TY  - JOUR
A1  - Ronasi, Golnoush
A1  - Fischer, Martin H.
A1  - Zimmermann, Malte
T1  - Language and Arithmetic
BT  - A Failure to Find Cross Cognitive Domain Semantic Priming Between Exception Phrases and Subtraction or Addition
JF  - Frontiers in Psychology
N2  - We examined cross-domain semantic priming effects between arithmetic and language. We paired subtractions with their linguistic equivalent, exception phrases (EPs) with positive quantifiers (e.g., “everybody except John”) while pairing additions with their own linguistic equivalent, EPs with negative quantifiers (e.g., “nobody except John”; Moltmann, 1995). We hypothesized that EPs with positive quantifiers prime subtractions and inhibit additions while EPs with negative quantifiers prime additions and inhibit subtractions. Furthermore, we expected similar priming and inhibition effects from arithmetic into semantics. Our design allowed for a bidirectional analysis by using one trial's target as the prime for the next trial. Two experiments failed to show significant priming effects in either direction. Implications and possible shortcomings are explored in the general discussion.
KW  - cross-domain priming
KW  - language
KW  - arithmetic
KW  - information integration
KW  - cognitive module
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01524
SN  - 1664-1078
VL  - 9
SP  - 1
EP  - 12
PB  - Frontiers Research Foundation
CY  - Lausanne
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Galetzka, Cedric
T1  - The Story So Far: How Embodied Cognition Advances Our Understanding of Meaning-Making
JF  - Frontiers in psychology
N2  - Meaning-making in the brain has become one of the most intensely discussed topics in cognitive science. Traditional theories on cognition that emphasize abstract symbol manipulations often face a dead end: The symbol grounding problem. The embodiment idea tries to overcome this barrier by assuming that the mind is grounded in sensorimotor experiences. A recent surge in behavioral and brain-imaging studies has therefore focused on the role of the motor cortex in language processing. Concrete, action-related words have received convincing evidence to rely on sensorimotor activation. Abstract concepts, however, still pose a distinct challenge for embodied theories on cognition. Fully embodied abstraction mechanisms were formulated but sensorimotor activation alone seems unlikely to close the explanatory gap. In this respect, the idea of integration areas, such as convergence zones or the ‘hub and spoke’ model, do not only appear like the most promising candidates to account for the discrepancies between concrete and abstract concepts but could also help to unite the field of cognitive science again. The current review identifies milestones in cognitive science research and recent achievements that highlight fundamental challenges, key questions and directions for future research.
KW  - embodied cognition
KW  - abstract concepts
KW  - language
KW  - mental simulation
KW  - action words
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01315
SN  - 1664-1078
VL  - 8
SP  - 1
EP  - 5
PB  - Frontiers Research Foundation
CY  - Lausanne
ER  -