Modality exclusivity norms for 336 properties and 411 concepts in Dutch: a replication of English

In this experiment (N = 42), 336 properties and 411 concepts in Dutch were rated on the basis of three conceptual modalities—auditory, haptic (or tactile), and visual. Specifically, participants rated the extent to which they experienced certain words through the senses of hearing, touch and vision. Mean ratings were computed, with high interrater reliability and interitem consistency. For each word, modality exclusivity—i.e., the overall perceptual strength—, and dominant modality—i.e., the highest rating—were also calculated. The stimuli as well as the analyses were in part based on previous norms for English (Lynott & Connell, 2009, 2013). For comparison, the English data was re-analyzed based on the three relevant modalities, resulting in a robust reproduction of all findings. First, dominantly visual words were by far the most numerous. Second, visual and haptic ratings were quite related, whereas the auditory modality came out as the most exclusive. These different levels of exclusiveness invite exploration of different levels of analysis in word comprehension, too. Third, properties and concepts also presented a difference in exclusivity, with concepts showing greater multimodality. Fourth, the data presented sound-symbolism, that is, non-arbitrary relations between meaning and sound. As such, auditory ratings predicted lexical properties of the words better than, or differently from, the other two modalities. Eleven representative figures may be downloaded here. The norms are available upon request, along with the raw data and annotated code. This work is part of Pablo Bernabeu's master's thesis, which is supervised by Max Louwerse (Tilburg U), and Roel Willems (Radboud U).