The role of emotional valence in learning novel abstract concepts.

Ponari, Marta; Norbury, Courtenay; Vigliocco, Gabriella

doi:10.1037/dev0001091

Cited by 36 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 44 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The authors concluded that their results were consistent with the proposal that emotion (as captured by the valence dimension) provides a bootstrapping mechanism for learning the meanings of abstract words. Similarly, in a recent vocabulary learning experiment, Ponari et al (2020) found that 7-9 year old children were able to provide more accurate definitions for valenced words than neutral words.…”

Section: Valencementioning

confidence: 83%

“…First, in order for Lund et al (2019) to provide words that were known to young children, the 'abstract' words selected for the study were relatively less abstract than those presented in other studies (e.g., Ponari et al, 2016). Secondly, although Ponari et al (2020) found evidence of valence in the definition task they used with 7-9 year old children, they also found no differences in accuracy for valenced versus neutral words on an auditory lexical decision task, and there was no impact of valence in the definitions provided by the 9-10 year-old children. Vigliocco et al (2018) noted that valence information does not appear to support abstract vocabulary acquisition beyond the age of 9.…”

Section: Valencementioning

confidence: 99%

“… Vigliocco et al (2009) also predicted that language experience, and in particular distributional information, may be more important for abstract words than for concrete words, since abstract meanings lack sensory and motor contingencies. Similarly, Ponari et al (2020) suggested that the results of their word learning experiment provided evidence of learning through language. They found that while 9- to 10-year-old children learned the meanings of new abstract words they did not show evidence of experiential benefit (i.e., through emotion) in their meaning definitions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Abstract words do not tend to have a clear, perceptible referent ( Borghi et al, 2017 ; Ponari et al, 2020 ). They are more detached from sensorimotor experience.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Brysbaert and colleagues collected concreteness ratings for over 40,000 words, on a rating continuum ranging from very abstract (1) to very concrete (5). Many studies have used these ratings to categorize abstract words as those with concreteness ratings < 3 and concrete words as those with concreteness ratings ≥ 3 ( Ponari et al, 2016 , 2020 ; Lund et al, 2019 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Development of Abstract Word Knowledge

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The development of children’s word knowledge is an important testing ground for the embodied account of word meaning, which proposes that word meanings are grounded in sensorimotor systems. Acquisition of abstract words, in particular, is a noted challenge for strong accounts of embodiment. We examined acquisition of abstract word meanings, using data on development of vocabulary knowledge from early school to University ages. We tested two specific proposals for how abstract words are learned: the affective embodiment account, that emotional experience is key to learning abstract word meanings, and the learning through language proposal, that abstract words are acquired through language experience. We found support for the affective embodiment account: word valence, interoception, and mouth action all facilitated abstract word acquisition more than concrete word acquisition. We tested the learning through language proposal by investigating whether words that appear in more diverse linguistic contexts are earlier acquired. Results showed that contextual diversity facilitated vocabulary acquisition, but did so for both abstract and concrete words. Our results provide evidence that emotion and sensorimotor systems are important to children’s acquisition of abstract words, but there is still considerable variance to be accounted for by other factors. We offer suggestions for future research to examine the acquisition of abstract vocabulary.

show abstract

Section: Valencementioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Valencementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Abstract words do not tend to have a clear, perceptible referent ( Borghi et al, 2017 ; Ponari et al, 2020 ). They are more detached from sensorimotor experience.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Development of Abstract Word Knowledge

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Default mode network shows distinct emotional and contextual responses yet common effects of retrieval demands across tasks

Souter,

de Freitas,

Zhang

et al. 2024

Human Brain Mapping

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The default mode network (DMN) lies towards the heteromodal end of the principal gradient of intrinsic connectivity, maximally separated from the sensory‐motor cortex. It supports memory‐based cognition, including the capacity to retrieve conceptual and evaluative information from sensory inputs, and to generate meaningful states internally; however, the functional organisation of DMN that can support these distinct modes of retrieval remains unclear. We used fMRI to examine whether activation within subsystems of DMN differed as a function of retrieval demands, or the type of association to be retrieved, or both. In a picture association task, participants retrieved semantic associations that were either contextual or emotional in nature. Participants were asked to avoid generating episodic associations. In the generate phase, these associations were retrieved from a novel picture, while in the switch phase, participants retrieved a new association for the same image. Semantic context and emotion trials were associated with dissociable DMN subnetworks, indicating that a key dimension of DMN organisation relates to the type of association being accessed. The frontotemporal and medial temporal DMN showed a preference for emotional and semantic contextual associations, respectively. Relative to the generate phase, the switch phase recruited clusters closer to the heteromodal apex of the principal gradient—a cortical hierarchy separating unimodal and heteromodal regions. There were no differences in this effect between association types. Instead, memory switching was associated with a distinct subnetwork associated with controlled internal cognition. These findings delineate distinct patterns of DMN recruitment for different kinds of associations yet common responses across tasks that reflect retrieval demands.

show abstract

Embodiment and repeated exposure do not suffice for abstract concepts acquisition: evidence from tonal music cognition

López

Anta

2022

Psychological Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The role of emotional valence in learning novel abstract concepts.

Cited by 36 publications

References 44 publications

Development of Abstract Word Knowledge

Development of Abstract Word Knowledge

Default mode network shows distinct emotional and contextual responses yet common effects of retrieval demands across tasks

Embodiment and repeated exposure do not suffice for abstract concepts acquisition: evidence from tonal music cognition

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About