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Embodiment and Cognitive Science
This book describes the many ways that the mind and body are closely interrelated, and how human thought and language are fundamentally linked to bodily action. The embodied nature of mind is explored through many topics, such as perception, thinking, language use, development, emotions, and consciousness. People's embodied experiences are critical to the ways they think and speak and, most generally, understand themselves, other people, and the world around them. This work provides a strong defense of the idea that embodied action is critical to the study of human cognition.
348 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 6, 2010
I found this book to be an interesting look at the connection between mind and body. Although quite dense at times, I had to re-read some parts, I did find the material useful as a current doctoral student in clinical psychology. It did not take long to identify Gibb’s view on the topic: “human cognition is fundamentally shaped by embodiment experience.” (p.3) In other words, Gibbs’ believes that our physical bodies influence, and are a part of, our cognitive processing. This view is unlike historical philosophers, like Descartes, who saw the mind and body as two separate entities. Gibbs continues by critiquing the field of cognitive science as being neglectful in recognizing “the significance of embodied action in the study of human mental life.” (p. 6) He supports his beliefs by explaining the dynamical systems approach and current cognitive linguistics research. In English, he reviews current research in perception/action relations, concepts, mental imagery, memory, language, development, and consciousness. Although interesting to me as a psychology student, I don’t think the common reader will be inclined to read the whole book “for entertainment purposes.”
As previously stated, Gibbs does not hide his stance on the arguable mind/body subject matter. Nor does he allow you to forget it as he creatively, repetitively, and at times empirically, reminds his readers that “mind is not only in the body, mind is the body”, “embodiment is an essential part of the cognitive process”, “our mental acts are tightly linked to regular recurring body activities”, and “bodily experiences matter greatly in mental life.”
Sarcasm aside, I honestly did enjoy the literature on a topic that I thought would be not-so-enjoyable. I thought Gibbs did a good job in presenting the topic and material as readable as cognitive science can be. I was intrigued and felt like the time I spent reading this book was time well spent. As a clinician, this text provided further insight as to why some empirically based orientations, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, focus on both physical and cognitive symptoms as the main focus of treatment.
As previously stated, Gibbs does not hide his stance on the arguable mind/body subject matter. Nor does he allow you to forget it as he creatively, repetitively, and at times empirically, reminds his readers that “mind is not only in the body, mind is the body”, “embodiment is an essential part of the cognitive process”, “our mental acts are tightly linked to regular recurring body activities”, and “bodily experiences matter greatly in mental life.”
Sarcasm aside, I honestly did enjoy the literature on a topic that I thought would be not-so-enjoyable. I thought Gibbs did a good job in presenting the topic and material as readable as cognitive science can be. I was intrigued and felt like the time I spent reading this book was time well spent. As a clinician, this text provided further insight as to why some empirically based orientations, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, focus on both physical and cognitive symptoms as the main focus of treatment.
October 6, 2010
The part of this book that I enjoyed the most was on the subject of metaphors, and how we use these metaphors to help construct the world around us. Therefore it is only appropriate that I use a metaphor to describe my experience reading the book. As I read through the denseness of each chapter, I felt like Neo (from the Matrix) getting an explanation from Morpheus about what is (and isn’t) reality. Much like Morpheus, Gibbs explains how the concept of reality is constructed from the world around us being interpreted by our different cognitive processes. Much like Neo, I felt a sense of wow and amazement concerning how we take for granted how we make sense of our world and experiences. However, if Gibbs was the one explaining the concept of the “Matrix”, Neo would have never became “the one” because he would have fallen asleep during the diatribe.
Needless to say, I found the book to be an excruciatingly difficult read. Gibbs did a very good job at exploring many different concepts related to the concept of cognition, but at times it felt that the different concepts were disjointed, while at other times I felt the ideas were repetitive and superfluous. Each chapter read more like an individual thesis subject rather than a united whole that related to previous sections. As a result, I found the book to be more useful for research purposes than as a way to fully conceptualize the overall idea of cognition.
As stated, the usefulness of the book is based more on the research that the author studied in comprising it. He cites many different experiments and researchers in deriving his opinions, which creates a sense of validity to his overall conclusions. However, the overuse of the citations creates for a dense read that is hard to enjoy. Another problem with the book, was despite the amount of research used in constructing different ideas, I found myself disappointed at the end by the lack of solid conclusions reached. To me, the book provides much more questions than answers, which, admittedly, may be the goal of the author. I was also disappointed by the fact that at the end of the book I was still slightly unclear about what the concept of “embodiment” meant.
Despite my criticisms, I did find the book to be extremely informative. It is definitely made for someone with an academic background, or interest, in the field of cognition. As a clinician, which is not interested in CBT therapy, I did not find too much usefulness in many of the ideas that Gibbs explored. However, as stated in the beginning, I did enjoy reading about how he conceptualized the use of metaphors in our cognition. I also enjoyed his observations on how Gestalt ideas are also utilized in our ability to understand our environment.
