Investigating object orientation effects across 18 languages

Sau Chin Chen; Erin M. Buchanan; Zoltan Kekecs; Jeremy K. Miller; Anna Szabelska; Balazs Aczel; Pablo Bernabeu; Patrick Forscher; Attila Szuts; Zahir Vally; Ali H. Al-Hoorie; Mai Helmy; Caio Santos Alves da Silva; Luana Oliveira da Silva; Yago Luksevicius de Moraes; Rafael Ming Chi Santos Hsu; Anthonieta Looman Mafra; Jaroslava V. Valentova; Marco Antonio Correa Varella; Barnaby Dixson; Kim Peters; Nik Steffens; Omid Ghasemi; Andrew Roberts; Robert M. Ross; Ian D. Stephen; Marina Milyavskaya; Kelly Wang; Kaitlyn M. Werner; Dawn Liu Holford; Miroslav Sirota; Thomas Rhys Evans; Dermot Lynott; Bethany M. Lane; Danny Riis Sahlholdt; Glenn P. Williams; Chrystalle B.Y. Tan; Alicia Foo; Steve M.J. Janssen; Nwadiogo Chisom Arinze; Izuchukwu Lawrence Gabriel Ndukaihe; David Moreau; Brianna Jurosic; Brynna Leach; Savannah Lewis; Peter R. Mallik; Kathleen Schmidt; William J. Chopik; Leigh Ann Vaughn; Manyu Li; Carmel A. Levitan; Daniel Storage; Carlota Batres; Tyler McGee; Janina Enachescu; Jerome Olsen; Martin Voracek; Claus Lamm; Ekaterina Pronizius; Tilli Ripp; Jan Philipp Röer; Roxane Schnepper; Marietta Papadatou-Pastou; Aviv Mokady; Niv Reggev; Priyanka Chandel; Pratibha Kujur; Babita Pande; Arti Parganiha; Noorshama Parveen; Sraddha Pradhan; Margaret Messiah Singh; Max Korbmacher; Jonas R. Kunst; Christian K. Tamnes; Frederike S. Woelfert; Kristoffer Klevjer; Sarah E. Martiny; Gerit Pfuhl; Sylwia Adamus; Krystian Barzykowski; Katarzyna Filip; Patrícia Arriaga; Vasilije Gvozdenović; Vanja Ković; Fei Gao; Jingxiang Li; Jozef Bavoľár; Monika Hricová; Pavol Kačmár; Matúš Adamkovič; Peter Babinčák; Gabriel Baník; Ivan Ropovik; Danilo Zambrano Ricaurte; Sara Álvarez-Solas; Harry Manley; Panita Suavansri; Chun Chia Kung; Belemir Çoktok; Asil Ali Özdoğru; Çağlar Solak; Sinem Söylemez; Sami Çoksan; İlker Dalgar; Mahmoud Elsherif; Martin Vasilev; Vinka Mlakic; Elisabeth Oberzaucher; Stefan Stieger; Selina Volsa; Erica D. Musser; Janis Zickfeld; Christopher R. Chartier

doi:10.1007/s12144-025-08304-x

Investigating object orientation effects across 18 languages

Sau Chin Chen
, Erin M. Buchanan
, Zoltan Kekecs
, Jeremy K. Miller
, Anna Szabelska
, Balazs Aczel
, Pablo Bernabeu
, Patrick Forscher
, Attila Szuts
, Zahir Vally
, Ali H. Al-Hoorie
, Mai Helmy
, Caio Santos Alves da Silva
, Luana Oliveira da Silva
, Yago Luksevicius de Moraes
, Rafael Ming Chi Santos Hsu
, Anthonieta Looman Mafra
, Jaroslava V. Valentova
, Marco Antonio Correa Varella
, Barnaby Dixson

