Why a Big Mac Is a Good Mac: Associations between Affect and Size

Meier, Brian P.; Robinson, Michael D.; Caven, Andrew J.

doi:10.1080/01973530701866516

Cited by 53 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 28 publications

(25 reference statements)

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“…The main effects reported in earlier studies reveal that polarity differences at least account for some of the variance in reaction time patterns, and similar asymmetries as observed in the meta-analysis in Study 1 have been observed for metaphor congruency effects between size and valence (Meier et al, 2008). Although currently not enough studies have been done in other source domains to allow for firm conclusions, it seems that perhaps except for the association between size and power ) previous studies in the source domains of brightness and size reveal response patterns which cannot be completely accounted for by an interference explanation.…”

Section: Open Questionssupporting

confidence: 79%

“…Although polarity differences clearly influenced categorization times for +polar andpolar words presented UP and DOWN on a computer screen, an important question is whether a similar effect of polarity differences plays a role in other source domains, such as size (Meier, Robinson, & Caven, 2008;Schubert, Waldzus, & Giessner, 2009) or brightness (Meier, Robinson, & Clore, 2004). The main effects reported in earlier studies reveal that polarity differences at least account for some of the variance in reaction time patterns, and similar asymmetries as observed in the meta-analysis in Study 1 have been observed for metaphor congruency effects between size and valence (Meier et al, 2008).…”

Section: Open Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Polarity correspondence in metaphor congruency effects: Structural overlap predicts categorization times for bipolar concepts presented in vertical space.

Lakens¹

2012

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cogni

143

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Previous research has shown that words presented on metaphor congruent locations (e.g., positive words UP on the screen and negative words DOWN on the screen) are categorized faster than words presented on metaphor incongruent stimuli (e.g., positive words DOWN and negative words UP). These findings have been explained in terms of an interference effect:The meaning associated with UP and DOWN vertical space can automatically interfere with the categorization of words with a metaphorically incongruent meaning. The current studies test an alternative explanation for the interaction between the vertical position of abstract concepts and the speed with which these stimuli are categorized. Research on polarity differences (basic asymmetries in the way dimensions are processed) predicts that +polar endpoints of dimensions (e.g., positive, moral, UP) are categorized faster than -polar endpoints of dimensions (e.g., negative, immoral, DOWN). Furthermore, the polarity correspondence principle predicts that stimuli where polarities correspond (e.g., positive words presented UP) provide an additional processing benefit compared to stimuli where polarities do not correspond (e.g., negative words presented UP). A meta-analysis (Study 1) shows that a polarity account provides a better explanation of reaction times patterns in previous studies than an interference explanation. An experiment (Study 2) reveals that controlling for the polarity benefit of +polar words compared to -polar words did not only remove the main effect of word polarity, but also the interaction between word meaning and vertical position due to polarity correspondence. These results reveal that metaphor congruency effects should not be interpreted as automatic associations between vertical locations and word meaning, but are more parsimoniously explained by their structural overlap in polarities.

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Section: Open Questionssupporting

confidence: 79%

Section: Open Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polarity correspondence in metaphor congruency effects: Structural overlap predicts categorization times for bipolar concepts presented in vertical space.

Lakens¹

2012

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cogni

143

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“…Because neutral words are likely to possess greater evaluative ambiguity than strongly positive or negative words (Meier, Robinson, & Caven, 2008), we used neutral words in the task.…”

Section: Metaphor Usage 21mentioning

confidence: 99%

The scope and consequences of metaphoric thinking: Using individual differences in metaphor usage to understand how metaphor functions.

Fetterman¹,

Bair²,

Werth³

et al. 2016

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Self Cite

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People often think, feel, and behave metaphorically according to conceptual metaphor theory. There are normative sources of support for this theory, but individual differences have received scant attention. This is surprising because people are likely to differ in the frequency with which they use metaphors and, therefore, the frequency with which they experience the costs and benefits of metaphoric thinking. To investigate these ideas, a 5-study program of research (total N = 532) was conducted. Study 1 developed and validated a Metaphor Usage Measure (MUM), finding that people were fairly consistent in their tendencies toward literal thought and language on the one hand versus metaphoric thought and language on the other. These differences were, in turn, consequential. Although metaphor usage predicted susceptibility to metaphor transfer effects (Studies 2 and 3), it was also linked to higher levels of emotional understanding (Studies 4 and 5). The findings provide support for several key premises of conceptual metaphor theory in the context of a new measure that can be used to track the consequences of metaphoric thinking.

