A DIVISION-OF-LABOR BETWEEN NOUNS AND VERBS IN THE REPRESENTATION OF MOTION

This study examines the association of nouns and verbs with 2 differen t kinds of motion. Extrinsic motion is the motion of 1 object with res pect to another object, whereas intrinsic motion is the motion of an o bject (or its parts) defined with respect to itself. Several experimen ts are reported that compare the association of these types of motion with novel nouns and verbs. Adult participants demonstrated a bias to associate verbs with extrinsic motion to a greater extent than intrins ic motion and a bias to associate nouns with intrinsic motion to a gre ater extent than extrinsic motion. These results suggest a division of labor between nouns and verbs, with verbs specialized to convey relat ional information, whereas nouns are specialized to convey information about individual objects. The distinction between intrinsic and extri nsic motion may be related to the neuroanatomical distinction between the ''what'' and ''where'' systems.