The Role of Sensory-Motor and Affective Information in Meaning Representation
Lead Research Organisation:
University College London
Department Name: Experimental Psychology
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Gabriella Vigliocco (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Speed LJ
(2014)
Eye movements reveal the dynamic simulation of speed in language.
in Cognitive science
Vigliocco G
(2013)
The representation of abstract words: what matters? Reply to Paivio's (2013) comment on Kousta et al. (2011).
in Journal of experimental psychology. General
Vigliocco G
(2014)
The neural representation of abstract words: the role of emotion.
in Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)
Vinson D
(2015)
A faster path between meaning and form? Iconicity facilitates sign recognition and production in British Sign Language
in Journal of Memory and Language
Vinson D
(2017)
Comprehending Sentences With the Body: Action Compatibility in British Sign Language?
in Cognitive Science
Vinson D
(2014)
How does emotional content affect lexical processing?
in Cognition & emotion
| Description | The ability to use language to refer to the here and now, the past, the future, the hypothetical and the imaginary is at the core of all human endeavours. Underpinning this ability are mental representations for things, events, properties and abstract notions. While the representation of concrete objects and physical actions is at least partly understood, far less is known about how abstract words and concepts are represented. Understanding how abstract words are represented (and learnt) is critical because it is the existence of culturally-bounded abstract concepts, expressed in different languages with words that often cannot be easily translated that makes social groups different from one another. Moreover, the ability to understand abstract words is crucial for scolastic achievement given that it is a prerequisite to understanding a large number of concepts both in the sciences as well as in the humanities. The present project investigates how the meaning of words, both words referring to concrete objects and actions as well as words referring to abstract entities, are represented. It sets to investigate especially the degree of embodiment in language (i.e., the extent to which motor, sensory and affective experience needs to be engaged in order to understand language. The specific questions addressed are: (1) Is experiential information foundational (primary and necessary) to semantic representation? We assess the extent to which access to linguistic meaning implies automatic access to non-linguistic perceptual and affective information. As reviewed and discussed in Meteyard et al (2011), the answer to this question is that experiential information is necessary, but without engaging low-level systems. Nonetheless, it is the case that even for abstract words and concepts experiential affective information is retrieved during preconscious processing of words. (2) Does the role of specific types of experiential information (sensory/motor vs. affective) differ across domains of knowledge (concrete vs. abstract)? We contrast hypotheses according to which abstract knowledge, just like concrete knowledge, is crucially linked to the sensory-motor system to hypotheses in which it is, instead, primarily linked to the affective system. Our work clearly supports a view in which abstract concepts and words are grounded in our affective system. This, however, does not imply that there is no connection with sensorimotor systems. It is the case, in fact, that motor system engagement for abstract words and concepts might come about as a consequence of engaging motivational systems driving approach and avoidance behaviours. This work has clear potential implications for education: we hypothesised that the observed relationship between abstract concepts and emotion is there because children begin to develop the ontological distinction between concrete entities (those occurring in the physical environment outside) and abstract entities (those occurring inside the individual) by realising that some words trigger an emotional response in their caregivers, hence they are linked to internal states. If this is the case, then it is possible that emotional development is a prerequisite to learning abstract words and concepts. We have recently begun a new project, sponsored by the Nuffield Trust that investigate precisely this idea in children (typically developing, autistic and with specific language impairments). The current project has been essential in securing the initial evidence that has led then to the more directly applied research we are conducting now into the role of affective development for abstract knowledge. |
| Exploitation Route | The ESRC funded project has provided the critical initial evidence for a role for emotional development in learning abstract concepts. This hypothesis is currently under scrutiny in a project sponsored by the Nuffield Foundation. The outcomes of this latter project may have direct implications for educators. |
| Sectors | Education |
| URL | http://www.language-cognition-lab.org/research/ |
| Description | The project is realising impact on education. Our discovery of a role for emotion in the representation and processing of abstract words leads naturally to the question of how children learn abstract words and concepts, an essential question for educators in primary and secondary schools and for Speech and Language Therapists working with children. Vigliocco, in collaboration with Courtenay Norbury (Royal Holloway University) obtained a Nuffield grant to carry out a project titled "The role of affect in learning abstract concepts" in order to map learning of abstract concepts between ages 4-12 and to investigate how abstract knowledge breaks down in Autistim Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and in Specific Language Impairment (SLI). This project is providing the first normative data on how typically developing children learn abstract concepts. Results so far indicate a role of emotion in initial learning of abstract concepts in typically developing children. Moreover, SLI children do not show greater impairment in learning abstract than concrete words (a briefing sheet will be prepared by the end of the Nuffield project). These findings are being disseminated among educators in the UK and abroad. Importantly, the follow-up work we are currently carrying out with children brings the basic evidence from the ESRC project much closer to educational practice and therefore places us in a position to influence practice (providing recommendations for evidence-based practice). In addition to dissemination to educators, we strive to disseminate results to the broader community, and particular we have ensured that our results are fed back to the deaf community and those working with the deaf community by virtue of our connections with the Deafness, Cognition and Language Research Centre. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2016 |
| Sector | Education,Healthcare |
| Impact Types | Societal |
| Description | The role of affect in learning abstract concepts |
| Amount | £124,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EDU/40477 |
| Organisation | Nuffield Foundation |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2012 |
| End | 07/2015 |
| Description | Stefano Cappa (IUSS), Pavia, Italy |
| Organisation | Institute of Advanced Studies (IUSS) |
| Country | Italy |
| Sector | Learned Society |
| PI Contribution | Long standing collaboration on conceptual/semantic representation in the brain. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Professor Cappa is a neurologist who has contribute his expertise in imaging and patient studies |
