Table 2.
Generic definitions of relevant dimensions, examples of instructions and their scales.
| Dimension | Short definition | Instruction example | Scale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aesthetic appeal | The pleasantness of the image | Participants are asked to consider how visually appealing the image is in regard to its visual characteristics. | 1-visually unpleasant/unappealing to 7-visually pleasant/appealing |
| Age-of-acquisition | The estimated age of learning a given concept/name | Participants are invited to estimate the age they thought they learned each of the concept names in its written or oral form. | age ranges from 0 to 12 years old (with different intervals) |
| Arousal | The activation capacity of the object | Participants have to indicate to which extent an object represents something active/intense or passive/calm. | 1-very passive/calm to 7-very active/intense |
| Category agreement | The most appropriate category | Participants have to indicate the object category (e.g., to identify a “car” as part of the category “vehicles”). If they are unable to identify a category, they have to indicate that they don't know or they know but do not remember the name at the moment. | % or H-value (written/typed/oral form; in some cases, can be done as forced choice). |
| Familiarity | The frequency of the object in the participant's personal life, that reflects the likelihood of encountering the item in everyday life | Participants are asked to consider how often they encounter the item represented in the picture in their daily-life, indicating how familiar the stimulus is. | 1-unfamiliar to 7-very familiar |
| Image Agreement | The imageability of the concept and its agreement with the picture | Participants are invited to elaborate a mental image based on a concept and, subsequently, rate if the picture presented match the previous formed mental image. | 1-low agreement to 7-high agreement |
| Manipulability | The level of interaction required by the object | Participants are invited to rate each item/object based on the degree to which the object requires the use of a human hand to perform its function. | 1-never necessary to 7-totally indispensable |
| Name agreement | The most common name/modal name | Participants are invited to provide in one or more words what they think is the best name for the item/object represented in the picture as fast and accurately as possible. When they are not able to provide a name, they have to indicate if they don't know or if they recognize the object but are not able at the moment to remember its name. | % or H-value (written/typed/oral form) |
| Picture-name agreement | The congruence between the image and the name | Participants are asked to evaluate the goodness of an image in representing the name presented. | 1-very poor representation of the name to 7-excellent representation of the name |
| Typicality | The representativeness of the item in its own category | Participants have to evaluate if the object represented in the picture is a good example of the category presented, regardless of the occurrence of the object in their everyday life or their personal preferences. | 1-very bad example of its category to 7-excellent example of its category |
| Valence | The pleasantness or emotional weight of the object | Participants are requested to evaluate if the item/object refers to something positive/pleasant or negative/unpleasant. | 1-very negative/unpleasant to 7-very positive/pleasant |
| Visual complexity | The amount of visual details of an image | Participants have to evaluate to which degree the picture is easy to reproduce, in regard to the amount of visual details (e.g., lines, colors) considering the picture itself and not the actual object/concept represented. | 1-very simple to 7-very complex |