spatial placement of others’ bodies and the own body in the space. However, how different body representations covertly interact among them when observing human body parts is still unclear. Therefore, we investigated the implicit processing of body parts by manipulating either the body part stimuli’ posture (conditions a and b) or the participants’ response body posture (conditions c, d, and e) in healthy participants (N = 70) using a spatial compatibility task called Sidedness task. The task requires participants to judge the colour of a circle superimposed on a task‐irrelevant body part picture. Responses are facilitated when the spatial side of the responding hand corresponds to the spatial code generated by the hand stimulus's position with respect to a body of reference. Results showed that the observation of the task‐irrelevant body parts oriented participants’ attention and facilitated responses that were spatial compatible with the spatial position such body parts have within a configural representation of the body structure (i.e., Body Structural Representation) in all the five experimental conditions. Notably, the body part stimuli were mentally attached to the body according to the most comfortable and less awkward postures, following the anatomo‐physiological constraints. Moreover, the pattern of the results was not influenced by manipulating the participants’ response postures, suggesting that the automatic and implicit coding of the body part stimuli does not rely on proprioceptive information about one's body (i.e., Body Schema). We propose that the human body's morphometry knowledge is enriched by biomechanical and anatomo‐physiological information about the real body movement possibilities. Moreover, we discuss the importance of the automatic orienting of attention based on the sidedness within the context of imitational learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessia Tessari
- Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
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11
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Malyshevskaya A, Gallо F, Pokhoday M, Kotrelev P, Shtyrov Y, Myachykov A. Spatial conceptual mapping of words with temporal semantics. СОВРЕМЕННАЯ ЗАРУБЕЖНАЯ ПСИХОЛОГИЯ 2022. [DOI: 10.17759/jmfp.2022110313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Unlike concrete words related to sensory perception (e.g., hear, sun), abstract words (including the words with temporal semantics, e.g., year, tomorrow) do not have direct embodied sensory correlates. Nevertheless, existing research indicates that abstract concepts’ representations make regular reference to sensorimotor processes, e.g., visual perception. For example, regular expressions such as “the future is ahead” or “the flow of time” are common in different languages reflecting a relatively universal nature of space-time correspondences. Moreover, these regular correspondences are commonly demonstrated in experimental studies; for example — by registering attentional displacement during processing of past and future related words. Here, the main theoretical approaches as well as existing experimental data documenting neurocognitive foundations of space-time representations are reviewed. A detailed overview of research on spatial-conceptual mapping of time concepts in three-dimensional visual space is offered. We also consider features of space-time associations that reflect linguistic and socio-cultural differences. In conclusion, the main areas of current and future that will allow an integration of the existing data within a common theoretical framework are defined.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - F. Gallо
- National Research University Higher School of Economics
| | - M.Y. Pokhoday
- National Research University Higher School of Economics
| | - P.V. Kotrelev
- National Research University Higher School of Economics
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Felisatti A, Ranzini M, Blini E, Lisi M, Zorzi M. Effects of attentional shifts along the vertical axis on number processing: An eye-tracking study with optokinetic stimulation. Cognition 2021; 221:104991. [PMID: 34968993 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104991] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2021] [Revised: 11/06/2021] [Accepted: 12/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Previous studies suggest that associations between numbers and space are mediated by shifts of visuospatial attention along the horizontal axis. In this study, we investigated the effect of vertical shifts of overt attention, induced by optokinetic stimulation (OKS) and monitored through eye-tracking, in two tasks requiring explicit (number comparison) or implicit (parity judgment) processing of number magnitude. Participants were exposed to black-and-white stripes (OKS) that moved vertically (upward or downward) or remained static (control condition). During the OKS, participants were asked to verbally classify auditory one-digit numbers as larger/smaller than 5 (comparison task; Exp. 1) or as odd/even (parity task; Exp. 2). OKS modulated response times in both experiments. In Exp.1, upward attentional displacement decreased the Magnitude effect (slower responses for large numbers) and increased the Distance effect (slower responses for numbers close to the reference). In Exp.2, we observed a complex interaction between parity, magnitude, and OKS, indicating that downward attentional displacement slowed down responses for large odd numbers. Moreover, eye tracking analyses revealed an influence of number processing on eye movements both in Exp. 1, with eye gaze shifting downwards during the processing of small numbers as compared to large ones; and in Exp. 2, with leftward shifts after large even numbers (6,8) and rightward shifts after large odd numbers (7,9). These results provide evidence of bidirectional links between number and space and extend them to the vertical dimension. Moreover, they document the influence of visuo-spatial attention on processing of numerical magnitude, numerical distance, and parity. Together, our findings are in line with grounded and embodied accounts of numerical cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Elvio Blini
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Italy
| | - Matteo Lisi
- Department of Psychology, University of Essex, UK
| | - Marco Zorzi
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Italy; IRCCS San Camillo Hospital, Venice-Lido, Italy.
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Fischer MH, Glenberg AM, Moeller K, Shaki S. Grounding (fairly) complex numerical knowledge: an educational example. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2021; 86:2389-2397. [PMID: 34757438 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-021-01577-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
In this article, we contextualize and discuss an on-line contribution to this special issue in which a video-recorded lecture demonstrates the teaching of an abstract mathematical concept, namely regression to the mean. We first motivate the pertinence of this example from the perspective of embodied cognition. Then, we identify mechanisms of teaching that reflect embodied cognitive practices, such as the concreteness fading approach. Rather than a comprehensive review of multiple extensive literatures, this article provides the interested reader with several sources or entries into those literatures.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Arthur M Glenberg
- Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287-1104, USA.
