ABSTRACT

Research on metaphors has shown that individuals form associations between the verticality, brightness, and distance of stimuli and their valence. Building on the literature on conceptual metaphor theory, the pitch–valence hypothesis predicts an association between the pitch of spoken words and their valence. A study was conducted recording participants’ accuracy and response latencies in identifying positive and negative words that were spoken in high and low pitches to see whether pitch affects the accuracy and speed when choosing words that systematically vary in their semantic valence. The results supported the pitch–valence hypothesis by revealing systematic differences in performance. The observed effects were mainly due to participants’ accuracies when words were presented in a high pitch.

摘要

对隐喻的研究表明，个体在刺激的垂直度，亮度和距离与其效价之间形成关联。基于概念隐喻理论的文献，音高价假设可预测口语单词的音高与其音价之间的联系。进行了一项研究，记录参与者在识别高音和低音时说出的正面和负面词时的准确性和响应潜伏期，以查看音高是否会影响选择语义上有义变化的词时的准确性和速度。结果揭示了性能上的系统差异，从而支持了音高价假设。观察到的效果主要是由于以高音调呈现单词时参与者的准确性。