Kim Peters, Nik Steffens, Omid Ghasemi, Andrew Roberts, Robert M. Ross, Ian D. Stephen, Marina Milyavskaya, Kelly Wang, Kaitlyn M. Werner, Dawn Liu Holford, Miroslav Sirota, Thomas Rhys Evans, Dermot Lynott, Bethany M. Lane, Danny Riis Sahlholdt, Glenn P. Williams, Chrystalle B.Y. Tan, Alicia Foo, Steve M.J. Janssen, Nwadiogo Chisom Arinze, Izuchukwu Lawrence Gabriel Ndukaihe, David Moreau, Brianna Jurosic, Brynna Leach, Savannah Lewis, Peter R. Mallik, Kathleen Schmidt, William J. Chopik, Leigh Ann Vaughn, Manyu Li, Carmel A. Levitan, Daniel Storage, Carlota Batres, Tyler McGee, Janina Enachescu, Jerome Olsen, Martin Voracek, Claus Lamm, Ekaterina Pronizius, Tilli Ripp, Jan Philipp Röer, Roxane Schnepper, Marietta Papadatou-Pastou, Aviv Mokady, Niv Reggev, Priyanka Chandel, Pratibha Kujur, Babita Pande, Arti Parganiha, Noorshama Parveen, Sraddha Pradhan, Margaret Messiah Singh, Max Korbmacher, Jonas R. Kunst, Christian K. Tamnes, Frederike S. Woelfert, Kristoffer Klevjer, Sarah E. Martiny, Gerit Pfuhl, Sylwia Adamus, Krystian Barzykowski, Katarzyna Filip, Patrícia Arriaga, Vasilije Gvozdenović, Vanja Ković, Fei Gao, Jingxiang Li, Jozef Bavoľár, Monika Hricová, Pavol Kačmár, Matúš Adamkovič, Peter Babinčák, Gabriel Baník, Ivan Ropovik, Danilo Zambrano Ricaurte, Sara Álvarez-Solas, Harry Manley, Panita Suavansri, Chun Chia Kung, Belemir Çoktok, Asil Ali Özdoğru, Çağlar Solak, Sinem Söylemez, Sami Çoksan, İlker Dalgar, Mahmoud Elsherif, Martin Vasilev, Vinka Mlakic, Elisabeth Oberzaucher, Stefan Stieger, Selina Volsa, Erica D. Musser, Janis Zickfeld, Christopher R. Chartier

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Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Mental simulation theories of language comprehension propose that people automatically create mental representations of objects mentioned in sentences. Mental representation is often measured with the sentence-picture verification task, wherein participants first read a sentence that implies the object property (i.e., shape and orientation). Participants then respond to an image of an object by indicating whether it was an object from the sentence or not. Previous studies have shown matching advantages for shape, but findings concerning object orientation have not been robust across languages. This registered report investigated the match advantage of object orientation across 18 languages in nearly 4,000 participants. The preregistered analysis revealed no compelling evidence for a match advantage for orientation across languages. Additionally, the match advantage was not predicted by mental rotation scores. In light of these findings, we discuss the implications for current theory and methodology surrounding mental simulation.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	19148-19174
Number of pages	27
Journal	Current Psychology
Volume	44
Issue number	24
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-025-08304-x
State	Published - Dec 2025
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2025.

Keywords

Cross-lingual research
Language comprehension
Mental rotation
Mental simulation

Access to Document

10.1007/s12144-025-08304-x

Cite this

Chen, S. C., Buchanan, E. M., Kekecs, Z., Miller, J. K., Szabelska, A., Aczel, B., Bernabeu, P., Forscher, P., Szuts, A., Vally, Z., Al-Hoorie, A. H., Helmy, M., da Silva, C. S. A., da Silva, L. O., de Moraes, Y. L., Hsu, R. M. C. S., Mafra, A. L., Valentova, J. V., Varella, M. A. C., ... Chartier, C. R. (2025). Investigating object orientation effects across 18 languages. Current Psychology, 44(24), 19148-19174. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-025-08304-x

@article{ed7904b194c14ef1b947b350ecb81dc2,

title = "Investigating object orientation effects across 18 languages",

abstract = "Mental simulation theories of language comprehension propose that people automatically create mental representations of objects mentioned in sentences. Mental representation is often measured with the sentence-picture verification task, wherein participants first read a sentence that implies the object property (i.e., shape and orientation). Participants then respond to an image of an object by indicating whether it was an object from the sentence or not. Previous studies have shown matching advantages for shape, but findings concerning object orientation have not been robust across languages. This registered report investigated the match advantage of object orientation across 18 languages in nearly 4,000 participants. The preregistered analysis revealed no compelling evidence for a match advantage for orientation across languages. Additionally, the match advantage was not predicted by mental rotation scores. In light of these findings, we discuss the implications for current theory and methodology surrounding mental simulation.",

