some slides to a talk from a sci-fi convention PragoFFest in Prague in January 2014, topic: embodied thought and language, cognitive linguistics, ...

1. Embodied and grounded meaning
Kristína Rebrová
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning

2. Language
phonology,
morphology
syntax
semantics
pragmatics
...
Cognitive Linguistics & Semantics
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning

3. The nature of thought and language
In the 50’s: brain-computer metaphore
Physical symbol system hypothesis (Newell & Simon, 1976)
Physical symbol system is a machine that produces through
time an evolving collection of physical patterns called symbol
structures.
Arbitrary links from symbolic code to sensori-motor referents
Intelligence occurs via reasoning (searching for operators;
logical inference)
Intelligence = computation - separate from sensors and
effectors
Intelligence in nature (animals might behave intelligently, but
not think so much as humans)
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4. Amodal Symbols
internal (cognitive) structure does not resemble the perceptual
states from which it originates
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning

5. The mind IS embodied
nature of the (human) mind is largely determined by the form
of the (human) body
cognition arises from bodily interactions with the world
cognition shares (neural) mechanisms with perception, action
and introspection
cognition is embedded in its environment
amodal symbols represent knowledge (descriptive knowledge)
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning

6. Perceptual Symbol Systems (Barsalou,1999)
Perceptual symbols resemble (are a subset of) perceptual
states from which they originate
Simulation
a core form of computation in the brain
reenactment of perceptual, motor and introspective states
acquired during experience
as experience occurs, the brain captures the states across
modalities and integrates them with a multimodal
representation stored in memory
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7. Effect of changing the reference
Transforming a word or an amodal symbol fails to produce an
analogous transformation in reference, whereas transforming a
perceptual simulation does.
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning

8. Grounded cognition
grounded = anchored in the physical world (embodied +
embedded)
embodied: agent has a body that provides direct sensations
and allows actions
embedded: situated in an environment that provides stimuli
language is grounded in perception and action
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning

9. Mental imagery
functional-equivalence hypothesis, supported by
many cognitive psychologists ((Farah, Finke, Kosslyn,
Shepard, Rumelhart,...)
visual imagery as functionally equivalent to
visual perception
shared 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

10. Motor Resonance
partial activation of motor circuits without producing motor
activity
triggered by various modalities: visual, auditory, linguistic
might provide us with a simulation mechanism -
understanding, prediction, empathy
EEG mu-rhytm
dominant frequencies in the 8–13 and 15–25 Hz bands (alpha
like)
typical for motor rest
desynchronizes/supresses not only when subject produces, but
also 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

11. Motor Resonance
the more closely the observed action maps onto the observer’s
own motor repertoire, the more accurate will be the observer’s
prediction of the course and the result of the action
conclusions (see van der Wel et al., 2011)
motor preparation enhances the performance in perceptual
tasks
stimulus-response compatibility (facilitation of reaction on the
basis of congruence with the stimulus)
ideomotor action: involuntary movement that tends to arise
when observing another’s performance
influence of familiarity: self-actions vs. actios of others
influence of proficiency: more skilled individuals - better
judgement (but only for moving percepts)
influence of praxis: Triton effect example
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12. 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

