Question

In a sentence-verification task, participants respond to these two sentences: "A canary has feathers," and "A canary is yellow." We should predict faster response times to the second sentence because:

1) participants are slowed by semantic ambiguity
2) participants' responses are faster to perceptual properties than to conceptual ones
3) participants are faster in judging "is a" associations than they are in judging "has a" associations
4) the property of having feathers is associated with the bird node, not the canary node

Answer 1

The faster response times to the sentence "A canary is yellow" are predicted because participants are faster in judging "is a" associations than they are in judging "has a" associations (option 2).

Step-by-step explanation:

In sentence-verification tasks, the time taken for participants to respond can be influenced by various factors. The prediction that participants will respond more quickly to "A canary is yellow" is rooted in the cognitive ease associated with assessing "is a" relationships compared to "has a" relationships.

The statement "A canary has feathers" involves a conceptual association between a canary and the property of having feathers, which might introduce semantic ambiguity or cognitive load. On the other hand, "A canary is yellow" refers to a perceptual property directly associated with the concept of a canary, making it easier and faster for participants to verify.

This preference for faster responses to "is a" associations aligns with the cognitive principle that perceptual properties (like color in this case) are often more readily and quickly processed than conceptual attributes (such as possessing feathers). Therefore, the cognitive ease and quicker processing associated with "is a" relationships contribute to the predicted faster response times for the sentence "A canary is yellow" in comparison to "A canary has feathers.(option 2)"

Answer 2

Response times are faster for 'A canary is yellow' compared to 'A canary has feathers' in a sentence verification task due to multiple factors.

Step-by-step explanation:

In a sentence-verification task, response times are predicted to be faster to the sentence 'A canary is yellow' compared to 'A canary has feathers' for several reasons. One reason is that participants' responses to perceptual properties, such as color, tend to be faster than to conceptual properties, such as possession of feathers. Additionally, participants are faster in judging 'is a' associations than 'has a' associations. Lastly, the property of having feathers is associated with the bird node, not the canary node, leading to slower response times.