Elements of Sensory-Emotional Experience as an Integral Part of Forming Visual Meanings: the Role of Conceptual Abilities

BACKGROUND: This article analyzes the relationship between sensory-emotional experience in the process of semantic description of vague visual figures, and the level of conceptual (categorical and generative) abilities. OBJECTIVE: The objective of our study was, first, to show the differences in the degree and features of activation of elements of sensory-emotional experience in the process of constructing the meanings of vague visual figures; and, second, to show the relationship of these differences with the level of categorical and generative abilities. DESIGN: We studied 102 older adolescents ages 15–16 years. The research program included the following methods: 1) “Description of vague figures” (E.Yu. Artemyeva’s technique change, 1980; 1999); 2) “Generalization of three words” (Kholodnaya, 2012; Kholodnaya et al., 2019); and 3) “Conceptual synthesis” (Kholodnaya, 2012; Kholodnaya et al., 2019). RESULTS: Our results showed that generative abilities play the leading role in determining the degree of severity and diversity of different modalities in forming visual meanings, as compared with categorical abilities. The transition simulation hypothesis explains the results. However, the embodied character of mental modeling (simulation) is not determined “bottom-up” by the individual’s bodily state or the activity of corresponding brain zones. On the contrary, conceptual (namely, generative) structures determine the form of the conceptual representations from the “top down.” CONCLUSION: Generative abilities represent the highest level of organization of personal conceptual experience, which acquires a multimodal quality, due to the integral nature of conceptual (generative) structures.