A motor-priming approach to embodied cognition: Forceful tests with numerical tasks

体现认知的运动启动方法：对数字任务进行强有力的测试

• 批准号: 267306722
• 负责人: Professor Martin Fischer
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Abteilung Leistungspsychologie
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2014-12-31 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/267306722?language=en
• 关键词: motor; priming; approach; embodied; cognition

Within the last two decades a growing community of cognitive psychologists focused on the role of our body during cognitive activities. To date hundreds of studies provide empirical evidence for this embodied cognition approach. However, the dynamics of motor contributions to cognitive activities are still ambiguous and theoretically underspecified. From a motor priming approach to embodied cognition we will use the testbed of numerical cognition in this follow-up project. The follow-up project manipulates spatial-numerical associations across three conceptual levels and compares resulting congruency effects to test predictions about the hierarchical embodiment of cognition in a domain of abstract knowledge. The arithmetic heuristics and biases model (AHAB; Shaki et al., 2018) will be specified by examining the time course of its component processes. Additionally, the proposal of hierarchical relations between grounded, embodied and situated knowledge representations (Fischer, 2012) will be used to derive predictions about the relative strengths of spatial biases. Our objective is to examine how specific movement features (force direction, intensity and frequency) influence performance on specific numerical tasks (single-digit arithmetic and random number generation) and vice versa. We improve our earlier approach in three important ways: by (1) exerting closer temporal control over the cognitive task components to improve insights into the timing of conceptual relative to motor activation; (2) contrasting vertical and horizontal spatial-numerical associations to address the general prediction of conceptual grounding in physical laws; (3) testing theories of generic vs. learned embodied effects using arm and leg movements and varying participants’ expertise. The project will be conducted cooperatively between our two research centers with complementary expertise and shared interests in problem solving and embodied cognition. The Potsdam group (Prof Fischer) studies abstract numerical and arithmetic problem solving from an embodied cognition perspective and has expertise in mental chronometry and force production. The Cologne group (Prof Raab) studies embodiment effects on various cognitive tasks, including gross motor tasks, and has additional expertise in motor control as well as access to specialist populations with arm or leg movement expertise. In short: The present project evaluates competing amodal and modal views on cognition by examining the temporal relationship between motor behavior and concept manipulation. We focus on a domain considered prototypical for abstract concept manipulation, namely numerical cognition and ask whether the calculating mind merely is a computer or whether it depends on its body.

在过去的二十年里，越来越多的认知心理学家关注我们的身体在认知活动中的作用。迄今为止，数百项研究为这种具身认知方法提供了经验证据。然而，运动对认知活动的贡献的动态仍然是模糊的，理论上未被充分说明。从运动启动到具身认知，我们将使用数字认知的实验平台。后续项目操纵的空间数值协会在三个概念层面，并比较由此产生的一致性效应，以测试预测的层次体现的认知领域的抽象知识。 算术分析和偏差模型（AHAB; Shaki等人，2018年）将通过审查其组成过程的时间进程来确定。此外，扎根，体现和情境知识表征之间的层次关系的建议（Fischer，2012）将被用来推导关于空间偏差的相对强度的预测。我们的目标是研究特定的运动特征（力的方向，强度和频率）如何影响特定的数字任务（个位数算术和随机数生成）的性能，反之亦然。我们在三个重要方面改进了我们早期的方法：（1）对认知任务组件施加更紧密的时间控制，以提高对概念相对于运动激活的时间的洞察力;（2）对比垂直和水平空间-数值关联，以解决物理定律中概念基础的一般预测;（3）使用手臂和腿部运动以及不同参与者的专业知识来测试一般效应与学习的体现效应的理论。该项目将在我们两个研究中心之间合作进行，这两个研究中心在解决问题和具身认知方面具有互补的专业知识和共同的兴趣。波茨坦小组（Fischer教授）从具身认知的角度研究抽象的数字和算术问题的解决，并在心理测时和力量生产方面拥有专业知识。科隆小组（Raab教授）研究了具体化对各种认知任务的影响，包括粗大运动任务，并在运动控制方面拥有额外的专业知识，以及接触具有手臂或腿部运动专业知识的专家群体。简而言之：本项目通过研究运动行为和概念操作之间的时间关系来评估对认知的非模态和模态观点。我们关注一个被认为是抽象概念操作原型的领域，即数字认知，并询问计算思维是否仅仅是一台计算机，或者它是否依赖于它的身体。