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Gatti D, Raveling L, Petrenco A, Günther F. Valence without meaning: Investigating form and semantic components in pseudowords valence. Psychon Bull Rev 2024:10.3758/s13423-024-02487-3. [PMID: 38565840 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-024-02487-3] [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: 03/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Valence is a dominant semantic dimension, and it is fundamentally linked to basic approach-avoidance behavior within a broad range of contexts. Previous studies have shown that it is possible to approximate the valence of existing words based on several surface-level and semantic components of the stimuli. Parallelly, recent studies have shown that even completely novel and (apparently) meaningless stimuli, like pseudowords, can be informative of meaning based on the information that they carry at the subword level. Here, we aimed to further extend this evidence by investigating whether humans can reliably assign valence to pseudowords and, additionally, to identify the factors explaining such valence judgments. In Experiment 1, we trained several models to predict valence judgments for existing words from their combined form and meaning information. Then, in Experiment 2 and Experiment 3, we extended the results by predicting participants' valence judgments for pseudowords, using a set of models indexing different (possible) sources of valence and selected the best performing model in a completely data-driven procedure. Results showed that the model including basic surface-level (i.e., letters composing the pseudoword) and orthographic neighbors information performed best, thus tracing back pseudoword valence to these components. These findings support perspectives on the nonarbitrariness of language and provide insights regarding how humans process the valence of novel stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniele Gatti
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Piazza Botta 6, 27100, Pavia, Italy.
| | - Laura Raveling
- Institut für Psychologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Aliona Petrenco
- Institut für Psychologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Fritz Günther
- Institut für Psychologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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Sulpizio S, Günther F, Badan L, Basclain B, Brysbaert M, Chan YL, Ciaccio LA, Dudschig C, Duñabeitia JA, Fasoli F, Ferrand L, Filipović Đurđević D, Guerra E, Hollis G, Job R, Jornkokgoud K, Kahraman H, Kgolo-Lotshwao N, Kinoshita S, Kos J, Lee L, Lee NH, Mackenzie IG, Manojlović M, Manouilidou C, Martinic M, Del Carmen Méndez M, Mišić K, Chiangmai NN, Nikolaev A, Oganyan M, Rusconi P, Samo G, Tse CS, Westbury C, Wongupparaj P, Yap MJ, Marelli M. Taboo language across the globe: A multi-lab study. Behav Res Methods 2024; 56:3794-3813. [PMID: 38724878 PMCID: PMC11133054 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-024-02376-6] [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: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 05/30/2024]
Abstract
The use of taboo words represents one of the most common and arguably universal linguistic behaviors, fulfilling a wide range of psychological and social functions. However, in the scientific literature, taboo language is poorly characterized, and how it is realized in different languages and populations remains largely unexplored. Here we provide a database of taboo words, collected from different linguistic communities (Study 1, N = 1046), along with their speaker-centered semantic characterization (Study 2, N = 455 for each of six rating dimensions), covering 13 languages and 17 countries from all five permanently inhabited continents. Our results show that, in all languages, taboo words are mainly characterized by extremely low valence and high arousal, and very low written frequency. However, a significant amount of cross-country variability in words' tabooness and offensiveness proves the importance of community-specific sociocultural knowledge in the study of taboo language.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone Sulpizio
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza dell'Ateneo Nuovo 1, 20126, Milan, Italy.
