Handbook of Embodied Psychology

This edited volume seeks to integrate research and scholarship on the topic of embodiment, with the idea being that thinking and feeling are often grounded in more concrete representations related to perception and action. The book centers on psychological approaches to embodiment and includes chapters speaking to development as well as clinical issues, though a larger number focus on topics related to cognition and neuroscience as well as social and personality psychology. These topical chapters are linked to theory-based chapters centered on interoception, grounded cognition, conceptual metaphor, and the extended mind thesis. Further, a concluding section speaks to critical issues such as replication concerns, alternative interpretations, and future directions. The final result is a carefully conceived product that is a comprehensive and well-integrated volume on the psychology of embodiment. The primary audience for this book is academic psychologists from many different areas of psychology (e.g., social, developmental, cognitive, clinical). The secondary audience consists of disciplines in which ideas related to embodied cognition figure prominently, such as counseling, education, biology, and philosophy. Michael D. Robinson is a Professor at North Dakota State University and has an extensive publication record in the areas of personality, embodiment, cognition, emotion, and self-regulation. He has also edited several books, including two in the Springer catalog. Laura E. Thomas is an Associate Professor at North Dakota State University. Her research incorporates approaches from vision science and embodied cognition to study the ways in which action, action affordances, and social interactions affect perception and key components of cognition such as attention, memory, and problem solving.

Auteur
Michael D. Robinson is a Professor at North Dakota State University and has an extensive publication record in the areas of personality, embodiment, cognition, emotion, and self-regulation. He has also edited several books, including two in the Springer catalog.
Laura E. Thomas is an Associate Professor at North Dakota State University. Her research incorporates approaches from vision science and embodied cognition to study the ways in which action, action affordances, and social interactions affect perception and key components of cognition such as attention, memory, and problem solving.

Contenu

Chapter 1: An Introduction to the Psychology of Embodiment

Authors: Michael D. Robinson (michael.d.robinson@ndsu.edu), North Dakota State University, USA, & Laura E. Thomas (laura.e.thomas@ndsu.edu), North Dakota State University, USA

The editors will define the construct of embodiment and trace its development in Western thought as well as within psychology. They will also explain the organization of the book and provide a brief (1 paragraph) introduction to each chapter. This material will be written after the bulk of the chapters have been accepted, thus best matching the form of the published volume.

Section 1: Theoretical Foundations

Although all definitions of embodiment emphasize the relevance of body-based (e.g., sensory or motoric) processes to some extent, there is actually a diversity of relevant theoretical perspectives (Schwarz & Lee, in press). In the first section of the volume, we sought to gather some of these perspectives into a single place, so that the reader can use the relevant material as a basis for understanding some of the more empirical chapters that follow. The relevant chapters cover several major theoretical perspectives, which include grounded cognition (Barsalou, 2008), interoception (Craig, 2003), and conceptual metaphor (Lakoff & Johnson, 1999).

Chapter 2: Dynamic Grounding of Concepts: Implications for Emotion and Social Cognition

Contact Author: Piotr Winkielman (pwinkielman@ucsd.edu), University of California, San Diego, USA Other Authors (If Known): Seana Coulson, Josh Davis, and Andy Arnold

According to embodied cognition theories, concepts are grounded in neural systems that produce experiential and motor states. Concepts are also contextually situated and thus engage sensorimotor resources in a dynamic, flexible way. Finally, conceptual understanding unfolds in time, reflecting embodied as well as linguistic and social influences. In this chapter, we focus on concepts from the domain of social cognition and emotion while detailing ways in which (and circumstances under which) they link to sensorimotor and interoceptive systems.

Chapter 3: The Feelings-as-Information Perspective on Embodiment

Contact Author: Gerald L. Clore (gc4q@virginia.edu), University of Virginia, USA

We focus on emotions and feeling, the embodied nature of which reflects more than their bodily concomitants. We explore several themes including that: (1) Feelings are difficult to describe in words. But feelings can be characterized (and partially elicited) by choosing words with the right connotations. As seen in literature, song, poetry, and drama, the connotative meanings of words allow hearers and readers to feel as well as to understand. (2) The feelings-as-information approach (Clore, Schiller, & Shaked, 2018), augmented with cognitive priming processes, illuminate the confusing and sometimes controversial findings concerning embodied metaphors. We examine evidence concerning whether such phenomena involve metaphor or merely associative relationships. We also address questions about the conditions under which the effects are reversible. (3) Finally, we step back and view embodied psychology from a resource perspective. We draw on behavioral ecology and the embodied perception work of Proffitt (2006) to ask how the needs for social and physical resources guide human behavior.

Chapter 4: Interoceptive Approaches to Embodiment

Contact Author: André Schulz (andre.schulz@uni.lu), University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg

Other Authors (If Known): Claus Vögele

Interoception is defined as a mechanism to process and perceive internal bodily signals. Influential theories concerning such processes, such as the multi-faceted model by Garfinkel et al., the process model by Vaitl and the predictive coding model, are addressed. This includes a definition of the most common interoceptive terms i.e., interoceptive accuracy, sensibility, sensitivity, awareness, and prediction error. We then present examples for interoceptive tasks and paradigms to assess different elements of interoceptive theories. Typical interoceptive indicators include self-reports, behavioral measures, and neurophysiological indices. Finally, we discuss existing evidence that these interoceptive indicators are related to emotional experience and emotion regulation, consciousness, and decision-making....