Breaking the ice in a conversation: abstract words prompt dialogs more easily than concrete ones

IF 16.4 1区化学 Q1 CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Accounts of Chemical Research Pub Date : 2023-03-10 DOI:10.1017/langcog.2023.3

Chiara Fini, Ilenia Falcinelli, Giovanna Cuomo, V. Era, M. Candidi, Luca Tummolini, C. Mazzuca, A. Borghi

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引用次数: 2

Abstract

Abstract domains of knowledge may have social origins. However, whether abstract concepts (ACs) may also differentially affect communicative interaction and conversation has not been explored. Here, we studied ACs’ communicative functions by collecting in an Italian and an English sample, ratings for concrete concept (CC) and ACs related to three main dimensions: communicative/pragmatic [i.e., Openness to Negotiation (ON), Easiness to Start a Conversation (ESC)], semantic/metacognitive [i.e., Social Metacognition (SM) – perceived need of others, Word Confidence (WC), Contextual Availability (CA)], and emotional–experiential (i.e., Pleasantness, Valence, Familiarity). Overall, Italian participants judged it was easier to start a conversation, the more pleasant, familiar, and positively valenced were rated the concepts. Crucially, at lower values of the emotional–experiential component (i.e., Familiarity in the Italian sample, also Pleasantness and Valence in an English sample), there was an advantage of ACs over CCs in the ESC. Moreover, in the Italian sample, participants rated ACs higher on SM, ON, and lower on WC and CA. Notably, in both the Italian and English sample, ACs with higher ratings on the ESC dimension belonged to the Self-Sociality subcluster. The results offer new insights into the pragmatic aspects linked to ACs’ use.

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打破对话中的僵局：抽象的单词比具体的单词更容易提示对话

抽象的知识领域可能有社会起源。然而，抽象概念（AC）是否也会对交际互动和会话产生不同的影响还没有被探索。在这里，我们通过收集意大利语和英语样本中的具体概念评分（CC）和与三个主要维度相关的AC来研究AC的交际功能：交际/语用[即谈判开放性（ON）、易于开始对话（ESC）]，语义/元认知[即，社会元认知（SM）-感知他人的需求、单词自信（WC）、上下文可用性（CA）]和情感-体验（即，愉悦感、Valence、熟悉度）。总的来说，意大利参与者认为开始对话更容易，对这些概念的评价越愉快、越熟悉、越积极。至关重要的是，在情绪-体验成分的较低值下（即，意大利样本中的熟悉度，以及英国样本中的愉悦感和Valence），在ESC中，AC比CC有优势。此外，在意大利样本中，参与者在SM、on维度上对AC的评分较高，在WC和CA维度上的评分较低。值得注意的是，在意大利和英国样本中，在ESC维度上评分较高的AC属于自我社交亚组。研究结果为AC使用的语用方面提供了新的见解。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Accounts of Chemical Research 化学-化学综合

CiteScore

31.40

自引率

1.10%

发文量

312

审稿时长

2 months

期刊介绍： Accounts of Chemical Research presents short, concise and critical articles offering easy-to-read overviews of basic research and applications in all areas of chemistry and biochemistry. These short reviews focus on research from the author’s own laboratory and are designed to teach the reader about a research project. In addition, Accounts of Chemical Research publishes commentaries that give an informed opinion on a current research problem. Special Issues online are devoted to a single topic of unusual activity and significance. Accounts of Chemical Research replaces the traditional article abstract with an article "Conspectus." These entries synopsize the research affording the reader a closer look at the content and significance of an article. Through this provision of a more detailed description of the article contents, the Conspectus enhances the article's discoverability by search engines and the exposure for the research.