Title page

Abstract

The conceptual modality switch effect (Pecher, Zeelenberg & Barsalou, 2003) supports the proposal that concepts involve the reactivation of perceptual experiences (Barsalou, 1999). In a typical conceptual modality switch experiment, each individual trial is a property verification task requiring participants to determine whether a property (e.g., rough) applies to a concept (e.g., STUCCO). The critical finding is that the second of two property verification trials suffers a processing cost when it follows a trial from a different modality (e.g. sound then touch) compared to when it follows a trial from the same modality (e.g. touch then touch). Here we recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) as participants performed a property verification task; the critical trials involved auditory and tactile properties. The modality switch effect elicited a late frontal negativity and posterior positivity. Tactile properties in both switch and noswitch conditions elicited a robust N400 effect reminiscent of a concreteness effect. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for theories of grounded cognition, especially regarding the underlying representation of concepts from different modalities. Introduction The human brain supports a powerful conceptual system that allows for a rich, organized understanding of the external world. One way we access these concepts is via words such as, crunchy green apple. This particular phrase should evoke the concept of an apple as well as its specific color and texture, the details of which are based on life experience with apples. For example, the color suggested in this phrase is not a prototypical, bold green but rather a lighter green (more like chartreuse) characteristic