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“…Pictures of people presented in the top of the screen were rated as more religious than pictures of people presented at the bottom of the screen (Meier, Hauser, et al, 2007). And finally, words presented in a big font were judged to be more positive than words presented in a small font (Meier et al, 2008). In all these instances, 53 events, objects or people were seen differently depending on sensorimotor experiences of the perceiver.…”

Section: Practical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Meier, Robinson and Caven (2008) presented words in a large or small font, and asked participants to evaluate the words as fast and accurately as possible. Participants were slower to evaluate negative words written in a big font compared 42 to negative words in a small font.…”

Section: Valencementioning

confidence: 99%

Abstract Concepts in Grounded Cognition

Lakens¹

2017

Preprint

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concepts in grounded cognitionAbstracte concepten in gegronde cognitie References 115 Summary in Dutch 133Curriculum Vitae 139 5 Introduction M orality, time, and valence are highly abstract concepts. Exactly how people are able to think and talk about abstract concepts is a question that has intrigued philosophers and scientists for centuries. In this thesis I focus on the question how people represent the meaning of abstract concepts, by investigating whether abstract concepts are understood through the use of metaphors. Metaphors allow people to think about abstract concepts in terms of concrete experiences. For example, the scales of Lady Justice are a metaphor for justice. People might not be able to see the future, but it can be represented as being ahead of us. Black knights in fairytales are usually evil, and the color of their armor is a metaphoric representation of the relation they have with the knights in shining armor. These and similar metaphors are not only used to intentionally communicate the meaning of abstract concepts, but these metaphoric representations also underlie abstract conceptual thought. How the meaning of abstract concepts is grounded in concrete experiences is the topic of this dissertation.Broadly speaking, two views exist on how abstract concepts are represented in our mind. On the one hand, amodal views share the common theme that people think in a purely symbolic language, where concepts 6 are represented as artificial symbols, and computational operations are performed upon these symbols during conceptual processing (Dennett, 1969;Fodor, 1975;Pylyshyn, 1984;Jackendoff, 2002). These artificial symbols are inherently non-perceptual; none of the original sensory or motor information from any modality (e.g., vision, touch, sound, smell, etc) which created these symbols is present when the final amodal symbols are used to represent concepts. On the other hand, several views on the representation of concepts have emerged over the last decennium which all share the idea that conceptual processing is perceptual in nature (e.g., Barsalou, 1999;Gallese & Lakoff, 2005;Glenberg & Kaschak, 2002;Jeannerod, 2001;Pulvermüller, 1999;Zwaan, 2004). According to these grounded approaches to cognition, conceptual thought consists of representations built on concrete sensorimotor information. For example, understanding the word 'kick' is assumed to depend at least in part on the activation of the muscles used to perform a kicking motion.As a result of the growing number of empirical studies that have investigated the role of sensorimotor activation in language comprehension, a consensus is emerging that sensorimotor areas in the brain are activated when people read words related to concrete concepts (Zwaan, 2009;Mahon & Caramazza, 2009;Vigliocco & Meteyard, 2008). For example, thinking about the color of a banana activates brain areas in the visual cortex (Simmons, Ramjee, Beauchamp, McRae, Martin, & Barsalou, 2007). Thinking about the color of a banana leads to remarkably similar pattern...

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Why a Big Mac Is a Good Mac: Associations between Affect and Size

Cited by 53 publications

References 28 publications

Polarity correspondence in metaphor congruency effects: Structural overlap predicts categorization times for bipolar concepts presented in vertical space.

Polarity correspondence in metaphor congruency effects: Structural overlap predicts categorization times for bipolar concepts presented in vertical space.

The scope and consequences of metaphoric thinking: Using individual differences in metaphor usage to understand how metaphor functions.

Abstract Concepts in Grounded Cognition

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