- University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
- Universidad de Salamanca, INICO, Salamanca, Spain.
| | - Korbinian Moeller
- Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK
- Leibniz-Institut Für Wissensmedien, Tübingen, Germany
- LEAD Graduate School and Research Network, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Individual Development and Adaptive Education for Children at Risk Center, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
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Abstract
The space-time interaction suggests a left-to-right directionality in the mind's representation of elapsing time. However, studies showing a possible vertical time representation are scarce and contradictory. In Experiment 1, 32 participants had to judge the duration (200, 300, 500, or 600 ms) of the target stimulus that appeared at the top, centre, or bottom of the screen, compared with a reference stimulus (400 ms) that always appeared in the centre of the screen. In Experiment 2, 32 participants were administered the same procedure, but the reference stimulus appeared at the top, centre, or bottom of the screen and the target stimulus was fixed in the centre location. In both experiments, a space-time interaction was found with an association between short durations and bottom response key as well as between long durations and top key. The evidence of a vertical mental timeline was further confirmed by the distance effect with a lower level of performance for durations close to that of the reference stimulus. The results suggest a bottom-to-top mapping of time representation, more in line with the metaphor "more is up."
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessia Beracci
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy
| | - Marissa Lynn Rescott
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Natale
- Department of Psychology "Renzo Canestrari", University of Bologna, Italy
| | - Marco Fabbri
- Department of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy
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Abstract
The magnitude associated with a stimulus can be spatially connoted, with relatively smaller and larger magnitudes that would be represented on the left and on the right side of space, respectively. According to recent evidence, this space–magnitude association could reflect specific brain asymmetries. In this study, we explored whether such an association can also emerge for face age, assuming that responders should represent relatively younger and older adult faces on the left and on the right, respectively. A sample of young adults performed a speeded binary classification task aimed at categorising the age of a centrally placed adult face stimulus as either younger or older than the age of a reference face. A left-side and a right-side response key were used to collect manual responses. Overall, older faces were categorised faster than younger faces, and response latencies decreased with the absolute difference between the age of the target stimulus and the age of the reference, in line with a distance effect. However, no evidence of a left-to-right spatial representation of face age emerged. Taken together, these results suggest that face age is mapped onto space differently from other magnitudes.
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Knoeferle P. Grounding Language Processing: The Added Value of Specifying Linguistic/Compositional Representations and Processes. J Cogn 2021; 4:24. [PMID: 33829122 PMCID: PMC8015707 DOI: 10.5334/joc.155] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2020] [Accepted: 02/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Abundant empirical evidence suggests that visual perception and motor responses are involved in language comprehension ('grounding'). However, when modeling the grounding of sentence comprehension on a word-by-word basis, linguistic representations and cognitive processes are rarely made fully explicit. This article reviews representational formalisms and associated (computational) models with a view to accommodating incremental and compositional grounding effects. Are different representation formats equally suitable and what mechanisms and representations do models assume to accommodate grounding effects? I argue that we must minimally specify compositional semantic representations, a set of incremental processes/mechanisms, and an explicit link from the assumed processes to measured behavior. Different representational formats can be contrasted in psycholinguistic modeling by holding the set of processes/mechanisms constant; contrasting different processes/mechanisms is possible by holding representations constant. Such psycholinguistic modeling could be applied across a wide range of experimental investigations and complement computational modeling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pia Knoeferle
- Institut für deutsche Sprache und Linguistik, Unter den Linden 6, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10099 Berlin
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17
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Separation/connection procedures: From cleansing behavior to numerical cognition. Behav Brain Sci 2021; 44:e5. [PMID: 33599596 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x20000461] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Lee and Schwarz (L&S) suggest that separation is the grounded procedure underlying cleansing effects in different psychological domains. Here, we interpret L&S's account from a hierarchical view of cognition that considers the influence of physical properties and sensorimotor constraints on mental representations. This approach allows theoretical integration and generalization of L&S's account to the domain of formal quantitative reasoning.
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18
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Vieillard S, Msika C. Les modifications du fonctionnement cognitif et émotionnel avec l’avancée en âge au prisme d’une approche incarnée. ANNEE PSYCHOLOGIQUE 2021. [DOI: 10.3917/anpsy1.211.0071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
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19
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The Brain’s Asymmetric Frequency Tuning: Asymmetric Behavior Originates from Asymmetric Perception. Symmetry (Basel) 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/sym12122083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
To construct a coherent multi-modal percept, vertebrate brains extract low-level features (such as spatial and temporal frequencies) from incoming sensory signals. However, because frequency processing is lateralized with the right hemisphere favouring low frequencies while the left favours higher frequencies, this introduces asymmetries between the hemispheres. Here, we describe how this lateralization shapes the development of several cognitive domains, ranging from visuo-spatial and numerical cognition to language, social cognition, and even aesthetic appreciation, and leads to the emergence of asymmetries in behaviour. We discuss the neuropsychological and educational implications of these emergent asymmetries and suggest future research approaches.
