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Differential Effects of Emotion-Label Words and Emotion-Laden Words Priming on Estimation Performance: A
Chuanlin Zhu1, Yanchi Huang2, Ping Li3
1School of Education, Yangzhou University, Siwangting Road, Yangzhou, 225002, China. psyclzhu@yzu.edu.cn.
Journal of Psycholinguistic Research
|February 24, 2026
Summary
Priming with emotion words influences math estimation strategies. Positive emotion-laden words (ELdWs) encourage the down-up (DU) strategy, while negative emotion-label words (ELWs) speed up the up-down (UD) strategy, showing distinct effects on cognitive tasks.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Mathematical Cognition
- Affective Science
Background:
- Emotional language processing significantly impacts cognitive functions.
- Understanding how different types of emotional words affect mathematical tasks is crucial.
- Previous research has not fully distinguished the effects of emotion-label words (ELWs) and emotion-laden words (ELdWs).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the differential effects of positive and negative emotion-label words (ELWs) and emotion-laden words (ELdWs) on estimation performance.
- To examine strategy selection and accuracy in a two-digit multiplication task under different emotional priming conditions.
- To assess the influence of math anxiety on these cognitive processes.
Main Methods:
- Participants performed a two-digit multiplication estimation task after being primed with positive or negative ELWs and ELdWs.
- Two experiments were conducted: one with assigned strategies and another with free strategy choice.
- Accuracy (ACC) and reaction time (RT) were measured, and strategy adoption was analyzed.
Main Results:
- Positive priming, especially with ELdWs, increased the use of the down-up (DU) strategy.
- Negative priming accelerated the utilization of the up-down (UD) strategy.
- DU strategy execution was faster with ELdW primes, while UD strategy execution was faster with ELW primes.
- Math anxiety did not significantly affect accuracy, reaction time, or strategy selection.
Conclusions:
- Emotion-label words (ELWs) and emotion-laden words (ELdWs) exert distinct influences on mathematical estimation performance.
- Emotional priming modulates strategy selection and execution speed in cognitive tasks.
- The findings highlight the importance of differentiating between types of emotional words in affective science research.
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