Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Language and Cognition

Language and Cognition

Language serves as a bridge between ideas and communication, influencing how individuals perceive and interact with the world. Psychologists have long debated whether language shapes thought or vice versa. This discussion gained grip with Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf in the 1940s, who proposed that language determines thought, a concept known as linguistic determinism. They suggested that the vocabulary and structure of a language influence how its speakers think and perceive reality.

Components of Language

Components of Language

Language, whether spoken, signed, or written, consists of specific components: lexicon and grammar. The lexicon is the vocabulary of a language, comprising its words. Grammar is the set of rules used to convey meaning through the lexicon. For example, English grammar adds “-ed” to most verbs to indicate past tense. Words are formed by combining phonemes, which are the basic sound units of a language. Different languages have different sets of phonemes (e.g., “ah” vs. “eh”). Phonemes combine to...

Language

Language

Language is a unique communication system that uses words and systematic rules to organize and transmit information. Unlike other forms of communication, which may involve postures, movements, odors, or vocalizations, language relies on symbols and grammar. This makes human communication distinct from that of other species, who also communicate but do not use language in the same way humans do.
Corballis and Suddendorf (2007) and Tomasello and Rakoczy (2003) highlight the role of language in...

Non-Verbal Cues

Non-Verbal Cues

Non-verbal communication extends beyond gestures and facial expressions to include vocal elements known as paralanguage. Paralanguage consists of non-verbal vocal cues such as pitch, loudness, speech rate, pauses, and non-verbal vocalizations like laughter, sighs, and moans. These elements not only accompany speech but also provide critical emotional and contextual information.The Role of Paralanguage in CommunicationParalanguage adds depth to spoken language by conveying emotions and...

Emotional Expression

Emotional Expression

Emotional expression encompasses how individuals convey their emotions through verbal communication and non-verbal cues. These non-verbal actions include facial expressions, body language, and physical gestures, such as frowning or smiling. Among these, facial expressions play a crucial role in emotional expression and are understood universally, indicating a biological basis for how humans communicate emotions.
Universal Facial Expressions
Psychologist Paul Ekman identified seven basic...

Impression Management Techniques III: Aligning Actions

Impression Management Techniques III: Aligning Actions

Aligning actions are communicative strategies individuals employ to maintain social harmony and preserve personal identity in the face of potential disruptions to social norms. These actions are particularly important in managing social impressions when one's behavior might be seen as inappropriate, incompetent, or morally questionable.Types of Aligning ActionsThe three principal types of aligning actions are disclaimers, accounts, and apologies.DisclaimersDisclaimers are preventive; they are...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Studies with impossible languages falsify LMs as models of human language.

The Behavioral and brain sciences·2026

Same author

Correlations without causation do not support claims of human-LLM reasoning alignment.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026

Same author

The successes and failures of artificial neural networks (ANNs) highlight the importance of innate linguistic priors for human language acquisition.

Psychological review·2025

Same author

Adapting to time: Why nature may have evolved a diverse set of neurons.

PLoS computational biology·2024

Same author

Clarifying status of DNNs as models of human vision.

The Behavioral and brain sciences·2023

Same author

Human shape representations are not an emergent property of learning to classify objects.

Journal of experimental psychology. General·2023

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 30, 2026

Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effect of Induced Emotion on Grammar Learning

Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effect of Induced Emotion on Grammar Learning

Published on: January 29, 2020

Swearing, euphemisms, and linguistic relativity.

Jeffrey S Bowers¹, Christopher W Pleydell-Pearce

¹Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol, England. j.bowers@bris.ac.uk

|July 30, 2011

Summary

Swear words trigger stronger autonomic responses than euphemisms, suggesting language

Area of Science:

Psycholinguistics
Cognitive Neuroscience
Affective Science

Background:

The relationship between language and emotional response is complex.
Understanding how specific word properties influence physiological reactions is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the psychophysiological impact of swear words versus euphemisms.
To explore the role of phonological form in affective word processing.

Main Methods:

Participants read aloud swear words, euphemisms, and neutral stimuli.
Autonomic activity was measured using electrodermal activity (EDA).

Main Results:

Electrodermal activity responses were significantly larger for swear words compared to euphemisms and neutral stimuli.

More Related Videos

Using Eye Movements Recorded in the Visual World Paradigm to Explore the Online Processing of Spoken Language

Using Eye Movements Recorded in the Visual World Paradigm to Explore the Online Processing of Spoken Language

Published on: October 13, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 30, 2026

Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effect of Induced Emotion on Grammar Learning

Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effect of Induced Emotion on Grammar Learning

Published on: January 29, 2020

Using Eye Movements Recorded in the Visual World Paradigm to Explore the Online Processing of Spoken Language

Using Eye Movements Recorded in the Visual World Paradigm to Explore the Online Processing of Spoken Language

Published on: October 13, 2018

This suggests a direct association between the phonological form of swear words and affective responses.

Conclusions:

The phonological form of words can directly elicit affective and cognitive responses.
Euphemisms function by substituting the trigger word form while retaining the core idea.
Findings support a mechanistic account of how language influences thought, relating to the linguistic relativity hypothesis.