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20
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Felisatti A, Laubrock J, Shaki S, Fischer MH. A biological foundation for spatial-numerical associations: the brain's asymmetric frequency tuning. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2020; 1477:44-53. [PMID: 32645221 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.14418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2020] [Revised: 05/22/2020] [Accepted: 06/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
"Left" and "right" coordinates control our spatial behavior and even influence abstract thoughts. For number concepts, horizontal spatial-numerical associations (SNAs) have been widely documented: we associate few with left and many with right. Importantly, increments are universally coded on the right side even in preverbal humans and nonhuman animals, thus questioning the fundamental role of directional cultural habits, such as reading or finger counting. Here, we propose a biological, nonnumerical mechanism for the origin of SNAs on the basis of asymmetric tuning of animal brains for different spatial frequencies (SFs). The resulting selective visual processing predicts both universal SNAs and their context-dependence. We support our proposal by analyzing the stimuli used to document SNAs in newborns for their SF content. As predicted, the SFs contained in visual patterns with few versus many elements preferentially engage right versus left brain hemispheres, respectively, thus predicting left-versus rightward behavioral biases. Our "brain's asymmetric frequency tuning" hypothesis explains the perceptual origin of horizontal SNAs for nonsymbolic visual numerosities and might be extensible to the auditory domain.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jochen Laubrock
- Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.,Department of Psychology, Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane, Neuruppin, Germany
| | - Samuel Shaki
- Department of Behavioral Sciences and Psychology, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel
| | - Martin H Fischer
- Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
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21
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Vicovaro M, Dalmaso M. Is 'heavy' up or down? Testing the vertical spatial representation of weight. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2020; 85:1183-1200. [PMID: 32170400 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-020-01309-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2019] [Accepted: 02/19/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Smaller numbers are typically responded to faster with a bottom than a top key, whereas the opposite occurs for larger numbers (a vertical spatial-numerical association of response codes: i.e. the vertical SNARC effect). Here, in four experiments, we explored whether a vertical spatial-magnitude association can emerge for lighter vs. heavier items. Participants were presented with a central target stimulus that could be a word describing a material (e.g. 'paper', 'iron': Experiment 1), a numerical quantity of weight (e.g. '1 g', '1 kg': Experiment 2) or a picture associated with a real object that participants weighed before the experiment (Experiments 3a/3b). Participants were asked to respond either to the weight (Experiments 1-3a) or to the size (i.e. weight was task-irrelevant; Experiment 3b) of the stimuli by pressing vertically placed keys. In Experiments 1 and 2, faster responses emerged for the lighter-bottom/heavier-top mapping-in line with a standard SNARC-like effect-whereas in Experiment 3a the opposite mapping emerged (lighter-top/heavier-bottom). No evidence of an implicit weight-space association emerged in Experiment 3b. Overall, these results provide evidence indicating a possible context-dependent vertical spatial representation of weight.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele Vicovaro
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Mario Dalmaso
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padova, via Venezia 8, 35131, Padova, Italy.
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22
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Artemenko C, Sitnikova MA, Soltanlou M, Dresler T, Nuerk HC. Functional lateralization of arithmetic processing in the intraparietal sulcus is associated with handedness. Sci Rep 2020; 10:1775. [PMID: 32020021 PMCID: PMC7000739 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-58477-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2019] [Accepted: 01/15/2020] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Functional lateralization is established for various cognitive functions, but was hardly ever investigated for arithmetic processing. Most neurocognitive models assume a central role of the bilateral intraparietal sulcus (IPS) in arithmetic processing and there is some evidence for more pronounced left-hemispheric activation for symbolic arithmetic. However, evidence was mainly obtained by studies in right-handers. Therefore, we conducted a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) study, in which IPS activation of left-handed adults was compared to right-handed adults in a symbolic approximate calculation task. The results showed that left-handers had a stronger functional right-lateralization in the IPS than right-handers. This finding has important consequences, as the bilateral IPS activation pattern for arithmetic processing seems to be shaped by functional lateralization and thus differs between left- and right-handers. We propose three possible accounts for the observed functional lateralization of arithmetic processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina Artemenko
- Department of Psychology, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany.
- LEAD Graduate School & Research Network, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany.
| | - Maria A Sitnikova
- Department of Psychology, Pedagogical Institute, Belgorod National Research University, Belgorod, Russia
- Research and Project Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience and Neurotechnologies, Belgorod National Research University, Belgorod, Russia
| | - Mojtaba Soltanlou
- Department of Psychology, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
- LEAD Graduate School & Research Network, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Thomas Dresler
- LEAD Graduate School & Research Network, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Hans-Christoph Nuerk
- Department of Psychology, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
- LEAD Graduate School & Research Network, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
- Research and Project Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience and Neurotechnologies, Belgorod National Research University, Belgorod, Russia
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23
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Predicting (variability of) context effects in language comprehension. JOURNAL OF CULTURAL COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s41809-019-00025-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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24
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Götz FJ, Böckler A, Eder AB. Low numbers from a low head? Effects of observed head orientation on numerical cognition. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2019; 84:2361-2374. [PMID: 31327048 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-019-01221-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2018] [Accepted: 06/21/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The present research shows effects of observed vertical head orientation of another person on numerical cognition in the observer. Participants saw portrait-like photographs of persons from a frontal view with gaze being directed at the camera and the head being tilted up or down (vs. not tilted). The photograph appeared immediately before each trial in different numerical cognition tasks. In Experiment 1, participants produced smaller numbers in a random number generation task after having viewed persons with a down-tilted head orientation relative to up-tilted and non-tilted head orientations. In Experiment 2, numerical estimates in an anchoring-like trivia question task were smaller following presentations of persons with a down-tilted head orientation relative to a non-tilted head orientation. In Experiment 3, a response key that was associated with larger numbers in a numerical magnitude task was pressed less frequently in a randomly intermixed free choice task when the photograph showed a person with a down-tilted relative to an up-tilted head orientation. These findings consistently show that social displays can influence numerical cognition across a variety of task settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felix J Götz
- Department of Psychology, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Röntgenring 10, 97070, Würzburg, Germany.
