Abstract
There is a growing body of literature demonstrating the relationship between the activation of sensorimotor processes in object recognition. It is unclear, however, if these processes are influenced by the differences in how real (3D) tools and two-dimensional (2D) images of tools are processed by the brain. Here, we examined if these differences could influence the naming of tools. Participants were presented with a prime stimulus that was either a picture of a tool, or a real tool, followed by a target stimulus that was always a real tool. They were then required to name each tool as they appeared. The functional use action required by the target tool was either the same (i.e., squeegee–paint roller) or different (i.e. knife–whisk) to the prime. We found that the format in which the prime tool was presented (i.e., a picture or real tool) had no influence on the participants’ response times to naming the target tool. Furthermore, participants were faster at naming target tools relative to prime tools when the exact same tool was presented as both the prime and target. There was no difference in response times to naming the target tool relative to the prime when they were different tools, regardless of whether the tools’ functional actions were the same or different. We also found more errors in naming target tools relative to the primes when different tools had a different functional action compared to when the same tool was presented as both the prime and the target. Taken together, our results highlight that the functional actions associated with tools do not facilitate or interfere with the recognition of tools for the purposes of naming. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Almeida J, Mahon BZ, Caramazza A (2010) The role of the dorsal visual processing stream in tool identification. Psychol Sci 21(6):772–778. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797610371343
Binkofski F, Buxbaum LJ (2013) Two action systems in the human brain. Brain Lang 127(2):222–229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2012.07.007
Bub D, Masson M, Bukach C (2003) GESTURING AND NAMING: the Use of Functional Knowledge in Object Identification.
Buxbaum LJ (2001) Ideomotor apraxia: a call to action. Neurocase 7(6):445–458
Buxbaum LJ, Saffran E (1998) Knowing" how" vs. “what for”: a new dissociation. Brain Language. 65:73–86
Carey D, Harvey M, Milner A (1996) Visuomotor sensitivity for shape and orientation in a patient with visual form agnosia. Neuropsychologia 34(5):329–337. https://doi.org/10.1016/0028-3932(95)00169-7
Chainay H, Humphreys GW (2001) The real-object advantage in agnosia: evidence for a role of surface and depth information in object recognition. Cognitive neuropsychology 18(2):175–191. https://doi.org/10.1080/02643290125964
Chen J, Snow JC, Culham JC, Goodale MA (2018) What role does “elongation” play in “tool-specific” activation and connectivity in the dorsal and ventral visual streams? Cereb Cortex 28(4):1117–1131. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhx017
Decety J, Grèzes J (2006) The power of simulation: imagining one’s own and other’s behavior. Brain Res 1079(1):4–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2005.12.115
Gallese V (2008) Mirror neurons and the social nature of language: the neural exploitation hypothesis. Soc Neurosci 3(3–4):317–333. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470910701563608
Garcea FE, Mahon BZ (2012) What is in a tool concept? Dissociating manipulation knowledge from function knowledge. Memory Cognit 40(8):1303–1313. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-012-0236-y
Gerhard TM, Culham JC, Schwarzer G (2016) Distinct visual processing of real objects and pictures of those objects in 7-to 9-month-old infants. Front Psychol 7:827. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00827
Gibson J (1979) The ecological approach to visual perception. Houghton Miffin, Boston
Goldenberg G (2009) Apraxia: disease. In: Squire LR (ed) Encyclopedia of neuroscience. Academic Press, New York, pp 547–552
Goodale MA, Króliczak G, Westwood DA (2005) Dual routes to action: contributions of the dorsal and ventral streams to adaptive behavior. Progr Brain Res 149:269–283
Goodale MA, Meenan JP, Bülthoff HH, Nicolle DA, Murphy KJ, Racicot CI (1994) Separate neural pathways for the visual analysis of object shape in perception and prehension. Curr Biol 4(7):604–610
Goodale MA, Milner AD (1992) Separate visual pathways for perception and action. Trends Neurosci 15(1):20–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/0166-2236(92)90344-8
Goodale MA, Milner AD, Jakobson L, Carey D (1991) A neurological dissociation between perceiving objects and grasping them. Nature 349(6305):154. https://doi.org/10.1038/349154a0