keywords = "Cross-lingual research, Language comprehension, Mental rotation, Mental simulation",

author = "Chen, \{Sau Chin\} and Buchanan, \{Erin M.\} and Zoltan Kekecs and Miller, \{Jeremy K.\} and Anna Szabelska and Balazs Aczel and Pablo Bernabeu and Patrick Forscher and Attila Szuts and Zahir Vally and Al-Hoorie, \{Ali H.\} and Mai Helmy and \{da Silva\}, \{Caio Santos Alves\} and \{da Silva\}, \{Luana Oliveira\} and \{de Moraes\}, \{Yago Luksevicius\} and Hsu, \{Rafael Ming Chi Santos\} and Mafra, \{Anthonieta Looman\} and Valentova, \{Jaroslava V.\} and Varella, \{Marco Antonio Correa\} and Barnaby Dixson and Kim Peters and Nik Steffens and Omid Ghasemi and Andrew Roberts and Ross, \{Robert M.\} and Stephen, \{Ian D.\} and Marina Milyavskaya and Kelly Wang and Werner, \{Kaitlyn M.\} and Holford, \{Dawn Liu\} and Miroslav Sirota and Evans, \{Thomas Rhys\} and Dermot Lynott and Lane, \{Bethany M.\} and Sahlholdt, \{Danny Riis\} and Williams, \{Glenn P.\} and Tan, \{Chrystalle B.Y.\} and Alicia Foo and Janssen, \{Steve M.J.\} and Arinze, \{Nwadiogo Chisom\} and Ndukaihe, \{Izuchukwu Lawrence Gabriel\} and David Moreau and Brianna Jurosic and Brynna Leach and Savannah Lewis and Mallik, \{Peter R.\} and Kathleen Schmidt and Chopik, \{William J.\} and Vaughn, \{Leigh Ann\} and Manyu Li and Levitan, \{Carmel A.\} and Daniel Storage and Carlota Batres and Tyler McGee and Janina Enachescu and Jerome Olsen and Martin Voracek and Claus Lamm and Ekaterina Pronizius and Tilli Ripp and R{\"o}er, \{Jan Philipp\} and Roxane Schnepper and Marietta Papadatou-Pastou and Aviv Mokady and Niv Reggev and Priyanka Chandel and Pratibha Kujur and Babita Pande and Arti Parganiha and Noorshama Parveen and Sraddha Pradhan and Singh, \{Margaret Messiah\} and Max Korbmacher and Kunst, \{Jonas R.\} and Tamnes, \{Christian K.\} and Woelfert, \{Frederike S.\} and Kristoffer Klevjer and Martiny, \{Sarah E.\} and Gerit Pfuhl and Sylwia Adamus and Krystian Barzykowski and Katarzyna Filip and Patr{\'i}cia Arriaga and Vasilije Gvozdenovi{\'c} and Vanja Kovi{\'c} and Fei Gao and Jingxiang Li and Jozef Bavo{\v I}{\'a}r and Monika Hricov{\'a} and Pavol Ka{\v c}m{\'a}r and Mat{\'u}{\v s} Adamkovi{\v c} and Peter Babin{\v c}{\'a}k and Gabriel Ban{\'i}k and Ivan Ropovik and Ricaurte, \{Danilo Zambrano\} and Sara {\'A}lvarez-Solas and Harry Manley and Panita Suavansri and Kung, \{Chun Chia\} and Belemir {\c C}oktok and {\"O}zdoğru, \{Asil Ali\} and {\c C}ağlar Solak and Sinem S{\"o}ylemez and Sami {\c C}oksan and İlker Dalgar and Mahmoud Elsherif and Martin Vasilev and Vinka Mlakic and Elisabeth Oberzaucher and Stefan Stieger and Selina Volsa and Musser, \{Erica D.\} and Janis Zickfeld and Chartier, \{Christopher R.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2025.",

year = "2025",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1007/s12144-025-08304-x",

