I 5683 You: Dialing Phone Numbers on Cell Phones Activates Key-Concordant Concepts

• Published in: Psychological science Vol. 22; no. 3; pp. 355 - 360
• Main Author: Topolinski, Sascha
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.03.2011; Sage Publications; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Activity levels. Psychomotricity; Association Learning; Biological and medical sciences; Cell Phone; Cell phones; Cellular telephones; Cognition; Cognitive psychology; Companies; Computer keyboards; Concept Formation; Embodiment; Emotions; Experimentation; Experiments; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Keyboarding; Male; Meaning; Memory; Mental Recall; Mobile phones; Morticians; Motor ability; Perceptual motor coordination; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychomotor activities; Psychomotor Performance; Reading; Semantics; Sensory perception; Sequences; Serial Learning; Simulation; Social dating; Social psychology; Studies; Telephone; Text messages; Verbal Learning; Visual task performance; Words; Writing; motor processes; embodiment; perceptual motor coordination; semantic memory; word recognition; implicit memory; Human; Implicit memory; Mobile phone; Semantic memory; Word; Cognition; Embodiment; Motor control; Sensorimotor coordination; Language; Number; Motricity; Recognition
• ISSN: 0956-7976; 1467-9280; 1467-9280
• DOI: 10.1177/0956797610397668

When people perform actions, effects associated with the actions are activated mentally, even if those effects are not apparent. This study tested whether sequences of simulations of virtual action effects can be integrated into a meaning of their own. Cell phones were used to test this hypothesis because pressing a key on a phone is habitually associated with both digits (dialing numbers) and letters (typing text messages). In Experiment 1, dialing digit sequences induced the meaning of words that share the same key sequence (e.g., 5683, LOVE). This occurred even though the letters were not labeled on the keypad, and participants were not aware of the digit-letter correspondences. In Experiment 2, subjects preferred dialing numbers implying positive words (e.g., 37326, DREAM) over dialing numbers implying negative words (e.g., 75463, SLIME). In Experiment 3, subjects preferred companies with phone numbers implying a company-related word (e.g., LOVE for a dating agency, CORPSE for a mortician) compared with companies with phone numbers implying a company-unrelated word.