We have proved in both human-based and computer-based tests that natural concepts generally ‘entangle’ when they combine to form complex sentences, violating the rules of classical compositional semantics. In this article, we present the results of an innovative video-based cognitive test on a specific conceptual combination, which significantly violates the Clauser–Horne–Shimony–Holt version of Bell's inequalities (‘CHSH inequality’). We also show that collected data can be faithfully modelled within a quantum-theoretic framework elaborated by ourselves and a ‘strong form of entanglement’ occurs between the component concepts. While the video-based test confirms previous empirical results on entanglement in human cognition, our empirical approach surpasses language barriers and eliminates the need for prior knowledge, enabling universal accessibility. Finally, this transformative methodology allows one to unravel the underlying connections that drive our perception of reality. As a matter of fact, we provide a novel explanation for the appearance of entanglement in both physics and cognitive realms.

Abstract Various empirical tests performed on human participants and also by means of search engines on the Web reveal that, whenever the conceptual combination The Animal Acts is considered as a combination of the individual concepts Animal and Acts, the ‘Clauser–Horne–Shimony–Holt’ version of Bell’s inequalities (‘CHSH inequality’) is violated. We work out in this paper a quantum representation in Hilbert space for a dataset collected on the same combination of concepts using ‘Google Images’ as search engine, which ‘significantly violated’ the CHSH inequality. This result proves the existence of non-classical structures in visual perception and strongly indicates the presence of ‘quantum entanglement’ as an explanation for the meaning connection between the component concepts, also when this meaning connection is expressed through images.