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Chen, SC, Buchanan, EM, Kekecs, Z, Miller, JK, Szabelska, A, Aczel, B, Bernabeu, P, Forscher, P, Szuts, A, Vally, Z, Al-Hoorie, AH, Helmy, M, da Silva, CSA, da Silva, LO, de Moraes, YL, Hsu, RMCS, Mafra, AL, Valentova, JV, Varella, MAC, Dixson, B, Peters, K, Steffens, N, Ghasemi, O, Roberts, A, Ross, RM, Stephen, ID, Milyavskaya, M, Wang, K, Werner, KM, Holford, DL, Sirota, M, Evans, TR, Lynott, D, Lane, BM, Sahlholdt, DR, Williams, GP, Tan, CBY, Foo, A, Janssen, SMJ, Arinze, NC, Ndukaihe, ILG, Moreau, D, Jurosic, B, Leach, B, Lewis, S, Mallik, PR, Schmidt, K, Chopik, WJ, Vaughn, LA, Li, M, Levitan, CA, Storage, D, Batres, C, McGee, T, Enachescu, J, Olsen, J, Voracek, M, Lamm, C, Pronizius, E, Ripp, T, Röer, JP, Schnepper, R, Papadatou-Pastou, M, Mokady, A, Reggev, N, Chandel, P, Kujur, P, Pande, B, Parganiha, A, Parveen, N, Pradhan, S, Singh, MM, Korbmacher, M, Kunst, JR, Tamnes, CK, Woelfert, FS, Klevjer, K, Martiny, SE, Pfuhl, G, Adamus, S, Barzykowski, K, Filip, K, Arriaga, P, Gvozdenović, V, Ković, V, Gao, F, Li, J, Bavoľár, J, Hricová, M, Kačmár, P, Adamkovič, M, Babinčák, P, Baník, G, Ropovik, I, Ricaurte, DZ, Álvarez-Solas, S, Manley, H, Suavansri, P, Kung, CC, Çoktok, B, Özdoğru, AA, Solak, Ç, Söylemez, S, Çoksan, S, Dalgar, İ, Elsherif, M, Vasilev, M, Mlakic, V, Oberzaucher, E, Stieger, S, Volsa, S, Musser, ED, Zickfeld, J & Chartier, CR 2025, 'Investigating object orientation effects across 18 languages', Current Psychology, vol. 44, no. 24, pp. 19148-19174. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-025-08304-x

TY - JOUR

T1 - Investigating object orientation effects across 18 languages

AU - Chen, Sau Chin

AU - Buchanan, Erin M.

AU - Kekecs, Zoltan

AU - Miller, Jeremy K.

AU - Szabelska, Anna

AU - Aczel, Balazs

AU - Bernabeu, Pablo

AU - Forscher, Patrick

AU - Szuts, Attila

AU - Vally, Zahir

AU - Al-Hoorie, Ali H.

AU - Helmy, Mai

AU - da Silva, Caio Santos Alves

AU - da Silva, Luana Oliveira

AU - de Moraes, Yago Luksevicius

AU - Hsu, Rafael Ming Chi Santos

AU - Mafra, Anthonieta Looman

AU - Valentova, Jaroslava V.

AU - Varella, Marco Antonio Correa

AU - Dixson, Barnaby

AU - Peters, Kim

AU - Steffens, Nik

AU - Ghasemi, Omid

AU - Roberts, Andrew

AU - Ross, Robert M.

AU - Stephen, Ian D.

AU - Milyavskaya, Marina

AU - Wang, Kelly

AU - Werner, Kaitlyn M.

AU - Holford, Dawn Liu

AU - Sirota, Miroslav

AU - Evans, Thomas Rhys

AU - Lynott, Dermot

AU - Lane, Bethany M.

AU - Sahlholdt, Danny Riis

AU - Williams, Glenn P.

AU - Tan, Chrystalle B.Y.

AU - Foo, Alicia

AU - Janssen, Steve M.J.

AU - Arinze, Nwadiogo Chisom

AU - Ndukaihe, Izuchukwu Lawrence Gabriel

AU - Moreau, David

AU - Jurosic, Brianna

AU - Leach, Brynna

AU - Lewis, Savannah

AU - Mallik, Peter R.

AU - Schmidt, Kathleen

AU - Chopik, William J.

AU - Vaughn, Leigh Ann

AU - Li, Manyu

AU - Levitan, Carmel A.

