Different Bodies, Different Minds: The body specificity of Language and Thought Flashcards
emotional valence
the value associated with a stimulus as expressed on a continuum from pleasant to unpleasant or from attractive to aversive. In factor analysis and multidimensional scaling studies, emotional valence is one of two axes (or dimensions) on which an emotion can be located, the other axis being arousal (expressed as a continuum from high to low). For example, happiness is typically characterized by pleasant valence and relatively high arousal, whereas sadness or depression is typically characterized by unpleasant valence and relatively low arousal.
spontaneous=The excited atom interacts with the vacuum fluctuations which cause the spontaneous emission of radiation.
spontaneous
adjective
UK /spɒnˈteɪ.ni.əs/ US /spɑːnˈteɪ.ni.əs/
spontaneous adjective (NOT PLANNED)
happening or done in a natural, often sudden way, without any planning or without being forced:
His jokes seemed spontaneous, but were in fact carefully prepared beforehand.
approving She’s such a spontaneous, lively woman.
More examples
I am certain both these statements were spontaneous and genuine.
The audience broke into spontaneous applause.
What happened was not a spontaneous outburst of violence.
This was a spontaneous outpouring of emotion.
We had no plans to do it - it was a spontaneous thing.
spontaneous adjective (NO OUTSIDE CAUSE)
BIOLOGY, MEDICAL specialized
happening, especially in a living thing, without being caused by something outside, or without the organism’s control:
Since spontaneous remissions are common in rheumatoid arthritis, it is impossible to attribute them to any particular therapy.
Spontaneous maturation is when meiosis continues without hormonal stimulation.
gesture=Because they cannot claim real property on their findings, they may attach their names to them as a gesture of symbolic ownership for their work.
gesture
noun [ C ]
UK /ˈdʒes.tʃər/ US /ˈdʒes.tʃɚ/
gesture noun [C] (MOVEMENT)
C1
a movement of the hands, arms, or head, etc. to express an idea or feeling:
The prisoner raised his fist in a gesture of defiance as he was led out of the courtroom.
She made a rude gesture at the other driver.
More examples
“All this is mine, “ she said with a sweeping arm gesture.
Since they spoke only Swahili, we used signs and gestures to make ourselves understood.
The taxi driver made a rude gesture as he overtook us.
He threw his hands up in a gesture of despair.
When she ruffled the boy’s hair, it was meant as a playful gesture - but he was furious.
gesture noun [C] (SYMBOLIC ACT)
C1
an action that expresses your feelings or intentions, although it might have little practical effect:
The government donated £500,000 as a gesture of goodwill.
Eating boiled potatoes instead of chips was his only gesture towards healthy eating.
motoric
mo·tor·ic /ˈmōdərik/ adjective 1. PHYSIOLOGY relating to muscular movement. "the infants' motoric and linguistic capabilities" 2. (of music) marked by a repetitive beat suggestive of mechanized action or movement. "the motorik pulse of 70's Krautrock"
merely=Her condition had deteriorated beyond hope, and it was now merely a matter of time before she died.
merely
adverb
UK /ˈmɪə.li/ US /ˈmɪr.li/
merely adverb (ONLY)
B2
used to emphasize that you mean exactly what you are saying and nothing more:
I wasn’t complaining, I merely said that I was tired.
I didn’t say that you had to go - I merely suggested that you might want to go.
More examples
The minister’s speech had merely fogged the issue.
He called the new building unoriginal and said that it merely aped the classical traditions.
She didn’t reply - she merely smiled that insinuating smile.
Of his origins he said very little, merely mentioning in parenthesis that his background was poor.
Patriarchy has not disappeared - it has merely changed form.
correlate=Each of the three players is now free to believe that the other two players are correlating their strategy choices.
correlate
verb [ I or T ]
UK /ˈkɒr.ə.leɪt/ US /ˈkɔːr.ə.leɪt/
If two or more facts, numbers, etc. correlate or are correlated, there is a relationship between them:
Stress levels and heart disease are strongly correlated (= connected).
cognitive=We incline to think that the latter change, in contrast to the former, represents a cognitive improvement in our condition.
cognitive
adjective [ before noun ] PSYCHOLOGY specialized
UK /ˈkɒɡ.nə.tɪv/ US /ˈkɑːɡ.nə.t̬ɪv/
connected with thinking or conscious mental processes:
Some of her cognitive functions have been impaired.
cognitive behaviour/development
cognitive psychology
antiquity=Any piece of legislation which polices and regulates the growing market in illegal works of art and antiquities is to be applauded and supported.
antiquity
noun
UK /ænˈtɪk.wə.ti/ US /ænˈtɪk.wə.t̬i/
[ U ]
the distant past (= a long time ago), especially before the sixth century:
Cannabis has been used for medicinal purposes since antiquity.
Before creating this sculpture, she studied all the masterpieces of classical antiquity.
