Introduction: In the last 10–15 years, the embodied and grounded (E and G) cognition approach has become widespread in all fields related to cognitive (neuro) science, and a lot of evidence has been collected. The approach proposes that cognitive activity is grounded in sensory–motor processes and situated in specific contexts and situations. This special topic had two aims: first, give an idea of the field in its broadness. Second, focus on some challenges for E and G theories. The first important challenge is to account for understanding abstract concepts and words. Evidence on the representation of concrete concepts is compelling, whereas evidence on abstract concepts is still scarce and limited to restricted domains. A second important challenge concerns the role of computational models. E and G theories of cognition need to formulate more precise hypotheses, and models help to constrain and specify in more detail the predictions and the claims advanced.

doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00187, hdl.handle.net/1765/30611
Frontiers in Psychology
Department of Psychology

Borghi, A., & Pecher, D. (2011). Introduction to the special topic embodied and grounded cognition. Frontiers in Psychology, 2(AUG). doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00187