Tommaso Lamarra
@tomlamarra.bsky.social
PhD student at University of Bologna @abstractionerc.bsky.social
Research: how linguistic system enhances conceptualization in the abstraction process
Phil/CogSci/Linguist
Research: how linguistic system enhances conceptualization in the abstraction process
Phil/CogSci/Linguist
Pinned
Specificity effect in concrete/abstract semantic categorization task - Cognitive Processing
Concrete concepts (banana) are processed faster and more accurately than abstract ones (belief). This phenomenon, supported by empirical studies, is known as the concreteness effect. However, recent r...
doi.org
New Paper Alert 🚨🆕
"Specificity Effect in Concrete/Abstract Semantic Categorization Tasks"
doi.org/10.1007/s103...
We observed faster response times for specific words compared to general words in a semantic decision task, regardless of their level of concreteness.
"Specificity Effect in Concrete/Abstract Semantic Categorization Tasks"
doi.org/10.1007/s103...
We observed faster response times for specific words compared to general words in a semantic decision task, regardless of their level of concreteness.
Our ritual picture during lunch break 😎:
Team @abstractionerc.bsky.social and the invited speaker @kristinadespot.bsky.social discussing metaphors around the table!
@mariannabolog.bsky.social @caterinavillani.bsky.social @lauraocchipinti.bsky.social
@paolavernillo
Team @abstractionerc.bsky.social and the invited speaker @kristinadespot.bsky.social discussing metaphors around the table!
@mariannabolog.bsky.social @caterinavillani.bsky.social @lauraocchipinti.bsky.social
@paolavernillo
December 12, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Our ritual picture during lunch break 😎:
Team @abstractionerc.bsky.social and the invited speaker @kristinadespot.bsky.social discussing metaphors around the table!
@mariannabolog.bsky.social @caterinavillani.bsky.social @lauraocchipinti.bsky.social
@paolavernillo
Team @abstractionerc.bsky.social and the invited speaker @kristinadespot.bsky.social discussing metaphors around the table!
@mariannabolog.bsky.social @caterinavillani.bsky.social @lauraocchipinti.bsky.social
@paolavernillo
Reposted by Tommaso Lamarra
@kristinadespot.bsky.social on the truthfulness of metaphor in conceptual metaphor theory
@abstractionerc.bsky.social
@abstractionerc.bsky.social
December 12, 2025 at 9:47 AM
@kristinadespot.bsky.social on the truthfulness of metaphor in conceptual metaphor theory
@abstractionerc.bsky.social
@abstractionerc.bsky.social
🚨 IconicITA dataset is now available!
We present Italian iconicity ratings from L1 and L2 speakers showing that more iconic words are more specific, and that higher L2 proficiency boosts sensitivity to form–meaning resemblance in L1.
📄 More details in the paper:
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
We present Italian iconicity ratings from L1 and L2 speakers showing that more iconic words are more specific, and that higher L2 proficiency boosts sensitivity to form–meaning resemblance in L1.
📄 More details in the paper:
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
December 10, 2025 at 8:19 PM
🚨 IconicITA dataset is now available!
We present Italian iconicity ratings from L1 and L2 speakers showing that more iconic words are more specific, and that higher L2 proficiency boosts sensitivity to form–meaning resemblance in L1.
📄 More details in the paper:
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
We present Italian iconicity ratings from L1 and L2 speakers showing that more iconic words are more specific, and that higher L2 proficiency boosts sensitivity to form–meaning resemblance in L1.
📄 More details in the paper:
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Reposted by Tommaso Lamarra
Say hi to the IconicITA dataset!
We introduce iconicity ratings for Italian produced by L1 and L2 speakers, and show how iconicity relates to key psycholinguistic variables and chronometric data.
Note: Specificity emerges as a good predictor of iconicity! journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
We introduce iconicity ratings for Italian produced by L1 and L2 speakers, and show how iconicity relates to key psycholinguistic variables and chronometric data.
Note: Specificity emerges as a good predictor of iconicity! journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
IconicITA: Iconicity ratings of the Italian affective lexicon
Iconicity, defined as the potential of linguistic signs to resemble properties or features of their referents, is increasingly recognized as a general property of language. One common approach for qua...
journals.plos.org
December 10, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Say hi to the IconicITA dataset!
We introduce iconicity ratings for Italian produced by L1 and L2 speakers, and show how iconicity relates to key psycholinguistic variables and chronometric data.
Note: Specificity emerges as a good predictor of iconicity! journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
We introduce iconicity ratings for Italian produced by L1 and L2 speakers, and show how iconicity relates to key psycholinguistic variables and chronometric data.
Note: Specificity emerges as a good predictor of iconicity! journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Reposted by Tommaso Lamarra
Per chi fosse interessato a leggere cosa fa il gruppo ABSTRACTION @erc.europa.eu , ecco il flipbook interattivo con gli studi condotti fino ad oggi (in lingua italiana).
heyzine.com/flip-book/61...
Il flipbook accompagna un video introduttivo, che trovate qui:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIqc...
heyzine.com/flip-book/61...
Il flipbook accompagna un video introduttivo, che trovate qui:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIqc...
Alla scoperta dell'astrazione linguistica - final | PDF to Flipbook
Created with the Heyzine flipbook maker
heyzine.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Per chi fosse interessato a leggere cosa fa il gruppo ABSTRACTION @erc.europa.eu , ecco il flipbook interattivo con gli studi condotti fino ad oggi (in lingua italiana).
heyzine.com/flip-book/61...
Il flipbook accompagna un video introduttivo, che trovate qui:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIqc...
heyzine.com/flip-book/61...
Il flipbook accompagna un video introduttivo, che trovate qui:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIqc...
Reposted by Tommaso Lamarra
📣 Abstraction seminars are back!
🗓️ 12 December, 10:30 (CET)
🎙️Prof.ssa Kristina S. Despot
🎓Metaphor literalization strategy: From concrete to abstract and back to concrete again
📍 Bologna
💻 Microsoft Teams (link: shorturl.at/B4H7R)
👉 Save the date & spread the word!
✨@abstractionerc.bsky.social
🗓️ 12 December, 10:30 (CET)
🎙️Prof.ssa Kristina S. Despot
🎓Metaphor literalization strategy: From concrete to abstract and back to concrete again
📍 Bologna
💻 Microsoft Teams (link: shorturl.at/B4H7R)
👉 Save the date & spread the word!
✨@abstractionerc.bsky.social
November 25, 2025 at 1:10 PM
📣 Abstraction seminars are back!
🗓️ 12 December, 10:30 (CET)
🎙️Prof.ssa Kristina S. Despot
🎓Metaphor literalization strategy: From concrete to abstract and back to concrete again
📍 Bologna
💻 Microsoft Teams (link: shorturl.at/B4H7R)
👉 Save the date & spread the word!
✨@abstractionerc.bsky.social
🗓️ 12 December, 10:30 (CET)
🎙️Prof.ssa Kristina S. Despot
🎓Metaphor literalization strategy: From concrete to abstract and back to concrete again
📍 Bologna
💻 Microsoft Teams (link: shorturl.at/B4H7R)
👉 Save the date & spread the word!
✨@abstractionerc.bsky.social
Reposted by Tommaso Lamarra
New theoretical paper: “Beyond concreteness: why word specificity is the missing piece in theories on embodied language comprehension”
shorturl.at/6Rv3Y
Included in the special issue
"Rethinking the Embodiment of Language: Challenges and Future Horizons", led by V. Cuccio, V. Gallese & Y. Shtyrov.
shorturl.at/6Rv3Y
Included in the special issue
"Rethinking the Embodiment of Language: Challenges and Future Horizons", led by V. Cuccio, V. Gallese & Y. Shtyrov.
Frontiers | Beyond concreteness: why word specificity is the missing piece in theories on embodied language comprehension
The concreteness effect has long been associated with embodied theories of language, which propose that concrete words are easier to process than abstract on...
links.email.frontiersin.org
November 25, 2025 at 7:11 PM
New theoretical paper: “Beyond concreteness: why word specificity is the missing piece in theories on embodied language comprehension”
shorturl.at/6Rv3Y
Included in the special issue
"Rethinking the Embodiment of Language: Challenges and Future Horizons", led by V. Cuccio, V. Gallese & Y. Shtyrov.
shorturl.at/6Rv3Y
Included in the special issue
"Rethinking the Embodiment of Language: Challenges and Future Horizons", led by V. Cuccio, V. Gallese & Y. Shtyrov.
Reposted by Tommaso Lamarra
E oggi ho condiviso con il centro interdipartimentale Alma AI e un gruppo di colleghe e colleghi giuristi capitanati da Monica Palmirani i risultati a grandi linee del gruppo @abstractionerc.bsky.social su studi che coinvolgono l'uso di LLMs. Questa settimana è decisamente densa :-)
November 20, 2025 at 7:51 PM
E oggi ho condiviso con il centro interdipartimentale Alma AI e un gruppo di colleghe e colleghi giuristi capitanati da Monica Palmirani i risultati a grandi linee del gruppo @abstractionerc.bsky.social su studi che coinvolgono l'uso di LLMs. Questa settimana è decisamente densa :-)
Reposted by Tommaso Lamarra
Dopo il seminario di Valentina Cuccio con una delegazionedi Abstraction, nel magnifico chiostro del dipartimento di storia, San Giovanni in Monte, Bologna.
November 19, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Dopo il seminario di Valentina Cuccio con una delegazionedi Abstraction, nel magnifico chiostro del dipartimento di storia, San Giovanni in Monte, Bologna.
Reposted by Tommaso Lamarra
Seeing this slide after completing my postdoc at @abstractionerc.bsky.social makes me emotional. Great talk of @mariannabolog.bsky.social at the workshop "Large and Small Language Models: stato dell’arte fra limiti e prospettive" at Unibo. Many works about abstraction and LLM are on the horizon! :)
November 20, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Seeing this slide after completing my postdoc at @abstractionerc.bsky.social makes me emotional. Great talk of @mariannabolog.bsky.social at the workshop "Large and Small Language Models: stato dell’arte fra limiti e prospettive" at Unibo. Many works about abstraction and LLM are on the horizon! :)
Reposted by Tommaso Lamarra
Prof. Valentina Cuccio kicks off her seminar asking whether there are any cross-cutting, neglected dimensions that can explain the concreteness effect. She elaborates on the modality of acquisition of concepts
@abstractionerc.bsky.social
@abstractionerc.bsky.social
November 19, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Prof. Valentina Cuccio kicks off her seminar asking whether there are any cross-cutting, neglected dimensions that can explain the concreteness effect. She elaborates on the modality of acquisition of concepts
@abstractionerc.bsky.social
@abstractionerc.bsky.social
Reposted by Tommaso Lamarra
Filippo Domaneschi, director of the Lab of Language and Cognition presenting at @abstractionerc.bsky.social on the reclamation of slurs, discussing pragmatic and psycholinguistic aspects in relation to abstraction mechanisms
October 16, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Filippo Domaneschi, director of the Lab of Language and Cognition presenting at @abstractionerc.bsky.social on the reclamation of slurs, discussing pragmatic and psycholinguistic aspects in relation to abstraction mechanisms
Reposted by Tommaso Lamarra
Veronica Repetti explaining variation in animacy, alienability and syntactic structure of concrete and abstract possession, this morning for the second @abstractionerc.bsky.social seminar.
All seminars are recorded and posted on site.unibo.it/abstraction/...
All seminars are recorded and posted on site.unibo.it/abstraction/...
October 17, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Veronica Repetti explaining variation in animacy, alienability and syntactic structure of concrete and abstract possession, this morning for the second @abstractionerc.bsky.social seminar.
All seminars are recorded and posted on site.unibo.it/abstraction/...
All seminars are recorded and posted on site.unibo.it/abstraction/...
Reposted by Tommaso Lamarra
Another academic year at @abstractionerc.bsky.social starts with the seminar of prof. Filippo Domaneschi with his talk "Concretely offensive: the processing of reclaimed slurs". Recordings of the talk will be posted here:
site.unibo.it/abstraction/...
site.unibo.it/abstraction/...
October 16, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Another academic year at @abstractionerc.bsky.social starts with the seminar of prof. Filippo Domaneschi with his talk "Concretely offensive: the processing of reclaimed slurs". Recordings of the talk will be posted here:
site.unibo.it/abstraction/...
site.unibo.it/abstraction/...
Reposted by Tommaso Lamarra
Dinner time, to keep the discussion going with our invited speakers Prof Filippo Domaneschi and Dott. Veronica Repetti
October 16, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Dinner time, to keep the discussion going with our invited speakers Prof Filippo Domaneschi and Dott. Veronica Repetti
Reposted by Tommaso Lamarra
📣 November's Abstraction seminar is all set too!
🗓️ 19 November, 11:30 - 12.30 (CEST)
📍 Bologna (in presenza) or 💻 Microsoft Teams (link: shorturl.at/xW7mF )
🎆 Join us, details in the figure!
👉 Save the date & spread the word!
✨
@abstractionerc.bsky.social
🗓️ 19 November, 11:30 - 12.30 (CEST)
📍 Bologna (in presenza) or 💻 Microsoft Teams (link: shorturl.at/xW7mF )
🎆 Join us, details in the figure!
👉 Save the date & spread the word!
