Low-level visual processing of motion events as a window into language-specific effects on perception

Abstract

Abstract This article brings a new perspective to the currently burgeoning interest in the power of language to influence how speakers from different linguistic backgrounds process motion events. While many studies have targeted high-level decision-based processes, such as Manner-based versus Path-based categorisation or motion event similarity judgments from memory, far less is known about the role of various language systems on low-level automatic processing. The goal of this article is to present an experimental method called breaking continuous flash suppression (b-CFS), critically assess its potential to capture language-induced biases when processing motion through a small-scale feasibility study with English native speakers versus Mandarin native speakers, and to provide practical recommendations with examples of how motion event research can respond to the epistemological challenges that this emerging data elicitation method faces.