Type of Document	Thesis
Author	Taylor, Lawrence John
URN	etd-04012007-224839
Title	Motor Resonance and Linguistic Focus
Degree	Master of Science
Department	Psychology, Department of
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Rolf A. Zwaan Committee Chair Jon Maner Committee Member Michael P. Kaschak Committee Member
Keywords	Verbs Motor Simulation Language Comprehension Adverbs Embodied Cognition
Date of Defense	2007-03-15
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract Previous studies have demonstrated that verbal descriptions of actions activate compatible motor responses (Glenberg & Kaschak, 2002; Zwaan & Taylor, 2006). The present study replicates previous findings showing that, within a sentence, such activation is localized on the verb that denotes the action. Moreover, motor resonance is found to yield to linguistic focus. If a post-verbal adverb maintains focus on a matching action (“slowly” or “quickly”), motor resonance occurs, but if the adverb shifts the focus to the agent (e.g., “obediently” or “eagerly”) or to other elements of the action, a cessation of motor resonance ensues. These findings are discussed within the context of theories of motor resonance, action understanding, mental simulation, and linguistic focus.
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