Grafton ST, Fadiga L, Arbib MA, Rizzolatti GJN (1997) Premotor cortex activation during observation and naming of familiar tools. Neuroimage 6(4):231–236. https://doi.org/10.1006/nimg.1997.0293
Grèzes J, Armony JL, Rowe J, Passingham RE (2003) Activations related to “mirror” and “canonical” neurones in the human brain: an fMRI study. Neuroimage 18(4):928–937. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1053-8119(03)00042-9
Grezes J, Decety J (2001) Functional anatomy of execution, mental simulation, observation, and verb generation of actions: a meta-analysis. Hum Brain Mapp 12(1):1–19. https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-0193(200101)12:1%3c1::aid-hbm10%3e3.0.co;2-v
Heilman KM, Rothi LJ, Valenstein E (1982) Two forms of ideomotor apraxia. Neurology 32(4):342–342
Helbig HB, Graf M, Kiefer M (2006) The role of action representations in visual object recognition. Exp Brain Res 174(2):221–228. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-006-0443-5
Helbig HB, Graf M, Kiefer M (2010) Action observation can prime visual object recognition. Exp Brain Res 200(3–4):251–258. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-009-1953-8
Jeffreys H (1998) The theory of probability. OUP, Oxford
Johnson-Frey SH (2004) The neural bases of complex tool use in humans. Trends Cogn Sci 8(2):71–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2003.12.002
Lakoff G, Johnson M (1999) Philosophy in the flesh: the embodied mind and its challenge to western thought, vol 640. Basic books, New York
Martin A, Haxby JV, Lalonde FM, Wiggs CL, Ungerleider LG (1995) Discrete cortical regions associated with knowledge of color and knowledge of action. Science 270(5233):102–105. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.270.5233.102
McNair NA, Harris IM (2012) Disentangling the contributions of grasp and action representations in the recognition of manipulable objects. Exp Brain Res 220(1):71–77. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-012-3116-6
Milner A, Perrett D, Johnston R, Benson P, Jordan T, Heeley D, Terazzi E (1991) Perception and action in ‘visual form agnosia.’ Brain 114(1):405–428. https://doi.org/10.1093/neucas/6.1.11-a
Osiurak F, Badets A (2017) Use of tools and misuse of embodied cognition: reply to Buxbaum (2017). Psychol Rev 124(3):361–368
Riddoch MJ, Humphreys GW (2001) Object recognition. Handbook Cogn Neuropsychol. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781848608177.n15
Rizzolatti G, Arbib MA (1998) Language within our grasp. Trends Neurosci 21(5):188–194. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0166-2236(98)01260-0
Rizzolatti G, Matelli M (2003) Two different streams form the dorsal visual system: anatomy and functions. Exp Brain Res 153(2):146–157
Rosenbaum DA, Chapman KM, Weigelt M, Weiss DJ, van der Wel R (2012) Cognition, action, and object manipulation. Psychol Bull 138(5):924. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027839
Rothi L, Raymer A, Maher L, Greenwald M, Morris M (1991) Assessment of naming failures in neurological communication disorders. Clin Commun Disord 1(1):7–20
Saccone EJ, Thomas NA, Nicholls ME (2020) One-handed motor activity does not interfere with naming lateralized pictures of tools. J Exp Psychol. https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000863
Snow JC, Pettypiece CE, McAdam TD, McLean AD, Stroman PW, Goodale MA, Culham JC (2011) Bringing the real world into the fMRI scanner: repetition effects for pictures versus real objects. Sci Rep 1:130. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep00130
Snow JC, Skiba RM, Coleman TL, Berryhill ME (2014) Real-world objects are more memorable than photographs of objects. Front Human Neurosci 8:837. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00837
Squires SD, Macdonald SN, Culham JC, Snow JC (2015) Priming tool actions: are real objects more effective primes than pictures? Exp Brain Res 234(4):963–976. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-015-4518-z
Valyear KF, Chapman CS, Gallivan JP, Mark RS, Culham JC (2011) To use or to move: goal-set modulates priming when grasping real tools. Exp Brain Res 212(1):125–142. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-011-2705-0
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Australian Research Council (DP170103189).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
All authors declare no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Communicated by Francesco Lacquaniti.
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kithu, M.C., Saccone, E.J., Crewther, S.G. et al. A priming study on naming real versus pictures of tools. Exp Brain Res 239, 821–834 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-020-06015-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-020-06015-2