EMBODIED COGNITION

EMBODIED COGNITION

1. Wilson (2002): 6 DIFF VIEWS OF EC

   • 1. Cognition is situated
   • 2. Cognition is time-pressured
   • 3. We off-load cog work onto environment
   • 4. Environment is part of cog system
   • 5. Cognition is for action
   • They all share in common a REJECTION of traditional computer metaphor

2. COMPUTER METAPHOR

   • Body is separate from the mind
   • Amodal psychology

3. EMBODIED COGNITION

   • study the mind in context of its relationship w/ physical body
   • grounded cognition in body, body grounded in world
   • Cog reps and operations fundamentally grounded in their physical context
   • it is a modal view of cognition

4. ONLINE EMBODIMENT

   • situated cognition: much cog activity operates directly on real-world environment
   • Situated cognition

5. OFFLINE EMBODIMENT

   • just thinking about an object produces embodied states
   • Eg, thinking about a banana
     • Rmb how it tastes, its textures, colours
   • Occurs when using symbols that refer to stimuli not actually present
     • You are SIMULATING the exp of it as if it was present
   • Embodied states

6. Pulvermuller (2005):

   • When people read words related to a leg...
     • Semantic activations in brain related to leg
   • We don't just use computations to make decisions, we also use IMAGES

7. NEW INSIGHTS FROM EC

   • (1) Our embodied exps can shape/challenge cultural conventions, individual preferences
   • (2) Concepts activated by physical exps have consequences on social impressions, social decision-making
   • (3) EC might help social psychologists to understand way we communicate and influence social attitudes

8. BODY SPECIFICITY HYPOTHESIS

   • Do people w/ diff kinds of bodies think differently?
   • Based on sayings in language: R = positive, L = negative
     • Is it because most of population are R-handers?
   • "The good is right" mapping became everyday language association maybe?
     • Became body specific?
   • Study: p/s presented w/ scenario where cartoon character planned tirp to zoo - loves zebras but hates pandas
     • Zebra = GOOD
     • Panda = BAD
     • Horizontal condition: L & R boxes
     • Then draw zebra in good box and panda in bad box
     • Vertical condition (control): top & bottom boxes
     • Results: For R-handers, what was good was on R, for L-handers, what was good was on L
       • No distinction in vertical control condition
       • Hence: ASSOCIATION BETWEEN HORIZONTAL SPACE AND VALENCE IS BODY SPECIFIC
   • Organizational hierarchy: Good means up, bad means down - hence leaders are always at top

9. MOTOR FLUENCY

   • Bottled detergents oriented handle towards right of brand label because 90% of world's population is R-handed
     • Consumers prefer products easy to grasp
   • Thus: products designed and created for R-handers
   • Can occur even when there is NO physical motor behaviour
   • Can facilitate embodied mental simulation of taste

10. HAPTIC SENSATIONS

    • Physical background
      • From infancy we learn to use our hands for 2 primary functions
        • (1) To acquire info
        • (2) To manipulate our environments
    • Social background
      • Tested 3 dimensions of haptic exp: (1) Weight, (2) Texture, (3) Hardness
        • RESULTS
          • Weight affected how serious they thought job candidate was and how seriously they took the candidate
          • Gave more money to responders in ultimatum game when primed by roughness to compensate
          • Each dimension associated w/ cognitions reflected in common metaphors
            • Prior bodily exp priming social judgment
            • For descriptions of ppl we use our ENTIRE RANGE of sensory modalities
              • CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS
                • Body is in the mind
                • Metaphor = interconceptual mechanism
                • Eg LOVE IS A JOURNEY
                  • We're at a crossroads
                  • We'll just have to go our separate ways
                • METAPHORIC FRAMING
                  • Tested conceptual metaphor theory by looking at how metaphoric framing can impact social attitudes
                  • P/s presented with popular science magazine about airborne bacteria
                    • Contamination threat condition: bacteria are threatening
                    • Control: bacteria are not threatening
                    • Then read essay describing US domestic issues as either: (1) body metaphoric framing condition, (2) literal-framing condition
                      • Then asked to report agreement on statements on immigration
                    • RESULTS: thinking of US as a body leads to more negative evaluations of imigration
                      • Those under contamination threat condition expressed more negative attitudes towards immigration than those not
    • Influence acquisition of info thru social impression and manipulating info for decision-making

11. EMPATHY AND EC

    • Empathy comes from mentally re-creating a person's feelings in ourselves
    • Disgust & mirror neurons
      • Mirror neurons are at CORE OF EC
      • Seeing someone look disgusted activates regions in our brain concerning disgust too

12. Situated cognition/Installation theory

    • ENVIRONMENT IS PART OF COG SYSTEM
    • Eg post-it notes to remind ourselves of things to do

13. ENACTION

    • My body understands its world without having to make use of symbolic or objectifying functions
    • External world is not pre-given to subjective exps
    • This is a critique of notion of representation
      • If world is brought forth rather than pre-given, then notion of rep cannot have central role any longer!