The effect of arousal on Chinese word segmentation

In the absence of inter-word spaces, Chinese readers rely on other available information for word segmentation. An earlier study demonstrated that the valence of words influences word segmentation (Huang et al., Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 31 (4), 1548-1557, 2024). The current study further investigated the influence of arousal, another key dimension of emotion, on Chinese word segmentation. We first re-analyzed the segmentation results from Huang et al.'s study and found that arousal had an independent effect on Chinese word segmentation. In the experimental study, we manipulated the arousal levels of words while keeping valence at a neutral level. The results provide evidence that the arousal of words can affect Chinese word segmentation, with higher-arousal words being more likely to be segmented than low-arousal words. Moreover, our findings are also essential for understanding the impact of arousal on word processing and suggest that it impacts the early stage of activating a word's representation.