- Milan Center for Neuroscience (NeuroMI), University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
| | - Fritz Günther
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10117, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Linda Badan
- Department of Humanities, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Benjamin Basclain
- School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Marc Brysbaert
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Yuen Lai Chan
- Department of Educational Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Laura Anna Ciaccio
- Brain Language Laboratory, Department of Philosophy and Humanities, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Carolin Dudschig
- Department of Psychology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Jon Andoni Duñabeitia
- Centro de Investigación Nebrija en Cognición (CINC), Universidad Nebrija, Madrid, Spain
| | - Fabio Fasoli
- School of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK
- Centro de Investigação e Intervenção Social, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Ludovic Ferrand
- Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale et Cognitive, CNRS, Université Clermont Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France
| | | | - Ernesto Guerra
- Center for Advanced Research in Education, Institute of Education, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Geoff Hollis
- Department of Computing Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Remo Job
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Khanitin Jornkokgoud
- Cognitive Science and Innovation Research Unit (CSIRU), College of Research Methodology and Cognitive Science, Burapha University, Chonburi, Thailand
| | - Hasibe Kahraman
- School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | | | - Sachiko Kinoshita
- School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Julija Kos
- Department of Comparative and General Linguistics, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Leslie Lee
- Department of English, Linguistics, & Theatre Studies, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Nala H Lee
- Department of English, Linguistics, & Theatre Studies, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | | | | | - Christina Manouilidou
- Department of Comparative and General Linguistics, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Mirko Martinic
- Center for Advanced Research in Education, Institute of Education, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | | | - Ksenija Mišić
- Department of Psychology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Natinee Na Chiangmai
- Cognitive Science and Innovation Research Unit (CSIRU), College of Research Methodology and Cognitive Science, Burapha University, Chonburi, Thailand
| | - Alexandre Nikolaev
- School of Humanities, Foreign Languages and Translation Studies, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland
| | - Marina Oganyan
- Department of Linguistics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Patrice Rusconi
- Department of Cognitive Sciences, Psychology, Education and Cultural Studies, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Samo
- Department of Linguistics, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing, China
| | - Chi-Shing Tse
- Department of Educational Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Chris Westbury
- Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
| | - Peera Wongupparaj
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Burapha University, Chonburi, Thailand
| | - Melvin J Yap
- Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Marco Marelli
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza dell'Ateneo Nuovo 1, 20126, Milan, Italy.
- Milan Center for Neuroscience (NeuroMI), University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
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Bolognesi MM, Caselli T. Specificity ratings for Italian data. Behav Res Methods 2023; 55:3531-3548. [PMID: 36163541 PMCID: PMC10615975 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-022-01974-6] [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: 09/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Abstraction enables us to categorize experience, learn new information, and form judgments. Language arguably plays a crucial role in abstraction, providing us with words that vary in specificity (e.g., highly generic: tool vs. highly specific: muffler). Yet, human-generated ratings of word specificity are virtually absent. We hereby present a dataset of specificity ratings collected from Italian native speakers on a set of around 1K Italian words, using the Best-Worst Scaling method. Through a series of correlation studies, we show that human-generated specificity ratings have low correlation coefficients with specificity metrics extracted automatically from WordNet, suggesting that WordNet does not reflect the hierarchical relations of category inclusion present in the speakers' minds. Moreover, our ratings show low correlations with concreteness ratings, suggesting that the variables Specificity and Concreteness capture two separate aspects involved in abstraction and that specificity may need to be controlled for when investigating conceptual concreteness. Finally, through a series of regression studies we show that specificity explains a unique amount of variance in decision latencies (lexical decision task), suggesting that this variable has theoretical value. The results are discussed in relation to the concept and investigation of abstraction.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Tommaso Caselli
- Faculty of Arts, CLCG, University of Groeningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
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Rosi V, Arias Sarah P, Houix O, Misdariis N, Susini P. Shared mental representations underlie metaphorical sound concepts. Sci Rep 2023; 13:5180. [PMID: 36997613 PMCID: PMC10063581 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-32214-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2022] [Accepted: 03/24/2023] [Indexed: 04/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Communication between sound and music experts is based on the shared understanding of a metaphorical vocabulary derived from other sensory modalities. Yet, the impact of sound expertise on the mental representation of these sound concepts remains blurry. To address this issue, we investigated the acoustic portraits of four metaphorical sound concepts (brightness, warmth, roundness, and roughness) in three groups of participants (sound engineers, conductors, and non-experts). Participants (N = 24) rated a corpus of orchestral instrument sounds (N = 520) using Best-Worst Scaling. With this data-driven method, we sorted the sound corpus for each concept and population. We compared the population ratings and ran machine learning algorithms to unveil the acoustic portraits of each concept. Overall, the results revealed that sound engineers were the most consistent. We found that roughness is widely shared while brightness is expertise dependent. The frequent use of brightness by expert populations suggests that its meaning got specified through sound expertise. As for roundness and warmth, it seems that the importance of pitch and noise in their acoustic definition is the key to distinguishing them. These results provide crucial information on the mental representations of a metaphorical vocabulary of sound and whether it is shared or refined by sound expertise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor Rosi
- Sound Perception and Design Group, STMS, Ircam - Sorbonne Université - CNRS - Ministère de la Culture, 1 Place Igor Stravinsky, 75004, Paris, France.
