Theories Of Embodied Cognition Research Articles

Developing Functional Thinking: from Concrete to Abstract Through an Embodied Design

AbstractIn addressing the challenge of fostering functional thinking (FT) in secondary school students, our research centered on the question of how an embodied design can enhance FT’s different aspects, including input–output, covariation, and correspondence views. Drawing from embodied cognition theory and focusing on an action- and perception-based task design that uses light ray contexts and different function representations, we developed a digital-embodied learning environment, using the nomogram as a central representation. Our pilot study involving four eighth-grade students provided insights into their physical interactions with these modules through a multi-touch digital interface. Analysis of video and audio recordings from the pilots, including students’ hand gestures and verbal expressions, was guided by comparing hypothetical learning activities with the actual learning activities. The results show that (1) a concrete light ray context enables students to ground the abstract mathematical function concept; (2) the bimanual coordinating motion tasks, incorporating the covariation aspect of FT, allow students to connect their bodily experience with function properties; and (3) our embodied and dragging tasks support insight in the conversion between nomograms and graphs of functions, encouraging students’ correspondence thinking by providing multiple perspectives to understand, reason about, and manipulate the function. In conclusion, our findings suggest the potential of digital-embodied tasks in fostering FT, evident in students’ diverse strategies and reasoning.

Research on Children’s Game Activity Design Strategies Based on Embodied Cognition Theory

Edutainment, in the kindergarten education stage, emphasizes the game as the basic activity and combines the content of education with the form of the game, thus it also forms the educational method of gamification teaching. Through investigation and analysis, it is found that the current kindergarten game activity design has the problem of improper combination of educational content and game form. The current kindergarten game activity design has problems such as stereotypes, children’s lack of active learning opportunities in activities, teachers’ insufficient theoretical understanding, inappropriate teacher guidance methods, and so on. Embodied cognition theory attaches importance to the important role of the body in the development of cognition, provides new guidance for classroom teaching, and opens up a new path for classroom teaching reform. Based on the perspective of embodied cognition theory, the concept of body and mind integration should be adhered to in kindergarten teaching with games as the basic activity, experiential teaching situation should be created, children’s subjective experience should be respected, and games and interactions should be designed to promote children’s physical and mental participation, thus laying a foundation for the realization of children’s individual freedom, autonomy, and all-round development. Therefore, this paper aims at the existing problems in the current kindergarten gamification teaching and discusses the design strategy of children’s game activities based on embodied cognition theory.

Flexible and fine-grained simulation of speed in language processing.

According to the embodied cognition theory, language comprehension is achieved through mental simulation. This account is supported by a number of studies reporting action simulations during language comprehension. However, which details of sensory-motor experience are included in these simulations is still controversial. Here, three experiments were carried out to examine the simulation of speed in action language comprehension. Experiment 1 adopted a lexical decision task and a semantic similarity judgment task on isolated fast and slow action verbs. It has been shown that fast action verbs were processed significantly faster than slow action verbs when deep semantic processing is required. Experiment 2 and Experiment 3 investigated the contextual influence on the simulation of speed, showing that the processing of verbs, either depicting fast actions or neutral actions, would be slowed down when embedded in the slow action sentences. These experiments together demonstrate that the fine-gained information, speed, is an important part of action representation and can be simulated but may not in an automatic way. Moreover, the speed simulation is flexible and can be modulated by the context.

The Role of the Motor System in L1 and L2 Action Verb Processing for Chinese Learners of English: Evidence from Mu Rhythm Desynchronization.

