Embodied Effects in Verb Processing and Learning: A Three-Level Meta-Analysis

Verbs describe actions and changes in states, and are closely grounded in perceptual and motor experiences. Their core attributes align precisely with the embodied effect, which has increasingly attracted attention in research on verb processing and learning. To further clarify the influencing mechanisms and potential factors (verb concreteness, motor features, verb layer, depth of processing task and language status) of the embodied effect in verb processing and learning, a three-level meta-analysis with a random-effects model was performed on 37 studies (265 effect sizes and 12,357 participants) published in the past 15 years. The results revealed that there was an embodied effect in verb processing and learning, with a significant total effect size (Hedges' g = 0.259, p < 0.005). Specifically, verb concreteness and verb layer moderated this effect. These findings suggest that future research should further explore the mechanisms and interactive influences of verb features and contextual information on the embodied effect. The findings further imply that language instruction may benefit from integrating embodied experiences with contextualized linguistic input to enhance verb learning and comprehension.