An Investigation of the Amplification Mechanism of Sortal Classifiers on Mental Simulation Effects

Mental simulation effects, observed through sentence-picture verification tasks, reveal that understanding language can reactivate perceptual experiences. This study investigates whether Chinese sortal classifiers modulate mental simulation during sentence comprehension. Two competing linguistic accounts offer different predictions: the profiling account suggests that classifiers highlight existing noun features, while the coercion account proposes that classifiers assign contextual meanings to nouns. Using a sentence-picture verification paradigm with 250 native Chinese speakers, we conducted two experiments. Study 1 (Amplification Test) found that appropriate classifiers produced significant mental simulation effects, but only when stimuli were limited to artifacts and animals. Study 2 (Coercion Test) yielded null findings across all classifier types, providing no support for the coercion account and weak support for the profiling account. These findings provide preliminary evidence that specific classifiers can enhance mental simulation under certain conditions, but leave unresolved key questions about the underlying mechanisms. We discuss methodological factors that may have constrained the detection of classifier effects and propose research directions for understanding how classifiers modulate mental simulation.