Strong versus weak embodiment: Spatial iconicity in physical, abstract, and social semantic categories

Author:

León José A.1,Martínez‐Huertas José Ángel2,Moreno José David1ORCID,Martín Lorena A.1

Affiliation:

1. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Calle Iván Pavlo Madrid Spain

2. UNED Calle de Juan del Rosal Madrid Spain

Abstract

BackgroundPerceptual and action systems seem to be related to complex cognitive processes, but the scope of grounded or embodied cognition has been questioned. Zwaan and Yaxley (2003) proposed that cognitive processes of making semantic relatedness judgments can be facilitated when word pairs are presented in ways that their referents maintain their iconic configuration rather than their reverse‐iconic configuration (the spatial iconicity effect). This effect has been observed in different semantic categories using specific experiments, but it is known that embodiment is highly dependent on task demands.MethodThe present study analyzed the spatial iconicity effect in three semantic categories (physical, abstract, and social) using the same experimental criteria to determine the scope of embodied cognition. In this reaction‐time experiment, 75 participants judged the semantic relatedness of 384 word pairs whose experimental items were presented in their iconic or reverse‐iconic configurations.ResultsTwo mixed‐effects models with crossed random effects revealed that the interaction between word meaning and spatial position was present only for physical concepts but neither for abstract nor social concepts.ConclusionsWithin the framework of strong and weak embodiment theories, the data support weak embodiment theory as the most explicative one.

Funder

Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad

Publisher

Wiley

Subject

General Psychology,Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous),Developmental and Educational Psychology,General Medicine

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