| | - Anne Böckler
- Department of Psychology, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Röntgenring 10, 97070, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Andreas B Eder
- Department of Psychology, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Röntgenring 10, 97070, Würzburg, Germany
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25
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Myachykov A, Fischer MH. A hierarchical view of abstractness: Grounded, embodied, and situated aspects: Comment on "Words as social tools: Language, sociality and inner grounding in abstract concepts" by Anna M. Borghi et al. Phys Life Rev 2019; 29:161-163. [PMID: 31003941 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2019.04.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2019] [Accepted: 04/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Andriy Myachykov
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom; Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russian Federation
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26
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Myachykov A, Chapman AJ, Beal J, Scheepers C. Random word generation reveals spatial encoding of syllabic word length. Br J Psychol 2019; 111:357-368. [PMID: 30963556 DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2018] [Revised: 03/19/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Existing random number generation studies demonstrate the presence of an embodied attentional bias in spontaneous number production corresponding to the horizontal Mental Number Line: Larger numbers are produced on right-hand turns and smaller numbers on left-hand turns (Loetscher et al.,2008, Curr. Biol., 18, R60). Furthermore, other concepts were also shown to rely on horizontal attentional displacement (Di Bono and Zorzi, 2013, Quart. J. Exp. Psychol., 66, 2348). In two experiments, we used a novel random word generation paradigm combined with two different ways to orient attention in horizontal space: Participants randomly generated words on left and right head turns (Experiment 1) or following left and right key presses (Experiment 2). In both studies, syllabically longer words were generated on right-hand head turns and following right key strokes. Importantly, variables related to semantic magnitude or cardinality (whether the generated words were plural-marked, referred to uncountable concepts, or were associated with largeness) were not affected by lateral manipulations. We discuss our data in terms of the ATOM (Walsh, 2015, The Oxford handbook of numerical cognition, 552) which suggests a general magnitude mechanism shared by different conceptual domains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andriy Myachykov
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK.,Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia
| | - Ashley J Chapman
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
| | - Jack Beal
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
| | - Christoph Scheepers
- Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology & School of Psychology, University of Glasgow, UK
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27
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Evidence of SQUARC and distance effects in a weight comparison task. Cogn Process 2019; 20:163-173. [PMID: 30721375 DOI: 10.1007/s10339-019-00905-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2018] [Accepted: 01/30/2019] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Stimuli associated with large quantities are typically responded to faster with a right- than a left-side key, whereas stimuli associated with small quantities are typically responded to faster with a left- than a right-side key. This phenomenon is known as the spatial-quantity association of response codes (SQUARC) effect. Here, in two experiments, we explored whether a SQUARC effect can emerge for light versus heavy items. Participants judged whether the weight associated with a central target word, describing an animal (e.g. 'cow'; Experiment 1) or a material (e.g. 'iron'; Experiment 2), was lighter or heavier than the weight associated with a reference word. Responses were provided with a left- and a right-side button. Then, participants estimated the weight associated with target and reference words. In both experiments, evidence for a SQUARC effect emerged. Moreover, response times for each target word decreased with absolute difference between its rated weight and the rated weight of the reference word, in line with a distance effect. Overall, these results provide evidence of a possible spatial representation of weight.
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28
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Fischer U, Huber S, Nuerk HC, Cress U, Moeller K. Spatial Presentations, but Not Response Formats Influence Spatial-Numerical Associations in Adults. Front Psychol 2019; 9:2608. [PMID: 30619009 PMCID: PMC6305423 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02608] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2018] [Accepted: 12/04/2018] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
According to theories of embodied numerosity, processing of numerical magnitude is anchored in bodily experiences. In particular, spatial representations of number interact with movement in physical space, but it is still unclear whether the extent of the movement is relevant for this interaction. In this study, we compared spatial-numerical associations over response movements of differing spatial expansion. We expected spatial-numerical effects to increase with the extent of physical response movements. In addition, we hypothesized that these effects should be influenced by whether or not a spatial representation of numbers was presented. Adult participants performed two tasks: a magnitude classification (comparing numbers to the fixed standard 5), from which we calculated the Spatial Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC) effect; and a magnitude comparison task (comparing two numbers against each other), from which we calculated a relative numerical congruity effect (NCE), which describes that when two relatively small numbers are compared, responses to the smaller number are faster than responses to the larger number; and vice versa for large numbers. A SNARC effect was observed across all conditions and was not influenced by response movement extent but increased when a number line was presented. In contrast, an NCE was only observed when no number line was presented. This suggests that the SNARC effect and the NCE reflect two different processes. The SNARC effect seems to represent a highly automated classification of numbers as large or small, which is further emphasized by the presentation of a number line. In contrast, the NCE likely results from participants not only classifying numbers as small or large, but also processing their relative size within the relevant section of their mental number line representation. An additional external presentation of a number line might interfere with this process, resulting in overall slower responses. This study follows up on previous spatial-numerical training studies and has implications for future spatial-numerical trainings. Specifically, similar studies with children showed contrasting results, in that response format but not number line presentation influenced spatial-numerical associations. Accordingly, during development, the relative relevance of physical experiences and presentation format for spatial-numerical associations might change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ursula Fischer
- Department of Sport Science, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.,Thurgau University of Teacher Education, Kreuzlingen, Switzerland.,Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Stefan Huber
- Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Hans-Christoph Nuerk
- Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen, Germany.,Department of Psychology, University of Tuebingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Ulrike Cress
- Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen, Germany.,Department of Psychology, University of Tuebingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Korbinian Moeller
- Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen, Germany.,Department of Psychology, University of Tuebingen, Tübingen, Germany
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29
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30
