Valentina Cuccio | University of Messina (original) (raw)

Papers by Valentina Cuccio

Frontiers in Psychology, 2021

We investigated the impact of exposure to literary and popular fiction on psychological essential... more We investigated the impact of exposure to literary and popular fiction on psychological essentialism. Exposure to fiction was measured by using the Author Recognition Test, which allows us to separate exposure to authors of literary and popular fiction. Psychological essentialism was assessed by the discreteness subscale of the psychological essentialism scale in Study 1, and by the three subscales of the same scale (such as discreteness, informativeness, and biological basis) in Study 2 that was pre-registered. Results showed that exposure to literary fiction negatively predicts the three subscales. The results emerged controlling for political ideology, a variable that is commonly associated with psychological essentialism, and level of education.

Psychological Research, 2021

In the last decades, the embodied approach to cognition and language gained momentum in the scien... more In the last decades, the embodied approach to cognition and language gained momentum in the scientific debate, leading to evidence in different aspects of language processing. However, while the bodily grounding of concrete concepts seems to be relatively not controversial, abstract aspects, like the negation logical operator, are still today one of the main challenges for this research paradigm. In this framework, the present study has a twofold aim: (1) to assess whether mechanisms for motor inhibition underpin the processing of sentential negation, thus, providing evidence for a bodily grounding of this logic operator, (2) to determine whether the Stop-Signal Task, which has been used to investigate motor inhibition, could represent a good tool to explore this issue. Twenty-three participants were recruited in this experiment. Ten hand-action-related sentences, both in affirmative and negative polarity, were presented on a screen. Participants were instructed to respond as quickly and accurately as possible to the direction of the Go Stimulus (an arrow) and to withhold their response when they heard a sound following the arrow. This paradigm allows estimating the Stop Signal Reaction Time (SSRT), a covert reaction time underlying the inhibitory process. Our results show that the SSRT measured after reading negative sentences are longer than after reading affirmative ones, highlighting the recruitment of inhibitory mechanisms while processing negative sentences. Furthermore, our methodological considerations suggest that the Stop-Signal Task is a good paradigm to assess motor inhibition's role in the processing of sentence negation.

De Gruyter Mouton , 2019

Recent studies of a behavioural kind (e.g., Glenberg and Kaschak 2002), neuroimaging kind (e.g., ... more Recent studies of a behavioural kind (e.g., Glenberg and Kaschak
2002), neuroimaging kind (e.g., Kemmerer et al. 2008) and neurophysiological kind (e.g., Papeo et al. 2009) have shown that the sensorimotor system is involved in language understanding. Listening to the sentence “John grasps the glass” activates hand-related areas of the motor cortex even if we are not carrying out any hand-related action. This mechanism is known as Embodied Simulation (Gallese and Sinigaglia 2011) and has been shown to be a widespread mechanism
in the brain, also characterizing the control of emotion and perception. The recruitment of Embodied Simulation has even been observed during metaphor comprehension (e.g., Boulenger et al. 2012; Desai et al. 2011). This has led Gibbs (e.g., 2015a, 2015b) to conclude that when processing bodily metaphors people recruit bodily knowledge as a function of cross-domain mapping. Yet the role of Embodied Simulation in the construction of figurative meaning is still controversial,
with reports of contrasting empirical findings (e.g., Lai and Curran
2013). We will review this literature in the light of a novel definition of Embodied Simulation (Cuccio 2015a, 2015b, 2018) and its role at various stages of language processing, in interaction with the distinction between deliberate and nondeliberate metaphors (Steen 2008, 2015, 2017). We claim that this approach can explain the apparent incongruity of findings showing that the mechanism of simulation that has not always been found activated during the processing of action
related figurative language. We claim that only deliberate metaphor use recruits the full mechanism of Embodied Simulation and its potential for affecting the resulting mental representation of a metaphor in working memory (Cuccio 2018; Steen 2018).

Physics of life review, 2019

Comment Rethinking the abstract/concrete concepts dichotomy Comment on "Words as social tools: La... more Comment Rethinking the abstract/concrete concepts dichotomy Comment on "Words as social tools: Language, sociality and inner grounding in abstract concepts" by Anna M. Borghi et al.