| | - Pablo Arias Sarah
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Glasgow, 62 Hillhead Street, Glasgow, G12 8QB, UK
- Lund University Cognitive Science, Lund University, Box 192, 221 00, Lund, Sweden
| | - Olivier Houix
- Sound Perception and Design Group, STMS, Ircam - Sorbonne Université - CNRS - Ministère de la Culture, 1 Place Igor Stravinsky, 75004, Paris, France
| | - Nicolas Misdariis
- Sound Perception and Design Group, STMS, Ircam - Sorbonne Université - CNRS - Ministère de la Culture, 1 Place Igor Stravinsky, 75004, Paris, France
| | - Patrick Susini
- Sound Perception and Design Group, STMS, Ircam - Sorbonne Université - CNRS - Ministère de la Culture, 1 Place Igor Stravinsky, 75004, Paris, France
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Bhatta M, Zander KK, Garnett ST. Governance of forest resource use in western Nepal: Current state and community preferences. AMBIO 2022; 51:1711-1725. [PMID: 35034330 PMCID: PMC9110619 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-021-01694-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2021] [Revised: 10/17/2021] [Accepted: 12/14/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Improved governance of natural resource use is critical to the sustainability and maintenance of environmental quality. In western Nepal, unsustainable resource extraction is seen by the local community as a major threat to forest sustainability. While most respondents to a survey of 243 households inside and outside a protected area (PA) thought the laws for managing resource use were adequate and appropriate, a far smaller proportion thought they were achieving their objectives. Disenchantment with the existing governance regime was strongest outside the PA, probably because there was greater investment in community engagement within the PA. The most likely reason for this failure is the deeply embedded corruption within the forest governance system. Devolution of power to local communities by increasing governance participation is one of the most likely means of containing corruption. It was therefore not surprising that governance participation was rated as the most important governance principle by respondents in a best-worst scaling experiment. Respondents also regarded effectiveness, accountability and transparency as important governance principle to improve management of forest resource extraction from red panda habitat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manoj Bhatta
- Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Ellengowan Drive, Darwin, NT 0909 Australia
| | - Kerstin K. Zander
- Northern Institute, Charles Darwin University, Ellengowan Drive, Darwin, NT 0909 Australia
| | - Stephen T. Garnett
- Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Ellengowan Drive, Darwin, NT 0909 Australia
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Rosi V, Ravillion A, Houix O, Susini P. Best-worst scaling, an alternative method to assess perceptual sound qualities. JASA EXPRESS LETTERS 2022; 2:064404. [PMID: 36154161 DOI: 10.1121/10.0011752] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
When designing sound evaluation experiments, researchers rely on listening test methods, such as rating scales (RS). This work aims to investigate the suitability of best-worst scaling (BWS) for the perceptual evaluation of sound qualities. To do so, 20 participants rated the "brightness" of a corpus of instrumental sounds (N = 100) with RS and BWS methods. The results show that BWS procedure is the fastest and that RS and BWS are equivalent in terms of performance. Interestingly, participants preferred BWS over RS. Therefore, BWS is an alternative method that reliably measures perceptual sound qualities and could be used in many-sounds paradigm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor Rosi
- Sound Perception and Design group, STMS, IRCAM, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Ministère de la Culture, 75004 Paris, France , , ,
| | - Aliette Ravillion
- Sound Perception and Design group, STMS, IRCAM, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Ministère de la Culture, 75004 Paris, France , , ,
| | - Olivier Houix
- Sound Perception and Design group, STMS, IRCAM, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Ministère de la Culture, 75004 Paris, France , , ,
| | - Patrick Susini
- Sound Perception and Design group, STMS, IRCAM, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Ministère de la Culture, 75004 Paris, France , , ,
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Beyond Likert ratings: Improving the robustness of developmental research measurement using best-worst scaling. Behav Res Methods 2021; 53:2273-2279. [PMID: 33821456 PMCID: PMC8516750 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-021-01566-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Some of the ‘best practice’ approaches to ensuring reproducibility of research can be difficult to implement in the developmental and clinical domains, where sample sizes and session lengths are constrained by the practicalities of recruitment and testing. For this reason, an important area of improvement to target is the reliability of measurement. Here we demonstrate that best–worst scaling (BWS) provides a superior alternative to Likert ratings for measuring children’s subjective impressions. Seventy-three children aged 5–6 years rated the trustworthiness of faces using either Likert ratings or BWS over two sessions. Individual children’s ratings in the BWS condition were significantly more consistent from session 1 to session 2 than those in the Likert condition, a finding we also replicate with a large adult sample (N = 72). BWS also produced more reliable ratings at the group level than Likert ratings in the child sample. These findings indicate that BWS is a developmentally appropriate response format that can deliver substantial improvements in reliability of measurement, which can increase our confidence in the robustness of findings with children.
