Language&Thought@PragoFFest14

Embodied and grounded meaning

Kristína Rebrová

Kristína Rebrová Embodied and grounded meaning

Language

phonology,morphologysyntaxsemanticspragmatics...Cognitive Linguistics & Semantics


The nature of thought and language

In the 50’s: brain-computer metaphorePhysical symbol system hypothesis (Newell & Simon, 1976)

Physical symbol system is a machine that produces throughtime an evolving collection of physical patterns called symbolstructures.Arbitrary links from symbolic code to sensori-motor referentsIntelligence occurs via reasoning (searching for operators;logical inference)Intelligence = computation - separate from sensors andeffectorsIntelligence in nature (animals might behave intelligently, butnot think so much as humans)


Amodal Symbols

internal (cognitive) structure does not resemble the perceptualstates from which it originates


The mind IS embodied

nature of the (human) mind is largely determined by the formof the (human) bodycognition arises from bodily interactions with the worldcognition shares (neural) mechanisms with perception, actionand introspectioncognition is embedded in its environmentamodal symbols represent knowledge (descriptive knowledge)


Perceptual Symbol Systems (Barsalou,1999)

Perceptual symbols resemble (are a subset of) perceptualstates from which they originateSimulation

a core form of computation in the brainreenactment of perceptual, motor and introspective statesacquired during experienceas experience occurs, the brain captures the states acrossmodalities and integrates them with a multimodalrepresentation stored in memory


Effect of changing the reference

Transforming a word or an amodal symbol fails to produce ananalogous transformation in reference, whereas transforming aperceptual simulation does.


Grounded cognition

grounded = anchored in the physical world (embodied +embedded)

embodied: agent has a body that provides direct sensationsand allows actionsembedded: situated in an environment that provides stimuli

language is grounded in perception and action


Mental imagery

functional-equivalence hypothesis, supported bymany cognitive psychologists ((Farah, Finke, Kosslyn,Shepard, Rumelhart,...)

visual imagery as functionally equivalent tovisual perceptionshared neural substrates

mental rotations (e.g. Shepard, Metzler, 1971)image scaling (Kosslyn, 1975, 1976)image scanning (Kosslyn, Ball, Reiser, 1978;Pinker, 1980)


Motor Resonance

partial activation of motor circuits without producing motoractivitytriggered by various modalities: visual, auditory, linguisticmight provide us with a simulation mechanism -understanding, prediction, empathyEEG mu-rhytm

dominant frequencies in the 8–13 and 15–25 Hz bands (alphalike)typical for motor restdesynchronizes/supresses not only when subject produces, butalso observes action

first indirect evidence of mirror neurons in humans(Cohen-Seat et al.,1954; Gastaut and Bert,1954)


Motor Resonance

the more closely the observed action maps onto the observer’sown motor repertoire, the more accurate will be the observer’sprediction of the course and the result of the actionconclusions (see van der Wel et al., 2011)

motor preparation enhances the performance in perceptualtasksstimulus-response compatibility (facilitation of reaction on thebasis of congruence with the stimulus)ideomotor action: involuntary movement that tends to arisewhen observing another’s performanceinfluence of familiarity: self-actions vs. actios of othersinfluence of proficiency: more skilled individuals - betterjudgement (but only for moving percepts)influence of praxis: Triton effect example


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


Differences of the Human MNS

mirror neurons in monkeysreact only when the action iscomplete and when thetarget is present (or obvious)react only to appropriateeffectors: monkey/humanhandsreact also when the target ishidden, but there must besufficient clues present

mirror neurons in humansreact also to meaninglessand intransitive actionsreact also to various differenteffectors including tools androbotic arms (Oberman and

Ramachandran, 2007; Peeters et al.,

2009)

encode sole bodymovements from which themotor acts and actions arebuilt - a parsing mechanism(Rizzolatti and Sinigaglia, 2010)


