A kinematic approach to the conceptual representations of this and that

Abstract

The Italian demonstrative pronouns questo/a ('this([mas/fem])') and quello/a ('that([mas/fem])') implicitly convey information about objects' distance with respect to the speaker. Our study investigated the referents of questo/a ('this([mas/fem])') and quello/a ('that([mas/fem])') by analysing their influence on reach-to-grasp actions towards objects located near to (12cm) or far from (30cm) the participant. Upon acoustic instruction containing one or the other pronoun, participants had to reach for and grasp a target object. Results showed an effect of pronoun on movement planning. When the object was in the far position, reaction times were faster for the congruent pronoun quello/a, whereas when it was in the near position they were faster for the congruent pronoun questo/a. Interactions between implied and real target distance suggest that the conceptual spaces of questo/a and quello/a do not map onto a strict distinction between peripersonal and extrapersonal space.