The Effects of Animated Visual Stimuli on the Process of Conceptual Blending in Riddle Solving

Abstract

The paper attempts to evaluate the importance of visuo-spatial elements in the process of conceptual blending by investigating the effects of animated visual stimuli on riddle solving. Our respondents (90 first and second year students enrolled in the English Department, Faculty of Philosophy in Niš) had the task of solving “The Riddle of the Buddhist Monk”, a well-known example in the world of conceptual blending. Our results indicate that animated visual stimuli speed up the course of riddle solving, as the respondents who had visual stimuli were roughly 1.85 times quicker when providing the answer. At the same time, the presence of an animation accompanying the riddle, particularly one which involved the meeting point, seemed to facilitate the correct outcome in the process of riddle solving. We can thus conclude that visuo-spatial stimuli do have an impact on how well or how quickly we mentally run the blend present in the tested riddle.

Keywords: conceptualization, conceptual blending, vision, animation, riddle solving