Abstract
Some cognitive linguists (Rosch et al. Cognit Psychol 8:382–439, 1976; Ungerer and Schmid An introduction to cognitive linguistics, Pearson Education Limited, London, England, 2006) believe the basic level category has cognitive economy because the basic level category allows obtaining the maximum amount of information about an item with the lowest cognitive effort. Whether it is also true for L2 learners has not been verified so far. This study examined whether Chinese English learners’ cognitive load of basic level category is lower than that of superordinate category and subordinate category. The eye movement data, including that of total duration of fixations, total number of fixations, duration of first fixation, and average duration of fixations, generated by 31 Chinese English learners while reading sentences with different levels of category words, were collected and analyzed. The results showed that Chinese English learners’ cognitive load of the basic level category was the lowest. This study provides cross-linguistic experimental evidence for the basic level category theory, and also shows the cognitive economy of basic level categories is an intrinsic psychological property, no matter whether it is the first language or the second language that the readers use.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The stimuli and datasets generated by the research and analyzed during the current study are available in the Harvard Dataverse repository, https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/C1YEFW
References
Ahern, S., & Beatty, J. (1979). Pupillary responses during information processing vary with Scholastic Aptitude Test scores. Science, 205(4412), 1289–1292.
Balota, A., Cortese, J., Sergent-Marshall, D., Spieler, H., & Yap, J. (2004). Visual word recognition of single-syllable words. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 133, 283–316.
Barsalou, L. W. (1999). Perceptual symbol systems. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 22(4), 577–660.
Barsalou, L. W. (2008). Grounded cognition. Annual Review of Psychology, 59(1), 617–645.
Berlin, B., & Kay, P. (1969). Basic color terms: Their universality and evolution. University of California Press.
Brown, R. (1958). How shall a thing be called? Psychological Review, 65(1), 14–21.
Dijkstra, T., & Van Heuven, W. J. B. (2002). The architecture of the bilingual word recognition system From identification to decision. Bilingualism Language and Cognition., 5, 175–197.
Duyck, W., Van Assche, E., Drieghe, D., & Hartsuiker, R. J. (2007). Visual word recognition by bilinguals in a sentence context: Evidence for nonselective lexical access. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 33(4), 663–679. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.33.4.663
Fredericks, K., Sang, C., Hart, J., Steven, B., & Anil, M. (2005). An investigation of myocardial aerobic capacity as a measure of both physical and cognitive workloads. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 35(12), 1097–1107.
Haapalainen, E., Kim, S., Forlizzi, F., & Dey, K. (2010). Psycho-physiological measures for assessing cognitive load. In M. Din (Ed.), of the ACM international conference on ubiquitous computing. Copenhagen: Denmark.
Hess, E. H., & Polt, J. M. (1960). Pupil size as related to interest value of visual stimuli. Science, 132(3423), 349–350.
Inhoff, A. W., & Rayner, K. (1986). Parafoveal word processing during eye fixations in reading: Effects of word frequency. Perception Psychophysics, 40(6), 431–439.
Iordan, M. C., Greene, M. R., Beck, D. M., & Li, F. (2015). Basic Level Category Structure Emerges Gradually across Human Ventral Visual Cortex. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 27(7), 1427–1446.
James, T. (1975). The role of semantic information in lexical decisions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 1, 130–136.
Jolicoeur, P., Gluck, M. A., & Kosslyn, S. M. (1984). Pictures and names: Making the connection. Cognitive Psychology, 16(2), 243–275.
Joseph, A. W., & Murugesh, R. (2020). Potential eye tracking metrics and indicators to measure cognitive load in human-computer interaction research. Journal of Scientific Research, 64(1), 168–175. https://doi.org/10.37398/JSR.2020.640137
Just, M. A., & Carpenter, P. A. (1993). The intensity dimension of thought: Pupillometric indices of sentence processing. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology/revue Canadienne De Psychologie Expérimentale, 47(2), 310.
Kenneth, I. F., & Susan, M. C. (1973). Lexical access and naming time. Journal Verbal Learning Verbal Behavior., 12(6), 635.
Khawaji, A., Zhou, J., Chen, F., & Marcus, N. (2015). Using galvanic skin response (GSR) to measure trust and cognitive load in the text-chat environment. In M. Din (Ed.), Annual ACM Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Korea: Seoul.
