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When up-words meet down-sentences: evidence for word- or sentence-based compatibility effects?

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Abstract

Participants were presented with sentences mentioning an entity with a typical location in the upper or lower vertical space (e.g., roof vs. root). Sentences supported or reversed the typical location of the target entity. Sensibility judgments requiring upwards or downwards responses were faster when the response matched rather than mismatched the target entity’s typical location. This compatibility effect was independent of whether the sentence context supported or reversed the target entity’s typical location. The results, therefore, provide clear evidence for word-based but no evidence for sentence-based simulation processes.

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Acknowledgments

The work reported in this paper was supported by a grant from the German Research Foundation awarded to the first author (SFB 833; Project B4).

Conflict of interest

This supplement was not sponsored by outside commercial interests. It was funded entirely by ECONA, Via dei Marsi, 78, 00185 Roma, Italy.

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Correspondence to Barbara Kaup.

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Kaup, B., De Filippis, M., Lachmair, M. et al. When up-words meet down-sentences: evidence for word- or sentence-based compatibility effects?. Cogn Process 13 (Suppl 1), 203–207 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-012-0453-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-012-0453-0

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