Embodied Cognition

Positively influencing people

I am extremely happy to be part of a tribute for Larry Barsalou. Having worked on word meaning, concepts, and related issues for a number of years, Larry’s ideas have strongly influenced me, just like they continue to influence a large number of young and older researchers. Larry’s work on ad hoc concepts, embodied/grounded cognition, […]

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Tonight the Prince of higher cognition will give a ball. Will #time4action be invited?

Once upon a time, in the realm of psychology, a haughty woman summoned her two beloved daughters – perception and attention – and said them: “Tonight the Prince of higher cognition will give a ball. All persons of fashion are invited – including you, my darlings.” Her stepdaughter – action – was listening, too. But […]

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#time4action: Resynthesizing cognition – how we should re-make our psychology text books based on evolution and behaviour?

Very few papers attempt to overturn over 100 years of thinking about how cognitive sciences should be organised, and even fewer succeed.  The article by Paul Cisek in the #time4action special issue of the Psychonomic Society’s journal Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics takes aim at the overarching division of cognitive sciences into the chapters we learn […]

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#time4action: Action in Focus for an Integrative Approach to the Mind

This #time4action special issue of Attention, Perception & Psychophysics is exciting. Joo-Hyun Song and Timothy Welsh have assembled a large and impressive set of articles highlighting the importance of action for understanding cognition. In general, the special issue illustrates how cognition and action (and perception, too) are highly integrated aspects of what we call “the […]

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#time4action in its Ascendancy: It’s Time for the Ball

This #time4action special issue of Attention, Perception & Psychophysics, edited by Joo-Hyun Song and Timothy Welsh, is a tour de force for which they should be applauded. To narrow my comments enough to fit in this space, I will focus mostly on the article by David Rosenbaum and Iman Feghhi, The Time for Action is […]

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#time4action: Using eyegaze to understand object-related action and goal knowledge

I was hurriedly looking through a messy drawer the other day in search of a retractable tape measure for a project I was working on around the house.  A roll of adhesive tape caught my attention.  No, not that.  Then I reached for a ruler.  Nope―that wasn’t quite what I was looking for, either.  I […]

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Bob better had a round face and Kirk a square jaw: People are liked better if their names go with their faces

What does Bob look like? … Bob who? … No, just Bob, any Bob. And while you are at it, what does Kirk look like? At first glance those questions appear absurd. How could anyone infer an unknown person’s looks from their name? Why would the average Bob look any different from the average Kirk? […]

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