13. Differences of the Human MNS
mirror neurons in monkeys
react only when the action is
complete and when the
target is present (or obvious)
react only to appropriate
effectors: monkey/human
hands
react also when the target is
hidden, but there must be
sufficient clues present
mirror neurons in humans
react also to meaningless
and intransitive actions
react also to various different
effectors including tools and
robotic arms (Oberman and
Ramachandran, 2007; Peeters et al.,
2009)
encode sole body
movements from which the
motor acts and actions are
built - a parsing mechanism
(Rizzolatti and Sinigaglia, 2010)
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14. Roles of Mirror Neurons
understanding of actions and imitation
internal (mental) simulation of the observed action
(movement)
mirror neurons might play a role in understanding of the
unknown actions and parsing them to primitives of already
known and similar actions
understanding of goals
experiment 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 emotions
Gallese et al. (2004) describe the mirror mechanism as a basic
functional mechanism that provides an insight into other minds
impairment in insula causes disgust deafness, which extends to
the prosody of speech
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15. Role of MNS in the Evolution of Language
a “missing link” between animal
communication and human language
(Arbib, 2005)
area F5 and Broca’s area are anatomical
homologues and share functional
properties crucial for development,
production and understanding of
communication 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)
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16. Grounding language in action: neural evidence
Pulvermueler et al. (2001): hearing/reading action verbs
produces somatotopic activation in the primary motor cortex
EEG study, movement vs. lexical decision task
kick (leg), pick (arm), lick (face)
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17. Grounding language in action: behavioral evidence
Glenberg and Kashak (2002): comprehending a sentence that
implies action in one direction interferes with real action in the
opposite direction
John 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 of
pickles.
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18. Cognitive Semantics
e.g. Lakoff & Johnson(1980), Lakoff (1987), Langacker
(1987), Lakoff and Johnson (1999), Talmy (2000), ...
semantic structure is conceptual structure
conceptual structure is embodied
meaning representation is encyclopaedic
meaning-construction is conceptualisation
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19. Language comprehension is embodied
a sentence can evoke an imagined scene and resulting inferences
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20. 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.
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21. Image schemas
Johnson (1987), Lakoff (1987)
recurring structures within our cognitive processes which
establish patterns of understanding and reasoning
formed from our bodily interactions, from linguistic experience,
and from historical context
Boundary
Contact
Container
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22. Categorization
Lakoff’s “Woman, Fire and Dangerous Things: What
categories 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 of
their own species, etc.
Why do we need categorization?
reducting complex rich sensory input
generalization, prediction
How do we form concepts and categories?
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23. Categories are no closed containers
classic story:
defining features (individually necessary and jointly sufficient
features)
Boolean membership - clear-cut boundaries
prototype theory:
family resemblances (Wittgenstein, 1953)
Fuzzy sets (Zadeh,1965): a degree of membership
prototypicality: some members are more typical of a category
than others
Rosh(1973): Prototypes of a category are the clearest cases of category
membership defined operationally by people’s judgment of goodness of
membership in the category
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24. Basic level categories
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning

25. Conceptual metaphor theory (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980, 1999)
Classical theories viewed metaphors as novel or poetic linguistic
expressions outside the realm of ordinary everyday language.
Metaphor has is in many cases central to understanding the
meaning of many abstract concepts.
Many concepts that are important to us are either abstract or
not well-defined in our experience (emotions, thoughts, time,
etc.)
We need to mediate access to them through the concepts that
we understand more clearly (spatial orientation, objects, etc.)
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26. Affection is Warmth
Subjective Judgment: Affection
Sensory-Motor Domain: Temperature
Example: They greeted me warmly.
Primary Experience: Feeling warm while being held
affectionately.
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27. Important is Big
Subjective Judgment: Importance
Sensory-Motor Domain: Size
Example: Tomorrow is a big day.
Primary experience: As a child, important things in your
environment are often big, e.g., parents, but also large things
that exert a force on you
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning

28. Knowing is Seeing
Subjective Judgment: Knowledge
Sensory-Motor Domain: Vision
Example: I see what you mean.
Primary Experience: Getting information through vision
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning

29. Time is Motion
Subjective Judgment: The passage of time
Sensory-Motor Domain: Motion
Example: Time flies.
Primary Experience: Experiencing the passage of time as one
moves or observes motion
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning

30. Embodiment and Cultural variance
Núñez & Sweetser (2006)
speakers of Aymara face the past and
have their backs to the future
Nayra = 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 markers
which forces the speaker to pay attention
to some aspects of the information being
conveyed and not others
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning

31. Embodiment effects
Activating elderly stereotype causes people to walk slowly and
to perform lexical decision slowly (Dijksterhuis and Bargh
2001)
Engaging the smiling musculature produces positive affect
(Strack et al. 1988)
Standing upward and stretching arms helps to gain
self-confidence, watch Amy Cuddy’s Ted talk:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4386jSnFEU
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32. The end
Thank you for your attention
kristina.rebrova@gmail.com
Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning