Sweet-cheeks vs. pea-brain: embodiment,valence, and task all influence the emotional salience of language |
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| Authors: | Erik M Benau Sabrina C Gregersen Paul D Siakaluk Aminda J O'Hare Eric K Johnson |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Psychology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA;2. Department of Psychology, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, Canada;3. Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, North Dartmouth, MA, USA |
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| Abstract: | Previous research has found that more embodied insults (e.g. numbskull) are identified faster and more accurately than less embodied insults (e.g. idiot). The linguistic processing of embodied compliments has not been well explored. In the present study, participants completed two tasks where they identified insults and compliments, respectively. Half of the stimuli were more embodied than the other half. We examined the late positive potential (LPP) component of event-related potentials in early (400–500?ms), middle (500–600?ms), and late (600–700?ms) time windows. Increased embodiment resulted in improved response accuracy to compliments in both tasks, whereas it only improved accuracy for insults in the compliment detection task. More embodied stimuli elicited a larger LPP than less embodied stimuli in the early time window. Insults generated a larger LPP in the late time window in the insult task; compliments generated a larger LPP in the early window in the compliment task. These results indicate that electrophysiological correlates of emotional language perception are sensitive to both top-down and bottom-up processes. |
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| Keywords: | Event-related potentials late positive potential embodied cognition insults compliments |
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