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Sound symbolism shapes the English language: The maluma/takete effect in English nouns. Psychon Bull Rev 2021; 28:1390-1398. [PMID: 33821463 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-021-01883-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Sound symbolism refers to associations between language sounds (i.e., phonemes) and perceptual and/or semantic features. One example is the maluma/takete effect: an association between certain phonemes (e.g., /m/, /u/) and roundness, and others (e.g., /k/, /ɪ/) and spikiness. While this association has been demonstrated in laboratory tasks with nonword stimuli, its presence in existing spoken language is unknown. Here we examined whether the maluma/takete effect is attested in English, across a broad sample of words. Best-worst judgments from 171 university students were used to quantify the shape of 1,757 objects, from spiky to round. We then examined whether the presence of certain phonemes in words predicted the shape of the objects to which they refer. We found evidence that phonemes associated with roundness are more common in words referring to round objects, and phonemes associated with spikiness are more common in words referring to spiky objects. This represents an instance of iconicity, and thus nonarbitrariness, in human language.
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Evaluating the predication model of metaphor comprehension: Using word2vec to model best/worst quality judgments of 622 novel metaphors. Behav Res Methods 2021; 53:2214-2225. [PMID: 33797055 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-021-01558-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
In this paper our goal is to undertake a systematic assessment of the first, most widely known, and simplest computational model of metaphor comprehension, the predication model developed by Kintsch (Cognitive Science, 25(2), 173-202, 2000). 622 metaphors of the form "x is a y" were selected from a much larger set generated randomly. The metaphors were judged for quality using best/worst judgments, which asks judges to pick the best and worst metaphor from among four presented metaphors. The metaphors and their judgments have been publicly released. We modeled the judgments by extending Kintsch's predication model (2000) by systematically walking through the parameter space of that model. Our model successfully differentiated metaphors rated as good (> 1.5z) from metaphors rated as bad (< -1.5z; Cohen's d = 0.72) and was able to successfully classify good metaphors with an accuracy of 82.9%. However, it achieved a true negative rate below chance at 36.3% and had a resultantly low kappa of 0.037. The model could not distinguish unselected random metaphors from those selected by humans as having metaphorical potential. In a follow-up study we showed that the model's quality estimates reliably predict metaphor decision times, with better metaphors being judged more quickly than worse metaphors.
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De Bruyne L, De Clercq O, Hoste V. Annotating affective dimensions in user-generated content. LANG RESOUR EVAL 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s10579-020-09524-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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The spatial arrangement method of measuring similarity can capture high-dimensional semantic structures. Behav Res Methods 2020; 52:1906-1928. [DOI: 10.3758/s13428-020-01362-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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Burton N, Burton M, Rigby D, Sutherland CAM, Rhodes G. Best-worst scaling improves measurement of first impressions. Cogn Res Princ Implic 2019; 4:36. [PMID: 31549257 PMCID: PMC6757072 DOI: 10.1186/s41235-019-0183-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2018] [Accepted: 07/08/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
A common goal in psychological research is the measurement of subjective impressions, such as first impressions of faces. These impressions are commonly measured using Likert ratings. Although these ratings are simple to administer, they are associated with response issues that can limit reliability. Here we examine best-worst scaling (BWS), a forced-choice method, as a potential alternative to Likert ratings for measuring participants' facial first impressions. We find that at the group level, BWS scores correlated almost perfectly with Likert scores, indicating that the two methods measure the same impressions. However, at the individual participant level BWS outperforms Likert ratings, both in terms of ability to predict preferences in a third task, and in terms of test-retest reliability. These benefits highlight the power of BWS, particularly for use in individual differences research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nichola Burton
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, School of Psychological Science, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia.
| | - Michael Burton
- School of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - Dan Rigby
- Economics, School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Clare A M Sutherland
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, School of Psychological Science, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia
| | - Gillian Rhodes
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, School of Psychological Science, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia
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