AU - Storage, Daniel

AU - Batres, Carlota

AU - McGee, Tyler

AU - Enachescu, Janina

AU - Olsen, Jerome

AU - Voracek, Martin

AU - Lamm, Claus

AU - Pronizius, Ekaterina

AU - Ripp, Tilli

AU - Röer, Jan Philipp

AU - Schnepper, Roxane

AU - Papadatou-Pastou, Marietta

AU - Mokady, Aviv

AU - Reggev, Niv

AU - Chandel, Priyanka

AU - Kujur, Pratibha

AU - Pande, Babita

AU - Parganiha, Arti

AU - Parveen, Noorshama

AU - Pradhan, Sraddha

AU - Singh, Margaret Messiah

AU - Korbmacher, Max

AU - Kunst, Jonas R.

AU - Tamnes, Christian K.

AU - Woelfert, Frederike S.

AU - Klevjer, Kristoffer

AU - Martiny, Sarah E.

AU - Pfuhl, Gerit

AU - Adamus, Sylwia

AU - Barzykowski, Krystian

AU - Filip, Katarzyna

AU - Arriaga, Patrícia

AU - Gvozdenović, Vasilije

AU - Ković, Vanja

AU - Gao, Fei

AU - Li, Jingxiang

AU - Bavoľár, Jozef

AU - Hricová, Monika

AU - Kačmár, Pavol

AU - Adamkovič, Matúš

AU - Babinčák, Peter

AU - Baník, Gabriel

AU - Ropovik, Ivan

AU - Ricaurte, Danilo Zambrano

AU - Álvarez-Solas, Sara

AU - Manley, Harry

AU - Suavansri, Panita

AU - Kung, Chun Chia

AU - Çoktok, Belemir

AU - Özdoğru, Asil Ali

AU - Solak, Çağlar

AU - Söylemez, Sinem

AU - Çoksan, Sami

AU - Dalgar, İlker

AU - Elsherif, Mahmoud

AU - Vasilev, Martin

AU - Mlakic, Vinka

AU - Oberzaucher, Elisabeth

AU - Stieger, Stefan

AU - Volsa, Selina

AU - Musser, Erica D.

AU - Zickfeld, Janis

AU - Chartier, Christopher R.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2025.

PY - 2025/12

Y1 - 2025/12

N2 - Mental simulation theories of language comprehension propose that people automatically create mental representations of objects mentioned in sentences. Mental representation is often measured with the sentence-picture verification task, wherein participants first read a sentence that implies the object property (i.e., shape and orientation). Participants then respond to an image of an object by indicating whether it was an object from the sentence or not. Previous studies have shown matching advantages for shape, but findings concerning object orientation have not been robust across languages. This registered report investigated the match advantage of object orientation across 18 languages in nearly 4,000 participants. The preregistered analysis revealed no compelling evidence for a match advantage for orientation across languages. Additionally, the match advantage was not predicted by mental rotation scores. In light of these findings, we discuss the implications for current theory and methodology surrounding mental simulation.

AB - Mental simulation theories of language comprehension propose that people automatically create mental representations of objects mentioned in sentences. Mental representation is often measured with the sentence-picture verification task, wherein participants first read a sentence that implies the object property (i.e., shape and orientation). Participants then respond to an image of an object by indicating whether it was an object from the sentence or not. Previous studies have shown matching advantages for shape, but findings concerning object orientation have not been robust across languages. This registered report investigated the match advantage of object orientation across 18 languages in nearly 4,000 participants. The preregistered analysis revealed no compelling evidence for a match advantage for orientation across languages. Additionally, the match advantage was not predicted by mental rotation scores. In light of these findings, we discuss the implications for current theory and methodology surrounding mental simulation.

KW - Cross-lingual research

KW - Language comprehension

KW - Mental rotation

KW - Mental simulation

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105023569250

U2 - 10.1007/s12144-025-08304-x

DO - 10.1007/s12144-025-08304-x

M3 - Artículo

AN - SCOPUS:105023569250

SN - 1046-1310

VL - 44

SP - 19148

EP - 19174

JO - Current Psychology

JF - Current Psychology

IS - 24

ER -

Investigating object orientation effects across 18 languages

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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