Embodiment is hardly "new" in cognitive science, but it is certainly big. It became big back in the mid-1990s. (See Andy Clark, Eleanor Rosch, Evan Thompson, Francisco Varela, Rodney Brooks etc.). A bunch of the connectionist and dynamicist folks like the throw the term around as well. It seems to have more or less replaced the earlier emphasis on mental representation (a phrase that can hardly be used around the Indiana dept. anymore, I hear). It didn't appeal to me, but its explosive growth was one of the things that led me away from studying cognition further.
Best, Chris -- Christopher D. Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Canada 416-736-2100 ex. 66164 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ "Part of respecting another person is taking the time to criticise his or her views." - Melissa Lane, in a /Guardian/ obituary for philosopher Peter Lipton ================================= ============== Beth Benoit wrote: > > Always a little skeptical of the "newest in psychology," I came across > this article on the front page of the Boston Globe's Ideas section on > Sunday: > http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/01/13/dont_just_stand_there_think/ > > It's about "embodied cognition" and claims that "a growing body of new > research suggests" that physical movement is linked to cognition in a > variety of ways. For example, "...a study...found that subjcts (all > non-Chinese speakers) shown a series of Chinese ideographs while > either pushing down or pulling up on a table in front of them will say > they prefer the ideographs they saw when pulling upward over the ones > they saw while pushing downward." An interesting thought, but I can't > help but wonder if it's just the newest fad. (Should I be jumping up > and down while writing that?) > > A search of the literature turned up 92 articles on "embodied > cognition." Many seemed a bit obscure, such as: > An embodied cognitive analysis of social situativity. > <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/viewarticle?data=dGJyMPPp44rp2%2fdV0%2bnjisfk5Ie44ud%2b4%2bLthuWk63nn5Kx95uXxjL6nrUmypbBIrq6eSa6wsk%2b4p684v8OkjPDX7Ivf2fKB7eTnfLunr0%2b3qq5ItKy2PurX7H%2b72%2bw%2b4ti7iPHv5j7y1%2bVVv8SkeeyzsEiuq6tRt6avTaumr0ik3O2K69fyVeTr6oTy2%2faM&hid=15> > > Clark, Kevin Michael; Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: > Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol 66(2-A), 2005. pp. 486. And > At the root of embodied cognition: Cognitive science meets > neurophysiology. > <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/viewarticle?data=dGJyMPPp44rp2%2fdV0%2bnjisfk5Ie44ud%2b4%2bLthuWk63nn5Kx95uXxjL6nrUmypbBIrq6eSa6wsk%2b4p684v8OkjPDX7Ivf2fKB7eTnfLunr0%2b3qq5ItKy2PurX7H%2b72%2bw%2b4ti7iPHv5j7y1%2bVVv8SkeeyzsEiuqqtJt6uvUKumr0qk3O2K69fyVeTr6oTy2%2faM&hid=15> > > Garbarini, Francesca; Adenzato, Mauro; Brain and /*Cognition*/, Vol > 56(1), Oct 2004. pp. 100-106. [Journal Article] > > There were also several that were skeptical of the whole thing. None > of the textbooks I use for Human Development, Child Psychology or > Social Psychology include the concept, but I don't teach a brain or > cognition course, so perhaps they do include this. > > Anybody have any insight into this topic? > > Beth Benoit > Granite State College > Plymouth State University > New Hampshire > --- > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) > --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