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 2018

The nature of concepts has always been a hotly debated topic in both philosophy and psychology an... more The nature of concepts has always been a hotly debated topic in both philosophy and psychology and, more recently, also in cognitive neuroscience. Different accounts have been proposed of what concepts are. These accounts reflect deeply different conceptions of how the human mind works. In the last decades, two diametrically opposed theories of human cognition have been discussed and empirically investigated: the Computational Theory of Mind, on the one hand and Embodied Cognition, on the other hand. The former proposes that concepts are abstract and amodal symbols in the language of thought, while the latter argues for the embodied nature of concepts that are conceived of as grounded in actions and perception. The embodiment of both concrete and abstract concepts has been challenged by many. These challenges will be here taken seriously and addressed from a comparative perspective. We will provide a phylogenetic and neurobiologically inspired account of the embodied nature of both abstract and concrete concepts. We will propose that, although differing in certain respect, they both might have a bodily foundation. Commonalities between abstract and concrete concepts will be explained by recurring to the Peircean notions of icon and abductive inference. According to Peirce, icons are the kind of signs on which abductive inferences rest. It will be claimed that the mechanism of Embodied Simulation can be described as an icon, and it will then be suggested that on these, basic natural signs rest, both phylogenetically and ontogenetically, the capacity to conceptualize.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘Varieties of abstract concepts:
development, use and representation in the brain’.

Cortex, 2018

As it is widely known, Parkinson's disease is clinically characterized by motor disorders such as... more As it is widely known, Parkinson's disease is clinically characterized by motor disorders such as the loss of voluntary movement control, including resting tremor, postural instability, and bradykinesia (Bocanegra et al., 2015; Helmich, Hallett, Deuschl, Toni, & Bloem, 2012; Liu et al., 2006; Rosin, Topka, & Dichgans, 1997). In the last years, many empirical studies (e.g., Bocanegra et al., 2015; Spadacenta et al., 2012) have also shown that the processing of action verbs is selectively impaired in patients affected by this neurodegenerative disorder. In the light of these findings, it has been suggested that Parkinson disorder can be interpreted within an embodied cognition framework (e.g., Bocanegra et al., 2015). The central tenet of any embodied approach to language and cognition is that high order cognitive functions are grounded in the sensory-motor system. With regard to this point, Gallese (2008) proposed the neural exploitation hypothesis to account for, at the phylogenetic level, how key aspects of human language are underpinned by brain mechanisms originally evolved for sensory-motor integration. Glenberg and Gallese (2012) also applied the neural exploitation hypothesis to the ontogenetic level. On the basis of these premises, they developed a theory of language acquisition according to which, sensory-motor mechanisms provide a neurofunctional architecture for the acquisition of language, while retaining their original functions as well. The neural exploitation hypothesis is here applied to interpret the profile of patients affected by Parkinson's disease. It issuggested that action semantic impairments directly tap onto motor disorders. Finally, a discussion of what theory of language is needed to account for the interactions between language and movement disorders is presented.

Cortex - Elsevier, 2018

As it is widely known, Parkinson’s disease is clinically characterized by motor disorders such as... more As it is widely known, Parkinson’s disease is clinically characterized by motor disorders such as the loss of voluntary movement control, including resting tremor, postural instability, and bradykinesia (Bocanegra et al., 2015; Helmich, Hallett, Deuschl, Toni, & Bloem, 2012; Liu et al., 2006; Rosin, Topka, & Dichgans, 1997). In the last years, many empirical studies (e.g. Spadacenta et al. 2012; Bocanegra et al. 2015) have also shown that the processing of action verbs is selectively impaired in patients affected by this neurodegenerative disorder. In the light of these findings, it has been suggested that Parkinson disorder can be interpreted within an embodied cognition framework (e.g., Bocanegra et al. 2015). The central tenet of any embodied approach to language and cognition is that high order cognitive functions are grounded in the sensory-motor system. With regard to this point, Gallese (2008) proposed the neural exploitation hypothesis to account for, at the phylogenetic level, how key aspects of human language are underpinned by brain mechanisms originally evolved for sensory-motor integration. Glenberg and Gallese (2011) also applied the neural exploitation hypothesis to the ontogenetic level. On the basis of these premises, they developed a theory of language acquisition according to which, sensory-motor mechanisms provide a neurofunctional architecture for the acquisition of language, while retaining their original functions as well. The neural exploitation hypothesis is here applied to interpret the profile of patients affected by Parkinson’s disease. It is suggested that action semantic impairments directly tap onto motor disorders. Finally, a discussion of what theory of language is needed to account for the interactions between language and movement disorders is presented.

