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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 26, 2026

Eye Tracking During Visually Situated Language Comprehension: Flexibility and Limitations in Uncovering Visual Context Effects

Eye Tracking During Visually Situated Language Comprehension: Flexibility and Limitations in Uncovering Visual Context Effects

Published on: November 30, 2018

Language comprehenders retain implied shape and orientation of objects.

Diane Pecher¹, Saskia van Dantzig, Rolf A Zwaan

¹Psychology Department, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. pecher@fsw.eur.nl

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (2006)

|January 15, 2009

Summary

Language comprehension involves simulating sensorimotor experiences. This study shows that object details from sentences are remembered long-term, supporting embodied cognition theories.

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Embodied Cognition
Language Comprehension

Background:

Theories of embodied cognition propose that understanding language involves simulating sensorimotor experiences.
Prior research indicates that visual recognition of objects is enhanced when their orientation or shape aligns with a preceding sentence.
The role of strategic imagery in these findings requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

To determine if strategic imagery can account for previously observed effects of sentence-picture congruence.
To investigate the retention of sensorimotor simulation details over time.

Main Methods:

Participants read lists of sentences mentioning various objects.
Recognition memory for objects was tested using pictures after reading the complete sentence list.
Testing occurred both immediately and after a 45-minute delay.

Main Results:

Recognition memory performance was significantly better when the object's depicted orientation or shape matched the information implied by the preceding sentences.
This match effect persisted both immediately after reading and after the 45-minute delay.
The findings were consistent regardless of whether strategic imagery was employed.

Conclusions:

The observed match effects are not attributable to strategic imagery.
Detailed aspects of sensorimotor simulations during language comprehension are retained for extended periods.
This supports the embodied cognition framework and highlights the persistence of simulation-based representations.