空间隐喻和形状变化对物体内隐时间概念加工的影响

通过2个实验, 考察了空间隐喻和形状变化对物体内隐时间概念加工的影响。实验1通过对隐含时间关系的词对的语义相关判断发现, 形状变化物体隐含的“先前/后来”的时间概念与“左/右”的空间概念存在着对应关系, 断裂式变化(形状变化大)的物体比渐进式变化(形状变化小)的物体激发了更加明显的时间变化感, 但物体形状变化类型并未明显地影响对词对语义相关判断的速度和准确性。实验2通过对隐含时间关系的物体图片对的语义相关判断发现, 物体形状变化隐含的“先前/后来”的时间概念与“左/右”的空间概念亦存在着对应关系, 而且物体形状变化类型影响对物体图片对语义相关判断的速度和准确性, 被试对渐进式变化物体的语义相关判断显著快于对断裂式变化物体的语义相关判断, 错误率亦低。整个研究表明, 在物体形状变化内隐时间概念的表征中, 既存在着抽象的符号表征, 又存在着具体的形状知觉表征。研究结果支持概念双加工理论的预言。     

实物形状的知觉相似性对视觉隐喻加工的影响

视觉隐喻是众多研究者比较关注的领域, 当前多以物体简笔画、漫画及广告等方面的研究为主, 但对与生活密切相关的实物的视觉隐喻研究甚少。因此研究采用掩蔽启动范式、李克特9点量表及语音生成等研究方法, 在物体概念类型(概念相同、概念相异)及形状类型(形状相似、形状相异)条件下, 针对实物图片的形状知觉相似性是否对视觉隐喻加工产生影响进行探讨。结果发现无论物体概念是否相同, 形状相似性对个体的物体识别具有“促进”作用, 并有利于视觉隐喻加工; 在物体识别中, 当两个物体概念不同时, 个体会试图建立一个特设类别来对形状相似的物体进行归类, 从而实现了视觉隐喻的加工。因此研究进一步证明了实物形状的知觉相似性有利于视觉隐喻的加工。     

道德概念的黑白隐喻表征及其对道德认知的影响

采用不同的研究方法在不同水平上考察道德概念的黑白隐喻表征, 探讨了黑白视知觉对道德认知的影响。实验1a发现, 在词汇选择任务中被试倾向于判断白色希腊文词汇具有道德意义, 判断黑色希腊文词汇具有不道德意义。实验1b通过词性判断任务表明, 当道德词以白色呈现、不道德词以黑色呈现时被试的判断反应更快。实验2显示, 当将道德两难故事呈现在黑色背景上时, 相比于呈现在白色背景上, 被试会在道德评判任务中将故事中人物的行为判断为更加不道德。实验3通过情境实验发现, 相比明亮环境, 在黑暗环境中完成实验的被试会更倾向于认为他人会不公正地对待自己。研究证明, 黑白颜色概念与道德概念的隐喻联结存在心理现实性, 黑白颜色刺激知觉会对道德判断产生影响作用, 且环境的亮度也会影响到人们对道德相关问题的认知判断。     

“Editing” Genes: A Case Study About How Language Matters in Bioethics

Metaphors used to describe new technologies mediate public understanding of the innovations. Analyzing the linguistic, rhetorical, and affective aspects of these metaphors opens the range of issues available for bioethical scrutiny and increases public accountability. This article shows how such a multidisciplinary approach can be useful by looking at a set of texts about one issue, the use of a newly developed technique for genetic modification, CRISPRcas9.     

Can Culture Influence Body‐Specific Associations Between Space and Valence?

People implicitly associate positive ideas with their dominant side of space and negative ideas with their non‐dominant side. Right‐handers tend to associate “good” with “right” and “bad” with “left,” but left‐handers associate “bad” with “right” and “good” with “left.” Whereas right‐handers' implicit associations align with idioms in language and culture that link “good” with “right,” left‐handers' implicit associations go against them. Can cultural conventions modulate the body‐specific association between valence and left‐right space? Here, we compared people from Spanish and Moroccan cultures, which differ in the strength of taboos against the use of the left hand, and therefore in their preference for the right. Results showed stronger explicit associations between space and valence in Moroccan participants than in Spaniards, but they did not show any increased tendency for right‐handed Moroccans to associate “good” with “right” implicitly. Despite differences in cultural conventions between Spaniards and Moroccans, we find no evidence for a cross‐cultural difference in the implicit association between space and valence, which appears to depend on patterns of bodily experience.