B. Hampe (Ed.), Metaphor: From Embodied Cognition to Discourse, Cambridge University Press

Neurologists, philosophers, psychologists, and also linguists frequently employ the notion of the... more Neurologists, philosophers, psychologists, and also linguists frequently
employ the notion of the ‘body schema.’ Many divergent
definitions of this notion were provided till Shaun Gallagher (1986)
clarified the terminological and conceptual confusion by proposing
a clear distinction between the two concepts of ‘body schema’ and
‘body image.’ I propose that two different roles played by the body
in cognition can be identified on the basis of this distinction,
corresponding to two different levels of embodiment. In this
account, a first level of embodiment is constituted by invisible
metonymies that have aspects of the body schema as their source
domain. Visible metaphors occur at a second level of embodiment
and take their source domains from aspects of the body image. In
the first case, the mapping is directly from sensorimotor abilities to
perception; in the second case, the mapping is from concepts that
are related to our bodily experiences to abstract concepts.

Perspectives in Pragmatics, Philosophy & Psychology, Vol. 18,: Further Advances in Pragmatics and Philosophy - Springer, 2018

In pragmatic theories, the notion of inference plays a central role, together with the communicat... more In pragmatic theories, the notion of inference plays a central role, together with the communicative act in which it is activated. Although some scholars, such as Levinson, Sperber and Wilson, propose detailed and accurate analyses of this notion, we will maintain that these analyses can be better systematized if seen through Peirce’s notion of abduction. We will try to maintain that the variety of inferential processes in play in a linguistic act is mostly of an abductive nature. Moreover, we will maintain that the typological tripartition of abductions discussed by Eco (1981) allows to account for a significant part of the mechanisms involved in the comprehension of an utterance, ranging from quasi-immediate and spontaneous levels of understanding to processes that draw on creative resources. In our proposal the vast majority of our linguistic activities implies the automatic retrieval of a habit of action (automatic abduction). In the other cases we need more onerous processes. We might need to identify, among a range of possibilities, the appropriate rule (habit of action/linguistic routine) to be applied to the contextual situation (abduction by selection) or, depending on the context and on our background knowledge, we might be forced to create ex novo a new linguistic routine (creative abduction).
In our view, this typology of abductive inferences (Eco, 1981; see also Bonfantini and Proni, 1980) provides us with all the necessary tools to account for the different inferential demands entailed by different levels of the process of language comprehension. On the basis of this typology we can, develop a fine-grained model of linguistic inferences and, thus, simplify the terms of some problematic nodes debated within contextualist approaches.
The benefits of this fine-grained model is that it provides a unitary framework in which all the levels of the process of language comprehension are shown to be inferential and have the same logic structure (the structure of abduction). At the same time, it is also able to account for all the different inferential efforts entailed by different linguistic processes. Thus, this model gives us both a unitary account of the structure of linguistic inferences and a fine-grained description of the differences existing between them.

Plos One, Dec 22, 2014

The involvement of the sensorimotor system in language understanding has been widely demonstrated... more The involvement of the sensorimotor system in language understanding has been widely demonstrated. However, the role of context in these studies has only recently started to be addressed. Though words are bearers of a semantic potential, meaning is the product of a pragmatic process. It needs to be situated in a context to be disambiguated. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that embodied simulation occurring during linguistic processing is contextually modulated to the extent that the same sentence, depending on the context of utterance, leads to the activation of different effector-specific brain motor areas. In order to test this hypothesis, we asked subjects to give a motor response with the hand or the foot to the presentation of ambiguous idioms containing action-related words when these are preceded by context sentences. The results directly support our hypothesis only in relation to the comprehension of hand-related action sentences.

Brain and Cognition, Elsevier, 2017

In this fMRI study we evaluated whether the auditory processing of action verbs pronounced by a h... more In this fMRI study we evaluated whether the auditory processing of action verbs pronounced by a human or a robotic voice in the imperative mood differently modulates the activation of the mirror neuron system (MNs). The study produced three results. First, the activation pattern found during listening to action verbs was very similar in both the robot and human conditions. Second, the processing of action verbs compared to abstract verbs determined the activation of the fronto-parietal circuit classically involved during the action goal understanding.
Third, and most importantly, listening to action verbs compared to abstract verbs produced activation of the anterior part of the supramarginal gyrus (aSMG) regardless of the condition (human and robot) and in the absence of any object name. The supramarginal gyrus is a region considered to underpin hand-object interaction and associated to the processing of affordances. These results suggest that listening to action verbs may trigger the recruitment of motor representations characterizing affordances and action execution, coherently with the predictive nature of motor simulation that not only allows us to re-enact motor knowledge to understand others’ actions but also prepares us for the actions we might need to carry out

