An examination of the distinction between nouns and verbs: associations with two different kinds of motion.

Full Abstract

Four experiments provide evidence that people are biased to associate particular types of motion with nouns and different types of motion with verbs. Novel nouns and verbs were related to two types of motion: (1) path, or the direction of motion of one character with respect to the other character, and (2) movement orientation, or the direction a character was facing as it moved. Subjects associated verbs more strongly with path than with movement orientation. In contrast, they associated nouns more strongly with movement orientation than with path. Movement orientation was associated with both object categories and verbs, inconsistent with a complete division of labor between these two types of categories. These results are consistent, however, with the notion that people are biased to associate verbs with relations between objects, whereas they are biased to associate object categories with motions defined with respect to the object carrying out those motions.

Author information

Author/s: Kersten, A W (AW);

Affiliation: Indiana University, Bloomington, USA. akersten(-atsign-)fau.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Memory & cognition (Mem Cognit), published in UNITED STATES. (Language: eng)

Reference: 1998-Nov; vol 26 (issue 6) : pp 1214-32

Dates: Created 1999/01/29; Completed 1999/01/29; Revised 2004/11/17;

PMID: 9847547, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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