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Fischer MH, Shaki S. Number concepts: abstract and embodied. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2018; 373:20170125. [PMID: 29914993 PMCID: PMC6015824 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/08/2018] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Numerical knowledge, including number concepts and arithmetic procedures, seems to be a clear-cut case for abstract symbol manipulation. Yet, evidence from perceptual and motor behaviour reveals that natural number knowledge and simple arithmetic also remain closely associated with modal experiences. Following a review of behavioural, animal and neuroscience studies of number processing, we propose a revised understanding of psychological number concepts as grounded in physical constraints, embodied in experience and situated through task-specific intentions. The idea that number concepts occupy a range of positions on the continuum between abstract and modal conceptual knowledge also accounts for systematic heuristics and biases in mental arithmetic, thus inviting psycho-logical approaches to the study of the mathematical mind.This article is part of the theme issue 'Varieties of abstract concepts: development, use and representation in the brain'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin H Fischer
- Division of Cognitive Sciences, Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse 24-25, House 14, 14476 Potsdam OT Golm, Germany
- Department of Behavioral Sciences, Ariel University, Ariel 40700, Israel
| | - Samuel Shaki
- Department of Behavioral Sciences, Ariel University, Ariel 40700, Israel
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31
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Spatial grounding of symbolic arithmetic: an investigation with optokinetic stimulation. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2018; 83:64-83. [PMID: 30022242 PMCID: PMC6373542 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-018-1053-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2017] [Accepted: 07/06/2018] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Growing evidence suggests that mental calculation might involve movements of attention along a spatial representation of numerical magnitude. Addition and subtraction on nonsymbolic numbers (numerosities) seem to induce a “momentum” effect, and have been linked to distinct patterns of neural activity in cortical regions subserving attention and eye movements. We investigated whether mental arithmetic on symbolic numbers, a cornerstone of abstract mathematical reasoning, can be affected by the manipulation of overt spatial attention induced by optokinetic stimulation (OKS). Participants performed additions or subtractions of auditory two-digit numbers during horizontal (experiment 1) or vertical OKS (experiment 2), and eye movements were concurrently recorded. In both experiments, the results of addition problems were underestimated, whereas results of subtractions were overestimated (a pattern that is opposite to the classic Operational Momentum effect). While this tendency was unaffected by OKS, vertical OKS modulated the occurrence of decade errors during subtractions (i.e., fewer during downward OKS and more frequent during upward OKS). Eye movements, on top of the classic effect induced by OKS, were affected by the type of operation during the calculation phase, with subtraction consistently leading to a downward shift of gaze position and addition leading to an upward shift. These results highlight the pervasive nature of spatial processing in mental arithmetic. Furthermore, the preeminent effect of vertical OKS is in line with the hypothesis that the vertical dimension of space–number associations is grounded in universal (physical) constraints and, thereby, more robust than situated and culture-dependent associations with the horizontal dimension.
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32
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Dewe H, Watson DG, Kessler K, Braithwaite JJ. The depersonalized brain: New evidence supporting a distinction between depersonalization and derealization from discrete patterns of autonomic suppression observed in a non-clinical sample. Conscious Cogn 2018; 63:29-46. [PMID: 29929064 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2018.06.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2017] [Revised: 06/01/2018] [Accepted: 06/06/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Depersonalization and Derealization are characterised by feelings of detachment from one's bodily self/surroundings and a general emotional numbness. We explored predisposition to trait-based experiences of depersonalization/derealization-type experiences and autonomic arousal toward simulated body-threats, which were delivered to the participant's own body (i.e. Self) and when observed being delivered to another individual (i.e. Other). Ninety participants took part in an "Implied Body-Threat Illusion" task (Dewe, Watson, & Braithwaite, 2016) and autonomic arousal was recorded via standardised skin conductance responses and finger temperature. Autonomic suppression in response to threats delivered to the Self correlated with increases in trait-based depersonalization-type experiences. In contrast, autonomic suppression for threats delivered to Others correlated with trait-based derealization-like experiences. Body-temperature and anticipatory arousal did not correlate reliably with predisposition to depersonalization- or derealization-type experiences. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed in terms of a fronto-limbic autonomic suppression mechanism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hayley Dewe
- Behavioural Brain Sciences Centre, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, UK.
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33
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Lachmair M, Ruiz Fernandez S, Gerjets P. Does Grammatical Number Influence the Semantic Priming Between Number Cues and Words Related to Vertical Space? An Investigation Using Virtual Reality. Front Psychol 2018; 9:573. [PMID: 29731734 PMCID: PMC5921996 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00573] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2017] [Accepted: 04/05/2018] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
The GES framework postulates a hierarchical order between grounded, embodied, and situated representations. Against this background, the present study investigated the relation of two effects: (i) a semantic priming between number cues and words with referents up or down in the world according to the number's magnitude which is supposed to be grounded (cf. Lachmair et al., 2014) and (ii) the compatibility between number cues and the grammatical word form of the words according to the number's multitude which is supposed to be embodied (cf. Roettger and Domahs, 2015). In two experiments words referring to objects up or down in the world and spatially neutral words were presented subsequent to the numbers “1” and “9.” In Experiment 1 words were presented in singular word form and in Experiment 2 in plural word form. For the first time, Virtual Reality was used in such an experimental setup in order to reduce spatial predispositions of participants and to provide a homogeneous experimental environment for replication purposes. According to GES it was expected that the spatial semantic priming should occur in both grammatical word forms. However, the compatibility with grammatical number should only occur for the plural word form due to its markedness. The results of Experiment 1 support the spatial-semantic-priming-hypothesis but not the grammatical-number-hypothesis. The results of Experiment 2 supported only the grammatical-number-hypothesis. It is argued that the grounded spatial effect of Experiment 1 was not affected by grammatical number. However, in Experiment 2 this effect vanished due to an activated embodied reference frame according to grammatical number.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Susana Ruiz Fernandez
- Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tuebingen, Germany.,LEAD Graduate School and Research Network, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany.,FOM-Hochschule fuer Oekonomie und Management, Essen, Germany
| | - Peter Gerjets
- Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tuebingen, Germany.,LEAD Graduate School and Research Network, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
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34