[ C ]
an object that was created a very long time ago:
Under Greek law, all antiquities that are discovered in Greece belong to the government.
hinder=His ability to do so is not hindered in any way by the fact that other persons give other meanings to his life.
hinder
verb [ T ]
UK /ˈhɪn.dər/ US /ˈhɪn.dɚ/
C2
to limit the ability of someone to do something, or to limit the development of something:
High winds have hindered firefighters in their efforts to put out the blaze.
Her progress certainly hasn’t been hindered by her lack of experience.
acquisition=Just as important as the need for a sufficient income was the acquisition of the skills required to run a household.
acquisition
noun
UK /ˌæk.wɪˈzɪʃ.ən/ US /ˌæk.wəˈzɪʃ.ən/
the process of getting something:
The acquisition of huge amounts of data has helped our research enormously.
Language acquisition (= learning a language without being taught) starts at a very young age.
something that someone buys, often to add to a collection of things:
The museum’s latest acquisition is a four-million-dollar sculpture.
I like your earrings - are they a recent acquisition? (= Did you get them recently?)
Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples
the things you buy
purchase; I’m not in a position to make a major purchase like a car.
goodsThere’s a sale on home goods this week.
shopping; Can you bring the shopping in for me?
groceries; US Thank you for bagging my groceries for me.
acquisition; That rare book is his latest acquisition.
merchandise; The shop’s merchandise was heavily discounted.
endow=What it is possible for an agent to know is constrained in crucial part by the cognitive capacities with which she is endowed.
endow
verb [ T ]
UK /ɪnˈdaʊ/ US /ɪnˈdaʊ/
to give a large amount of money to pay for creating a college, hospital, etc. or to provide an income for it:
The state of Michigan has endowed three institutes to do research for industry.
This hospital was endowed by the citizens of Strasbourg in the 16th century.
inborn=Both characters are congenitally villainous, driven by some natural (or unnatural) inborn perversion.
inborn
adjective
UK /ˌɪnˈbɔːn/ US /ˈɪn.bɔːrn/
used to refer to a mental or physical characteristic that someone has from birth:
Apparently some people have an inborn tendency to develop certain kinds of tumour.
She seems to have an inborn talent for physics.
echo
If a sound echoes or a place echoes with a sound, you hear the sound again because you are in a large, empty space:
The sound of footsteps echoed around the hall.
Suddenly, the building echoed with the sound of gunfire.
to repeat details that are similar to, and make you think of, something else:
The design of the church echoes that of St. Paul’s Cathedral.
I’ve heard the prime minister’s view echoed throughout the party.
nativist=Nativists and trade unions joined hands to demand restriction on immigrants.
Nativists, worried about of the power of “foreigners,” blocked efforts to give them more representatives.
a person who supports the idea of nativism (= the idea that people who were born in a country are more important than people who have come to the country from somewhere else):
We are a nation of immigrants, but also a nation of xenophobes and nativists.
The nativists viewed immigrants as worthy of only low-paying jobs that most people would not take.
Nativists and trade unions joined hands to demand restriction on immigrants.
Nativists, worried about of the power of “foreigners,” blocked efforts to give them more representatives.
distinction=There’s a clear distinction between the dialects spoken in the two regions.
distinction
noun
UK /dɪˈstɪŋk.ʃən/ US /dɪˈstɪŋk.ʃən/
distinction noun (DIFFERENCE)
B2 [ C or U ]
a difference between two similar things:
There’s a clear distinction between the dialects spoken in the two regions.
This company makes no distinction between the sexes.
Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples
a difference
difference; What’s the difference between the two cars?
distinctionThere’s a clear distinction between the two countries’ cultures.
contrast; I like the contrast of those red shoes with your black suit.
discrepancy; There is some discrepancy between the two accounts.
chasm; There is a widening chasm between public health officials and popular opinion.
gulf; Peace talks attempted to bridge the gulf between the two warring nations.
distorted=He saw a distorted image of his face in the metallic surface.
distorted
adjective
UK /dɪˈstɔː.tɪd/ US /dɪˈstɔːr.t̬ɪd/
distorted adjective (OUT OF SHAPE)
pulled into a strange or unnatural shape:
His face was distorted in agony.
Everything looks distorted through the glass.
Synonyms
contorted
deformed
misshapen
More examples
He saw a distorted image of his face in the metallic surface.
A distorted rectangle of light fell from the skylight.
The details of their faces were very distorted.
distorted adjective (FALSE)
false or wrong:
This report gives a somewhat distorted impression of what actually happened.
We have a distorted belief that we are more ethical than we really are.
Because of a distorted body image, she feels that she’s always overweight even when she is underweight.
More examples
People generally have a distorted view of the past.
The extreme sentiments described in the article are a distorted description of the general mood.
People who are mentally ill tend to interpret events in a distorted way.
