Abstract
This paper is a critical review of recent studies demonstrating the mechanism of sensorimotor simulation in different cognitive domains. Empirical studies that specify conditions under which embodiment occurs in different domains will be discussed and evaluated. Examples of relevant domains are language comprehension (Tucker and Ellis, 1998), autobiographical memory (Dijkstra et al., 2007), gestures (Alibali et al., 2014), facial mimicry (Stel and Vonk, 2010), and problem solving (Wiemers et al., 2014). The focus of the review is on supporting claims regarding sensorimotor simulation as well as on factors that modulate dynamic relationships between sensorimotor components in action and cognitive domains, such as expertise (Boschker et al., 2002). This discussion takes place within the context of currently debated issues, specifically the need to specify the underlying mechanisms of embodied representations (Zwaan, 2014; Körner et al., 2015).
Highlights
More than two decades after the grounding problem in symbol theories was brought up (Harnad, 1990) embodied cognition approaches have gained a stronghold in the study of cognition (Dijkstra and Zwaan, 2014)
Opposing results in different studies have been interpreted as supporting embodied cognition approaches, indicating that the predictions may be too general to be falsified (Willems and Francken, 2012)
A simulation view of autobiographical memory entails that modality-specific states of perception, action, and introspection that were activated when an event was experienced, are activated again when the experience is represented at a later point in time (Niedenthal et al, 2005, 2014; Dijkstra et al, 2007; Dijkstra and Zwaan, 2014)
Summary
This paper is a critical review of recent studies demonstrating the mechanism of sensorimotor simulation in different cognitive domains. The focus of the review is on supporting claims regarding sensorimotor simulation as well as on factors that modulate dynamic relationships between sensorimotor components in action and cognitive domains, such as expertise (Boschker et al, 2002). This discussion takes place within the context of currently debated issues, the need to specify the underlying mechanisms of embodied representations (Zwaan, 2014; Körner et al, 2015)
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