Kiefer, M., & Pulvermüller, F. (2012). Conceptual representations in mind and brain: Theoretical developments, current evidence and future directions. Cortex, 48(7), 805–825.
Knoblich, G., Ohlsson, S., & Raney, G. E. (2001). An eye movement study of insight problem solving. Memory Cognition, 29(7), 1000–1009.
Lakoff, G. (1987). Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal about the Mind. University of Chicago Press.
Li, F. (2008). An introduction to cognitive linguistics. Peking University Press.
Libben, M. R., & Titone, D. A. (2009). Bilingual lexical access in context: Evidence from eye movements during reading. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 35(2), 381.
Mack, M. L., & Palmeri, T. J. (2011). The timing of visual object categorization. Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 165.
Mack, M. L., & Palmeri, T. J. (2015). The dynamics of categorization: Unraveling rapid categorization. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 144(3), 551.
Mack, M. L., Wong, A. C. N., Gauthier, I., Tanaka, J. W., & Palmeri, T. J. (2009). Time course of visual object categorization: Fastest does not necessarily mean first. Vision Research, 49(15), 1961–1968.
Markman, B., & Edward, W. (1997). Similar and different: The differentiation of basic-level categories. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 23(1), 54–70.
Morrison, M., & Ellis, W. (2000). Real age of acquisition effects in word naming and lexical decision. British Journal of Psychology, 91, 167–180.
Mulder, J. (1992). Measurement and analysis methods of heart rate and respiration for use in applied environments. Biological Psychology, 34(2–3), 205–236.
Murphy, L., & Brownell, H. (1985). Category differentiation in object recognition: Typicality constraints on the basic category advantage. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 11, 70–84.
Pass, C., & Merrienborer, V. (1994a). Instructional control of cognitive load in the training of complex cognitive tasks. Educational Psychology Review, 6(4), 351–371.
Pass, C., & Merrienborer, V. (1994b). Variability of worked examples and transfer of geometrical problem-solving skills: A cognitive-load approach. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86(1), 122–133.
Rosch, E. (1973). Natural categories. Cognitive Psychology, 4(3), 328–350.
Rosch, E. (1988). Principles of categorization. Cognit Cate., 22, 312–322.
Rosch, E., Mervis, C. B., Gray, W. D., Johnson, D. M., & Boyes-Braem, P. (1976). Basic objects in natural categorie. Cognit Psychol, 8, 382–439.
Rubenstein, H., Garfield, L., & Millikan, J. A. (1970). Homographic entries in the internal lexicon. J Verbal Learn Verbal Behave, 9(5), 487–494.
Ryu, K., & Myung, R. (2005). Evaluation of mental workload with a combined measure based on physiological indices during a dual task of tracking and mental arithmetic. Inter J Indust Ergon, 35(11), 991–1009.
Schwanenfl, J., Harnishfeger, K., & Stowe, W. (1988). Context availability and lexical decisions for abstract and concrete words. Journal of Memory and Language, 27, 499–520.
Solomon, R. L., & Howes, D. H. (1951). Word frequency, personal values, and visual duration thresholds. Psychological Review, 58(4), 256.
Taniguchi, K., Kuraguchi, K., Takano, Y., & Itakura, S. (2020). Object Categorization Processing Differs According to Category Level: Comparing Visual Information Between the Basic and Superordinate Levels. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 501–501.
Ungerer, F., & Schmid, H. (2006). An introduction to cognitive linguistics. London, England: Pearson Education Limited.
Wang, Y., & Li, H. (2003). Prototype theory and differences of word-formation between English and Chinese. Foreign Language and Literature, 3, 135–140.
Wilson, F. (2002). An analysis of mental workload in pilots during flight using multiple psychophysiological measures. The International Journal of Aviation Psychology, 12(1), 3–18.
Wittgenstein, J. J. L. (1953). Philosophical Investigation. Basil Balckwell.
Yan, G. L., Zhang, L. L., & Lang, R. (2008). The perceptual span of Chinese undergraduates in reading English. Psychological Research, 1(2), 80–85.