The nature of semantic representation has long been a key question in linguistic research. The Embodied Cognition theory challenges the traditional view of language representation, stating that semantic information stems from the sensory-motor cortex, which is activated automatically during semantic processing. However, most of the evidence comes from monolingual studies; it remains unclear whether second-language (L2) comprehension involves different semantic representations or mirrors the pattern seen in first-language (L1) processing. Therefore, the present study investigated the role of the sensory-motor system in language processing via making Electroencephalography (EEG) recordings during the processing of L1 and L2 action verbs. The results showed that L1 (Chinese) action verbs generated higher mu-event-related desynchronization (ERD) than L1 abstract verbs in the early processing stage (250 ms after verb presentation), and the same phenomenon was also observed for L2 (English). The results also indicated that language modulated the processing of action verbs, with L1 action verbs eliciting stronger ERD than L2 action verbs. These results demonstrate that the sensory-motor cortex plays a crucial role in comprehending both L1 and L2 action verbs.

No support for a causal role of primary motor cortex in construing meaning from language: An rTMS study

Embodied cognition theories predict a functional involvement of sensorimotor processes in language understanding. In a preregistered experiment, we tested this idea by investigating whether interfering with primary motor cortex (M1) activation can change how people construe meaning from action language. Participants were presented with sentences describing actions (e.g., "turning off the light”) and asked to choose between two interpretations of their meaning, one more concrete (e.g., "flipping a switch") and another more abstract (e.g., "going to sleep"). Prior to this task, participants’ M1 was disrupted using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). The results yielded strong evidence against the idea that M1-rTMS affects meaning construction (BF01 > 30). Additional analyses and control experiments suggest that the absence of effect cannot be accounted for by failure to inhibit M1, lack of construct validity of the task, or lack of power to detect a small effect. In sum, these results do not support a causal role for primary motor cortex in building meaning from action language.

The effect of VR on learners' engagement and motivation in K12 English education

This paper examines how virtual reality (VR) technology can be used in K-12 classrooms, specifically focusing on its potential impact on learners' engagement and motivation, with a particular emphasis on English language learning. The paper begins by providing an introduction to VR technology and its relevance in education, especially in the COVID-19 pandemic context. It reviews existing literature on learners' engagement and motivation, emphasizing the importance of these factors in the learning process. The study explores the initial step of VR technology in English instruction, highlighting the challenges faced in traditional language classes and the opportunities that VR presents. A case study on English VR teaching in middle school is presented, followed by a detailed case design for a cutting-edge VR learning platform tailored for young primary school English learners. The case study for K-12 students and design showcase how VR technology can be utilized to create engaging and immersive learning environments that foster comprehensive language skills development. The paper concludes by acknowledging the potential of VR educational games and embodied cognition theory in enhancing language learning outcomes and encourages further research in this area.

That Which Does Not Kill You on Wednesday Makes You Stronger On Friday: A Bidirectional Relationship between Resilience and Time

Empirical studies on the influential factors of temporal conceptualization have evinced that emotions and personality traits involving the approach-related motivation tend to produce a preference for the ego-moving perspective. Building on this insight, the current research introduced the positive and approach-oriented trait of resilience and investigated its influence on the contextualized interpretation of movement of event in time. Results indicated that resilience correlated positively with the ego-moving perspective, such that participants with higher resilience scores were more likely to adopt the ego-moving perspective when reasoning about a temporal ambiguity than those with lower such scores (Study 1). Furthering the correlation, Study 2 made a causal inquiry and revealed that participants primed with a resilient attitude chose to perceive themselves as approaching an academically stressful event (in line with the ego-moving perspective) more frequently than did those primed with a maladaptive attitude. Finally, Study 3 examined the reverse impact of temporal perspective on resilience and the results showed that participants exposed to the ego-moving perspective-framed academic adversity tended to vicariously approach the scenario with a resilient attitude more than did those subjected to the same scenario phrased from the time-moving perspective. Taken together, the pattern of results supports the embodied cognition theory by evidencing that conceptually disparate domains may be reciprocally influenced via a shared embodied link.

