title: Relative contribution of perception/cognition and language on spatial categorization.
abstract: This study investigated the relative contribution of perception/cognition and language-specific semantics in nonverbal categorization of spatial relations. English and Korean speakers completed a video-based similarity judgment task involving containment, support, tight fit, and loose fit. Both perception/cognition and language served as resources for categorization, and allocation between the two depended on the target relation and the features contrasted in the choices. Whereas perceptual/cognitive salience for containment and tight-fit features guided categorization in many contexts, language-specific semantics influenced categorization where the two features competed for similarity judgment and when the target relation was tight support, a domain where spatial relations are perceptually diverse. In the latter contexts, each group categorized more in line with semantics of their language, that is, containment/support for English and tight/loose fit for Korean. We conclude that language guides spatial categorization when perception/cognition alone is not sufficient. In this way, language is an integral part of our cognitive domain of space.
authors.affiliation: Department of Linguistics and Asian/Middle Eastern Languages, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182-7727, USA. schoi@-mail.sdsu.edu
authors.forename: Soonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hattrup
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition; D003210:Concept Formation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D013028:Space Perception