Data from two experiments investigating mapping effects between stimulus size and vertical responses

Here we publish the raw-data sets from two experiments investigating mental associations between physical size and vertical locations by investigating mapping (compatibility) effects between stimulus size and response location in a choice-response task with human participants. The background, methods, and results of our experiments have been described in a manuscript entitled "Associations between physical stimulus size and vertical response locations: Small goes down and large goes up", authored by Peter Wühr and Oliver Lindemann. We have submitted this manuscript for publication in April 2025. Until the manuscript has been published, a copy (preprint) of the manuscript can be obtained from the first author upon request to [e-mail]. Here is the abstract from our manuscript: This study investigates the existence and direction of associations between physical stimulus size and vertical response locations. In Experiment 1 participants responded to stimulus size by pressing one of two vertically arranged keys. We orthogonally manipulated the mappings between stimulus size and response-key locations, and between hands and response keys. The results showed a novel compatibility effect between physical stimulus size and vertical response location: Responses to the small stimulus were faster at the lower than at the higher location, whereas responses to the large stimulus were faster at the higher than at the lower location. In Experiment 2 we replicated this compatibility effect in vocal responses, when participants responded to stimulus size by saying location words. In combination with previous findings, the present results suggest that the physical size of visual objects is not only associated with horizontal locations, but also with vertical locations. These associations presumably reflect learned correlations between the size of objects and their extension in both the horizontal and the vertical direction. Moreover, the observation of size-space compatibility effects in vocal responses may indicate that they do not only reflect sensorimotor experiences, but also semantic knowledge, which is expressed in linguistic metaphors.本研究公开了两项实验的原始数据集，两项实验旨在通过在人类参与者的选择反应任务中考察刺激大小与反应位置间的映射（兼容性）效应，探究物理尺寸与垂直空间位置之间的心理联结。 本实验的背景、方法与结果已发表于题为《物理刺激大小与垂直反应位置的联结：小物向下，大物向上》的手稿，作者为Peter Wühr与Oliver Lindemann。该手稿已于2025年4月提交待刊。在手稿正式发表前，可通过联系第一作者获取预印本副本，联系邮箱为[e-mail]。 以下为本手稿的摘要：本研究旨在探究物理刺激大小与垂直反应位置之间联结的存在性与方向。在实验1中，参与者通过按压两个垂直排布按键中的一个，对刺激大小做出反应。我们正交操纵了刺激大小与反应按键位置、以及左右手与反应按键间的映射关系。结果发现了一种全新的物理刺激大小与垂直反应位置间的兼容性效应：对小尺寸刺激的反应在较低位置按键时更快，而对大尺寸刺激的反应在较高位置按键时更快。 在实验2中，当参与者通过说出位置词汇对刺激大小做出反应时，我们在语音反应中重复验证了该兼容性效应。结合既往研究结果，本研究结果表明，视觉物体的物理尺寸不仅与水平空间位置存在联结，同时也与垂直空间位置相关。这类联结大概率反映了物体尺寸与其在水平、垂直方向上的延展范围之间的习得性关联。此外，在语音反应中观测到尺寸-空间兼容性效应，提示该效应不仅可反映感觉运动经验，还可体现为以语言隐喻形式表达的语义知识。