Knob Experiment
Description
This study addresses factors that, within the framework of embodied language processing, were previously discussed as potentially responsible for inconsistencies found in the reading-by-rotating literature (Claus, 2015). It concurrently exploits individual differences in motoric experience to explore the experiential basis of action-sentence compatibility effects. The results suggest that, when reading sentences describing actions, comprehenders reactivate differential motor traces that reflect their very individual motoric experience of the described action. As such the current study provides evidence for one of the central claims of the simulation view of language comprehension, namely that language-based mental simulations are made up of re-activated experiences that the comprehender has made in his or her past.
Other (English)
Research carried out in work package Z02 of the SFB 833.
Methods (English)
Experiment 1
Investigating inconsistencies in the reading-by-rotating literature and individual differences in motoric experience to explore the experiential basis of action-sentence compatibility effects.
In each experimental trial, our participants read a short narrative text frame by frame, proceeding from one frame to the next by rotating a knob in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. Each experimental text included a critical sentence divided in three frames, with the second frame describing a hand rotation movement that is usually performed in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. The task was to read the texts at a natural speed and answer comprehension questions referring to the texts. The experiment was divided in two blocks. Each participant was assigned a direction of knob rotation for the first block (clockwise vs. counterclockwise), that was switched in the second block.
Methods (English)
Experiment 2
Investigating inconsistencies in the reading-by-rotating literature and individual differences in motoric experience to explore the experiential basis of action-sentence compatibility effects.
In each experimental trial, our participants read a short narrative text frame by frame, proceeding from one frame to the next by rotating a knob in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. Each experimental text included a critical sentence divided in three frames, with the second frame describing a hand rotation movement that is usually performed in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. The task was to read the texts at a natural speed and answer comprehension questions referring to the texts. Each frame was displayed in either one of two colours (blue or orange). The colour indicated which direction of rotation was required to proceed to the next frame.
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Additional details
Additional titles
- Alternative title (English)
- The Experiential Basis of Compatibility Effects in Reading-by-Rotating Paradigms