COGS 200: Embodiment & Cognition

Talks Schedule

COGS 200, Spring, 2008
Embodiment and Cognition
(Course #619072)
Fridays, lecture: 2-3:50, discussion: 4-4:50, CSB 003

In recent years, cognitive scientists have increasingly identified themselves as adopting "embodied" approaches to cognition. The precise definition of this term is a matter of some discussion. However, advocates of embodiment tend to subscribe to one or more of the following ideas: that perception and action are an important part of understanding cognition; that internal representation plays a minimal role in cognition; that the physical and social environment play an important, and perhaps constitutive, role in cognitive activity; and that the characteristics of human cognition -- such as language, concepts, and rationality -- are constrained by the nature of human experience. This quarter's COGS 200 will feature talks by researchers in cognitive science (and related fields such as anthropology, computer science, cognitive neuroscience, philosophy and psychology) that address cognitive questions while paying attention to the body and its environment.

Course Requirements

1. Attendance

Students are expected to attend all lectures and participate in all discussion sections. That said, if you have a conflict for one or two talks over the course of the quarter, it is acceptable to miss class.

2. Readings

Readings for each week will be posted on the course website. Typically, there are 1-2 short papers to read.

3. Thought Papers

Students are expected to choose 2 lecture topics they are particularly interested in and to write a short reaction paper (2-3 pages in length) to the readings for each of those weeks. These papers are intended to help students synthesize their thoughts on the readings, and consequently improve the quality of our discussion. Thought papers should be turned in at the discussion section that concerns their topic.

4. Class Discussion

Each student should choose 1 week for which they will help lead the post-lecture discussion section. Students are welcome to lead discussion the same week they write one of their thought papers.

Talks Schedule

All talks are 2-4pm on Fridays in CSB 003.

Date	Speaker	Talk Title	Readings
April 4, 2008	Rafael Núñez Cognitive Science UC San Diego	So what is 'embodiment' really? Trends, debates, issues, and how to figure this out	Wilson, M. (2002). Six views of embodied cognition. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 9: 625-636. PDF
April 11, 2008	Rick Grush Philosophy UC San Diego	The role of embodiment in the representation of space, time and objects	Grush, R. (to appear). Space, time and objects. Ed. J. Bickel, The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Neuroscience. Oxford University Press. PDF
April 18, 2008	Jerry Feldman Electrical Engineering and Computer Science UC Berkeley	The opulence of the substrate: Embodiment explains how children learn grammar	Bergen, B. & Feldman, J. (to appear). It's the body, stupid: Concept learning according to cognitive science. Elsevier Handbook of Embodied Cognitive Science. PDF Chang, N. & Mok, E. (2006). A structured context model for grammar learning. International Joint Conference on Neural Networks. Vancouver, BC. PDF
April 25, 2008	Stephen Wilson Department of Neurology UC San Francisco	Neural evidence for the role of sensorimotor systems in linguistic representations	Hauk, O., Johnsrude, I., & Pulvermuller, F. (2004). Somatotopic representation of action words in human motor and premotor cortext. Neuron, 41: 301-307. PDF Wilson, S.M., Saygin, A.P., Sereno, M.I., & Iacoboni, M. (2004). Listening to speech activated motor areas involved in speech production. Nature Neuroscience, 7: 701-702. PDF
May 2, 2008	Marco Iacoboni School of Medicine UCLA	Mirroring people: neural mechanisms to connect with others	Iacoboini, M., Molnar-Szakacs, I., Gallese, V., Buccino, G., Mazziotta, J.C., & Rizzolatti, G. (2005). Grasping the intentions of others with one's own mirror neuron system. Public Library of Science, Biology, 3:e79. PDF Iacoboni, M. & Dapretto, M. (2006). The mirror neuron system and the consequences of its dysfunction. Nature Neuroscience Reviews, 7:942-951. PDF
May 9, 2008	Julia Evans Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences SDSU	Embodied representations and cognitive problem solving in specific language impairment	Zhang, J. & Patel, V.L. (2006). Distributed cognition, representation, and affordance. Pragmatics & Cognition, 14:2, 333-341. PDF Mainela-Arnold, E., Evans, J.L. & Alibali, M.W. (2006). Understanding conservation delays in children with specific language impairment: Task representations revealed in speech and gesture. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 49: 1267-1279. PDF
May 16, 2008	John Haviland Anthropology UC San Diego	Embodied ostension, transposition, and the cultural superstrate	Haviland, J.B. (2007). Master Speakers, Master Gesturers: A string quartet master class. Eds. S.D. Duncan, E.T. Levy & J. Cassell, Gesture and the Dynamic Dimension of Language: Essays in honor of David McNeill, 147-172. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. PDF Haviland, J.B. (1993). Anchoring, inconicity, and orientation in Guugu Yimidhirr pointing gestures. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 3:1, 3-45. PDF *Other recommended readings at the link to the left
May 23, 2008	Piotr Winkielman Psychology UC San Diego	Embodiment of emotion: Why, how and when	Winkielman, P., Niedenthal, P.M., & Oberman, L. (to appear). The embodied emotional mind. Eds. G.R. Semin & E.R. Smith, Embodied grounding: Social, cognitive, affective and neuroscientific approaches. New York: Cambridge University Press. PDF Niedenthal, P.M. (2007). Embodying emotion. Science, 316:1002-1005. PDF
May 30, 2008	Arthur Glenberg Psychology Arizona State University	Using emotion to understand language	Havas, D.A., Glenberg, A.M. & Rinck, M. (2007). Emotion simulation during language comprehension. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 14:3, 436-441. PDF Glenberg, A.M. & Gallese, V. (in review). Action-based language: A theory of language acquisition, comprehension, and production. PDF *Other recommended resources: Glenberg, A.M., Sato, M. & Cattaneo, L. (2008). Use-induced motor plasticity affects the processing of abstract and concrete language. Current Biology, 18:7, R290-291. PDF Brain Science Podcast #36 at: http://virginiacampbellmd.com/
June 6, 2008	Ed Hutchins Cognitive Science UC San Diego	The consequences of taking embodiment seriously	Alac, M. & Hutchins, E. (2004). I see what you are saying: Action as cognition in fMRI brain mapping practice. Journal of Cognition and Culture, 4, 629-661. PDF Hutchins, E. (2008). The role of cultural practices in the emergence of modern human intelligence. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 363, 2011-2019. PDF Hutchins, E. (in press). Enaction, imagination and insight. PDF