A Review of Research on the Application of Embodied Cognition Theory in Chinese Education

A Review of Research on the Application of Embodied Cognition Theory in Chinese Education

The Place of Storytelling Research in English Language Teaching: The State of the Art

Storytelling techniques serve as dynamic tools for enhancing language skills, encompassing both receptive (listening, reading) and productive (speaking, writing) proficiencies. In contrast to their non-narrative counterparts, these techniques offer a more potent array of teaching methodologies. This study aims to elucidate the current landscape of research concerning the efficacy of storytelling techniques. Initially, the investigation delves into the cognitive processing of narratives. Stories engage language processing centers, invigorate the visual cortex, evoke emotive responses, and facilitate comprehension of intricate information. Subsequently, the study explores linguistic processing theory and embodied cognition theory. Through an exhaustive literature review, this research applies a rigorous evidence synthesis method to assess selected studies, culminating in the amalgamation of findings when comparability permits. The study unveils that storytelling techniques foster reading and listening comprehension, bolster speaking and writing skills, and kindle creativity and imagination. Moreover, enhancements span vocabulary, grammar, and syntax. Nonetheless, while generally efficacious, the uniformity of effectiveness across diverse learners remains a nuanced aspect.

An Educational Virtual Reality Game from an Embodied Cognitive Perspective -Take the Game Poetry as an Example

With the rapid development of virtual reality (VR) technology, it has become a trend to apply VR technology to assist teaching in the field of education. At present, the learning of traditional poetry is often in the form of book learning. The lack of physical and sensory interaction in the learning process leads to a lack of initiative and enthusiasm for learning, resulting in low learning efficiency. Based on this background, this paper develops a poetry learning game based on VR technology, which creates interactive scenarios based on the depiction of poems and allows users to learn poems in an immersive experience. Users can complete their poetry learning objectives by experiencing the games plots and completing game tasks. Based on embodied cognition theory, the game applies the strong sense of presence and immersion of VR technology to enhance the interaction between the users body and the poetry scene, thus improving the users knowledge and understanding of the poetry, deepening their memory of the poetry and enabling them to learn in a more effective and interesting form. The game uses Cinema4D to design and model the poetry scenes and the game engine Unity to realize the interaction with the user. Through the study of the game scenes and user evaluation, the experimental results show that the game achieves the design purpose and has an application value.

The interplay of sensory and non-sensory factors in food tourism experiences

PropósitoLa comida es un elemento clave en las experiencias turísticas. Este estudio investiga la interacción de factores sensoriales y no sensoriales en las experiencias de turismo gastronómico y modela su influencia en la satisfacción y las intenciones de comportamiento.Diseño/metodología/enfoqueEl estudio se centra en las experiencias culinarias de 304 turistas que cenan en restaurantes étnicos y utiliza modelos de descubrimiento de relaciones causales para analizar los datos.ResultadosLos factores sensoriales son importantes en las experiencias culinarias de los turistas con la limpieza, los niveles de ruido y la temperatura ambiente en la parte superior de la cadena causal. Los resultados también indican la interacción entre factores sensoriales y no sensoriales para explicar la satisfacción general, la intención de regresar y la intención de decir cosas positivas.Originalidad/valorUtilizando la teoría de la cognición incorporada, el estudio ofrece nuevos conocimientos sobre el papel de los sentidos en las experiencias de turismo gastronómico en destinos rurales.

Syntax matters in shaping sensorimotor activation driven by nouns.

Existing evidence has shown that adjectives modulate the grasp-compatibility effect elicited by object nouns. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of syntax on the sensorimotor activation elicited by nouns in a grasp-compatibility task. We assessed two languages with different syntactic rules, Italian in Experiment 1 and English in Experiment 2. In both experiments, an adjective-noun pair was shown on the screen. The adjective was always in a pre-nominal position and denoted either a disadvantageous quality of the object graspability (e.g., sharp) or the object colour (e.g., reddish). Participants had to categorize the object nouns as natural or artifact, performing a precision or a power reach-to-grasp movement. On different trials, the grasp response was compatible or incompatible with the grip typically used to manipulate the object indicated by the noun. In Experiment 1 (Italian language) the adjective-noun order violated the syntactic order and no difference emerged between reaction times on compatible and incompatible trials (no grasp compatibility effect). In Experiment 2(English language), the adjective-noun order followed the syntactic rule. Results showed a grasp-compatibility effect when a colour adjective was presented before a natural object noun. When a disadvantageous adjective preceded an artifact or a natural object noun, an inverted grasp-compatibility effect emerged with slower responses on compatible than incompatible trials. Taken together, these findings suggest that adjectives can shape the sensorimotor activation elicited by nouns of graspable objects only when the syntax is correct. Results are discussed with respect to embodied cognition theories.

