Task-defined processing demands modulate effector-related information in literal and metaphorical action language comprehension

Abstract

Metaphorical action phrases provide a useful case for studying implied meaning because their intended meanings are not directly stated by literal bodily actions, but are inferred through conceptual mapping from bodily experience to abstract domains. Embodied accounts of language propose that such comprehension may involve sensorimotor representations. However, it remains unclear whether effector-related information contributes to metaphorical action language, and whether this contribution varies across task-defined processing conditions. Thirty-six native Chinese-speaking university students completed three tasks that varied task-defined processing demands: a symbol judgment task, a lexical decision task, and an effector judgment task. The stimuli were Chinese literal and metaphorical action phrases associated with hand- or leg-related actions. Using a body-part congruency paradigm, we tested whether motor responses were facilitated when the effector implied by the phrase matched the effector used to execute the response. Reaction times were analyzed using a 2 (material type: literal, metaphorical) × 3 (processing depth: low, medium, high) × 2 (congruency: congruent, incongruent) repeated-measures ANOVA. Effector-related congruency effects emerged most reliably in the high-depth effector judgment task, in which responses were faster when the effector implied by the action phrase matched the response effector than when the two were mismatched. No reliable congruency effects were observed in the lower-depth symbol judgment or lexical decision tasks. Further linear trend analyses showed a significant overall linear component in congruency effects across task-defined processing-depth conditions; however, this trend was statistically reliable only for metaphorical action phrases in the material-specific analyses. The material type × processing depth × congruency interaction was not significant. Effector-related information can influence the processing of both literal and metaphorical action phrases, but its behavioral expression varies across task-defined processing conditions. The findings suggest that embodied effects in metaphorical action language are not necessarily automatic, but become behaviorally measurable when processing conditions promote explicit access to effector-related semantic information.