10 results on '"MAZZUCA, CLAUDIA"'
Search Results
2. Breaking the ice in a conversation: abstract words prompt dialogs more easily than concrete ones.
- Author
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Fini, Chiara, Falcinelli, Ilenia, Cuomo, Giovanna, Era, Vanessa, Candidi, Matteo, Tummolini, Luca, Mazzuca, Claudia, and Borghi, Anna M.
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ITALIAN language ,NEGOTIATION ,ENGLISH language ,CONCRETE ,CONVERSATION ,PRAGMATICS ,METACOGNITIVE therapy ,PLEASANTNESS & unpleasantness (Psychology) - Abstract
Abstract domains of knowledge may have social origins. However, whether abstract concepts (ACs) may also differentially affect communicative interaction and conversation has not been explored. Here, we studied ACs' communicative functions by collecting in an Italian and an English sample, ratings for concrete concept (CC) and ACs related to three main dimensions: communicative/pragmatic [i.e., Openness to Negotiation (ON), Easiness to Start a Conversation (ESC)], semantic/metacognitive [i.e., Social Metacognition (SM) – perceived need of others, Word Confidence (WC), Contextual Availability (CA)], and emotional–experiential (i.e., Pleasantness, Valence, Familiarity). Overall, Italian participants judged it was easier to start a conversation, the more pleasant, familiar, and positively valenced were rated the concepts. Crucially, at lower values of the emotional–experiential component (i.e., Familiarity in the Italian sample, also Pleasantness and Valence in an English sample), there was an advantage of ACs over CCs in the ESC. Moreover, in the Italian sample, participants rated ACs higher on SM, ON, and lower on WC and CA. Notably, in both the Italian and English sample, ACs with higher ratings on the ESC dimension belonged to the Self-Sociality subcluster. The results offer new insights into the pragmatic aspects linked to ACs' use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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3. Grounded Cognition, Linguistic Relativity, and Abstract Concepts.
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Borghi, Anna M. and Mazzuca, Claudia
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SAPIR-Whorf hypothesis , *LINGUISTIC models , *COGNITION , *CROSS-cultural differences , *CROSS-cultural studies , *LINGUISTIC analysis - Abstract
Kemmerer's paper convincingly claims that the grounded cognition model (GCM) entails linguistic relativity. Here, we underline that tackling linguistic relativity and cultural differences is vital for GCM. First, it allows GCM to focus more on flexible rather than stable aspects of cognition. Second, it highlights the centrality of linguistic experience for human cognition. While GCM‐inspired research underscored the similarity between linguistic and nonlinguistic concepts, it is now paramount to understand when and how language(s) influence knowledge. To this aim, we argue that linguistic variation might be particularly relevant for more abstract concepts—which are more debatable and open to revisions. Kemmerer argues that the grounded cognition model entails linguistic relativity. We agree with his position and suggest that this claim is particularly relevant for studying abstract concepts as they rely on language and culture more than concrete concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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4. Consensus Paper: Current Perspectives on Abstract Concepts and Future Research Directions.
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Banks, Briony, Borghi, Anna M., Fargier, Raphaël, Fini, Chiara, Jonauskaite, Domicele, Mazzuca, Claudia, Montalti, Martina, Villani, Caterina, and Woodin, Greg
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COGNITIVE science ,LINGUISTICS ,PSYCHOLOGY ,SENSORIMOTOR integration ,SOCIAL interaction - Abstract
Abstract concepts are relevant to a wide range of disciplines, including cognitive science, linguistics, psychology, cognitive, social, and affective neuroscience, and philosophy. This consensus paper synthesizes the work and views of researchers in the field, discussing current perspectives on theoretical and methodological issues, and recommendations for future research. In this paper, we urge researchers to go beyond the traditional abstract-concrete dichotomy and consider the multiple dimensions that characterize concepts (e.g., sensorimotor experience, social interaction, conceptual metaphor), as well as the mediating influence of linguistic and cultural context on conceptual representations. We also promote the use of interactive methods to investigate both the comprehension and production of abstract concepts, while also focusing on individual differences in conceptual representations. Overall, we argue that abstract concepts should be studied in a more nuanced way that takes into account their complexity and diversity, which should permit us a fuller, more holistic understanding of abstract cognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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- View/download PDF
