Unconstraining theories of embodied cognition

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Abstract

The approach/avoidance effect refers to the finding that valenced stimuli trigger approach and avoidance actions. Markman and Brendl [Markman, A. B., & Brendl, M. (2005). Constraining theories of embodied cognition. Psychological Science, 16, 6–16] argued that this effect is not a truly embodied phenomenon, but depends on participants’ symbolic representation of the self.

In their study, participants moved valenced words toward or away from their own name on the computer screen. This would induce participants to form a ‘disembodied’ self-representation at the location of their name, outside of the body. Approach/avoidance effects occurred with respect to the participant’s name, rather than with respect to the body.

In three experiments, we demonstrate that similar effects are found when the name is replaced by a positive word, a negative word or even when no word is presented at all. This suggests that the ‘disembodied self’ explanation of Markman and Brendl is incorrect, and that their findings do not necessarily constrain embodied theories of cognition.

Section snippets

Participants

Thirty-seven students from the Erasmus University Rotterdam participated in the experiment, in return for course credit or a small monetary fee (€ 5,-). One participant, with an error rate higher than 30%, was excluded from the analysis. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the two instructions.

Stimulus materials and apparatus

Thirty-two positive and 22 negative words were selected from a normed list. The words on this list had been rated on a 7-point scale (1 = extremely negative, 7 = extremely positive) by 29

Experiment 2

Experiment 2 tested the hypothesis that participants perform the task more easily when the valence of the central word matches the items that have to be moved toward the central word. Thus, when the central word is a negative word (i.e., Hate), participants are expected to be slower in the Positive toward condition than in the Negative toward condition (i.e., the opposite pattern of Experiment 1 is predicted).

Discussion

The categorization hypothesis predicts that the categorization of words is facilitated when the valence of the central word is congruent with the valence of the words that have to be moved toward it. Most participants regard their own name as a strongly positive word (reflecting a healthy positive self-image). According to the categorization hypothesis, they should therefore respond faster when they move positive words toward their name than when they move negative words toward it. The same

Participants

Seventy-six students from the Erasmus University Rotterdam participated in the experiment, in return for course credit or a small monetary fee (€ 5,-). Five participants were excluded because their error rate was above 30%, leaving a total of 71 participants.

Materials and procedure

Experiment 3 followed the same procedure as the previous experiments, but an empty block was presented in the middle of the screen. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the two instructions. Those in the Positive toward condition

General discussion

An important issue in cognitive science regards the question to which degree sensorimotor processes are involved in cognition. In recent years, the embodied cognition view is gaining momentum, which suggests that cognition is strongly intertwined with the systems of perception and action, using representations that are directly derived from these systems (e.g., Barsalou, 1999, Glenberg, 1997, Pulvermüller, 1999). Proponents of this view often refer to the growing number of studies that

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