Linguistic Skill and Stimulus-Driven Attention: A Case for Linguistic Relativity
How does the language we speak affect our perception? Here, we argue for linguistic relativity and present an explanation through “language-induced automatized stimulus-driven attention” (LASA): Our respective mother tongue automatically influences our attention and, hence, perception, and in this s...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-05-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.875744/full |
| _version_ | 1811250961516068864 |
|---|---|
| author | Ulrich Ansorge Ulrich Ansorge Ulrich Ansorge Diane Baier Diane Baier Soonja Choi Soonja Choi |
| author_facet | Ulrich Ansorge Ulrich Ansorge Ulrich Ansorge Diane Baier Diane Baier Soonja Choi Soonja Choi |
| author_sort | Ulrich Ansorge |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | How does the language we speak affect our perception? Here, we argue for linguistic relativity and present an explanation through “language-induced automatized stimulus-driven attention” (LASA): Our respective mother tongue automatically influences our attention and, hence, perception, and in this sense determines what we see. As LASA is highly practiced throughout life, it is difficult to suppress, and even shows in language-independent non-linguistic tasks. We argue that attention is involved in language-dependent processing and point out that automatic or stimulus-driven forms of attention, albeit initially learned as serving a linguistic skill, account for linguistic relativity as they are automatized and generalize to non-linguistic tasks. In support of this possibility, we review evidence for such automatized stimulus-driven attention in language-independent non-linguistic tasks. We conclude that linguistic relativity is possible and in fact a reality, although it might not be as powerful as assumed by some of its strongest proponents. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T16:12:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-46862699997b4137ad00d78328f64b31 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T16:12:32Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-46862699997b4137ad00d78328f64b312022-12-22T03:25:50ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782022-05-011310.3389/fpsyg.2022.875744875744Linguistic Skill and Stimulus-Driven Attention: A Case for Linguistic RelativityUlrich Ansorge0Ulrich Ansorge1Ulrich Ansorge2Diane Baier3Diane Baier4Soonja Choi5Soonja Choi6Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaCognitive Science Hub, University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaResearch Platform Mediatised Lifeworlds, University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaFaculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaAcoustics Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, AustriaDepartment of Linguistics and Asian/Middle Eastern Languages, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, United StatesFaculty of Philological and Cultural Studies, University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaHow does the language we speak affect our perception? Here, we argue for linguistic relativity and present an explanation through “language-induced automatized stimulus-driven attention” (LASA): Our respective mother tongue automatically influences our attention and, hence, perception, and in this sense determines what we see. As LASA is highly practiced throughout life, it is difficult to suppress, and even shows in language-independent non-linguistic tasks. We argue that attention is involved in language-dependent processing and point out that automatic or stimulus-driven forms of attention, albeit initially learned as serving a linguistic skill, account for linguistic relativity as they are automatized and generalize to non-linguistic tasks. In support of this possibility, we review evidence for such automatized stimulus-driven attention in language-independent non-linguistic tasks. We conclude that linguistic relativity is possible and in fact a reality, although it might not be as powerful as assumed by some of its strongest proponents.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.875744/fulllanguageattentionlinguistic relativityvisual saccadeautomatic processing |
| spellingShingle | Ulrich Ansorge Ulrich Ansorge Ulrich Ansorge Diane Baier Diane Baier Soonja Choi Soonja Choi Linguistic Skill and Stimulus-Driven Attention: A Case for Linguistic Relativity Frontiers in Psychology language attention linguistic relativity visual saccade automatic processing |
| title | Linguistic Skill and Stimulus-Driven Attention: A Case for Linguistic Relativity |
| title_full | Linguistic Skill and Stimulus-Driven Attention: A Case for Linguistic Relativity |
| title_fullStr | Linguistic Skill and Stimulus-Driven Attention: A Case for Linguistic Relativity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Linguistic Skill and Stimulus-Driven Attention: A Case for Linguistic Relativity |
| title_short | Linguistic Skill and Stimulus-Driven Attention: A Case for Linguistic Relativity |
| title_sort | linguistic skill and stimulus driven attention a case for linguistic relativity |
| topic | language attention linguistic relativity visual saccade automatic processing |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.875744/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ulrichansorge linguisticskillandstimulusdrivenattentionacaseforlinguisticrelativity AT ulrichansorge linguisticskillandstimulusdrivenattentionacaseforlinguisticrelativity AT ulrichansorge linguisticskillandstimulusdrivenattentionacaseforlinguisticrelativity AT dianebaier linguisticskillandstimulusdrivenattentionacaseforlinguisticrelativity AT dianebaier linguisticskillandstimulusdrivenattentionacaseforlinguisticrelativity AT soonjachoi linguisticskillandstimulusdrivenattentionacaseforlinguisticrelativity AT soonjachoi linguisticskillandstimulusdrivenattentionacaseforlinguisticrelativity |