5. Abstract Concepts, Social Interaction, and Beliefs.
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Borghi, Anna M., Fini, Chiara, and Mazzuca, Claudia
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SOCIAL interaction ,INTEROCEPTION ,PSYCHODYNAMICS ,CLINICAL health psychology ,COGNITIVE science - Published
- 2022
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6. The particularity of emotional words. A grounded approach
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Mazzuca, Claudia, Barca, Laura, Borghi, Anna Maria, Mazzuca, Claudia, Barca, Laura, and Borghi, Anna Maria
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language acquisition ,abstract concepts ,Emotional Word ,lcsh:B ,embodied and grounded cognition ,emotional words ,language processing ,Abstract Concept ,lcsh:Philosophy. Psychology. Religion - Abstract
This work focuses on emotional concepts. We define concepts as patterns of neural activation that re-enact a given external or internal experience, for example the interoceptive experience related to fear. Concepts are mediated and expressed through words. In the following, we will use “words” to refer to word meanings, assuming that words mediate underlying concepts. Since emotional concepts and the words that mediate them are less related to the physical environment than concrete ones, at first sight they might be depicted as abstract concepts. Evidence coming from several studies shows, instead, that the issue is more complex. In this work, we will briefly outline the debate and illustrate results from recent studies on comprehension of concrete, emotional and abstract words in children and adults. We will argue that emotional words can be accounted for from a grounded perspective and will contend that emotional words represent a particular set of words that differs from both the concrete and purely abstract ones.
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- 2017
7. Gender is a multifaceted concept: evidence that specific life experiences differentially shape the concept of gender.
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MAZZUCA, CLAUDIA, MAJID, ASIFA, LUGLI, LUISA, NICOLETTI, ROBERTO, and BORGHI, ANNA M.
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GENDER identity ,CONCEPTUAL structures ,GENDER ,SEXUAL orientation ,CONCEPTS - Abstract
Gender has been the focus of linguistic and psychological studies, but little is known about its conceptual representation. We investigate whether the conceptual structure of gender – as expressed in participants' free-listing responses – varies according to gender-related experiences in line with research on conceptual flexibility. Specifically, we tested groups that varied by gender identity, sexual orientation, and gender-normativity. We found that different people stressed distinct aspects of the concept. For example, normative individuals mainly relied on a bigenderist conception (e.g., male/female; man/woman), while non-normative individuals produced more aspects related to social context (e.g., queer, fluidity, construction). At a broader level, our results support the idea that gender is a multifaceted and flexible concept, constituted by social, biological, cultural, and linguistic components. Importantly, the meaning of gender is not exhausted by the classical dichotomy opposing sex, a biological fact, with gender as its cultural counterpart. Instead, both aspects are differentially salient depending on specific life experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
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8. Overusing the pacifier during infancy sets a footprint on abstract words processing.
- Author
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BARCA, Laura, MAZZUCA, Claudia, and BORGHI, Anna M.
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Perturbations to the speech articulators induced by frequently using an interfering object during infancy (i.e., pacifier) might shape children's language experience and the building of conceptual representations. Seventy-one typically developing third graders performed a semantic categorization task with abstract, concrete and emotional words. Children who used the pacifier for a more extended period were slower than the others. Moreover, overusing the pacifier increased response time of abstract words, whereas emotional and (above all) concrete words were less affected. Results support the view that abstract words are grounded both in perception-action and in linguistic experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2020
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9. From Affordances to Abstract Words: The Flexibility of Sensorimotor Grounding.