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Lachmair M, Ruiz Fernández S, Moeller K, Nuerk HC, Kaup B. Magnitude or Multitude - What Counts? Front Psychol 2018; 9:522. [PMID: 29706917 PMCID: PMC5906736 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00522] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2017] [Accepted: 03/27/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent studies revealed an association of low or high numbers (e.g., 1 vs. 9) and word semantics referring to entities typically found in upper or lower space (e.g., roof vs. root) indicating overlapping spatial representations. Another line of research revealed a similar association of grammatical number as a syntactic aspect of language and physical space: singular words were associated with left and plural words with right - resembling spatial-numerical associations of low numbers with left and high numbers with right. The present study aimed at integrating these lines of research by evaluating both types of spatial relations in one experiment. In a lexical decision task, pairs of a numerical cue and a subsequent plural noun were presented. For word with spatial associations (e.g., roofs vs. roots) number magnitude was expected to serve as a spatial cue. For spatially neutral words (e.g., tables) numbers were expected to cue multitude. Results showed the expected congruency-effect between the numbers and words with spatial associations (i.e., small numbers facilitate responses to down-words and high numbers to up-words). However, no effect was found for numbers and spatially neutral words. This seems to indicate that spatial aspects of word meaning may be related more closely to the magnitude of numbers than grammatical number is to the multitude reflected by numbers - at least in the current experimental setting, where only plural words were presented.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Susana Ruiz Fernández
- Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen, Germany
- FOM-Hochschule für Oekonomie und Management, Essen, Germany
- LEAD Graduate School and Research Network, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Korbinian Moeller
- Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen, Germany
- LEAD Graduate School and Research Network, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Department of Psychology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Hans-Christoph Nuerk
- Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen, Germany
- LEAD Graduate School and Research Network, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Department of Psychology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Barbara Kaup
- LEAD Graduate School and Research Network, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Department of Psychology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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35
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An Embodied Approach to Designing Meaningful Experiences with Ambient Media. MULTIMODAL TECHNOLOGIES AND INTERACTION 2018. [DOI: 10.3390/mti2020013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
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Münster K, Knoeferle P. Extending Situated Language Comprehension (Accounts) with Speaker and Comprehender Characteristics: Toward Socially Situated Interpretation. Front Psychol 2018; 8:2267. [PMID: 29416517 PMCID: PMC5787543 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2017] [Accepted: 12/13/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
More and more findings suggest a tight temporal coupling between (non-linguistic) socially interpreted context and language processing. Still, real-time language processing accounts remain largely elusive with respect to the influence of biological (e.g., age) and experiential (e.g., world and moral knowledge) comprehender characteristics and the influence of the 'socially interpreted' context, as for instance provided by the speaker. This context could include actions, facial expressions, a speaker's voice or gaze, and gestures among others. We review findings from social psychology, sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics to highlight the relevance of (the interplay between) the socially interpreted context and comprehender characteristics for language processing. The review informs the extension of an extant real-time processing account (already featuring a coordinated interplay between language comprehension and the non-linguistic visual context) with a variable ('ProCom') that captures characteristics of the language user and with a first approximation of the comprehender's speaker representation. Extending the CIA to the sCIA (social Coordinated Interplay Account) is the first step toward a real-time language comprehension account which might eventually accommodate the socially situated communicative interplay between comprehenders and speakers.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Pia Knoeferle
- Department of German Studies and Linguistics, Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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Ninaus M, Moeller K, Kaufmann L, Fischer MH, Nuerk HC, Wood G. Cognitive Mechanisms Underlying Directional and Non-directional Spatial-Numerical Associations across the Lifespan. Front Psychol 2017; 8:1421. [PMID: 28878716 PMCID: PMC5572383 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01421] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2016] [Accepted: 08/07/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
There is accumulating evidence suggesting an association of numbers with physical space. However, the origin of such spatial-numerical associations (SNAs) is still debated. In the present study we investigated the development of two SNAs in a cross-sectional study involving children, young and middle-aged adults as well as the elderly: (1) the SNARC (spatial-numerical association of response codes) effect, reflecting a directional SNA; and (2) the numerical bisection bias in a line bisection task with numerical flankers. Results revealed a consistent SNARC effect in all age groups that continuously increased with age. In contrast, a numerical bisection bias was only observed for children and elderly participants, implying an U-shaped distribution of this bias across age groups. Additionally, individual SNARC effects and numerical bisection biases did not correlate significantly. We argue that the SNARC effect seems to be influenced by longer-lasting experiences of cultural constraints such as reading and writing direction and may thus reflect embodied representations. Contrarily, the numerical bisection bias may originate from insufficient inhibition of the semantic influence of irrelevant numerical flankers, which should be more pronounced in children and elderly people due to development and decline of cognitive control, respectively. As there is an ongoing debate on the origins of SNAs in general and the SNARC effect in particular, the present results are discussed in light of these differing accounts in an integrative approach. However, taken together, the present pattern of results suggests that different cognitive mechanisms underlie the SNARC effect and the numerical bisection bias.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Ninaus
- Leibniz-Institut für WissensmedienTübingen, Germany.,Department of Psychology, University of GrazGraz, Austria.,LEAD Graduate School and Research Network, Eberhard Karls University of TübingenTübingen, Germany
| | - Korbinian Moeller
- Leibniz-Institut für WissensmedienTübingen, Germany.,Department of Psychology, University of GrazGraz, Austria.,LEAD Graduate School and Research Network, Eberhard Karls University of TübingenTübingen, Germany
| | - Liane Kaufmann
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy A, General HospitalHall, Austria
| | - Martin H Fischer
- Division of Cognitive Sciences, Department of Psychology, University of PotsdamPotsdam, Germany
| | - Hans-Christoph Nuerk
- LEAD Graduate School and Research Network, Eberhard Karls University of TübingenTübingen, Germany.,Department of Psychology, Eberhard Karls University TübingenTübingen, Germany
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Lachmair M, Cress U, Fissler T, Kurek S, Leininger J, Nuerk HC. Music-space associations are grounded, embodied and situated: examination of cello experts and non-musicians in a standard tone discrimination task. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2017; 83:894-906. [PMID: 28744607 PMCID: PMC6557872 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-017-0898-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2016] [Accepted: 07/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
