title: Emotion simulation during language comprehension.
abstract: We report a novel finding on the relation of emotion and language. Covert manipulation of emotional facial posture interacts with sentence valence when measuring the amount of time to judge valence (Experiment 1) and sensibility (Experiment 2) of the sentence. In each case, an emotion-sentence compatibility effect is found: Judgment times are faster when facial posture and sentence valence match than when they mismatch. We interpret the finding using a simulation account; that is, emotional systems contribute to language comprehension much as they do in social interaction. Because the effect was not observed on a lexical decision task using emotion-laden words (Experiment 3), we suggest that the emotion simulation affects comprehension processes beyond initial lexical access.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA. dahavas@wisc.edu
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Havas
authors.forename: Arthur M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Glenberg
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rinck
mesh_terms: D032882:Comprehension; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D007802:Language; D008037:Linguistics; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011930:Reaction Time; D014922:Wisconsin