The relationship between visual perception and word meaning structure: an explorative study

Visuospatial ability is often considered a distinct nonverbal cognitive function. However, previous studies have suggested that visuospatial abilities are semiotically mediated, and therefore, they cannot be considered completely nonverbal. These studies have shown empirically and theoretically that, for example, higher visuospatial abilities such as visual discrimination and mental rotation are semiotically mediated. In this explorative study, we examined the relationship between word meaning structure and visual perception. This study relies on the results of two tasks obtained from a larger test battery measuring different aspects of speech and cognition. The first task measured visual perception and the ability to inhibit the distracting stimuli; in the second task, we measured the individuals' dominant conceptual thought. The sample consisted of 58 native Estonian speakers. The results indicated three different behavioural patterns while solving visual-perceptual tasks. Two of the behavioural patterns relied on verbalization during the process of task solving. The participants who used verbalization had less dominant logical conceptual thought. Theoretically, verbalization suggests that participants find a given task cognitively demanding. The fact that the majority of the participants verbalized the process in connection with word meaning structure supports the idea that visuospatial abilities are not totally nonverbal, but rather semiotically mediated.