The Action-Sentence Compatibility Effect in ASL: the role of semantics vs. perception*

Embodied theories of cognition propose that humans use sensorimotor systems in processing language. The Action-Sentence Compatibility Effect (ACE) refers to the finding that motor responses are facilitated after comprehending sentences that imply movement in the same direction. In sign languages there is a potential conflict between sensorimotor systems and linguistic semantics: movement away from the signer is perceived as motion toward the comprehender. We examined whether perceptual processing of sign movement or verb semantics modulate the ACE. Deaf ASL signers performed a semantic judgment task while viewing signed sentences expressing toward or away motion. We found a significant congruency effect relative to the verb's semantics rather than to the perceived motion. This result indicates that (a) the motor system is involved in the comprehension of a visual-manual language, and (b) motor simulations for sign language are modulated by verb semantics rather than by the perceived visual motion of the hands.