Cognitive Science 36 (1):102-129 (2012)
Abstract |
This study investigated the relative contribution of perception/cognition and language-specific semantics in nonverbal categorization of spatial relations. English and Korean speakers completed a video-based similarity judgment task involving containment, support, tight fit, and loose fit. Both perception/cognition and language served as resources for categorization, and allocation between the two depended on the target relation and the features contrasted in the choices. Whereas perceptual/cognitive salience for containment and tight-fit features guided categorization in many contexts, language-specific semantics influenced categorization where the two features competed for similarity judgment and when the target relation was tight support, a domain where spatial relations are perceptually diverse. In the latter contexts, each group categorized more in line with semantics of their language, that is, containment/support for English and tight/loose fit for Korean. We conclude that language guides spatial categorization when perception/cognition alone is not sufficient. In this way, language is an integral part of our cognitive domain of space.
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Keywords | Language and thought Spatial categorization Language and perception/cognition Spatial cognition Language‐specific semantics Spatial semantics |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
DOI | 10.1111/j.1551-6709.2011.01201.x |
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Citations of this work BETA
Spatial Semantics, Cognition, and Their Interaction: A Comparative Study of Spatial Categorization in English and Korean.Hongoak Yun & Soonja Choi - 2018 - Cognitive Science 42 (6):1736-1776.
One Label or Two? Linguistic Influences on the Similarity Judgment of Objects Between English and Japanese Speakers.Takahiko Masuda, Keiko Ishii, Koji Miwa, Marghalara Rashid, Hajin Lee & Rania Mahdi - 2017 - Frontiers in Psychology 8.
Why Loose Rings Can Be Tight: The Role of Learned Object Knowledge in the Development of Korean Spatial Fit Terms.Franklin Chang, Youngon Choi & Yeonjung Ko - 2015 - Cognition 136:196-203.
Crossing to the Other Side: Language Influences Children’s Perception of Event Components.Haruka Konishi, Natalie Brezack, Roberta Michnick Golinkoff & Kathy Hirsh-Pasek - 2019 - Cognition 192:104020.
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