Perceptual and motor attribute ratings for 559 object concepts

Abstract

To understand how and when object knowledge influences the neural underpinnings of language comprehension and linguistic behavior, it is critical to determine the specific kinds of knowledge that people have. To extend the normative data currently available, we report a relatively more comprehensive set of object attribute rating norms for 559 concrete object nouns, each rated on seven attributes corresponding to sensory and motor modalities-color, motion, sound, smell, taste, graspability, and pain-in addition to familiarity (376 raters, M = 23 raters per item). The mean ratings were subjected to principal-components analysis, revealing two primary dimensions plausibly interpreted as relating to survival. We demonstrate the utility of these ratings in accounting for lexical and semantic decision latencies. These ratings should prove useful for the design and interpretation of experimental tests of conceptual and perceptual object processing.

Figure 1. Distributions of attribute ratings

By-items histograms for each attribute are depicted to estimate the continuous variable capturing each attribute rating. The x-axis depicts the full range of the rating scale (1 – 8) and the y-axis depicts the frequency of items falling into each discrete bin. Number of bins varies according to the range of the ratings for each attribute.

Figure 2. Principal component analysis: Varimax-rotated two-component solution

Words denoting the 7 original rating variables are placed at their coordinates on each component, and referenced by arrows originating at the zero-point of both components. The 1^st and 2^nd components accounted for 34% and 26% of the original variance, respectively. Grey data points signify coordinates of all 559 words; “A” denotes an artifact concept and “B” denotes a biological concept. Four individual words are shown in circles referenced by arrows to the word’s identity.