The Research on the Forms and Advantages of VR in Physics Teaching

In traditional physics experiments, the process and results of experiments are often presented verbally by teachers and in books, which do not allow students to understand the nature of the experiments and the techniques used in the experiments, based on this , this paper investigates how to combine VR technology with physics teaching so that students can deeply understand their knowledge and improve their learning efficiency, and the development with the characteristics of VR , the application forms and teaching characteristics of VR in physics teaching, the advantages of VR and the design principles of VR in physics teaching are explored separately, and conclusions are drawn. The results finds that the application forms of VR in physics teaching are Demonstration Experiments, Measurement Experiments, and Investigation Experiments, and the design principles of VR in physics experiments include The Constructivist Theory, The Embodied Cognition Theory, The “learning by doing” theory, and there are six aspects of advantages in physics teaching. Through this paper, the research hope can make some contributions to those who do this related research in the future.

The Dilemma and Breakthrough of Preschool Teacher Training from the Perspective of Embodied Cognition

Preschool teacher training is an effective way to promote the professional development of Preschool teacher. Embodied cognition emphasizes the important role of body participation in teachers' learning and advocates the harmonious unity of body, mind and situation. Using the embodied cognition theory, Preschool teacher 'training has the realistic dilemma of "de-somatization" of training objectives, "de-practicality" of training content, "de-experientialization" of training methods, and "de-contextualization" of training places.

Exploration on the level and influencing factors of rural teachers ' self-identification of social identity from the perspective of space — Based on the machine learning model of SHAP interpretation method

Embodied cognition theory suggests that cognition is the cognition of the body, including the brain, and the body is embedded in the environment, intuition, body and environment are a unity. Therefore, the subjective experience of teachers’ body in rural society provides the basic content for their teaching, and the more rural teachers identity with rural society, the more likely they are to carry out high-quality teaching of productive pedagogical construct based on rural society. However, the irregular flow of capital labels the social identity formed by being removed from the marginal space of production capacity and production factors with obvious weaknesses. An analysis based on the eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) algorithm combined with the Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) approach balances the requirements of discriminatory accuracy and indicator interpretability in actual situations. The study found that identity was at an intermediate level, except for emotional identity, which was highest among peri-urban rural teachers, followed by remote rural teachers, and lowest among teachers in rural centres, while overall identity, idea identity and action identity were from highest to lowest among peri-urban rural teachers, rural centre teachers and remote rural teachers. There are structural differences in the social identity of teachers by gender, age, education and status. By calculating SHAP values and using the machine learning models RF, DT and GBDT as robustness checks, it was found that overall and action identities were mainly shaped by economic capital and less influenced by social, cultural and symbolic capital; idea identity was jointly determined by cultural, social and economic capital; in contrast, emotional identity was less influenced by economic capital and mainly depended on social capital. The spatial justice layout of economic capital, the correction of cultural capital and the accumulation of social capital are the fundamental ways to enhance the level of self—identification of rural teachers' social identity.

Articulation posture influences pitch during singing imagery

Facial muscle activity contributes to singing and to articulation: in articulation, mouth shape can alter vowel identity; and in singing, facial movement correlates with pitch changes. Here, we examine whether mouth posture causally influences pitch during singing imagery. Based on perception–action theories and embodied cognition theories, we predict that mouth posture influences pitch judgments even when no overt utterances are produced. In two experiments (total N = 160), mouth posture was manipulated to resemble the articulation of either /i/ (as in English meet; retracted lips) or /o/ (as in French rose; protruded lips). Holding this mouth posture, participants were instructed to mentally “sing” given songs (which were all positive in valence) while listening with their inner ear and, afterwards, to assess the pitch of their mental chant. As predicted, compared to the o-posture, the i-posture led to higher pitch in mental singing. Thus, bodily states can shape experiential qualities, such as pitch, during imagery. This extends embodied music cognition and demonstrates a new link between language and music.

