Too close to call: Spatial distance between options influences choice difficulty

Schneider, Iris K.; Stapels, Julia G.; Koole, Sander L.; Schwarz, Robert

doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2019.103939

Cited by 14 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…If physical separation and connection ground mental separation and connection, then basic cognitive tasks that hinge on mental separation should be facilitated (vs. undermined) when relevant entities are physically separated (vs. connected). For example, choosing one object from a set of objects involves mental separation, a task that is completed faster, more easily, and with greater confidence when the objects are physically far apart (vs. close together; Schneider, Stapels, Koole, and Schwarz, 2020). Similarly, assigning entities to different categories entails mental separation, a task that is completed faster when response keys corresponding to different categories are physically far apart (vs. close together; Lakens, Schneider, Jostmann, and Schubert, 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grounded procedures: A proximate mechanism for the psychology of cleansing and other physical actions

Lee¹,

Schwarz

2020

Behav Brain Sci

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Experimental work has revealed causal links between physical cleansing and various psychological variables. Empirically, how robust are they? Theoretically, how do they operate? Major prevailing accounts focus on morality or disgust, capturing a subset of cleansing effects, but cannot easily handle cleansing effects in non-moral, non-disgusting contexts. Building on grounded views on cognitive processes and known properties of mental procedures, we propose grounded procedures of separation as a proximate mechanism underlying cleansing effects. This account differs from prevailing accounts in terms of explanatory kind, interpretive parsimony, and predictive scope. Its unique and falsifiable predictions have received empirical support: Cleansing attenuates or eliminates otherwise observed influences of prior events (1) across domains and (2) across valences. (3) Cleansing manipulations produce stronger effects the more strongly they engage sensorimotor capacities. (4) Reversing the causal arrow, motivation for cleansing is triggered more readily by negative than positive entities. (5) Conceptually similar effects extend to other physical actions of separation. On the flipside, grounded procedures of connection are also observed. Together, separation and connection organize prior findings relevant to multiple perspectives (e.g., conceptual metaphor, sympathetic magic) and open up new questions. Their predictions are more generalizable than the specific mappings in conceptual metaphors, but more fine-grained than the broad assumptions of grounded cognition. This intermediate level of analysis sheds light on the interplay between mental and physical processes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grounded procedures: A proximate mechanism for the psychology of cleansing and other physical actions

Lee¹,

Schwarz

2020

Behav Brain Sci

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“…The participants were presented with two completely different forms of vision (see Figure 3 ). We referred to previous empirical studies that recommended the rotation factor of 45° ( Ścigała and Indurkhya, 2016 ; Wang et al, 2016 ; Li and Cao, 2017 ; Zhai et al, 2018 ; Schneider et al, 2020 ). For example, (ang zang, means dirty) corresponding to immorality.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphological Metaphor Mapping of Moral Concepts in Chinese Culture

Liu

et al. 2020

Front. Psychol.

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According to conceptual metaphor theory, individuals are thought to understand or express abstract concepts by using referents in the physical world—right and left for moral and immoral, for example. In this research, we used a modified Stroop paradigm to explore how abstract moral concepts are metaphorically translated onto physical referents in Chinese culture using the Chinese language. We presented Chinese characters related to moral and immoral abstract concepts in either non-distorted or distorted positions (Study 1) or rotated to the right or to the left (Study 2). When we asked participants to identify the Chinese characters, they more quickly and accurately identified morally positive characters if they were oriented upright or turned to the right and more quickly and accurately identified immoral characters when the characters were distorted or rotated left. These results support the idea that physical cues are used in metaphorically encoding social abstractions and moral norms and provided cross-cultural validation for conceptual metaphor theory, which would predict our results.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From washing hands to washing consciences and polishing reputations

Légeret¹,

Hoffrage²

2021

Behav Brain Sci

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While Lee and Schwarz propose grounded procedures of separation as an explanation for physical cleansing in various domains (e.g., washing one's hands), we suggest that separation can also account for behavioral cleansing aimed at washing consciences and polishing reputations. We discuss this extension in terms of degrees of behavioral cleansing, motivations, and intentions behind cleansing, and social settings.

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Too close to call: Spatial distance between options influences choice difficulty

Cited by 14 publications

References 15 publications

Grounded procedures: A proximate mechanism for the psychology of cleansing and other physical actions

Grounded procedures: A proximate mechanism for the psychology of cleansing and other physical actions

Morphological Metaphor Mapping of Moral Concepts in Chinese Culture

From washing hands to washing consciences and polishing reputations

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