Levels of Abstractness in Semantic Noun and Verb Processing: The Role of Sensory-Perceptual and Sensory-Motor Information

Autor/inn/en	Vonk, Jet M. J.; Obler, Loraine K.; Jonkers, Roel
Titel	Levels of Abstractness in Semantic Noun and Verb Processing: The Role of Sensory-Perceptual and Sensory-Motor Information
Quelle	In: Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 48 (2019) 3, S.601-615 (15 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Vonk, Jet M. J.)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0090-6905
DOI	10.1007/s10936-018-9621-4
Schlagwörter	Semantics; Nouns; Verbs; Language Processing; Grammar; Sensory Integration; Role; Accuracy; Reaction Time; Concept Formation; Decision Making; Task Analysis; Linguistic Theory; Psycholinguistics + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Semantik; Sprachverarbeitung; Grammatik; Sensorische Integration; Rollen; Reaktionsvermögen; Concept learning; Begriffsbildung; Decision-making; Entscheidungsfindung; Aufgabenanalyse; Linguistische Theorie; Psycholinguistik
Abstract	Effects of concreteness and grammatical class on lexical-semantic processing are well-documented, but the role of sensory-perceptual and sensory-motor features of concepts in underlying mechanisms producing these effects is relatively unknown. We hypothesized that processing dissimilarities in accuracy and response time performance in nouns versus verbs, concrete versus abstract words, and their interaction can be explained by differences in semantic weight--the combined amount of sensory-perceptual and sensory-motor information to conceptual representations--across those grammatical and semantic categories. We assessed performance on concrete and abstract subcategories of nouns and verbs with a semantic similarity judgment task. Results showed that when main effects of concreteness and grammatical class were analyzed in more detail, the grammatical-class effect, in which nouns are processed more accurately and quicker than verbs, was only present for concrete words, not for their abstract counterparts. Moreover, the concreteness effect, measured at different levels of abstract words, was present for both nouns and verbs, but it was less pronounced for verbs. The results do not support the grammatical-class hypothesis, in which nouns and verbs are separately organized, and instead provide evidence in favor of a unitary semantic space, in which lexical-semantic processing is influenced by the beneficial effect of sensory-perceptual and sensory-motor information of concepts. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01