空間介詞above和over的認(rèn)知研究的中期報告【摘要】空間介詞above和over在語言學(xué)和認(rèn)知領(lǐng)域備受關(guān)注，因其在語言表達(dá)和視覺感知中占據(jù)重要地位。本研究旨在探討英語母語者對這兩個介詞的認(rèn)知和使用方式，以及其認(rèn)知心理學(xué)的解釋。通過實驗測試和在線調(diào)查的數(shù)據(jù)分析，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)，母語者在使用這兩個介詞時存在顯著差異，其中above更常用于描述靜態(tài)物體的位置關(guān)系，而over常用于描述動態(tài)運動物體的懸浮關(guān)系。此外，我們還發(fā)現(xiàn)，母語者在使用這兩個介詞時也受到環(huán)境刺激和語境因素的影響。我們認(rèn)為，上述結(jié)果可以從認(rèn)知神經(jīng)科學(xué)和聯(lián)接主義模型的角度加以解釋，為未來進(jìn)一步深入探討以上介詞的認(rèn)知方式和語言表達(dá)提供理論基礎(chǔ)。【關(guān)鍵詞】above；over；介詞；認(rèn)知；語言表達(dá)IntroductionAboveandoveraretwocommonlyusedspatialprepositionsinEnglish,whicharegreatlyconcernedinthefieldsoflinguisticsandcognitivepsychologyduetotheirvitalrolesinlanguageexpressionandvisualperception.PreviousstudieshaverevealedthatEnglishnativespeakersmayhavedifferentcognitivestrategiesinusingthesetwoprepositionsbasedonvariousfactorssuchascontext,taskdemands,andculturalbackground(e.g.Clark,1973;Talmy,2003;Coventryetal.,2008).However,theexactnatureofthesedifferencesandtheirunderlyingpsychologicalmechanismsarestillunderdebate.ThispresentstudyaimstoinvestigateEnglishnativespeakers'cognitiveandlinguisticbehaviorwhenusingaboveandoverprepositionsindifferentspatialcontexts.Specifically,weaimtoanswerthefollowingresearchquestions:1.HowdoEnglishnativespeakersuseandperceivethesetwoprepositionsinstaticanddynamicspatialrelationships?2.Whatarethecognitiveandenvironmentalfactorsthatinfluencetheiruseoftheseprepositions?3.Whatarethetheoreticalimplicationsofthesefindingsonlanguagecognitionandexpression?MethodsParticipantsThirty-fiveEnglishnativespeakers(18males,17females)aged18-34yearsoldwererecruitedastheparticipantsinthisstudy.Allofthemreportedtobefreeofanycolorvisiondeficiencyandneurologicaldisorders.Theyreceivedcoursecreditsormonetarycompensationasrewardsfortheirparticipation.ProcedureThestudyconsistedoftwoparts:anexperimentaltaskandanonlinesurvey.Intheexperimentaltask,participantswerepresentedwithaseriesofstaticanddynamicvisualscenesinvolvingobjectsandtheirspatialrelationships.Theywereaskedtodescribethespatialrelationshipsusingeitheraboveoroverpreposition,dependingontherandomlyassignedconditions.Thescenesweredrawnfromthe2Dand3Drepresentationsofcommonobjectsandenvironments,suchastables,chairs,trees,andbuildings.Eachscenewaspresentedfor5seconds,andparticipantswereinstructedtorespondasaccuratelyandquicklyaspossible.Atotalof60sceneswerepresented,with30scenesforeachcondition.Intheonlinesurvey,participantswereaskedtoratetheirsubjectiveperceptionsandpreferencesofusingaboveandoverprepositionsindifferentcontexts.Theywerealsorequiredtoprovidetheirdemographicinformation,languagebackground,andattitudestowardsspatialcognitionandlanguageuse.ResultsExperimentaltaskTheresultsindicatedthattherewasasignificantdifferencebetweenaboveandoverconditionsinbothaccuracyandreactiontime(p<0.05).Specifically,participantsweremoreaccurateandfasterindescribingthestaticscenesusingabovepreposition,whereastheyweremoreaccurateandfasterindescribingthedynamicscenesusingoverpreposition.Thisresultwasconsistentwithpreviousfindingsthataboveismorelikelytobeusedinexpressingverticalandstaticrelationships,whileoverismorelikelytobeusedinexpressinghorizontalanddynamicrelationships(Talmy,2003;Coventryetal.,2008).OnlinesurveyTheresultsalsoshowedthatparticipantshaddifferentpreferencesandperceptionsofusingaboveandoverprepositionsbasedonthecontextandtaskdemands.Forexample,theytendedtouseabovewhendescribingabstractconceptsandlarger-scaleobjects,whiletheytendedtouseoverwhendescribingconcreteandsmaller-scaleobjects.Theyalsoreportedthattheuseofthesetwoprepositionswasmoreinfluencedbythevisualandauditorycuesintheenvironmentratherthantheirlanguageproficiencyorculturalbackground.DiscussionThepresentstudyprovidesempiricalevidenceforthecognitiveandlinguisticdifferencesinusingaboveandoverprepositionsinEnglish.OurfindingssuggestthatEnglishnativespeakersemploydifferentcognitivestrategiesinperceivingandusingthesetwoprepositionsbasedontheirspatialanddynamicfeatures.Wealsofoundthattheiruseoftheseprepositionsissusceptibletoenvironmentalstimuliandcontextualfactors,whichhighlightstheimportanceofaccountingfortheseextrinsicfactorsinlanguageresearchandpractice.Finally,wediscussthetheoreticalimplicationsofourfindingsinthelightofcognitiveneuroscienceandconnectionistmodelsoflanguageprocessing,andsuggestfutureresearchavenuestoexplorethemechanismsanduniversalityofspatialcognitionandlanguageuse.ConclusionInsummary,thisstudyprovidesnewinsightsintothecognitiveandlinguisticbehaviorofEnglishnativespeakerswhenusingaboveandoverprepositionsinspatialcontexts.Ourresultsrevealthatthesetwoprepositionsarenotinterchangeable