空間介詞above和over的認知研究的中期報告【摘要】空間介詞above和over在語言學和認知領域備受關注，因其在語言表達和視覺感知中占據重要地位。本研究旨在探討英語母語者對這兩個介詞的認知和使用方式，以及其認知心理學的解釋。通過實驗測試和在線調查的數據分析，我們發現，母語者在使用這兩個介詞時存在顯著差異，其中above更常用于描述靜態物體的位置關系，而over常用于描述動態運動物體的懸浮關系。此外，我們還發現，母語者在使用這兩個介詞時也受到環境刺激和語境因素的影響。我們認為，上述結果可以從認知神經科學和聯接主義模型的角度加以解釋，為未來進一步深入探討以上介詞的認知方式和語言表達提供理論基礎。【關鍵詞】above；over；介詞；認知；語言表達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