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Mazzuca, Claudia, Fini, Chiara, Michalland, Arthur Henri, Falcinelli, Ilenia, Da Rold, Federico, Tummolini, Luca, and Borghi, Anna M.
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LARGE-scale brain networks , *ADULTS , *COGNITION , *SOCIAL context , *VOCABULARY - Abstract
The sensorimotor system plays a critical role in several cognitive processes. Here, we review recent studies documenting this interplay at different levels. First, we concentrate on studies that have shown how the sensorimotor system is flexibly involved in interactions with objects. We report evidence demonstrating how social context and situations influence affordance activation, and then focus on tactile and kinesthetic components in body–object interactions. Then, we turn to word use, and review studies that have shown that not only concrete words, but also abstract words are grounded in the sensorimotor system. We report evidence that abstract concepts activate the mouth effector more than concrete concepts, and discuss this effect in light of studies on adults, children, and infants. Finally, we pinpoint possible sensorimotor mechanisms at play in the acquisition and use of abstract concepts. Overall, we show that the involvement of the sensorimotor system is flexibly modulated by context, and that its role can be integrated and flanked by that of other systems such as the linguistic system. We suggest that to unravel the role of the sensorimotor system in cognition, future research should fully explore the complexity of this intricate, and sometimes slippery, relation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2021
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10. Abstract, emotional and concrete concepts and the activation of mouth-hand effectors
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Claudia Mazzuca, Luisa Lugli, Mariagrazia Benassi, Roberto Nicoletti, Anna M. Borghi, Mazzuca, Claudia, Lugli, Luisa, Benassi, Mariagrazia, Nicoletti, Roberto, and Borghi, Anna M
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Process (engineering) ,lcsh:Medicine ,Psychiatry and Psychology ,Concreteness ,050105 experimental psychology ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Task (project management) ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Lexical decision task ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,Language processing ,Foot (prosody) ,General Neuroscience ,05 social sciences ,lcsh:R ,Abstract concepts ,Type of concepts ,Emotional words ,General Medicine ,abstract concepts ,embodied ,grounded cognition ,language processing ,type of concepts ,neuroscience (all) ,biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology (all) ,agricultural and biological sciences (all) ,Abstract concept ,Embodied cognition ,Embodied and grounded cognition ,General Agricultural and Biological Sciences ,Psychology ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Cognitive psychology - Abstract
According to embodied and grounded theories, concepts are grounded in sensorimotor systems. The majority of evidence supporting these views concerns concepts referring to objects or actions, while evidence on abstract concepts is more scarce. Explaining how abstract concepts such as “freedom” are represented would thus be pivotal for grounded theories. According to some recent proposals, abstract concepts are grounded in both sensorimotor and linguistic experience, thus they activate the mouth motor system more than concrete concepts. Two experiments are reported, aimed at verifying whether abstract, concrete and emotional words activate the mouth and the hand effectors. In both experiments participants performed first a lexical decision, then a recognition task. In Experiment 1 participants responded by pressing a button either with the mouth or with the hand, in Experiment 2 responses were given with the foot, while a button held either in the mouth or in the hand was used to respond to catch-trials. Abstract words were slower to process in both tasks (concreteness effect). Across the tasks and experiments, emotional concepts had instead a fluctuating pattern, different from those of both concrete and abstract concepts, suggesting that they cannot be considered as a subset of abstract concepts. The interaction between type of concept (abstract, concrete and emotional) and effector (mouth, hand) was not significant in the lexical decision task, likely because it emerged only with tasks implying a deeper processing level. It reached significance, instead, in the recognition tasks. In both experiments abstract concepts were facilitated in the mouth condition compared to the hand condition, supporting our main prediction. Emotional concepts instead had a more variable pattern. Overall, our findings indicate that various kinds of concepts differently activate the mouth and hand effectors, but they also suggest that concepts activate effectors in a flexible and task-dependent way.
- Published
- 2018
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