Language systematizes attention: How relational language enhances relational representation by guiding attention
Language systematizes attention: How relational language enhances relational representation by guiding attention
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DOI：
10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105671
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发表时间：
2023-11-30
期刊：
影响因子：
3.4
通讯作者：
Franconeri，Steven
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Yuan，Lei;Novack，Miriam;Franconeri，Steven
语言可以影响认知，但通过什么机制呢？过去的大量研究集中在标签如何在在线处理过程中引发分类表征。我们将重点放在一种特别强大的语言类型——关系语言上，并表明关系语言可以通过一种具身注意机制来增强儿童的关系表征。四岁的孩子们被要求完成一个颜色定位连接任务，在这个任务中，他们被要求编码一个两色的正方形，垂直或水平分裂（例如，红色在左边，蓝色在右边），然后从镜子的反射中回忆相同的配置。在编码阶段，实验组的孩子听到的是关系语言（例如，“红色在蓝色的左边”），而对照组的孩子听到的是一般的非关系语言（例如，“看这个，仔细看”）。在回忆方面，与对照组相比，实验条件下的儿童更能成功地在两种颜色之间选择正确的关系表征。此外，根据关系表征的注意转移解释，他们表现出不同的注意模式（Franconeri et al., 2012）。为了测试语言的持续效应和注意的作用，在研究的后半段，实验条件是一般的非关系语言。在实验条件下，行为准确性和签名注意模式都有持续的优势。总的来说，我们的研究结果表明，关系语言通过引导学习者的注意力来增强关系表征，即使在没有语言的情况下，这种促进作用也会持续一段时间。本文将讨论关系语言如何通过引导注意力来促进关系系统（如数学、空间认知）的学习。
Language can affect cognition, but through what mechanism? Substantial past research has focused on how labeling can elicit categorical representation during online processing. We focus here on a particularly powerful type of language—relational language—and show that relational language can enhance relational representation in children through an embodied attention mechanism. Four-year-old children were given a color-location conjunction task, in which they were asked to encode a two-color square, split either vertically or horizontally (e.g., red on the left, blue on the right), and later recall the same configuration from its mirror reflection. During the encoding phase, children in the experimental condition heard relational language (e.g., “Red is on the left of blue”), while those in the control condition heard generic non-relational language (e.g., “Look at this one, look at it closely”). At recall, children in the experimental condition were more successful at choosing the correct relational representation between the two colors compared to the control group. Moreover, they exhibited different attention patterns as predicted by the attention shift account of relational representation (Franconeri et al., 2012). To test the sustained effect of language and the role of attention, during the second half of the study, the experimental condition was given generic non-relational language. There was a sustained advantage in the experimental condition for both behavioral accuracies and signature attention patterns. Overall, our findings suggest that relational language enhances relational representation by guiding learners' attention, and this facilitative effect persists over time even in the absence of language. Implications for the mechanism of how relational language can enhance the learning of relational systems (e.g., mathematics, spatial cognition) by guiding attention will be discussed.