Affect as Anaesthetic: how emotional contexts modulate the processing of counterintuitive concepts

Aristei, Sabrina; Knoop, Christine A.; Lubrich, Oliver; Nehrlich, Thomas; Enge, Alexander; Stark, Kirsten; Sommer, Werner; Abdel Rahman, Rasha (2022). Affect as Anaesthetic: how emotional contexts modulate the processing of counterintuitive concepts. Language, cognition and neuroscience, 38(10), pp. 1514-1530. Taylor & Francis 10.1080/23273798.2022.2085312

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In popular narratives, minimally counterintuitive concepts (MCIs), which violate one category of our real-world knowledge (e.g. talking trees), are frequently embedded in emotional contexts. To assess the impact of emotion on MCI processing, we presented micro-narratives with negative or neutral contents before target sentences. We compared electrophysiological correlates of semantic processing elicited by MCIs, common semantic expectancy violations, and intuitive concepts, presented as critical within-sentence words and as images after the sentences. Results show that emotional contexts play a critical role for MCI processing. N400 effects in neural responses to MCIs that we observed after neutral contexts were not found after negative contexts, suggesting that the synergy between emotional context and MCI saliency enhances the processing of narratives at the cost of critical semantic processing. This finding is relevant for neurocognitive models of language comprehension in high-level contexts, for our understanding of the attraction of counterintuitive concepts and rhetorical strategies.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of Linguistics and Literary Studies > Institute of Germanic Languages
06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of Linguistics and Literary Studies > Institute of Germanic Languages > Modern German Literary Studies

UniBE Contributor:

Lubrich, Oliver, Nehrlich, Thomas Philip

Subjects:

400 Language > 430 German & related languages
800 Literature, rhetoric & criticism > 830 German & related literatures
800 Literature, rhetoric & criticism

ISSN:

2327-3801

Publisher:

Taylor & Francis

Language:

English

Submitter:

Thomas Philip Nehrlich

Date Deposited:

16 Mar 2023 12:16

Last Modified:

26 Nov 2023 02:15

Publisher DOI:

10.1080/23273798.2022.2085312

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/180196

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