Physical and observational practices of unusual actions prime action verb processing

Sophie-Anne Beauprez (1) , Yannick Blandin (2) , Yves Almécija (2) , Christel Bidet-Ildei (2)

1 DDL - Dynamique Du Langage
2 CeRCA [Poitiers] - Centre de recherches sur la cognition et l'apprentissage [UMR 7295]

Numerous studies have highlighted a strong relationship between language and sensorimotor processes, showing, for example, that perceiving an action influences subsequent language processing. Moreover, previous studies have demonstrated that the context in which actions are perceived is crucial to enable this action-language relationship. In particular, action verb processing is facilitated when an action is perceived in its usual context (e.g., someone watering a plant) but not in an unusual context (e.g., someone watering a computer). This difference could be explained in terms of experience; because people always practice actions in accordance with the context, they have no (visual or motor) experience related to the unusual context. The aim of the present study was to test this assumption by assessing and comparing the effect of physical practice and observational learning on the action-language relationship. The results of two experiments showed a facilitation effect of both training methods. Whereas usual actions systematically prime action verb processing, the link between action and language appears for unusual actions only after training by practicing (experiment 1, physical practice) or observing (experiment 2, observational learning). Overall, these findings support the role of experience in the activation of sensorimotor representations during action verb processing.

Mots clés: Language processing; Observational learning; Physical practice; Embodiment

Domaines: Psychologie; Neurosciences

Sophie-Anne Beauprez, Yannick Blandin, Yves Almécija, Christel Bidet-Ildei. Physical and observational practices of unusual actions prime action verb processing. Brain and Cognition, 2020, 138, pp.103630. ⟨10.1016/j.bandc.2019.103630⟩. ⟨hal-02366448⟩