Abstract images and words can convey the same meaning

Abstract Intuitively, deriving meaning from an abstract image is a uniquely human, idiosyncratic experience. Here we show that, despite having no universally recognised lexical association, abstract images spontaneously elicit specific concepts conveyed by words, with a consistency akin to that of c...

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Main Authors: Jan Rouke Kuipers, Manon Wyn Jones, Guillaume Thierry
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2018-05-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-25441-5
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spelling doaj-d8a481059b6f40789c4caf5f6107c7e12020-12-08T03:40:23ZengNature Publishing GroupScientific Reports2045-23222018-05-01811610.1038/s41598-018-25441-5Abstract images and words can convey the same meaningJan Rouke Kuipers0Manon Wyn Jones1Guillaume Thierry2University of StirlingBangor UniversityBangor UniversityAbstract Intuitively, deriving meaning from an abstract image is a uniquely human, idiosyncratic experience. Here we show that, despite having no universally recognised lexical association, abstract images spontaneously elicit specific concepts conveyed by words, with a consistency akin to that of concrete images. We presented a group of naïve participants with abstract picture–word pairs construed as ‘related’ or ‘unrelated’ according to a preliminary norming procedure conducted with different participants. Surprisingly, the naïve participants with no prior exposure to the abstract images or any hints regarding their possible meaning, displayed a reaction time priming effect for ‘related’ versus ‘unrelated’ picture-word pairs. Critically, this behavioural priming effect, and an associated decrease in N400 mean amplitude indexing semantic priming, both correlated significantly with the degree of relatedness established in the preliminary norming procedure. Given that ratings and electrophysiological measures were obtained in different groups of individuals, our results show that abstract images evoke consistent meaning across observers, as has been shown in the case of music.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-25441-5
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Jan Rouke Kuipers
Manon Wyn Jones
Guillaume Thierry
spellingShingle Jan Rouke Kuipers
Manon Wyn Jones
Guillaume Thierry
Abstract images and words can convey the same meaning
Scientific Reports
author_facet Jan Rouke Kuipers
Manon Wyn Jones
Guillaume Thierry
author_sort Jan Rouke Kuipers
title Abstract images and words can convey the same meaning
title_short Abstract images and words can convey the same meaning
title_full Abstract images and words can convey the same meaning
title_fullStr Abstract images and words can convey the same meaning
title_full_unstemmed Abstract images and words can convey the same meaning
title_sort abstract images and words can convey the same meaning
publisher Nature Publishing Group
series Scientific Reports
issn 2045-2322
publishDate 2018-05-01
description Abstract Intuitively, deriving meaning from an abstract image is a uniquely human, idiosyncratic experience. Here we show that, despite having no universally recognised lexical association, abstract images spontaneously elicit specific concepts conveyed by words, with a consistency akin to that of concrete images. We presented a group of naïve participants with abstract picture–word pairs construed as ‘related’ or ‘unrelated’ according to a preliminary norming procedure conducted with different participants. Surprisingly, the naïve participants with no prior exposure to the abstract images or any hints regarding their possible meaning, displayed a reaction time priming effect for ‘related’ versus ‘unrelated’ picture-word pairs. Critically, this behavioural priming effect, and an associated decrease in N400 mean amplitude indexing semantic priming, both correlated significantly with the degree of relatedness established in the preliminary norming procedure. Given that ratings and electrophysiological measures were obtained in different groups of individuals, our results show that abstract images evoke consistent meaning across observers, as has been shown in the case of music.
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-25441-5
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