Embodiment and performance

Abstract

Evidence suggests that some cognitive processes are based on sensorimotor systems in the brain (embodied cognition). The premise of this is that 'Biological brains are first and foremost the control systems for biological bodies' (Clark 1998, 506). It has therefore been suggested that both online cognition (processing as we move through the world) and offline cognition (processing through reflection) might be body-based (Wilson 2002). We tested whether acting out, or thinking movements relevant to a poem would therefore improve memory for the poem. Here, we discuss the results of this study in relation to embodied cognition