A Contrast Study On The Processing Of Spatial Direction Verbs In Chinese And English From The Perspective Of Embodied Cognition Theory

Traditional symbol cognitive theory holds that semantic information is stored in the brain’s memory system in the form of abstract symbols,and language comprehension is the process of linking abstract semantic symbols in the brain without involving the activation of perceptual-motor systems.In contrast,the embodied cognitive theory holds that semantic information is stored in the perceptual-motor system in the form of a specific modality,and language comprehension is the process of reactivating perceptual-motor experience in a simulated manner.Currently,a large number of studies have shown that words with implicit spatial meanings can induce lexical spatial effects,namely,when the spatial meaning of the vocabulary and the direction of the response are consistent,the subjects show a better reaction(i.e.when the subject process a verb with downward direction,such as“fall”,the execution of subsequent downward action will be promoted).The consistency effect of vocabulary and the space is considered to be the key evidence supporting embodied cognition.However,the cognitive mechanism of activation of spatial representation in lexical comprehension is still unclear,and there are few studies on the relationship between Chinese and English spatial direction verb processing and sensorimotor systems.Therefore,this research is expected to study the processing of spatial direction verbs in Chinese and English by using true and false word decision tasks.The specific research questions are as follows:(1)Can Chinese and English spatial direction verbs processing activate lexical-spatial effects?(2)Can Chinese and English spatial direction verbs processing automatically activate the motor response?(3)Are there differences in the activation of lexical-spatial effects and automatic motor response in Chinese and English spatial direction verbs processing?According to the above research questions,this study adopted a 2(word type:upward verb vs.downward verb)×2(response direction:upward vs.downward)×2(language:Chinese vs.English)three-factors within-subjects experimental design,and the response time and accuracy are recorded.A total of two experiments were carried out in this study.Experiment 1 is a Chinese spatial direction verb processing experiment.The experimental material consists of 30 Chinese spatial upward verbs,30 Chinese spatial downward verbs,and a total of 60 Chinese fake words.35 English major postgraduates from Sichuan International Studies University were selected as subjects.The experimental task is to present a series of Chinese spatial direction verbs(e.g.升起,坠落)and corresponding Chinese fake words,and requires the subject to do an upward or downward hand movement according to the true and false verbs decision task,and the experiment records the response time and the correct rate of the subject’s judgment on the target word.Experiment 2 is an English spatial direction verb(e.g.rise,fall)processing experiment.The experimental subjects and experimental design are the same as the experimental one.The experiment was programmed and executed by E-prime2.0,and then the average correct rate and react time under each experimental condition were counted.The data exceeding 3 standard deviations were regarded as invalid data and were eliminated.Finally,the valid data were input into SPSS 16.0 for repeated measures analysis of variance(F-test).The whole process was completed at the Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience for Foreign Language Learning at Sichuan International Studies University.The research results are as follows:1)The behavioral data of Experiment 1 showed that,in the true and false word decision tasks,there exist significant differences in the responses between the processing of Chinese upward verbs and downward verbs F(1,35)=6.641,P=.014<.05,η~2=.163).The response time was significantly faster if the direction of the verb matched the response direction than unmatched conditions.This shows that the processing of Chinese spatial direction verbs produces lexical-spatial effects,which activate spatial representations and promotes automatic motor responses in the corresponding vertical spatial direction.2)The behavioral data of Experiment 2 show that,in the true and false word decision tasks,there was no significant difference in the responses between the processing of English upward verbs and downward verbs(F(1,35)=4.007,P=.053>.05,η~2=.105),and the participants’response was faster if the verb unmatched the response direction than matched conditions.It can be shown that the processing of spatial direction verbs in English does not significantly affect spatial perception to produce lexical-spatial effects that activate spatial representation and generate automatic motor responses in the corresponding vertical spatial direction.3)There are significant differences in activating spatial representation and automatic motor response between Chinese and English spatial direction verb processing(F=11.160,P=.002<.05,η~2=.247).The consistency of lexical-spatial effects indicates that there exists an embodiment effect in processing Chinese spatial direction verbs.However,there doesn’t exist lexical-spatial effects in English spatial direction verb processing and automatic motor response is not activated.To sum up,Chinese spatial direction verbs can activate spatial representation and exercise experience,thus promote automatic motor responses,but English spatial direction verbs cannot unless the proficiency of English is close to or reached the level of native English speakers.