| Impact | The collaboration is multidisciplinary (neurology and Psychology). In the years, we have coauthored many papers together and we have been PIs of shared grants |
| Description | Comprehending with the body: Action compatibility in sign language? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Oral presentation Presentation at the 35th annual meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, Berlin Presentation at the 35th annual meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, Berlin |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Conference poster: Processing abstract concepts: The role of imageability and emotional valence |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Poster presentation at international conference: 8th annual meeting of the Society for Neurobiology of Language (London, August 2016), "Processing abstract concepts: The role of imageability and emotional valence" |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Different language experience does not modulate preconscious processing of affect: Detection of words and faces by deaf and hearing individuals. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | Poster presentation |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Poster presented at Embodied and Situated Language Processing 2012, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK. Section not completed |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Emotional connotations affect preconscious processing for abstract, but not concrete words. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | Poster presentation |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Poster presented at Embodied and Situated Language Processing 2012, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK Section not completed |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Feeling visible and invisible words in first and second language |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Invited presentation in symposium "Processing emotional words", European Congress of Psychology, Stockholm, July 2013 n/a |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | How does emotional content affect lexical processing? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Oral presentation Presentation at 35th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society Presentation at 35th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | How the body shapes the mind |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Public engagement event organised as part of the 2012 British Science Festival press coverage for a few talks in the event |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Language as a multimodal phenomenon |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited presentation at the Jurnee Scientifique, ISCT, Toulouse, France, February |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Language in Context: an ecological turn to embodied language |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Organizer and speaker in a workshop sponsored by Experimental Psychology Society, UCL, January |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Learning abstract concepts and words |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation to high school teachers, educators and general public in the context of a programme for redevelopment of the curriculum for Italian and Maths in Northern Italy's secondary and high schools organised by IPRASE and University of Trento. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Learning and processing abstract concepts |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Seminar at the Institut für Maschinelle Sprachverarbeitung in Stuttgard |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Learning and representing abstract concepts |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The talk was part of a symposium titled "Between Neuroscience and Education: bridges under construction" (Giovanni Buccino, organiser) held in Parma in April. Majority of audience was educators and there was a lot of discussion after my talk regarding how best to teach abstract concepts in secondary school. After the talk I was invited to present my work at a workshop organised by "accademia della Crusca" and APRE in Trento for secondary school teachers |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Live Science programme (Science Museum, London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 1397 visitors to the Science Museum London (Age ranges 3-75) participated in brief experiments on language, as part of programme entitled "What's in a word" conducted in the museum's Who Am I? Gallery (June-August 2014) led by Prof Gabriella Vigliocco. Each person was tested individually and personally debriefed, opening up discussion about the way language can be studied scientifically, relationships between words' meanings and forms, and how language and communication are linked to bodily experience. Followup mailouts are still in preparation; we hope to engage visitors in further dialogue about their experience. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Multimodality and Iconicity in language development and processing |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Plenary Lecture at the International Meeting of the Cognitive Linguistics Society |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | The bridge of iconicity: from a world of experience to experience of language |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Invited presentation at the . Language and Perception Workshop, Norwich, February |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | The embodiment of abstract concepts and words: why emotion matters |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Presentation in Invited symposium: Where is embodiment going? sponsored by APA and ESCOP, San Sebastian, September, 2011 n/a |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | The representation of abstract concepts |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | Keynote/Invited Speaker |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited talk in: Converging Approaches to Semantic Memory, International Conference on Memory, York, July, 2011 Section not completed |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | The role of body-related information in semantic memory |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Invited presentation in the symposium Is the semantic system embodied? British Neuropsychological Society Conference, London, March 2012. n/a |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Toward a theory of semantic representation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Seminar. Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, April 2013 n/a |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | What if... the study of language started from signed rather than spoken languages? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Plenary Lecture. Embodied and Situated Language Processing Conference, Potsdam, July 2012 n/a |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012,2013 |
| Description | What is the role of body-related information in semantic representation? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | Keynote/Invited Speaker |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited presentation in conference symposium Presentation in the "The empirical investigation of semantics" symposium, 35th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, Berlin Presentation in the "The empirical investigation of semantics" symposium, 35th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, Berlin |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |