The Poverty of Embodied Cognition
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review June 9, 2016 S. Goldinger, Megan H. Papesh, Anthony S. Barnhart et al. 324 citations
Embodied cognition proposes that cognitive processes are shaped by the body, exist to guide action, are situated in the environment, and may not require internal representations. Proponents view it as a paradigm shift for cognitive science. This critical analysis argues that the core ideas are either too vague—such as the claim that perception is influenced by the body—or offer nothing new, like the observations that cognition evolved for survival, emotions affect cognition, or perception-action couplings matter. The authors contend that embodied cognition provides no valuable insight into most classic cognitive science findings and has only trivial connections to those phenomena, nor does it adequately explain basic cognitive experiences.