In recent research, a systematic association of musical pitch with space has been described in the so-called Spatial-Pitch-Association-of-Response Codes-effect (SPARC). Typically, high pitch is associated with upper/right and low pitch with lower/left space. However, a theoretical classification of these associations regarding their experiential sources is difficult. Therefore, we applied a theoretical framework of numerical cognition classifying similar Space-Associated Response Codes (SARC) effects according to their groundedness, embodiedness and situatedness. We tested these attributes with a group of non-musicians and with a group of highly skilled cello players playing high tones with lower hand positions (i.e., reverse SPARC alignment) in a standard SPARC context of a piano and a reversed SPARC context of a cello. The results showed that SPARC is grounded, in general. However, for cello player SPARC is also situated and embodied. We conclude that groundedness, embodiedness and situatedness provide general characteristics of mapping cognitive representations to space.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Lachmair
- Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Schleichstraße 6, 72076, Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Ulrike Cress
- Department of Psychology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Schleichstraße 6, 72076, Tübingen, Germany.,LEAD Graduate School and Research Network, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Tim Fissler
- Department of Psychology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Simone Kurek
- Department of Psychology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Jan Leininger
- Department of Psychology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Hans-Christoph Nuerk
- Department of Psychology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Schleichstraße 6, 72076, Tübingen, Germany.,LEAD Graduate School and Research Network, Tübingen, Germany
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Myachykov A, Chapman AJ, Fischer MH. Cross-Representational Interactions: Interface and Overlap Mechanisms. Front Psychol 2017; 7:2028. [PMID: 28101073 PMCID: PMC5209390 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.02028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2016] [Accepted: 12/13/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
A crucial question facing cognitive science concerns the nature of conceptual representations as well as the constraints on the interactions between them. One specific question we address in this paper is what makes cross-representational interplay possible? We offer two distinct theoretical scenarios: according to the first scenario, co-activated knowledge representations interact with the help of an interface established between them via congruent activation in a mediating third-party general cognitive mechanism, e.g., attention. According to the second scenario, co-activated knowledge representations interact due to an overlap between their features, for example when they share a magnitude component. First, we make a case for cross-representational interplay based on grounded and situated theories of cognition. Second, we discuss interface-based interactions between distinct (i.e., non-overlapping) knowledge representations. Third, we discuss how co-activated representations may share their architecture via partial overlap. Finally, we outline constraints regarding the flexibility of these proposed mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andriy Myachykov
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria UniversityNewcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, National Research University Higher School of EconomicsMoscow, Russia
| | - Ashley J. Chapman
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria UniversityNewcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
| | - Martin H. Fischer
- Division of Cognitive Science, University of PotsdamPotsdam, Germany
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Luna K, Martín-Luengo B, Shtyrov Y, Myachykov A. Judgments of Learning for Words in Vertical Space. Front Psychol 2016; 7:1894. [PMID: 27990132 PMCID: PMC5131559 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01894] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2016] [Accepted: 11/17/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Close relationship between physical space and internal knowledge representations has received ample support in the literature. For example, location of visually perceived information in vertical space has been shown to affect different numerical judgments. In addition, physical dimensions, such as weight or font size, were shown to affect judgments of learning (JOLs, an estimation of the likelihood that an item will be remembered later, or its perceived memorability). In two experiments we tested the hypothesis that differences in positioning words in vertical space may affect their perceived memorability, i.e., JOLs. In both Experiments, the words were presented in lower or in upper screen locations. In Experiment 1, JOLs were collected in the centre of the screen following word presentation. In Experiment 2, JOLs were collected at the point of word presentation and in the same location. In both experiments participants completed a free recall test. JOLs were compared between different vertically displaced presentation locations. In general, Bayesian analyses showed evidence in support for the null effect of vertical location on JOLs. We interpret our results as indicating that the effects of physical dimensions on JOLs are mediated by subjective importance, information that vertical location alone fails to convey.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karlos Luna
- Psychology Research Centre, University of Minho Braga, Portugal
| | - Beatriz Martín-Luengo
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, National Research University Higher School of Economics Moscow, Russia
| | - Yury Shtyrov
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, National Research University Higher School of EconomicsMoscow, Russia; Department of Clinical Medicine, Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus UniversityAarhus, Denmark
| | - Andriy Myachykov
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, National Research University Higher School of EconomicsMoscow, Russia; Department of Psychology, Northumbria UniversityNewcastle upon Tyne, UK
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Abstract
INTRODUCTION Hallucinations that involve shifts in the subjectively experienced location of the self, have been termed "out-of-body experiences" (OBEs). Early psychiatric accounts cast OBEs as a specific instance of depersonalisation and derealisation disorder (DPD-DR). However, during feelings of alienation and lack of body realism in DPD-DR the self is experienced within the physical body. Deliberate forms of "disembodiment" enable humans to imagine another's visuo-spatial perspective taking (VPT), thus, if a strong relationship between deliberate and spontaneous forms of disembodiment could be revealed, then uncontrolled OBEs could be "the other side of the coin" of a uniquely human capacity. METHODS We present a narrative review of behavioural and neuroimaging work emphasising methodological and theoretical aspects of OBE and VPT research and a potential relationship. RESULTS Results regarding a direct behavioural relationship between VPT and OBE are mixed and we discuss reasons by pointing out the importance of using realistic tasks and recruiting genuine OBEers instead of general DPD-DR patients. Furthermore, we review neuroimaging evidence showing overlapping neural substrates between VPT and OBE, providing a strong argument for a relationship between the two processes. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that OBE should be regarded as a necessary implication of VPT ability in humans, or even as a necessary and potentially sufficient condition for the evolution of VPT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Klaus Kessler
- a Aston Brain Centre , Aston University , Birmingham UK
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Dackermann T, Fischer U, Huber S, Nuerk HC, Moeller K. Training the equidistant principle of number line spacing. Cogn Process 2016; 17:243-58. [DOI: 10.1007/s10339-016-0763-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2015] [Accepted: 03/30/2016] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
