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Related Experiment Videos

Explaining embodied cognition results.

George Lakoff1

  • 1Department of Linguistics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-2650, USA. lakoff@berkeley.edu

Topics in Cognitive Science
|September 11, 2012
PubMed
Summary

Embodied cognition, emerging in 1975, posits that thought and language are physically grounded in neural circuitry and embodied experience, challenging earlier disembodied symbol manipulation theories. This neural theory of thought and language (NTTL) integrates findings across multiple scientific disciplines.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Science
  • Neuroscience
  • Linguistics
  • Psychology

Background:

  • Cognition was predominantly viewed as disembodied symbol manipulation from the 1950s to 1975.
  • Embodied cognition emerged in Cognitive Linguistics in 1975, proposing thought is physically based.
  • This paradigm shift contrasts with earlier theories of abstract symbol manipulation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To present the development of a neural theory of thought and language (NTTL).
  • To explain how embodied cognition challenges and supersedes the disembodied symbol manipulation view.
  • To connect experimental results in embodied cognition with NTTL.

Main Methods:

  • Development of a neural theory of thought and language (NTTL).

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  • Integration of findings from cognitive linguistics, neuroscience, computer science, and experimental psychology.
  • Utilizing the neural theory of conceptual metaphor to explain experimental results.

    • Main Results:

    • Thought is physical, executed by neural circuitry connected to embodied experience.
    • Abstract ideas and language are grounded in embodied experience.
    • Experimental results confirm and are explained by NTTL, particularly through conceptual metaphor.

    Conclusions:

    • Embodied cognition, as explained by NTTL, provides a comprehensive framework for understanding thought and language.
    • The theory integrates findings from diverse scientific fields, offering a unified perspective.
    • The concept of disembodied symbol manipulation is largely outdated in cognitive science.