Xie, Jiushu;
Lu, Zhi;
Wan, Ruiming;
Cai, Zhenguang G.;
(2016)
Remember Hard But Think Softly: Metaphorical Effects of Hardness/Softness on Cognitive Functions.
Frontiers in Psychology
, 7
(1343)
10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01343.
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Abstract
Previous studies have found that bodily stimulation, such as hardness biases social judgment and evaluation via metaphorical association; however, it remains unclear whether bodily stimulation also affects cognitive functions, such as memory and creativity. The current study used metaphorical associations between “hard” and “rigid” and between “soft” and “flexible” in Chinese, to investigate whether the experience of hardness affects cognitive functions whose performance depends prospectively on rigidity (memory) and flexibility (creativity). In Experiment 1, we found that Chinese-speaking participants performed better at recalling previously memorized words while sitting on a hard-surface stool (the hard condition) than a cushioned one (the soft condition). In Experiment 2, participants sitting on a cushioned stool outperformed those sitting on a hard-surface stool on a Chinese riddle task, which required creative/flexible thinking, but not on an analogical reasoning task, which required both rigid and flexible thinking. The results suggest the hardness experience affects cognitive functions that are metaphorically associated with rigidity or flexibility. They support the embodiment proposition that cognitive functions and representations can be grounded in bodily states via metaphorical associations.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Remember Hard But Think Softly: Metaphorical Effects of Hardness/Softness on Cognitive Functions |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01343 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01343 |
| Additional information: | © 2016 Xie, Lu, Wang and Cai. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
| Keywords: | embodied cognition, metaphor, tactile sensation, hardness, softness, memory, creativity, cognitive function |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1519558 |
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