Is semantic processing impaired near the hands?

Acta Psychologica

Annie J. Olmstead¹  Sarah Stoudt²  Giordana Grossi³ 

[1] Corresponding author at: Department of Psychology, Wooster Hall 302, State University of New York at New Paltz, New Paltz, NY 12561, United States of America.;Pennsylvania State University, United States of America;State University of New York, New Paltz, United States of America;

关键词: Semantic processing;    Reading;    Near-hands effects;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

In a sentence decision task, Davoli et al. (2010) found that the semantic analysis of sentences differed depending on whether the participants' hands were close to or far from the computer screen. According to the authors, the findings reflected an impoverishment of semantic processing near the hands. In the current study, we examine this explanation by asking whether hand position affects 1) other aspects of sentence processing, such as syntactic analysis, 2) semantic processing at the individual word level, and 3) performance in a picture naming task that requires access to meaning. In Experiment 1, participants judged the acceptability of sentences, half of which included semantic or syntactic violations. In Experiment 2, only semantically acceptable or nonacceptable sentences were presented. In Experiment 3, participants performed a go/nogo semantic categorization task on individual words. In Experiment 4, participants performed a picture naming task. Participants performed these tasks both with their hands near to and far from the computer screen. Regardless of the task, we found no evidence of impoverished semantic processing near the hands.

【 授权许可】

Unknown