Overall, I would recommend this book for the academic who feels that this will help them to better understand the complexities of the mind-body experience. However, for the lay person I would suggest you would be better off watching the “Matrix” again.
Needless to say, I found the book to be an excruciatingly difficult read. Gibbs did a very good job at exploring many different concepts related to the concept of cognition, but at times it felt that the different concepts were disjointed, while at other times I felt the ideas were repetitive and superfluous. Each chapter read more like an individual thesis subject rather than a united whole that related to previous sections. As a result, I found the book to be more useful for research purposes than as a way to fully conceptualize the overall idea of cognition.
As stated, the usefulness of the book is based more on the research that the author studied in comprising it. He cites many different experiments and researchers in deriving his opinions, which creates a sense of validity to his overall conclusions. However, the overuse of the citations creates for a dense read that is hard to enjoy. Another problem with the book, was despite the amount of research used in constructing different ideas, I found myself disappointed at the end by the lack of solid conclusions reached. To me, the book provides much more questions than answers, which, admittedly, may be the goal of the author. I was also disappointed by the fact that at the end of the book I was still slightly unclear about what the concept of “embodiment” meant.
Despite my criticisms, I did find the book to be extremely informative. It is definitely made for someone with an academic background, or interest, in the field of cognition. As a clinician, which is not interested in CBT therapy, I did not find too much usefulness in many of the ideas that Gibbs explored. However, as stated in the beginning, I did enjoy reading about how he conceptualized the use of metaphors in our cognition. I also enjoyed his observations on how Gestalt ideas are also utilized in our ability to understand our environment.
Overall, I would recommend this book for the academic who feels that this will help them to better understand the complexities of the mind-body experience. However, for the lay person I would suggest you would be better off watching the “Matrix” again.
October 6, 2010
Embodiment and Cognitive Science by Raymond W. Gibbs, Jr. reviews various empirical studies that considerably advocate that mental processes are intertwined with bodily experiences. Along with empirical evidence, Gibbs provides excellent examples of how cognition is affected by different variables in individual’s experiences/environments (e.g., culture, biology, sensory integration, context, and so forth). The different chapters speak to how the mind and body relationship affect an individual’s perception and action, conceptualization of the world, imagery, memory, and reasoning, language and communication, cognitive development, and emotion and consciousness.
Of the various topics covered in the book, I found the cultural and developmental examples interesting. For example, how the Apache Indians of North America use metaphorical conceptualization of human bodies to understand the function of different parts of a vehicle (Ch. 4) and the discussion of different studies that review the development of young children (Ch. 7). As a clinician in training that is interested in the previous topics mentioned (culture & development), the book provides another lens from which to further my understanding of how these variables affect my clients.
Numerous studies sited in the book propel those involved in research, providing clinical services, and those interested in cognitive processes to delve into the process of analyzing how a client’s experiences as well as biology (embodiment) inform how a client potentially may come to formulate his/her mental processes (e.g., cognition) and how these processes may also impact the relationship that the client formulates with his/her environment. Moreover, a close look at Gibb’s arguments calls for a systemic approach to the conceptualization of cognition and more generally a systemic conceptualization of an individual’s experience.
Overall, the book was an interesting read as it revisited studies about cognition with a different perspective, one of bodily experiences affecting mental processes and vise versa, rather than the traditional linear model that explores how cognition affects behavior. However, the book is a difficult, time consuming, and dense read (This is the opinion of a third year student in a Psy.D. program). The book was a compilation of empirical studies followed by examples that continually reified the theme of the book. The book appears to be developed for those interested in cognition. Nonetheless, those poorly versed in the literature would more than likely have a difficult time understanding the language, as it is not written for lay individuals.
Of the various topics covered in the book, I found the cultural and developmental examples interesting. For example, how the Apache Indians of North America use metaphorical conceptualization of human bodies to understand the function of different parts of a vehicle (Ch. 4) and the discussion of different studies that review the development of young children (Ch. 7). As a clinician in training that is interested in the previous topics mentioned (culture & development), the book provides another lens from which to further my understanding of how these variables affect my clients.
Numerous studies sited in the book propel those involved in research, providing clinical services, and those interested in cognitive processes to delve into the process of analyzing how a client’s experiences as well as biology (embodiment) inform how a client potentially may come to formulate his/her mental processes (e.g., cognition) and how these processes may also impact the relationship that the client formulates with his/her environment. Moreover, a close look at Gibb’s arguments calls for a systemic approach to the conceptualization of cognition and more generally a systemic conceptualization of an individual’s experience.
Overall, the book was an interesting read as it revisited studies about cognition with a different perspective, one of bodily experiences affecting mental processes and vise versa, rather than the traditional linear model that explores how cognition affects behavior. However, the book is a difficult, time consuming, and dense read (This is the opinion of a third year student in a Psy.D. program). The book was a compilation of empirical studies followed by examples that continually reified the theme of the book. The book appears to be developed for those interested in cognition. Nonetheless, those poorly versed in the literature would more than likely have a difficult time understanding the language, as it is not written for lay individuals.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews