Table 6 Linguistic features of the stories.

	Action text	Non-action text	Statistic	p-value*
Characters^a	944	978	χ² = 0.60	0.44
Words	208	204	χ² = 0.04	0.84
Nouns	48	44	χ² = 0.17	0.68
Adjectives	7	9	χ² = 0.25	0.62
Adverbs	6	8	χ² = 0.29	0.59
Verbs	32	32	χ² = 0	1
Action verbs	1	24	χ² = 21.16	<0.001
Non-action verbs	31	8	χ² = 13.56	<0.001
Content word frequency^b	1.63	1.79	t = 1.53	0.13
Content word familiarity^b	6.15	6.24	t = 0.74	0.46
Content word imageability^c	5.25	4.97	t = 1.39	0.17
Content word syllabic length^c	2.52	2.49	t = 0.25	0.80
Content word graphemic length^c	6.16	6.26	t = 0.36	0.72
Sentences	22	22	χ² = 0	1
Minor sentences	3	3	χ² = 0	1
Simple sentences	8	8	χ² = 0	1
Compound sentences	4	3	χ² = 0.14	0.71
Complex/complex-compound sentences	7	8	χ² = 0.07	0.80
Grammatical correctness^d	4.52	4.29	t = 0.66	0.51
Coherence^d	4.05	3.86	t = 0.62	0.54
Comprehensibility^d	4.24	4.10	t = 1.05	0.30
Readability^e	79.92	77.3	χ² = 0.04	0.83
Reading difficulty^f	Fairly easy	Fairly easy	–	–
Emotional valence^g	33.25	33.29	F = 1.0	0.33
Arousal^g	4.81	4.24	F = 2.7	0.20

^aCharacter count was performed without counting spaces.
^bData extracted from the LEXESP database, through B-Pal⁴⁷ (results based on the mean of all content words in each text).
^cData extracted from B-Pal⁴⁷ (results based on the mean of all content words in each text);
^dData collected from a panel of 10 Spanish-speaking undergraduates, based on Likert scales ranging from 1 (very low) to 5 (very high).
^eBased on the Szigriszt-Pazos Index⁴⁸.
^fBased on the Inflesz scale rating⁴⁹.
^gData collected from a panel of 17 native Spanish speakers, who rated each sentence in the texts in terms of overall emotional content (positive, negative, or neutral) and arousal level for positive and negative emotions (based on seven-point Likert scales).

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