二语情绪概念理解中的空间隐喻

采用空间启动范式考察二语情绪概念理解中是否激活空间信息, 即是否存在空间隐喻。实验1探讨单通道二语情绪概念理解中的空间隐喻, 实验2则探讨跨通道二语情绪概念理解中的空间隐喻。实验1中让32名母语为汉语的汉-英双语者先看一个英文情绪词, 接着进行视觉空间位置判断, 最后再让被试判断之前呈现的情绪词是积极词还是消极词。实验2中40名母语为汉语的汉-英双语者完成跟实验1类似的任务, 不同之处为英文情绪词以听觉形式呈现。两个实验的结果表明, 跨语言和跨通道的情绪词的空间隐喻受到空间位置方向的影响。垂直位置方向上, 二语情绪词在单通道和跨通道中都表现出了空间隐喻; 水平位置方向上, 二语情绪词没有表现出空间隐喻。该结果说明了情绪概念的空间隐喻会受到个体经验的影响, 进一步支持了知觉符号理论。

The Spatial Metaphor of Bilingual Affective Concepts Processing

Propositional Symbol Systems and Perceptual Symbol Systems hold different opinions on conceptual processing. Propositional Symbol Systems believe that conceptual processing does not have direct links with sensory experiences, while Perceptual Symbol Systems propose that conceptual processing is grounded in sensory experiences, especially in the spatial experience. In our experiments, a modified spatial cueing paradigm was used to test the metaphorical concurrency effect of bilingual affective concepts in mono- and cross- channel conditions. In Experiment 1, thirty-two Chinese-English bilinguals finished a spatial cueing task after keeping an affective word in mind in mono-channel condition. Affective words and spatial cues were all presented by display. Participants needed to judge valences of affective words at the end of each trial. Results showed that the metaphorical concurrency effect existed in the vertical dimension, but not in the horizontal dimension. Another forty Chinese-English bilinguals participated in Experiment 2, who finished the same task as Experiment 1 except that affective words were presented by headphone. Results showed that the metaphorical concurrency effect was also found in the cross-channel condition. In summary, the metaphorical concurrency effect exists in processing bilingual affective words. This effect is stronger in the vertical dimension than the horizontal dimension. Further, the metaphorical concurrency effect exists in the cross-channel condition indicating that speech perception for bilingual affective concepts activates cross-channel sensory information. More importantly, the metaphorical concurrency effect is influenced by acquired experiences (i.e., the second language). Hence, these results support the Perceptual Symbol Systems.