Embodied Effect on Memory Performance

The relevant theories of psychology have made great progress since the 1980s, among which the emergence and development of embodied cognition theory have played a crucial role in the transformation of the psychological research paradigm. The theory of embodied cognition emerged from the critical reflection of the original mind-body dualism. Through the continuous exploration and research of the theory by scholars at home and abroad, its outline is becoming clearer, and the relevant theories and evidence are constantly emerging. The core of the embodied cognitive theory, which opposes the traditional cognitive psychology of mind-matter duality, is to integrate mind and body and the environment with them into the cognitive process system and to emphasize the interaction between the three. The related effects in embodied cognition are reflected in the processing of human memory. The research on embodied effects in memory performance plays a vital role in consolidating and developing the construction of embodied cognition theory. More and more studies have shown that the process of memory is embodied, and its encoding and retrieval processes are embodied. It is a process of encoding and simulating events and their associated environments, which bases on the perception of the body. This paper summarized the progress of the research on embodied effects in memory performance, analyzed the related mechanisms of embodied effects in memory performance, and make suggestions for future research paths.

Embodied learning in a virtual mathematics classroom: an example lesson

Embodied cognition theory underscores the importance of the interactions among the mind, body and environment, and instructors can make use of these connections to support learning through body-based learning activities. However, synchronous online learning presents challenges to this type of embodied pedagogy, as learning through physical actions is conspicuously absent. Over the course of a semester, I experimented with methods for engaging students in body-based learning during remote instruction. In this Classroom Note, I present an example of a lesson taught synchronously online, describe the technology used, and describe the opportunities for embodied reasoning during each activity.

Impact of delightful somatosensory augmented reality experience on online consumer stickiness intention

PurposeDrawing on embodied cognition theory, this study examined the impact of midair, gesture-based somatosensory augmented reality (AR) experience on consumer delight and stickiness intention. The mediating effects of three psychological states for body schema (i.e. natural symbol sets, vivid memory and human touch) on the relationships between somatosensory AR and consumer delight/stickiness intention are determined. By filling gaps in the research, we hope to provide guidance on how to drive delightful somatosensory AR marketing.Design/methodology/approachTwo experiments were conducted (Study 1 and Study 2) to test the research model and hypotheses. These experiments compared the effects of the “presence” (midair, gesture-based) and “absence” (mouse-based traditional website) conditions in somatosensory AR on consumer body schema and the creation of a delightful virtual shopping experience (i.e. consumer delight and stickiness intention).FindingsThe consumer delight and stickiness intention created in the presence condition was much higher than those in the absence condition. Consumers appeared to prefer engaging in a midair gesture-based somatosensory AR experience and exploring an augmented metaverse reality to interacting with a mouse-based traditional website. We also found that giving online consumers more somatosensory activities and kinesthetic experiences effectively inspired three psychological states of body schema in online consumers.Originality/valueThe results contribute to the AR experience and somatosensory marketing literature by revealing the role of natural symbol sets, vivid memory and the sense of human touch. This research breaks through the long-developed research paradigm on consumer delight, which has been limited to traditional entities and web contexts. We also extend embodied cognition theory to the study of somatosensory AR marketing.

Effects of integrated action and sensory observation therapy based on mirror neuron and embodied cognition theory on upper limb sensorimotor function in chronic stroke: a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

IntroductionThis study protocol aims to explore the effectiveness and neural mechanism of the integration of action observation therapy (AOT) and sensory observation therapy (SOT) for post-stroke patients on upper limb...