L3 Embodiment

Question 1

What is the traditional view for representation ?

Answer 1

Meanings are represented as features
Grounded in physical, social and emotional world
Relating to objects and actions
Mental dictionary

Question 2

What perceptual features are represented in embodiment ?

Answer 2

Visual orientation
Object shape
Visibility

Question 3

How would different views view ‘the pencil in the cup’ ?

Answer 3

Traditional view - (in(pencil, cup))
Embodied view - participants should mentally represent the orientation based on experience

Question 4

How does visual orientation play a role in sentence verification ?

Answer 4

If the mental image matches the orientation then you are more likely to remember

Question 5

How does object shape play a role in sentence verification ?

Answer 5

If the shape matches the mental image they are more likely to remember it in the sentence
e.g. whole egg vs a fried egg

Question 6

How does visibility play a role in sentence verification ?

Answer 6

If the mental image matches the sentence then it will be faster at verifying
e.g. clean goggles vs foggy goggles

Question 7

What does eye tracking tell us about sentence verification ?

Answer 7

Time taken to respond is longer with mismatched representations
Wassenburg and Zwaan 2010

Question 8

What does ERPs tell us about sentence verification ?

Answer 8

Electrical activity in the brain can tell us if it matches the area of the brain activated when reading the sentence or not as we create mental images whilst reading

Question 9

What does MRI’s tell us about action words in a reading context ?

Answer 9

Similar areas of the brain are activated when performing an action and reading an action

Question 10

What did Raposo 2009 find about action words in context ?

Answer 10

There is no activation in motor areas for idiomatic sentences
Done with fMRI though so does not have great temporal resolution so it cannot be found out the second it happens

Question 11

What is the action-sentence compatibility effect ?

Answer 11

PS are faster to move their hands in the direction that is implied in the sentence
They are faster at moving their hands away from the body for ‘handed Courtney the notebook’
They are faster at moving their hands towards the body for ‘Courtney handed the notebook to you’

Question 12

Does the action-compatibility effect replicate ?

Answer 12

The effect fails to replicate across all 18 attempts
Still considered good evidence

Question 13

What is the body specificity hypothesis ?

Answer 13

Thoughts comprise mental simulations of bodily experiences
People with different kinds of bodies must represent language differently
People with different characteristics and different interactions with the environments will form different mental representations

Question 14

What is the handedness effect ?

Answer 14

Brain activity is similar for reading action verbs as well as performing action words with hands

Question 15

What are abstract concepts ?

Answer 15

Linguistic associations - e.g. the right answer and my right hand man associate good things with rightward space
Body specific associations - dominant hand results in interaction with the world more fluently o that side , associate good things with dominant side

Question 16

How does action and expertise interlink ?

Answer 16

Experts are more likely to imaging the object in the real life setting that is more accurate
E.g. a hockey player - picture a helmet on a player vs off the player

Question 17

What are the problems with embodiment ?

Answer 17

If you believe it how do you find out the nature of the simulations that people produce
If you don’t believe it how do you provide evidence for no simulation
Evidence supports the affect of language on picture, not the other way around
How does simulation work in relation to comprehension
What do they consist of
What if findings don’t replicate