Grounded Cognition

Abstract

Grounded cognition rejects traditional views that cognition is com- putation on amodal symbols in a modular system, independent of the brain’s modal systems for perception, action, and introspec- tion. Instead, grounded cognition proposes that modal simulations, bodily states, and situated action underlie cognition. Accumulating behavioral and neural evidence supporting this view is reviewed from research on perception, memory, knowledge, language, thought, so- cial cognition, and development. Theories of grounded cognition are also reviewed, as are origins of the area and common misperceptions of it. Theoretical, empirical, and methodological issues are raised whose future treatment is likely to affect the growth and impact of grounded cognition.