God in body and space: Investigating the sensorimotor grounding of abstract concepts
Abstract concepts are defined as concepts that cannot be experienced directly through the sensorimotor modalities. Explaining our understanding of such concepts poses a challenge to neurocognitive models of knowledge. One account of how these concepts come to be represented is that sensorimotor repr...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-11-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.972193/full |
| _version_ | 1811243616706756608 |
|---|---|
| author | Suesan MacRae Brian Duffels Annie Duchesne Paul D. Siakaluk Heath E. Matheson |
| author_facet | Suesan MacRae Brian Duffels Annie Duchesne Paul D. Siakaluk Heath E. Matheson |
| author_sort | Suesan MacRae |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract concepts are defined as concepts that cannot be experienced directly through the sensorimotor modalities. Explaining our understanding of such concepts poses a challenge to neurocognitive models of knowledge. One account of how these concepts come to be represented is that sensorimotor representations of grounded experiences are reactivated in a way that is constitutive of the abstract concept. In the present experiment, we investigated how sensorimotor information might constitute GOD-related concepts, and whether a person’s self-reported religiosity modulated this grounding. To do so, we manipulated both the state of the body (i.e., kneeling vs. sitting) and the state of stimuli (i.e., spatial position on the screen) in two tasks that required conceptual categorization of abstract words. Linear Mixed Effects model fitting procedures were used to determine which manipulated factors best predicted response latency and accuracy in both tasks. We successfully replicated previous research demonstrating faster categorization of GOD-related words when they were presented at the top of the screen. Importantly, results demonstrated that the kneeling posture manipulation enhanced this effect, as did religiosity, as participants who scored higher in religiosity showed a greater effect of the posture manipulation on the speed with which word categorization occurred when those words were presented in the higher visuospatial presentation condition. Overall, we interpreted our findings to suggest that directly manipulating sensorimotor information can facilitate the categorization of abstract concepts, supporting the notion that this information in part constitutes the representation of abstract concepts. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T14:10:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-132e027ed39843f8a755ec372bb6044b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T14:10:30Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-132e027ed39843f8a755ec372bb6044b2022-12-22T03:29:52ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782022-11-011310.3389/fpsyg.2022.972193972193God in body and space: Investigating the sensorimotor grounding of abstract conceptsSuesan MacRaeBrian DuffelsAnnie DuchesnePaul D. SiakalukHeath E. MathesonAbstract concepts are defined as concepts that cannot be experienced directly through the sensorimotor modalities. Explaining our understanding of such concepts poses a challenge to neurocognitive models of knowledge. One account of how these concepts come to be represented is that sensorimotor representations of grounded experiences are reactivated in a way that is constitutive of the abstract concept. In the present experiment, we investigated how sensorimotor information might constitute GOD-related concepts, and whether a person’s self-reported religiosity modulated this grounding. To do so, we manipulated both the state of the body (i.e., kneeling vs. sitting) and the state of stimuli (i.e., spatial position on the screen) in two tasks that required conceptual categorization of abstract words. Linear Mixed Effects model fitting procedures were used to determine which manipulated factors best predicted response latency and accuracy in both tasks. We successfully replicated previous research demonstrating faster categorization of GOD-related words when they were presented at the top of the screen. Importantly, results demonstrated that the kneeling posture manipulation enhanced this effect, as did religiosity, as participants who scored higher in religiosity showed a greater effect of the posture manipulation on the speed with which word categorization occurred when those words were presented in the higher visuospatial presentation condition. Overall, we interpreted our findings to suggest that directly manipulating sensorimotor information can facilitate the categorization of abstract concepts, supporting the notion that this information in part constitutes the representation of abstract concepts.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.972193/fullgrounded cognitionembodied cognitionconceptsabstract conceptsRepresentation |
| spellingShingle | Suesan MacRae Brian Duffels Annie Duchesne Paul D. Siakaluk Heath E. Matheson God in body and space: Investigating the sensorimotor grounding of abstract concepts Frontiers in Psychology grounded cognition embodied cognition concepts abstract concepts Representation |
| title | God in body and space: Investigating the sensorimotor grounding of abstract concepts |
| title_full | God in body and space: Investigating the sensorimotor grounding of abstract concepts |
| title_fullStr | God in body and space: Investigating the sensorimotor grounding of abstract concepts |
| title_full_unstemmed | God in body and space: Investigating the sensorimotor grounding of abstract concepts |
| title_short | God in body and space: Investigating the sensorimotor grounding of abstract concepts |
| title_sort | god in body and space investigating the sensorimotor grounding of abstract concepts |
| topic | grounded cognition embodied cognition concepts abstract concepts Representation |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.972193/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT suesanmacrae godinbodyandspaceinvestigatingthesensorimotorgroundingofabstractconcepts AT brianduffels godinbodyandspaceinvestigatingthesensorimotorgroundingofabstractconcepts AT annieduchesne godinbodyandspaceinvestigatingthesensorimotorgroundingofabstractconcepts AT pauldsiakaluk godinbodyandspaceinvestigatingthesensorimotorgroundingofabstractconcepts AT heathematheson godinbodyandspaceinvestigatingthesensorimotorgroundingofabstractconcepts |