Abstract
The present study aimed to assess the role of sentence plausibility in the functional link between action words and visual judgments of point-light human actions. Following the oral presentation of action verbs included in a plausible or implausible sentence, participants were asked to detect the presence of congruent or incongruent biological movements. Sentence plausibility was manipulated by inverting the positions of the subject and the complement (e.g., the neighbor is running in the garden vs the garden is running in the neighbor). The results showed that for both plausible and implausible sentences, the detection of human movements is greater following presentation of congruent action verbs. These results suggest that the presentation of action verbs affects the subsequent perception of point-light human movements, regardless of the associated semantic context. However, the link between action verbs and judgment of biological movements is strengthened when plausible sentences are presented, as illustrated by the increase in visual detection capacity in plausible congruent conditions. Concerning the analysis of the detection speed, the performance is only affected in plausible sentences with slower response times associated with the presentation of an incongruent action verb. These findings are discussed in light of an embodied mechanism and the domain of biological movement perception.
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All aspects of this study were performed in accordance with the ethical standards set out in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. The study was approved by the local ethics committee of the laboratory—Center for Research in Cognition and Learning (CeRCA)—and was conducted in accordance with national norms and guidelines for the protection of human subjects.
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Appendix
Appendix
Appendix 1: List of plausible and implausible sentences
Plausible sentences in French (in English) | Implausible sentences in French (in English) |
|---|---|
le footballeur court sur le terrain (the football player is running on the field) | le terrain court sur le footballeur (the field is running on the football player) |
l’athlète court dans le stade (the athlete is running in the stadium) | le stade court dans l’athlète (the stadium is running in the athlete) |
le gendarme court sur le trottoir (the policeman is running on the sidewalk) | le trottoir court sur le gendarme (the sidewalk is running on the policeman) |
le chasseur court dans la forêt (the hunter is running in the forest) | la forêt court dans le chasseur (the forest is running in the hunter) |
le voisin court dans le jardin (the neighbor is running in the garden) | le jardin court dans le voisin (the garden is running in the neighbor) |
le comédien court dans le studio (the comedian is running in the studio) | le studio court dans le comédien (the studio is running in the comedian) |
le gamin court sur le chemin (the kid is running on the way) | le chemin court sur le gamin (the way is running on the kid) |
l’inspecteur court dans la gare (the detective is running in the station) | la gare court dans l’inspecteur (the station is running in the detective) |
le vendeur court dans la rue (the seller is running in the street) | la rue court dans le vendeur (the street is running in the seller) |
le sportif court dans le gymnase (the sportsman is running in the gym) | le gymnase court dans le sportif (the gym is running in the sportsman) |
le garçon lance le ballon (the boy is throwing the ball) | le ballon lance le garçon (the ball is throwing the boy) |
la fille lance la poupée (the girl is throwing the doll) | la poupée lance la fille (the doll is throwing the girl) |
le dompteur lance la viande (the tamer is throwing the meat) | la viande lance le dompteur (the meat is throwing the tamer) |
l’homme lance le bâton (the man is throwing the stick) | le bâton lance l’homme (the stick is throwing the man) |
la femme lance le livre (the woman is throwing the book) | le livre lance la femme (the book is throwing the woman) |
le clown lance la chaussure (the clown is throwing the shoe) | la chaussure lance le clown (the shoe is throwing the clown) |
le touriste lance la valise (the tourist is throwing the suitcase) | la valise lance le touriste (the suitcase is throwing the tourist) |
le cow-boy lance le lasso (the cowboy is throwing the lasso) | le lasso lance le cow-boy (the lasso is throwing the cow-boy) |
le cuisinier lance la crêpe (the cook is throwing the pancake) | la crêpe lance le cuisinier (the pancake is throwing the cook) |
le marin lance la bouée (the seaman is throwing the buoy) | la bouée lance le marin (the buoy is throwing the seaman) |
Appendix 2: English translation of the questionnaire proposed
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1.
Do you participate in physical activities? For how many hours?
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2.
Among the sentences, some of them were about a football player, right or wrong?
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3.
Among the sentences, some of them were about a collector, right or wrong?
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4.
Among the sentences, some of them were not plausible, right or wrong?
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5.
Please cite the verbs that are used in the sentences.
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Bidet-Ildei, C., Gimenes, M., Toussaint, L. et al. Sentence plausibility influences the link between action words and the perception of biological human movements. Psychological Research 81, 806–813 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-016-0776-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-016-0776-z