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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 19, 2026

Eye Tracking During Visually Situated Language Comprehension: Flexibility and Limitations in Uncovering Visual Context Effects
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Putting concepts into context.

Eiling Yee1,2, Sharon L Thompson-Schill3

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, 406 Babbidge Road, Unit 1020, Storrs, CT, 06269-1020, USA. eiling.yee@gmail.com.

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
|June 11, 2016
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Conceptual representations are not static but dynamically change based on context across various timescales. This challenges traditional views of semantic memory, highlighting context

Keywords:
Embodied cognitionSemantic memory

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Linguistics

Background:

  • Traditional semantic memory research views concepts as static entities.
  • This perspective assumes a fixed meaning for concepts, like 'lemon'.
  • Contextual influences on conceptual meaning have been historically underemphasized.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To challenge the traditional static view of conceptual representations.
  • To review evidence for context-dependent conceptual activation across multiple timescales.
  • To propose that conceptual representations are dynamic and context-bound.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing literature on semantic memory and conceptual activation.
  • Analysis of studies demonstrating context effects at different timescales (long-term, recent, task-specific, real-time).
  • Synthesis of findings to support a dynamic model of concepts.

Main Results:

  • Pervasive influence of context on conceptual activation across all examined timescales.
  • Evidence suggests conceptual meaning is not fixed but modulated by experience and goals.
  • Conceptual activation is an ongoing, dynamic process influenced by immediate and historical context.

Conclusions:

  • Conceptual representations are not static but are inherently dynamic and context-dependent.
  • The meaning of a concept is continuously shaped by its context.
  • Future research should focus on the dynamic and context-bound nature of semantic memory.