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Embodied cognition: So flexible as to be "disembodied"?
1Università di Torino, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Via Verdi, 10, 10123 Turin, Italy.
Consciousness and Cognition
|January 25, 2021
Summary
The Embodiment Cost Hypothesis suggests that embodying external objects incurs a cost to our own bodies. This review explores evidence for these costs and benefits in embodied cognition research.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Philosophy of Mind
Background:
- The embodied cognition approach posits that cognition is deeply intertwined with the body and its interactions with the environment.
- Existing research often focuses on the benefits of embodiment, such as enhanced perception or action capabilities.
- However, the potential costs associated with these embodiment processes remain less explored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce and explore the Embodiment Cost Hypothesis (ECH).
- To review experimental evidence supporting the ECH across various research domains.
- To discuss the implications of embodiment costs for the broader embodied cognition debate.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature review of studies on action observation, tool use, and bodily illusions.
- Analysis of experimental paradigms demonstrating measurable costs on the subject's own body during external embodiment.
- Synthesis of findings from diverse fields to support the ECH framework.
Main Results:
- Evidence suggests that embodying external objects or body parts incurs a measurable cost to the subject's own body.
- These costs manifest across different embodiment paradigms, including tool use and full-body illusions.
- Embodiment effects involve a trade-off between benefits of external embodiment and costs of internal disembodiment.
Conclusions:
- The Embodiment Cost Hypothesis provides a novel framework for understanding the costs associated with embodied cognition.
- Recognizing these costs is crucial for a comprehensive understanding of how the brain integrates external elements.
- Future research should further investigate the neural and behavioral mechanisms underlying embodiment costs.
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