De Gruyter Mouton, Aug 2017

How embodied cognition still matters to metaphor studies | 1 Part I: Theoretical perspectives Zol... more How embodied cognition still matters to metaphor studies | 1 Part I: Theoretical perspectives Zoltán Kövecses Metaphor and metonymy in folk and expert theories of emotion | 29 Tony Veale Metaphor and Metamorphosis | 43 Amitash Ojha, Bipin Indurkhya and Minho Lee Is language necessary to interpret visual metaphors? | 61 Valentina Cuccio and Sabina Fontana Embodied Simulation and metaphorical gestures | 77 Part II: Communication Kathrin Fahlenbrach Audiovisual metaphors and metonymies of emotions and depression in moving images | 95 Elena Negrea-Busuioc Leading the war at home and winning the race abroad: Metaphors used by President Obama to frame the fight against climate change | 119 Larisa Iljinska, Marina Platonova and Tatjana Smirnova Secret codes of metaphor: Anatomy of architecture | 135 Micaela Rossi Some observations about metaphors in specialised languages | 151

Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 2016

In a paper that recently appeared in this journal, we proposed a model that aims at providing a c... more In a paper that recently appeared in this journal, we proposed a model that aims at providing a comprehensive account of our ability to intelligently use tools, bridging sensorimotor and reasoning-based explanations of this ability. Central to our model is the notion of generalized motor programs for tool use, which we defined as a synthesis between classic motor programs, as described in the scientific literature, and Peircean habits. In his commentary, Osiurak proposes a critique of the notion of generalized motor program, and suggests that the limitations of our model can be solved by integrating it with the view that motor programs are generated by a previous mechanical reasoning, independent from sensorimotor knowledge. Here we reply that while on the one hand our reference to Peircean habits gets over the temptation to consider motor programs as fixed internal entities, it also rejects the view, endorsed by Osiurak, that intelligent practice is a mixture of antecedent abstract reasoning and subsequent motor execution.

Rivista Italiana Di Filosofia Del Linguaggio, Dec 30, 2011

By looking at first-language learning, we can see three broad categories in the acquisition of ne... more By looking at first-language learning, we can see three broad categories in the acquisition of negation (see DIMROTH 2010 for a review):1) rejection/refusal; 2) disappearance/ non-existence/unfulfilled expectation; 3) denial. Denial is the most complex form of negation and the last to be acquired. I present the hypothesis that denial relies on false belief understanding. Evidence from normally developed and from Autistic subjects confirms this hypothesis. Competence in linguistic denial is usually acquired by the age of 2 years and a half and 3 years. According to this hypothesis, the attribution of false belief understanding could be lowered to the age of about 2 and a half years. Hence, psycholinguistic studies on linguistic negation add further evidence that shows that the false belief test is not a reliable proof of a complex mindreading ability.

Biolinguistics, Nov 28, 2012

Simulation of propositional content does not sufficiently explain real-life linguistic activity, ... more Simulation of propositional content does not sufficiently explain real-life linguistic activity, even for action-related language. In addition, how we get from propositional content to implicit and inferential meaning needs to be explained. Indeed, simulative understanding is immediate, automatic and reflex-like while an explicit interpretative act, even if not always needed, is still a part of many linguistic activities. The aim of this paper is to present the hypothesis that speaking is a complex ability realized by means of at least two different mechanisms that are likely developed at different and consecutive steps of cognitive and linguistic development. The first mechanism has a neural explanation grounded in the notion of embodied simulation. The second implies socio-cognitive skills such as Theory of Mind. In order to fully develop the second mechanism, a symbolic communication and interaction with a cultural community are needed. This hypothesis will be tested by looking at the acquisition of linguistic negation.

Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 2015

Tool-use behavior is currently one of the most intriguing and widely debated topics in cognitive ... more Tool-use behavior is currently one of the most intriguing and widely debated topics in cognitive neuroscience. Different accounts of our ability to use tools have been proposed. In the first part of the paper we review the most prominent interpretations and suggest that none of these accounts, considered in itself, is sufficient to explain tool use. In the second part of the paper we disentangle three different types of reasoning on tools, characterized by a different distribution of motor and cognitive ingredients. At the conceptual level, these types of reasoning reflect the distinction between three types of abductive inference as they are described in semiotic studies. At the functional level, we suggest that these types of reasoning on tools may correspond to different mental processes, possibly implemented in different regions of the left inferior parietal lobe. This proposal can account for the different interpretations commonly associated with the role of the left parietal cortex in tool use.

The present study starts from the hypothesis that the use of both metaphors and metony-The presen... more The present study starts from the hypothesis that the use of both metaphors and metony-The present study starts from the hypothesis that the use of both metaphors and metonymies requires complex abilities based on diff erent processes. So far, these processes have been explai-complex abilities based on different processes. So far, these processes have been explained by making reference to frameworks which are considered as mutually exclusive. On the one hand, cognitive linguistics (Lakoff & Johnson 1980), seems to support the sensori-motor bias of metaphors and metonymies. On the other, according to the Relevance Theory (Sperber & Wilson 1995), complex socio-cognitive abilities as those conceptualized by Theory of Mind are required to explain aspects of metaphor and metonymy understanding that is framed as linguistic and cultural rather than as a cognitive phenomenon. Through the analysis of Primary Sign Language developed by deaf individuals without any contacts with the Deaf Community, this research explores two hypothetical levels of analysis of metaphors and metonymy in order to see how cognitive and cultural aspects interplay in the process of semantic extension. In fact, semantic extension appears to be a productive strategy to respond to online communicative needs of human beings.

美中外语, 2011

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Frontiers in Psychology, 2021

Psychological Research, 2021

De Gruyter Mouton , 2019

Physics of life review, 2019

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 2018

Cortex, 2018

Cortex - Elsevier, 2018

B. Hampe (Ed.), Metaphor: From Embodied Cognition to Discourse, Cambridge University Press

Perspectives in Pragmatics, Philosophy & Psychology, Vol. 18,: Further Advances in Pragmatics and Philosophy - Springer, 2018

Plos One, Dec 22, 2014

Brain and Cognition, Elsevier, 2017

De Gruyter Mouton, Aug 2017

Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 2016

Rivista Italiana Di Filosofia Del Linguaggio, Dec 30, 2011

Biolinguistics, Nov 28, 2012

Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 2015

美中外语, 2011

John Benjamins Publishing, 2018

The last decades of the twentieth century have witnessed a fundamental scientific discovery: the ... more The last decades of the twentieth century have witnessed a fundamental scientific discovery: the identification of mirror neurons and, consequently, the development of the Embodied Simulation theory. Neuroscientific data on the mechanism of Embodied Simulation and its role in conceptual and linguistic processing, figurative language included, have stimulated a great deal of research on the embodied nature of conceptual metaphors. However, the very definition of the notions of body and embodiment are today still controversial in the Embodied Cognition debate. This book addresses the issue of the specific contribution of the body to conceptual and linguistic processing and provides a new definition for the mechanism of Embodied Simulation. In this light, and in consideration of a revision of the contemporary theory of metaphor recently introduced by Gerard Steen, who distinguished between deliberate and non-deliberate metaphor processing, the book also proposes a new model of metaphor processing that brings together the mechanism of Embodied Simulation, on the one hand, and the notion of deliberateness on the other. Modulation of attention during linguistic processing is a key component in explaining how they interact.

The main criticism Pfeiffer advances in his commentary is that our proposal is too narrow. Embodi... more The main criticism Pfeiffer advances in his commentary is that our proposal is too narrow. Embodied simulation (ES), in his view equated to motor resonance, is not a sufficiently primary mechanism on which we can base a unified neurobiological theory of the earliest sense of self and others. According to Pfeiffer, motor resonance needs to be complemented by other more basic and primary mechanisms. Hence, as an alternative to our proposal, he suggests that multisensory spatial processing can play this role, primarily contributing to the earliest foundation of the sense of self and others. In our reply we stress on the one hand that identifying ES only with motor resonance is a partial view that may give rise to fallacious arguments, since ES also deals with emotions and sensations. We also show, on the other hand, that ES and multisensory integration should not be seen as alternative solutions to the problem of the neural bases of the bodily self, because multimodal integration carried out by the cortical motor system is an instantiation of ES. We conclude by stressing the role ES might have played in the transition from bodily experience to symbolic expression.