Jean-Christophe Giger

From demonstration to theory in embodied language comprehension: A review

Abstract Recent findings in psychology, psycholinguistics, and neuroscience present a challenge to current amodal theories by suggesting that cognitive states are not disembodied in language comprehension. Accumulating behavioral evidence supporting this view is reviewed from research on processing of language describing concrete and abstract concepts. The extant embodied theories that support either a strong or a moderate embodied view are then presented, as are the perspectives that define how the researchers discuss the role of sensory-motor grounding in language processing. The article concludes by discussing several lines of research that might help distinguish between various theoretical approaches and resolve some of the fundamental issues that fuel much of the debate in the field.

Validity evidence of the Portuguese adaptation of the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory / Evidencias de validez de la adaptación portuguesa de la Escala de Sexismo Ambivalente

Abstract Modern forms of sexism have promoted the development of new scales and evaluation tools. The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI) (Glick & Fiske, 1996) aims to assess sexism along two dimensions: hostile sexism and benevolent sexism. The aim of this study is to present evidence of the validity of the factor structure of the Portuguese version of the ASI by analysing its structure and its relationships with neosexism and social dominance. The sample consisted of 446 Portuguese participants (68.6% female) between 17 and 77 years old. Results confirmed the two-factor structure; however, the best fit was registered with a four-factor structure: one hostile factor and three benevolent factors. Both hostile and benevolent sexism were correlated with neosexism and social dominance orientation. Future research should explore the dimensionality of the scale based on a four-dimension structure and its relationship to others sexism issues.

Simulation of Metaphorical Actions and Discourse Comprehension

Recent findings indicate that comprehension of sentences describing metaphorical abstract concepts arises from simulation of motor experience of the described event. Two experiments investigated whether action simulation influences “offline” comprehension at a more global discourse level. Participants read a text describing a protagonist making metaphorical forward movements while their body movement (Experiment 1) and body posture (Experiment 2) were manipulated to be either prepared or not prepared for processing of action-congruent information. “Offline” explicit and implicit processing of discourse were measured on accuracy to comprehension questions and the time it took participants to recognize words from discourse as well as judge sentences as correct or incorrect with respect to the content of text. Results revealed that action simulation affected recognition (Experiments 1 and 2) and judgment times (Experiment 1) regarding explicit comprehension measures, and accuracy and judgment times regarding implicit comprehension measures (Experiments 1 and 2). Findings support the conclusion that a simulation system might affect to a greater extent comprehensive processing of information based on deduction and interpretation than shallow processing based on information explicitly provided in the text.

Adaptation of the Domestic Violence Myth Acceptance Scale to Portuguese and Tests of Its Convergent, Divergent, and Predictive Validities:

The Domestic Violence Myth Acceptance Scale was adapted to Portuguese (PDVMAS). The PDVMAS displayed reasonable fit indices (Study 1); was positively correlated with right-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, belief in a just world (Study 2), and ambivalent sexism (Study 3); and negatively correlated with empathetic tendencies (Study 4). PDVMAS significantly predicted victim blame and aggressor exoneration in scenarios of coercion (Study 5) and physical assault (Study 6). Victims and non-victims of domestic violence equally endorsed domestic violence myths. Globally, the PDVMAS is a reliable instrument, and domestic violence myths are pervasive and alter the perception of intimate partner violence.

Designing Social Robots for Interaction at Work: Socio-Cognitive Factors Underlying Intention to Work with Social Robots

This paper discusses the effects of robot design (machine-like, humanoid, android) and users’ gender on the intention to work with social robots in the near future. For that purpose, the theoretical framework afforded by the theory of planned behavior (TPB) is used. Results showed effects for robot design and users’ gender. As the robot got more human-like the lower the intention to work with it. Female participants showed lower intention to work with social robots. These effects are mediated by the variables of the TPB. Perceived behavioral control and subjective norm are the main predictors of the intention to work with social robots in the near future.

Action Contribution to Competence Judgments: The Use of the Journey Schema

The current research considered the question of how performing an action, or merely preparing the body for action, can have an impact on social judgments related to person perception. Participants were asked to ascribe competence and warmth characteristics to a target person by reading a metaphoric text while their body was manipulated to be prepared for the processing of action-congruent information. In Experiment 1, participants whose forward body action matched the metaphoric action described in the text ascribed more competence characteristics to a politician than did control participants. In Experiment 2, participants whose body was merely prepared for forward movement also ascribed more competence characteristics to a politician than did control participants. In addition, the data from Experiment 2 ruled out an alternative non-embodied explanation (i.e., that effect is due to basic associative processes) grounded in the existing literatures on attitudes by demonstrating that body manipulation had no effect on competence when a non-metaphoric text was used. Finally, no evidence was found that body manipulation affects warmth judgments. These studies converge in demonstrating that forward body movements enhance the favorability of competence judgments when these match the metaphoric forward movements described by text.