Yan, G., Jianping, X., Chuanli, Z., Lili, Y., Lei, C., & Xuejun, B. (2013). Review of eye-movement measures in reading research. Advances in Psychological Science, 21(04), 589–605.
Zagermann, J., Pfeil, U., & Reiterer, H. (2016). Measuring cognitive load using eye tracking technology in visual computing. Beyond Time Errors Novel Eva Method Visual. https://doi.org/10.1145/2993901.2993908
Zagermann, J., Pfeil, U., & Reiterer, H. (2018). Studying Eye Movements as a Basis for Measuring Cognitive Load. Ext Abs Conf Human Factors Comput Syst. https://doi.org/10.1145/3170427.3188628
Zhao, Y. (2000). An introduction to cognitive linguistics. Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.
Funding
The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
MJ designed the experiment, collected, processed, analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscript. CL provided the experiment topic, checked the logic of the experiment design, revised the manuscript, and funded the experiment. JR and YY assisted in the experiment and provided feedback during the research process. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
Author Min Ji declares that she has no conflict of interest. Author Jiaxin Ren declares that she has no conflict of interest. Author Yinxin Yang declares that she has no conflict of interest. Author Chuanwei Luo declares that he has no conflict of interest.
Ethical approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Inform consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Appendix A
Appendix A
Category of target words | Target words | Sentences | Word length of target words | Mean of difficulty scores for each sentence | part of speech of target words |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
basic level category | alcohol | Alcohol acts quickly on the brain | 7 | 2.45 | subject |
basic level category | bottle | Put the top back on the bottle | 6 | 2.8 | object |
basic level category | curtain | She pulled the curtain aside | 7 | 2.55 | object |
basic level category | guitar | She plays guitar in a band | 6 | 2.4 | object |
basic level category | leather | The shoes are made of leather | 7 | 2.7 | object |
basic level category | palace | The Old Town has a palace | 6 | 2.5 | object |
basic level category | pencil | I'll get a pencil and paper | 6 | 2.4 | object |
basic level category | printer | There's something wrong with the printer | 7 | 2.35 | object |
basic level category | seaweed | Seaweed is very susceptible to human pollution | 7 | 2.8 | subject |
basic level category | spring | To the north is a spring | 6 | 2.75 | subject |
subordinate category | bamboo | Everything there is made of bamboo | 6 | 2.35 | object |
subordinate category | Barbie | Barbie dolls have a particular look to them | 6 | 2.7 | subject |
subordinate category | emerald | I found an emerald ring in my cab | 7 | 2.95 | object |
subordinate category | hatchet | I cut the trees with my hatchet | 7 | 2.4 | object |
subordinate category | iPhone | The iPhone is selling very well | 6 | 2.45 | subject |
subordinate category | orchid | He identified 26 new species of orchid | 6 | 2.6 | object |
subordinate category | panacea | This approach is not a panacea | 7 | 2.6 | object |
subordinate category | pudding | She put her spoon into the pudding | 7 | 2.45 | object |
subordinate category | quartz | Quartz and other minerals are found only in low amounts | 6 | 2.85 | subject |
subordinate category | soybean | I eat a lot of soybean products | 7 | 2.4 | object |
superordinate category | cereal | He ate a large bowl of cereal | 6 | 2.5 | object |
superordinate category | clothes | Moira walked upstairs to change her clothes | 7 | 2.45 | object |
superordinate category | energy | It's a waste of time and energy | 6 | 2.4 | object |
superordinate category | insect | Ants, beetles, butterflies and flies are all insects | 6 | 2.45 | subject |
superordinate category | jewelry | The one on the right wears jewelry | 7 | 2.45 | object |
superordinate category | machine | The potatoes are planted by machine | 7 | 2.4 | object |
superordinate category | mammal | Humans, dogs, and whales are all mammals | 6 | 2.5 | object |
superordinate category | utensil | In the drawer were some kitchen utensils | 7 | 2.3 | subject |
superordinate category | weapon | The police still haven't found the murder weapon | 6 | 2.3 | object |
superordinate category | weather | The weather is very changeable at the moment | 7 | 2.4 | subject |
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Ji, M., Luo, C., Ren, J. et al. A comparative study of the cognitive load of basic-level category, superordinate category and subordinate category. Psychological Research 87, 2192–2203 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-023-01799-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-023-01799-8