• Something wrong with this record ?

On truth and polarity in negation processing: language-specific effects in non-linguistic contexts

N. Vanek, H. Zhang

. 2023 ; 14 (-) : 1244249. [pub] 20230816

Status not-indexed Language English Country Switzerland

Document type Journal Article

Persistent link   https://www.medvik.cz/link/bmc23015443

INTRODUCTION: This study examines how negation is processed in a nonverbal context (e.g., when assessing ▲ ≠ ▲) by speakers of a truth-based system like Mandarin and a polarity-based system like English. In a truth-based system, negation may take longer to process because it is typically attached to the negation as a whole (it is not true that triangle does not equal triangle), whereas in polarity-based systems, negation is processed relatively faster because it is attached to just the equation symbol (triangle does not equal triangle), which is processed relatively faster. Our hypothesis was that negation processing routines previously observed for verbal contexts, namely that speakers of Mandarin get slowed down more when processing negative stimuli than positive stimuli compared to speakers of English, also extend to contexts when language use is not obligatory. METHODS: To test this, we asked participants to agree/disagree with equations comprising simple shapes and positive '=' or negative '≠' equation symbols. English speakers showed a response-time advantage over Mandarin speakers in negation conditions. In a separate experiment, we also tested the contribution of equation symbols '≠'/'=' to the cognitive demands by asking participants to judge shape sameness in symbol-free trials, such as ▲ ■. This comparison allowed us to test whether crosslinguistic differences arise not because of shape congruence judgement but arguably due to negation attachment. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The effect of the '≠' symbol on shape congruence was language-specific, speeding up English speakers but slowing down Mandarin speakers when the two shapes differed. These findings suggest language-specific processing of negation in negative equations, interpreted as novel support for linguistic relativity.

References provided by Crossref.org

000      
00000naa a2200000 a 4500
001      
bmc23015443
003      
CZ-PrNML
005      
20231020093504.0
007      
ta
008      
231010s2023 sz f 000 0|eng||
009      
AR
024    7_
$a 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1244249 $2 doi
035    __
$a (PubMed)37663332
040    __
$a ABA008 $b cze $d ABA008 $e AACR2
041    0_
$a eng
044    __
$a sz
100    1_
$a Vanek, Norbert $u School of Cultures, Languages and Linguistics, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand $u Experimental Research on Central European Languages Lab, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
245    10
$a On truth and polarity in negation processing: language-specific effects in non-linguistic contexts / $c N. Vanek, H. Zhang
520    9_
$a INTRODUCTION: This study examines how negation is processed in a nonverbal context (e.g., when assessing ▲ ≠ ▲) by speakers of a truth-based system like Mandarin and a polarity-based system like English. In a truth-based system, negation may take longer to process because it is typically attached to the negation as a whole (it is not true that triangle does not equal triangle), whereas in polarity-based systems, negation is processed relatively faster because it is attached to just the equation symbol (triangle does not equal triangle), which is processed relatively faster. Our hypothesis was that negation processing routines previously observed for verbal contexts, namely that speakers of Mandarin get slowed down more when processing negative stimuli than positive stimuli compared to speakers of English, also extend to contexts when language use is not obligatory. METHODS: To test this, we asked participants to agree/disagree with equations comprising simple shapes and positive '=' or negative '≠' equation symbols. English speakers showed a response-time advantage over Mandarin speakers in negation conditions. In a separate experiment, we also tested the contribution of equation symbols '≠'/'=' to the cognitive demands by asking participants to judge shape sameness in symbol-free trials, such as ▲ ■. This comparison allowed us to test whether crosslinguistic differences arise not because of shape congruence judgement but arguably due to negation attachment. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The effect of the '≠' symbol on shape congruence was language-specific, speeding up English speakers but slowing down Mandarin speakers when the two shapes differed. These findings suggest language-specific processing of negation in negative equations, interpreted as novel support for linguistic relativity.
590    __
$a NEINDEXOVÁNO
655    _2
$a časopisecké články $7 D016428
700    1_
$a Zhang, Haoruo $u College of Foreign Languages, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
773    0_
$w MED00174603 $t Frontiers in psychology $x 1664-1078 $g Roč. 14, č. - (2023), s. 1244249
856    41
$u https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37663332 $y Pubmed
910    __
$a ABA008 $b sig $c sign $y - $z 0
990    __
$a 20231010 $b ABA008
991    __
$a 20231020093457 $b ABA008
999    __
$a ok $b bmc $g 1997139 $s 1201805
BAS    __
$a 3
BAS    __
$a PreBMC-PubMed-not-MEDLINE
BMC    __
$a 2023 $b 14 $c - $d 1244249 $e 20230816 $i 1664-1078 $m Frontiers in psychology $n Front Psychol $x MED00174603
LZP    __
$a Pubmed-20231010

Find record

Citation metrics

Archiving options