Roles of Mirror Neurons

understanding of actions and imitationinternal (mental) simulation of the observed action(movement)mirror neurons might play a role in understanding of theunknown actions and parsing them to primitives of alreadyknown and similar actions

understanding of goalsexperiment 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 emotionsGallese et al. (2004) describe the mirror mechanism as a basicfunctional mechanism that provides an insight into other mindsimpairment in insula causes disgust deafness, which extends tothe prosody of speech


Role of MNS in the Evolution of Language

a “missing link” between animalcommunication and human language(Arbib, 2005)area F5 and Broca’s area are anatomicalhomologues and share functionalproperties crucial for development,production and understanding ofcommunication 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)


Grounding language in action: neural evidence

Pulvermueler et al. (2001): hearing/reading action verbsproduces somatotopic activation in the primary motor cortexEEG study, movement vs. lexical decision taskkick (leg), pick (arm), lick (face)


Grounding language in action: behavioral evidence

Glenberg and Kashak (2002): comprehending a sentence thatimplies action in one direction interferes with real action in theopposite directionJohn 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 ofpickles.


Cognitive Semantics

e.g. Lakoff & Johnson(1980), Lakoff (1987), Langacker(1987), Lakoff and Johnson (1999), Talmy (2000), ...semantic structure is conceptual structureconceptual structure is embodiedmeaning representation is encyclopaedicmeaning-construction is conceptualisation


Language comprehension is embodied

a sentence can evoke an imagined scene and resulting inferences


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.


Image schemas

Johnson (1987), Lakoff (1987)recurring structures within our cognitive processes whichestablish patterns of understanding and reasoningformed from our bodily interactions, from linguistic experience,and from historical context

Boundary

Contact

Container


Categorization

Lakoff’s “Woman, Fire and Dangerous Things: Whatcategories 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 oftheir own species, etc.Why do we need categorization?

reducting complex rich sensory inputgeneralization, prediction

How do we form concepts and categories?


Categories are no closed containers

classic story:defining features (individually necessary and jointly sufficientfeatures)Boolean membership - clear-cut boundaries

prototype theory:family resemblances (Wittgenstein, 1953)Fuzzy sets (Zadeh,1965): a degree of membershipprototypicality: some members are more typical of a categorythan othersRosh(1973): Prototypes of a category are the clearest cases of categorymembership defined operationally by people’s judgment of goodness ofmembership in the category


Basic level categories


Conceptual metaphor theory (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980, 1999)

Classical theories viewed metaphors as novel or poetic linguisticexpressions outside the realm of ordinary everyday language.Metaphor has is in many cases central to understanding themeaning of many abstract concepts.Many concepts that are important to us are either abstract ornot well-defined in our experience (emotions, thoughts, time,etc.)We need to mediate access to them through the concepts thatwe understand more clearly (spatial orientation, objects, etc.)


Affection is Warmth

Subjective Judgment: AffectionSensory-Motor Domain: TemperatureExample: They greeted me warmly.Primary Experience: Feeling warm while being heldaffectionately.


Important is Big

Subjective Judgment: ImportanceSensory-Motor Domain: SizeExample: Tomorrow is a big day.Primary experience: As a child, important things in yourenvironment are often big, e.g., parents, but also large thingsthat exert a force on you


Knowing is Seeing

Subjective Judgment: KnowledgeSensory-Motor Domain: VisionExample: I see what you mean.Primary Experience: Getting information through vision


Time is Motion

Subjective Judgment: The passage of timeSensory-Motor Domain: MotionExample: Time flies.Primary Experience: Experiencing the passage of time as onemoves or observes motion


Embodiment and Cultural variance

Núñez & Sweetser (2006)speakers of Aymara face the past andhave their backs to the futureNayra = 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 markerswhich forces the speaker to pay attentionto some aspects of the information beingconveyed and not others


Embodiment effects

Activating elderly stereotype causes people to walk slowly andto perform lexical decision slowly (Dijksterhuis and Bargh2001)Engaging the smiling musculature produces positive affect(Strack et al. 1988)Standing upward and stretching arms helps to gainself-confidence, watch Amy Cuddy’s Ted talk:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4386jSnFEU


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4386jSnFEU

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Language&Thought@PragoFFest14

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