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Grammatical category influences lateralized imagery for sentences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2017

SOFIA STROUSTRUP
Affiliation:
Department of Linguistics, Cognitive Science, and Semiotics, Aarhus University, Denmark
MIKKEL WALLENTIN*
Affiliation:
Department of Linguistics, Cognitive Science, and Semiotics, Aarhus University, Denmark, and Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark
*
†Address for correspondence: Mikkel Wallentin, Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University Hospital, Building 10-G-5, Nørrebrogade, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. phone: +45-78464380; e-mail: mikkel@cc.au.dk
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Abstract

Natural language syntax has previously been thought to reflect abstract processing rules independent of meaning construction. However, grammatical categories may serve a functional role by allocating attention towards recurrent topics in discourse. Here, we show that listeners incorporate grammatical category into imagery when producing stick figure drawings from heard sentences, supporting the latter view. Participants listened to sentences with transitive verbs that independently varied whether a male or a female character (1) was mentioned first, (2) was the agent or recipient of an action, and (3) was the grammatical subject or object of the sentence. Replicating previous findings, we show that the first named character as well as the agent of the sentence tends to be drawn to the left in the image, probably reflecting left-to-right reading direction. But we also find that the grammatical subject of the sentence has a propensity to be drawn to the left of the object. We interpret this to suggest that grammatical category carries discursive meaning as an attention allocator. Our findings also highlight how language influences processes hitherto thought to be non-linguistic.

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Type
Article
Copyright
Copyright © UK Cognitive Linguistics Association 2017 
Figure 0

table 1. Example sentences

Figure 1

Fig. 1. Participants were asked to draw stick figures illustrating the content of sentences read aloud to them, e.g.: A: “She is kissed by him” [MA]; B: “He kicks her” [MF, MA, MS]; C: “Her, he is being shot by” [MS]; D: “Him, she is being pushed by” [MF, MA]. Drawings were coded for whether the male character was to the left in the drawing. Independent variables were MF: the male character was mentioned before the female; MA: the male character was the agent performing the action; MS: the male character was the grammatical subject of the sentence.

Figure 2

table 2. Descriptive statistics

Figure 3

Fig. 2. Percentage drawings with the male character on the left for each sentence type. Chance level = 50%. FF/MF: Female/Male named First, FA/MA: Female/Male Agent; FS/MS: Female/Male sentence Subject. Example sentences are translations of the original Danish sentences (see Table 1). ** p < .005, **** p < .00005.

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