| Psycholinguistic studies using the "visual world" paradigm tend to employ either photographs or clipart as stimuli, with convenience or availability typically serving as the sole reason for choosing a particular image type. The present study examined how image type (clipart/photograph) affects the process of mapping language to visual referents. On each trial, participants viewed an array of objects and heard a recorded sentence containing either a semantically neutral verb (Experiment 1: Jamie will move the banana ) or a semantically restrictive verb (Experiment 2: Jamie will peel the banana). Image type (clipart/photograph) was manipulated across blocks. Eye movements were recorded as participants listened to the sentences and mouse-clicked on the last-mentioned object. Quite strikingly, image type did not appear to affect language-driven eye movements. However, it did sometimes influence the initial moments of visual processing, before the recorded sentence began. The results are described in terms of their implications for visual-world studies of language processing. |
