Green as a cbemcuru: modal as well as amodal color cues can help to solve anagrams

Abstract

Embodied cognition theories have been getting much support in recent years from studies showing that multimodal experiential traces are activated during language comprehension. However, there are almost no studies examining this influence in the opposite direction. Here, we investigated the influence of modal (physical color patch) and amodal (color word) cues on anagram solving times. We manipulated the association between the color cue and the solution word's referent color (e.g., finding the solution word "cucumber" for the anagram "cmrbucue" should be facilitated by the word "green" or a green color patch). In a third experiment, both cues were combined: a color word was presented inside a color patch before the anagram appeared. We indeed observed priming effects: anagrams were solved faster when the preceding color patch or color word matched the solution word's referent compared to a mismatching color patch or color word. When combining these cues, a priming effect only was found when both color word and color patch matched the solution word's referent. These results further strengthen the notion that multimodal experiential traces play an important role in language comprehension and expand upon the results of earlier studies on anagram solution tasks.

Possible effect of natural light on emotion recognition and the prefrontal cortex: A scoping review of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy

“…87 In addition, as Berndt et al indicated in 2020, color plays a vital role in language comprehension, facilitating anagram solving by presenting the referent color of the solution words. 88 Second, as previously mentioned, Metz et al reported that exposure to green light did not increase HR and decrease PaCO 2 , 82 suggesting that green light did not induce hyperventilation (in turn caused by weak pain) during fNIRS. However, the light color should not be the only difference studied, and hyperventilation during fNIRS needs to be elucidated more complex.…”

Adjectives Modulate Sensorimotor Activation Driven by Nouns

“…Moreover, other studies showed that the color of natural objects is stored in memory together with other features and also to object semantic representation (Hansen, Olkkonen, Walter, & Gegenfurtner, 2006; Therriault et al, 2009; Wiggs, Weisberg, & Martin, 1998). Converging evidence demonstrated that color, along with other features such as shape and orientation, can be reactivated when we understand a sentence that implies an object with a typical color (Berndt, Dudschig, & Kaup, 2018; Mannaert, Dijkstra, & Zwaan, 2017; Simmons et al, 2007; Zwaan & Pecher, 2012). At this point, it seems reasonable to speculate that color information on natural objects could also be reactivated when we understand the noun of a natural object.…”

Modal and amodal cognition: an overarching principle in various domains of psychology

“…Alternatively, language comprehension and production might be better characterized by hybrid representations comprising modal and amodal components. This would explain why some studies reported strong evidence for the involvement of modal representations during language processing, whereas others do not (for an overview, see Kaup et al, 2015 ; Kaup & Ulrich, 2017 ; see also Berndt et al, 2018 , 2020 ; Ostarek & Hüttig, 2017 ; Schütt et al, 2022 , 2023 ). Although the hybrid hypothesis has become popular in recent years (e.g., Binder & Desai, 2011 ; Dove, 2009 , 2011 , 2022 ; Wajnerman Paz, 2018 ; Zwaan, 2014 ), a systematic investigation of the factors that influence which type of representation gains the upper hand during comprehension and production is still missing.…”