✨
@abstractionerc.bsky.social
September 25, 2025 at 12:32 PM
📣 November's Abstraction seminar is all set too!
🗓️ 19 November, 11:30 - 12.30 (CEST)
📍 Bologna (in presenza) or 💻 Microsoft Teams (link: shorturl.at/xW7mF )
🎆 Join us, details in the figure!
👉 Save the date & spread the word!
✨
@abstractionerc.bsky.social
🗓️ 19 November, 11:30 - 12.30 (CEST)
📍 Bologna (in presenza) or 💻 Microsoft Teams (link: shorturl.at/xW7mF )
🎆 Join us, details in the figure!
👉 Save the date & spread the word!
✨
@abstractionerc.bsky.social
A big thank you also to the Scientific Administrators of #XPRAG.it, @valentinabambini.bsky.social and @filippodomaneschi, for this picture at #TrinityCollege, and for the great recent conversations!
Can't wait for the next conference in Genoa in 2026! 🎉 #XPRAG.it2026
Can't wait for the next conference in Genoa in 2026! 🎉 #XPRAG.it2026
September 20, 2025 at 4:44 PM
A big thank you also to the Scientific Administrators of #XPRAG.it, @valentinabambini.bsky.social and @filippodomaneschi, for this picture at #TrinityCollege, and for the great recent conversations!
Can't wait for the next conference in Genoa in 2026! 🎉 #XPRAG.it2026
Can't wait for the next conference in Genoa in 2026! 🎉 #XPRAG.it2026
So glad to have partecipated in the #XPRAG2025 conference during its 20th anniversary! 🎂 (see the cake in the picture 🤣)
This was my second time in this amazing community, and I had some truly insightful discussions! 🗣️
A big thank to the organizers!!
This was my second time in this amazing community, and I had some truly insightful discussions! 🗣️
A big thank to the organizers!!
September 20, 2025 at 4:24 PM
So glad to have partecipated in the #XPRAG2025 conference during its 20th anniversary! 🎂 (see the cake in the picture 🤣)
This was my second time in this amazing community, and I had some truly insightful discussions! 🗣️
A big thank to the organizers!!
This was my second time in this amazing community, and I had some truly insightful discussions! 🗣️
A big thank to the organizers!!
Reposted by Tommaso Lamarra
Excited to share that I contributed to an article just published in #Nature. My role was on the cognitive side, as part of a collaboration evolved from a fantastic #Dagstuhl seminar.
Collective works like these are crucial windows into where our communities are going!
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
Collective works like these are crucial windows into where our communities are going!
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
September 16, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Excited to share that I contributed to an article just published in #Nature. My role was on the cognitive side, as part of a collaboration evolved from a fantastic #Dagstuhl seminar.
Collective works like these are crucial windows into where our communities are going!
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
Collective works like these are crucial windows into where our communities are going!
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
Excited to share that @abstractionerc.bsky.social has even reached #CambridgeUniversity and #TrinityCollege!
Yesterday, at the #XPrag2025 conference, I presented how speakers maximize the informativeness of their descriptions in naturalistic conversations.
Thanks for the insightful discussions!
Yesterday, at the #XPrag2025 conference, I presented how speakers maximize the informativeness of their descriptions in naturalistic conversations.
Thanks for the insightful discussions!
September 18, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Excited to share that @abstractionerc.bsky.social has even reached #CambridgeUniversity and #TrinityCollege!
Yesterday, at the #XPrag2025 conference, I presented how speakers maximize the informativeness of their descriptions in naturalistic conversations.
Thanks for the insightful discussions!
Yesterday, at the #XPrag2025 conference, I presented how speakers maximize the informativeness of their descriptions in naturalistic conversations.
Thanks for the insightful discussions!
Glad to be at #XPrag2025 at the #UniversityOfCambridge!
Day 1 was packed with fascinating talks and exciting discussions!
Day 1 was packed with fascinating talks and exciting discussions!
September 18, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Glad to be at #XPrag2025 at the #UniversityOfCambridge!
Day 1 was packed with fascinating talks and exciting discussions!
Day 1 was packed with fascinating talks and exciting discussions!
Reposted by Tommaso Lamarra
📣The chapter "𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆: 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘀"
w/@mariannabolog.bsky.social is now online & forthcoming in the #ElsevierEncyclopedia of Language & Linguistics
🔍 Theoretical overview, quantification tools, and behavioral evidence on specificity.
👉 Read: urly.it/31c4nm
@abstractionerc.bsky.social
w/@mariannabolog.bsky.social is now online & forthcoming in the #ElsevierEncyclopedia of Language & Linguistics
🔍 Theoretical overview, quantification tools, and behavioral evidence on specificity.
👉 Read: urly.it/31c4nm
@abstractionerc.bsky.social
September 18, 2025 at 8:57 AM
📣The chapter "𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆: 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘀"
w/@mariannabolog.bsky.social is now online & forthcoming in the #ElsevierEncyclopedia of Language & Linguistics
🔍 Theoretical overview, quantification tools, and behavioral evidence on specificity.
👉 Read: urly.it/31c4nm
@abstractionerc.bsky.social
w/@mariannabolog.bsky.social is now online & forthcoming in the #ElsevierEncyclopedia of Language & Linguistics
🔍 Theoretical overview, quantification tools, and behavioral evidence on specificity.
👉 Read: urly.it/31c4nm
@abstractionerc.bsky.social
Reposted by Tommaso Lamarra
📣 Abstraction seminars are back!
🗓️ 17 October, 10:00 (CEST)
📍 Bologna (in presenza) or 💻 Microsoft Teams (link: shorturl.at/RjrOU)
🎆 Join us for another seminar, details in the figure!
👉 Save the date & spread the word!
✨
@abstractionerc.bsky.social
🗓️ 17 October, 10:00 (CEST)
📍 Bologna (in presenza) or 💻 Microsoft Teams (link: shorturl.at/RjrOU)
🎆 Join us for another seminar, details in the figure!
👉 Save the date & spread the word!
✨
@abstractionerc.bsky.social
September 18, 2025 at 10:21 AM
📣 Abstraction seminars are back!
🗓️ 17 October, 10:00 (CEST)
📍 Bologna (in presenza) or 💻 Microsoft Teams (link: shorturl.at/RjrOU)
🎆 Join us for another seminar, details in the figure!
👉 Save the date & spread the word!
✨
@abstractionerc.bsky.social
🗓️ 17 October, 10:00 (CEST)
📍 Bologna (in presenza) or 💻 Microsoft Teams (link: shorturl.at/RjrOU)
🎆 Join us for another seminar, details in the figure!
👉 Save the date & spread the word!
✨
@abstractionerc.bsky.social
Reposted by Tommaso Lamarra
📣 Abstraction seminars are back!
🗓️ 16 October, 15:00 (CEST)
📍 Bologna (in presenza) or 💻 Microsoft Teams (link: shorturl.at/0fw5a)
🎆 Join us for a thought-provoking seminar, details in the figure!
👉 Save the date & spread the word! ✨
@abstractionerc.bsky.social
🗓️ 16 October, 15:00 (CEST)
📍 Bologna (in presenza) or 💻 Microsoft Teams (link: shorturl.at/0fw5a)
🎆 Join us for a thought-provoking seminar, details in the figure!
👉 Save the date & spread the word! ✨
@abstractionerc.bsky.social
September 11, 2025 at 11:44 AM
📣 Abstraction seminars are back!
🗓️ 16 October, 15:00 (CEST)
📍 Bologna (in presenza) or 💻 Microsoft Teams (link: shorturl.at/0fw5a)
🎆 Join us for a thought-provoking seminar, details in the figure!
👉 Save the date & spread the word! ✨
@abstractionerc.bsky.social
🗓️ 16 October, 15:00 (CEST)
📍 Bologna (in presenza) or 💻 Microsoft Teams (link: shorturl.at/0fw5a)
🎆 Join us for a thought-provoking seminar, details in the figure!
👉 Save the date & spread the word! ✨
@abstractionerc.bsky.social
Excited to be at #ESCOP for the first time! 🗣️
Presenting a joint project with @abstractionerc.bsky.social, @mariannabolog.bsky.social and @gabriellavigliocco.bsky.social on naturalistic interactions.
Key finding: Speakers use more specific and informative language as a communicative strategy
Presenting a joint project with @abstractionerc.bsky.social, @mariannabolog.bsky.social and @gabriellavigliocco.bsky.social on naturalistic interactions.
Key finding: Speakers use more specific and informative language as a communicative strategy
September 6, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Excited to be at #ESCOP for the first time! 🗣️
Presenting a joint project with @abstractionerc.bsky.social, @mariannabolog.bsky.social and @gabriellavigliocco.bsky.social on naturalistic interactions.
Key finding: Speakers use more specific and informative language as a communicative strategy
Presenting a joint project with @abstractionerc.bsky.social, @mariannabolog.bsky.social and @gabriellavigliocco.bsky.social on naturalistic interactions.
Key finding: Speakers use more specific and informative language as a communicative strategy