Is Tuba Masculine or Feminine? The Timing of Grammatical Gender

Author ORCID Identifier

Sara Incera ORCID iD iconhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9124-9204

Department

Psychology

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-7-2018

Abstract

We used computer mouse tracking to investigate gender ratings of musical instruments in monolingual Spanish and English speakers. Musical instruments are tied to conceptual representations of gender. Consistent with previous research, English speakers rated the instruments male and female following these relatively stable conceptual representations, while Spanish speakers used grammar—in addition to their conceptual representations of gender—to perform their ratings. Interestingly, the responses of the Spanish speakers were influenced first by the grammatical information and 60 ms later by the conceptual representations. Measuring how participants' responses unfold over time provides novel information regarding the timing of grammatical gender.

Journal Title

Mind & Language

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