When we read a sentence like “The ranger saw the eagle in the sky,” do we also picture the eagle facing upward rather than sideways? According to mental simulation theories of language comprehension, people automatically represent not only the objects mentioned in sentences but also their physical orientation. A team of researchers from 18 countries, including Claus Lamm and Ekaterina Pronizius, tested nearly 4,000 participants in a coordinated effort to see whether people mentally simulate object orientation (for instance, whether an object is facing up or sideways) while reading.

Surprisingly, the study found no consistent evidence for the so-called object orientation effect across languages. Even in English and Chinese, where previous research had suggested such an effect, the results did not hold up. Only German showed a weak indication of the effect, and even then, it appeared in one analysis but not another. Interestingly, participants were generally faster at recognizing objects when they appeared in the same orientation as before, a classic mental rotation effect, but this pattern did not depend on language or sentence meaning.

With its preregistered design, diverse sample, and collaboration between theoretical and methodological experts, the study offers one of the most rigorous tests of mental simulation to date.

Its findings suggest that the ways we visualize language might be less universal and perhaps more context-dependent than previously thought.

Chen, S.-C., Buchanan, E. M., Kekecs, Z., Miller, J. K., Szabelska, A., Aczel, B., Bernabeu, P., Forscher, P., Szuts, A., Vally, Z., Al-Hoorie, A. H., Helmy, M., Santos Alves da Silva, C., Oliveira da Silva, L., Luksevicius de Moraes, Y., Ming Chi Santos Hsu, R., Looman Mafra, A., Valentova, J. V., … Lamm. C., ... Chartier, C. R. (2025). Investigating object orientation effects across 18 languages. Current Psychology. Advance online publication. doi.org/10.1007/s12144-025-08304-x

Full text: doi.org/10.1007/s12144-025-08304-x

(c) Image: pixabay.com/photos/eagle-bird-bird-of-prey-wings-1753002/