The Neurocognitive Mechanism Of Chinese Logogriphs Comprehension

A Chinese logogriph is a type of word riddle with the answer of a single Chinese character.The Mímiàn of a logogriph is usually a conventional phrase,but vividly implies the graphic,phonetic or semantic traits of the Míd? character.There are a few kinds of interpretations on the semantic comprehension and construction of a logogriph.Among them,this study is conducted from the perspective of non-literal languages,regards a logogriph as a type of non-literal languages,and defines the conventional meaning of the Mímiàn as the literal meaning of a logogriph while the nonconventional meaning required for solving a logogriph as the non-literal meaning.A logogriph not only possesses the universal characteristics of non-literal language constructs,but also distinguishes from other categories in two points.First,the nonliteral meaning of a logogriph is both placed in the Mímiàn and the Míd?.The non-literal meaning contained in the Mímiàn plays an intermediary role,clarifying the specific rules for understanding a logogriph and bridging the Mímiàn with the Míd?,which is the ultimate carrier of the non-literal meaning.It is formed according to the rules provided by the “intermediary”.Getting the non-literal “intermediary” in the Mímiàn is the most critical step in solving a logogriph.Second,the non-literal meaning of a logogriph is an example of metalanguage use essentially.When understanding logogriphs,people need to switch from the context of natural language(literal)to metalanguage(non-literal)which describes the character or word itself,and regard the characters,components or strokes as 2D objects to split and recombine.These two points fully reflect the cognitive distinctiveness and complexity of a logogriph as a kind of non-literal languages.At present,in the field of linguistics,almost all the studies on logogriphs are theoretical research,which cannot reveal the online processing mechanism of logogriphs.In the field of psychology,there have been some empirical studies,but they tend to regard a logogriph as a tool to investigate insight phenomenon,not as a language phenomenon.Therefore,there are still many unanswered questions about the neurocognitive mechanism of Chinese logogriphs.This study focuses on graphic logogriphs and semantic logogriphs,which are two main categories of Chinese logogriphs.The method to solve a graphic logogriph is to add,subtract and reassemble strokes,radicals or components of certain characters in the Mímiàn(????——?),while the way to answer a semantic logogriph is to synonymously substitute the key words in the Mímiàn to the components of the Míd?character(????——?).By comparing the similarities and differences in construction and comprehension of the two,we can comprehensively and deeply explore the processing mechanism of logogriphs.This dissertation has two research objectives: one is to clarify the characteristics of different stages in the dynamic process of Chinese logogriphs comprehension,and the other is to put forward a neuropsychological model for Chinese logogriphs comprehension.Research Object One is based on Experiments 1 to 4.The first three experiments adopt eye-tracking technique.Experiment 1 has no priming conditions,and its purpose is to investigate the comprehension process of logogriphs and to clarify the different stages in the process.Experiment 2 provides literal and non-literal contexts,to explore how different contexts influence the comprehension process of logogriphs.Experiment3 includes two kinds of heuristic prototypes,to study how the prototype heuristic effect promotes the process of logogriphs comprehension.And Experiment 4 uses the eventrelated potential technique,trying to identify the neural activities involved in different stages of logogriphs comprehension.The results show that in the process of logogriphs comprehension,the first step is to access the highly-salient literal meaning of the Mímiàn,and after that,people can infer the non-literal meaning of low salience which is necessary for solving the logogriph and getting the Míd?.Specifically,there are three stages:(1)The stage of processing literal meaning,namely the stage of interpreting the conventional meaning of the Mímiàn.In this stage,factors such as the type of logogriphs or contexts do not affect the process,and the neural activities induced are also similar.The reason is that the Mímiàns are conventional and familiar phrases in daily life.Individuals only need to understand them as literal languages at this time.(2)The stage of competition between literal and non-literal meaning.In this stage,non-literal contexts and heuristic prototypes can significantly promote the activation of non-literal meaning,but literal contexts may hinder this process.(3)The stage of processing non-literal meaning,namely the stage of accessing the non-conventional meaning of the Míd?.This stage includes the affirmation of the non-literal “intermediary” and the formation of the nonliteral “carrier”.The results also show that the more difficult the logogriph is,or the weaker the context is,the more difficult the verbal reasoning process from literal to non-literal “intermediary” is,and the stronger the N400(reflecting semantic predictability)or LPC effect(reflecting the difficulty of semantic integration)is.Once the non-literal “intermediary” is determined,the spatial reasoning from “intermediary”to “carrier” is relatively simple.Here,the related factors no longer influence the results of logogriphs comprehension.By comparing the neurocognitive mechanisms of the two kinds of logogriphs,this study further proves that a semantic logogriph is more difficult than a graphic logogriph,which is reflected in that the verbal reasoning process of the former is more difficult than that of the latter.The access of non-literal meaning of the former is later than that of the latter,and the former induces weaker prototype heuristic effect than the latter.The realization of Research Objective Two is based on Research Objective One.Taking together the current findings and previous literature,we propose an overall neuropsychological model of logogriphs at the end of the dissertation,illustrating the dynamic process of logogriphs comprehension and the interactions of related influencing factors.This model not only provides a more thorough analysis of a logogriph,but also suggests a more in-depth and comprehensive perspective for the comprehension of non-literal languages and human languages in general.