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Nowakowski PR. Commentary: The Embodied Brain: Towards a Radical Embodied Cognitive Neuroscience. Front Hum Neurosci 2015; 9:623. [PMID: 26635576 PMCID: PMC4644802 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2015.00623] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2015] [Accepted: 10/30/2015] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
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44
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Banerjee R, Pal SK. Z*-numbers: Augmented Z-numbers for machine-subjectivity representation. Inf Sci (N Y) 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ins.2015.06.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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45
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Cheng X, Ge H, Andoni D, Ding X, Fan Z. Composite body movements modulate numerical cognition: evidence from the motion-numerical compatibility effect. Front Psychol 2015; 6:1692. [PMID: 26594188 PMCID: PMC4633497 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2015] [Accepted: 10/20/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
A recent hierarchical model of numerical processing, initiated by Fischer and Brugger (2011) and Fischer (2012), suggested that situated factors, such as different body postures and body movements, can influence the magnitude representation and bias numerical processing. Indeed, Loetscher et al. (2008) found that participants’ behavior in a random number generation task was biased by head rotations. More small numbers were reported after leftward than rightward head turns, i.e., a motion-numerical compatibility effect. Here, by carrying out two experiments, we explored whether similar motion-numerical compatibility effects exist for movements of other important body components, e.g., arms, and for composite body movements as well, which are basis for complex human activities in many ecologically meaningful situations. In Experiment 1, a motion-numerical compatibility effect was observed for lateral rotations of two body components, i.e., the head and arms. Relatively large numbers were reported after making rightward compared to leftward movements for both lateral head and arm turns. The motion-numerical compatibility effect was observed again in Experiment 2 when participants were asked to perform composite body movements of congruent movement directions, e.g., simultaneous head left turns and arm left turns. However, it disappeared when the movement directions were incongruent, e.g., simultaneous head left turns and arm right turns. Taken together, our results extended Loetscher et al.’s (2008) finding by demonstrating that their effect is effector-general and exists for arm movements. Moreover, our study reveals for the first time that the impact of spatial information on numerical processing induced by each of the two sensorimotor-based situated factors, e.g., a lateral head turn and a lateral arm turn, can cancel each other out.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaorong Cheng
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education Wuhan, China ; School of Psychology, Central China Normal University (CCNU) Wuhan, China
| | - Hui Ge
- Department of Public Education, Tibet Vocational Technical College Lhasa, China
| | - Deljfina Andoni
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education Wuhan, China ; School of Psychology, Central China Normal University (CCNU) Wuhan, China
| | - Xianfeng Ding
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education Wuhan, China ; School of Psychology, Central China Normal University (CCNU) Wuhan, China
| | - Zhao Fan
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education Wuhan, China ; School of Psychology, Central China Normal University (CCNU) Wuhan, China
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46
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Abstract
This paper is a critical review of recent studies demonstrating the mechanism of sensorimotor simulation in different cognitive domains. Empirical studies that specify conditions under which embodiment occurs in different domains will be discussed and evaluated. Examples of relevant domains are language comprehension (Tucker and Ellis, 1998), autobiographical memory (Dijkstra et al., 2007), gestures (Alibali et al., 2014), facial mimicry (Stel and Vonk, 2010), and problem solving (Wiemers et al., 2014). The focus of the review is on supporting claims regarding sensorimotor simulation as well as on factors that modulate dynamic relationships between sensorimotor components in action and cognitive domains, such as expertise (Boschker et al., 2002). This discussion takes place within the context of currently debated issues, specifically the need to specify the underlying mechanisms of embodied representations (Zwaan, 2014; Körner et al., 2015).
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Affiliation(s)
- Katinka Dijkstra
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
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47
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Bloechle J, Huber S, Moeller K. In touch with numbers: Embodied and situated effects in number magnitude comparison. JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 2015. [DOI: 10.1080/20445911.2014.1001760] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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48
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Raab M. SMART-ER: a Situation Model of Anticipated Response consequences in Tactical decisions in skill acquisition - Extended and Revised. Front Psychol 2015; 5:1533. [PMID: 25610416 PMCID: PMC4285051 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2014] [Accepted: 12/11/2014] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Situation Model of Anticipated Response consequences in tactical decisions (SMART) describes the interaction of top–down and bottom–up processes in skill acquisition and thus the dynamic interaction of sensory and motor capacities in embodied cognition. The empirically validated, extended, and revised SMART-ER can now predict when specific dynamic interactions of top–down and bottom–up processes have a beneficial or detrimental effect on performance and learning depending on situational constraints. The model is empirically supported and proposes learning strategies for when situation complexity varies or time pressure is present. Experiments from expertise research in sports illustrate that neither bottom–up nor top–down processes are bad or good per se but their effects depend on personal and situational characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markus Raab
- School of Applied Science, London South Bank University London, UK ; Performance Psychology, Institute of Psychology, German Sport University Cologne, Germany
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49
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Borghi AM, Scorolli C, Caligiore D, Baldassarre G, Tummolini L. The embodied mind extended: using words as social tools. Front Psychol 2013; 4:214. [PMID: 23641224 PMCID: PMC3640182 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2013] [Accepted: 04/08/2013] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The extended mind view and the embodied-grounded view of cognition and language are typically considered as rather independent perspectives. In this paper we propose a possible integration of the two views and support it proposing the idea of “Words As social Tools” (WAT). In this respect, we will propose that words, also due to their social and public character, can be conceived as quasi-external devices that extend our cognition. Moreover, words function like tools in that they enlarge the bodily space of action thus modifying our sense of body. To support our proposal, we review the relevant literature on tool-use and on words as tools and report recent evidence indicating that word use leads to an extension of space close to the body. In addition, we outline a model of the neural processes that may underpin bodily space extension via word use and may reflect possible effects on cognition of the use of words as external means. We also discuss how reconciling the two perspectives can help to overcome the limitations they encounter if considered independently.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna M Borghi
- EMbodied COgnition Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Bologna Bologna, Italy ; Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council Rome, Italy
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