Embodied and grounded meaning Kristína Rebrová Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
May 11, 2015
Embodied and grounded meaning
Kristína Rebrová
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Language
phonology,morphologysyntaxsemanticspragmatics...Cognitive Linguistics & Semantics
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
The nature of thought and language
In the 50’s: brain-computer metaphorePhysical symbol system hypothesis (Newell & Simon, 1976)
Physical symbol system is a machine that produces throughtime an evolving collection of physical patterns called symbolstructures.Arbitrary links from symbolic code to sensori-motor referentsIntelligence occurs via reasoning (searching for operators;logical inference)Intelligence = computation - separate from sensors andeffectorsIntelligence in nature (animals might behave intelligently, butnot think so much as humans)
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Amodal Symbols
internal (cognitive) structure does not resemble the perceptualstates from which it originates
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
The mind IS embodied
nature of the (human) mind is largely determined by the formof the (human) bodycognition arises from bodily interactions with the worldcognition shares (neural) mechanisms with perception, actionand introspectioncognition is embedded in its environmentamodal symbols represent knowledge (descriptive knowledge)
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Perceptual Symbol Systems (Barsalou,1999)
Perceptual symbols resemble (are a subset of) perceptualstates from which they originateSimulation
a core form of computation in the brainreenactment of perceptual, motor and introspective statesacquired during experienceas experience occurs, the brain captures the states acrossmodalities and integrates them with a multimodalrepresentation stored in memory
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Effect of changing the reference
Transforming a word or an amodal symbol fails to produce ananalogous transformation in reference, whereas transforming aperceptual simulation does.
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Grounded cognition
grounded = anchored in the physical world (embodied +embedded)
embodied: agent has a body that provides direct sensationsand allows actionsembedded: situated in an environment that provides stimuli
language is grounded in perception and action
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Mental imagery
functional-equivalence hypothesis, supported bymany cognitive psychologists ((Farah, Finke, Kosslyn,Shepard, Rumelhart,...)
visual imagery as functionally equivalent tovisual perceptionshared neural substrates
mental rotations (e.g. Shepard, Metzler, 1971)image scaling (Kosslyn, 1975, 1976)image scanning (Kosslyn, Ball, Reiser, 1978;Pinker, 1980)
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Motor Resonance
partial activation of motor circuits without producing motoractivitytriggered by various modalities: visual, auditory, linguisticmight provide us with a simulation mechanism -understanding, prediction, empathyEEG mu-rhytm
dominant frequencies in the 8–13 and 15–25 Hz bands (alphalike)typical for motor restdesynchronizes/supresses not only when subject produces, butalso observes action
first indirect evidence of mirror neurons in humans(Cohen-Seat et al.,1954; Gastaut and Bert,1954)
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Motor Resonance
the more closely the observed action maps onto the observer’sown motor repertoire, the more accurate will be the observer’sprediction of the course and the result of the actionconclusions (see van der Wel et al., 2011)
motor preparation enhances the performance in perceptualtasksstimulus-response compatibility (facilitation of reaction on thebasis of congruence with the stimulus)ideomotor action: involuntary movement that tends to arisewhen observing another’s performanceinfluence of familiarity: self-actions vs. actios of othersinfluence of proficiency: more skilled individuals - betterjudgement (but only for moving percepts)influence of praxis: Triton effect example
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Mirror Neurons
motor neurons with perceptual properties (visual, auditory)facilitate (mediate) understanding
understanding of the actions “from the inside”(e.g. Rizzolatti and Sinigaglia, 2010)empathy, mind-reading (Gallese et al., 2004)
originally discovered in monkeys, recently confirmed in humans
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Differences of the Human MNS
mirror neurons in monkeysreact only when the action iscomplete and when thetarget is present (or obvious)react only to appropriateeffectors: monkey/humanhandsreact also when the target ishidden, but there must besufficient clues present
mirror neurons in humansreact also to meaninglessand intransitive actionsreact also to various differenteffectors including tools androbotic arms (Oberman and
Ramachandran, 2007; Peeters et al.,
2009)
encode sole bodymovements from which themotor acts and actions arebuilt - a parsing mechanism(Rizzolatti and Sinigaglia, 2010)
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Roles of Mirror Neurons
understanding of actions and imitationinternal (mental) simulation of the observed action(movement)mirror neurons might play a role in understanding of theunknown actions and parsing them to primitives of alreadyknown and similar actions
understanding of goalsexperiment with normal and reverse pliers (Umilta et al., 2008)fMRI study with aplasic individuals (born without arms)revealed activation regardless the effector (Gazzola et al., 2007)
understanding of emotionsGallese et al. (2004) describe the mirror mechanism as a basicfunctional mechanism that provides an insight into other mindsimpairment in insula causes disgust deafness, which extends tothe prosody of speech
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Role of MNS in the Evolution of Language
a “missing link” between animalcommunication and human language(Arbib, 2005)area F5 and Broca’s area are anatomicalhomologues and share functionalproperties crucial for development,production and understanding ofcommunication gestures
the evolution of the manual gestural system, facilitated by the action-execution –
action-observation matching property of neurons in Broca’s area paved the way to the
evolution of the open vocalization system present in humans (speech) (Rizzolatti and
Arbib, 1998)
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Grounding language in action: neural evidence
Pulvermueler et al. (2001): hearing/reading action verbsproduces somatotopic activation in the primary motor cortexEEG study, movement vs. lexical decision taskkick (leg), pick (arm), lick (face)
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Grounding language in action: behavioral evidence
Glenberg and Kashak (2002): comprehending a sentence thatimplies action in one direction interferes with real action in theopposite directionJohn gave you a pizza. You gave a pizza to John.Also with abstract transfer sentences (Glenberg et al., 2008)Mary told you a story. You told a story to Mary.Works also with rotation movement: Zwaan and Taylor (2006)John increased the speakers volume. Mary opened a jar ofpickles.
