Me, Myself, and the (Virtual) World: A Review of Learning Research in 4E Cognition and Immersive Virtual Reality

Abstract

This paper examines how the principles of 4E cognition can be used to interpret, and potentially improve, immersive virtual reality (I-VR). A selection of relevant 4E + I-VR studies are reviewed to illustrate this relationship. Towards this end, this paper provides: 1) an overview of Immersive Virtual reality (I-VR), 2) a summary of 4E cognition (embodied, enacted, embedded, extended), and 3) a discussion relevant literature in 4E cognition applied to learning in I-VR. The paper concludes with a series of recommendations that may offer possible routes of research that could expand this important area of inquiry.