Representing visual recursion does not require verbal or motor resources.
The ability to form and use recursive representations while processing hierarchical structures has been hypothesized to rely on language abilities. If so, linguistic resources should inevitably be activated while representing recursion in non-linguistic domains. In this study we use a dual-task paradigm to assess whether verbal resources are required to perform a visual recursion task. We tested participants across 4 conditions: (1) Visual recursion only, (2) Visual recursion with motor interference (sequential finger tapping), (3) Visual recursion with verbal interference--low load, and (4) Visual recursion with verbal interference--high load. Our results show that the ability to acquire and use visual recursive representations is not affected by the presence of verbal and motor interference tasks. Our finding that visual recursion can be represented without access to verbal resources suggests that recursion is available independently of language processing abilities.
Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria; Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Luisenstrasse 56, 10117 Berlin, Germany; Max Plank Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstrasse 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Language Research Laboratory, Lisbon Faculty of Medicine, Av. Professor Egas Moniz, 1649-028 Lisbon, Portugal. Electronic address: mauricio.martins@univie.ac.at.
Maurício de Jesus Dias
Mde J
Martins
Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
Zarja
Z
Muršič
Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
Jinook
J
Oh
Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
W Tecumseh
WT
Fitch
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D014796:Visual Perception; D055815:Young Adult
Fractals; Hierarchy; Language; Recursion; Self-embedding