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Cognitive Semantics
e.g. Lakoff & Johnson(1980), Lakoff (1987), Langacker(1987), Lakoff and Johnson (1999), Talmy (2000), ...semantic structure is conceptual structureconceptual structure is embodiedmeaning representation is encyclopaedicmeaning-construction is conceptualisation
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Language comprehension is embodied
a sentence can evoke an imagined scene and resulting inferences
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Embodied inferences
syntax is not independent of semantics
The scientist walked into the wall.
The hobo drifted into the house.
The smoke drifted into the house.
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Image schemas
Johnson (1987), Lakoff (1987)recurring structures within our cognitive processes whichestablish patterns of understanding and reasoningformed from our bodily interactions, from linguistic experience,and from historical context
Boundary
Contact
Container
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Categorization
Lakoff’s “Woman, Fire and Dangerous Things: Whatcategories reveal about the mind.”Categorization is one of the most basic ability of living beings.Even amoeba categorizes the things into food and nonfood.Animals categorize food predators, possible mates, members oftheir own species, etc.Why do we need categorization?
reducting complex rich sensory inputgeneralization, prediction
How do we form concepts and categories?
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Categories are no closed containers
classic story:defining features (individually necessary and jointly sufficientfeatures)Boolean membership - clear-cut boundaries
prototype theory:family resemblances (Wittgenstein, 1953)Fuzzy sets (Zadeh,1965): a degree of membershipprototypicality: some members are more typical of a categorythan othersRosh(1973): Prototypes of a category are the clearest cases of categorymembership defined operationally by people’s judgment of goodness ofmembership in the category
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Basic level categories
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Conceptual metaphor theory (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980, 1999)
Classical theories viewed metaphors as novel or poetic linguisticexpressions outside the realm of ordinary everyday language.Metaphor has is in many cases central to understanding themeaning of many abstract concepts.Many concepts that are important to us are either abstract ornot well-defined in our experience (emotions, thoughts, time,etc.)We need to mediate access to them through the concepts thatwe understand more clearly (spatial orientation, objects, etc.)
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Affection is Warmth
Subjective Judgment: AffectionSensory-Motor Domain: TemperatureExample: They greeted me warmly.Primary Experience: Feeling warm while being heldaffectionately.
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Important is Big
Subjective Judgment: ImportanceSensory-Motor Domain: SizeExample: Tomorrow is a big day.Primary experience: As a child, important things in yourenvironment are often big, e.g., parents, but also large thingsthat exert a force on you
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Knowing is Seeing
Subjective Judgment: KnowledgeSensory-Motor Domain: VisionExample: I see what you mean.Primary Experience: Getting information through vision
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Time is Motion
Subjective Judgment: The passage of timeSensory-Motor Domain: MotionExample: Time flies.Primary Experience: Experiencing the passage of time as onemoves or observes motion
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Embodiment and Cultural variance
Núñez & Sweetser (2006)speakers of Aymara face the past andhave their backs to the futureNayra = past (eye, sight, or front)
Q”ipa = future (behind, back)Q”ipüru = tomorrow = q”ipa + uru(some day behind one’s back)
every language has a system of markerswhich forces the speaker to pay attentionto some aspects of the information beingconveyed and not others
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
Embodiment effects
Activating elderly stereotype causes people to walk slowly andto perform lexical decision slowly (Dijksterhuis and Bargh2001)Engaging the smiling musculature produces positive affect(Strack et al. 1988)Standing upward and stretching arms helps to gainself-confidence, watch Amy Cuddy’s Ted talk:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4386jSnFEU
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning
The end
Thank you for your attention
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning