Affective and Non-affective Meaning in Words and Pictures

Vicky Tzuyin Lai, Peter Hagoort, Daniel Casasanto

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

When people see a snake, they are likely to activate both affective information (e.g., dangerous) and non-affective information (e.g., animal). According to the Affective Primacy Hypothesis, the affective information has priority, and its activation can precede identification of the ontological category of a stimulus. Alternatively, according to the Cognitive Primacy Hypothesis, perceivers must know what they are looking at before they can make an affective judgment about it. We propose that neither hypothesis holds at all times. In two experiments, we show that the relative speed with which affective and non-affective information gets activated by words and pictures depends upon the contexts in which the stimuli are processed. These data support a view according to which words and pictures do not “have” meanings; rather, they are cues to activate patterns of stored knowledge, the specifics of which are co-determined by the item itself and the context in which it occurs.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationExpanding the Space of Cognitive Science - Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2011
EditorsLaura Carlson, Christoph Hoelscher, Thomas F. Shipley
PublisherThe Cognitive Science Society
Pages390-395
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9780976831877
StatePublished - 2011
Externally publishedYes
Event33rd Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society: Expanding the Space of Cognitive Science, CogSci 2011 - Boston, United States
Duration: Jul 20 2011Jul 23 2011

Publication series

NameExpanding the Space of Cognitive Science - Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2011

Conference

Conference33rd Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society: Expanding the Space of Cognitive Science, CogSci 2011
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityBoston
Period7/20/117/23/11

Keywords

  • ad hoc cognition
  • affective primacy
  • affective priming
  • cognitive primacy
  • context
  • emotion
  • task set inertia

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Cognitive Neuroscience

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