The Action-Sentence Compatibility Effect in ASL: the role of semantics vs. perception

KRISTEN SECORA, KAREN EMMOREY
2014 Language and Cognition  
abstractEmbodied theories of cognition propose that humans use sensorimotor systems in processing language. The Action-Sentence Compatibility Effect (ACE) refers to the finding that motor responses are facilitated after comprehending sentences that imply movement in the same direction. In sign languages there is a potential conflict between sensorimotor systems and linguistic semantics: movement away from the signer is perceived as motion toward the comprehender. We examined whether perceptual
more » ... rocessing of sign movement or verb semantics modulate the ACE. Deaf ASL signers performed a semantic judgment task while viewing signed sentences expressing toward or away motion. We found a significant congruency effect relative to the verb's semantics rather than to the perceived motion. This result indicates that (a) the motor system is involved in the comprehension of a visual–manual language, and (b) motor simulations for sign language are modulated by verb semantics rather than by the perceived visual motion of the hands.
doi:10.1017/langcog.2014.40 pmid:26052352 pmcid:PMC4455545 fatcat:6okegulx7bctvkq2pt3eb2r6yq