1,720,981 research outputs found
Touch me if you can: The intangible but grounded nature of abstract concepts
No full textThinking about what the senses cannot grasp is one of the hallmarks of human cognition. We argue that "intangible abstracta"are represented differently from other products of abstraction, that goal-derived categorization supports their learning, and that they are grounded also in internalized linguistic and social interaction. We conclude by suggesting different ways in which abstractness contributes to cement group cohesion
Contextual modulation of preferred social distance during the Covid-19 pandemic
No full textSocial distancing during a pandemic might be influenced by different attitudes: people may decide to reduce the risk and protect themselves from viral contagion, or they can opt to maintain their habits and be more exposed to the infection. To better understand the underlying motivating attitudes, we asked participants to indicate in an online platform the interpersonal distance from different social targets with professional/social behaviors considered more or less exposed to the virus. We selected five different social targets: a cohabitant, a friend working in a hospital, a friend landed from an international flight, a friend who is back from a cycling ride, or a stranger. In order to measure the realistic and the symbolic perceived threat, we administered the Brief 10-item COVID-19 threat scale. Moreover, in order to measure the risk attitude in different domains, the participants were also asked to fill in the Domain-Specific Risk-Taking DOSPERT scale. Results reveal a general preference for an increased distance from a stranger and the friends who are considered to be more exposed to the virus: the friend working in a hospital or landed from an international flight. Moreover, the interpersonal distance from friends is influenced by the perception of Realistic Threat measured through the Integrated Covid Threat Scale and the Health/Safety Risk Perception/Assumption as measured by the DOSPERT scale. Our results show the flexible and context-dependent nature of our representation of other people: as the social categories are not unchangeable fixed entities, the bodily (e.g., spatial) attitudes towards them are an object of continuous attunement
Disentangling the sense of ownership from the sense of fairness. Commentary on Baumard, André and Sperber, Behavioral and Brain Sciences.
No full textBoth evolutionary and developmental research indicate that humans are adapted to respecting property rights, independently (and possibly orthogonally) to considerations of fairness. We offer evidence from psychological experiments suggesting that enforcing one’s rights and respecting others’ possessions is a basic cognitive mechanism, automatically activated and grounded in humans’ sensory-motor system. This may entail an independent motivation that is more profound than considerations of fairness and impartiality
Words have a weight: language as a source of inner grounding and flexibility in abstract concepts
No full textThe role played by language in our cognitive lives is a topic at the centre of contemporary debates in cognitive (neuro)science. In this paper we illustrate and compare two theories that offer embodied explanations of this role: the WAT (words as social tools) and the LENS (language is an embodied neuroenhancement and scaffold) theories. WAT and LENS differ from other current proposals, because they connect the impact of the neurologically realized language system on our cognition to the ways in which language shapes our interaction with the physical and social environment. Examining these theories together, their tenets and supporting evidence, sharpens our understanding of each, but also contributes to a better understanding of the contribution that language might make to the acquisition, representation and use of abstract concepts. Here we focus on how language provides a source of inner grounding, especially metacognition and inner speech, and supports the flexibility of our thought. Overall, the paper outlines a promising research program focused on the importance of language to abstract concepts within the context of a flexible, multimodal, and multilevel conception of embodied cognition
Abstract Concepts and Metacognition: Searching for Meaning in Self and Others
No full textUse of abstract concepts (e.g., truth) is one of the most sophisticated abil2 ities that humans possess. Explaining how we develop this ability and how abstract concepts are represented constitutes one of the main challenges faced by theories of embodied and grounded cognition. In this chapter, we address this issue by focusing on the mechanisms underlying the processing of abstract concepts. We propose that metacognition—the set of capacities through which an operating subsystem is evaluated and represented by another subsystem—can ground the meaning of concepts, and that this grounding is particularly important for abstract concepts. In addition, metacognition can be applied to concept use itself. In this connection, the monitoring component of metacognition is particularly relevant: it can provide awareness of the inadequacies of our knowledge of abstract concepts, expressing a judgment of scarce confidence. This monitoring process can lead to two different but not mutully exclusive outcomes. We propose that both these outcomes have an embodied counterpart, the activation of the mouth motor system. The first is the use of inner speech, which aims to search for possible further meanings and/or to further clarify the word meaning. The second is the preparation to request the help of other—better authoritative—people (social metacognition), when our knowledge has gaps, the need of social deference is stronger
Editorial: Insights in: theoretical and philosophical psychology
No full textMultifaceted reflections across different domains of knowledge—ranging from the
philosophy of science and new interdisciplinary theoretical backgrounds in the field
of psychology and computational neuroscience, to social perception, health and
decision-making processes, are objects of the current Theme Issue.
The Theme Issue revolves around three nodes which are brought to the attention of
scientists and philosophers as timely issues to deal with:
i) the necessity of rethinking theoretical and methodological practices in social and life
sciences in conformity with the natural evolution of the domains of knowledge,
ii) the enlargement of (social) embodied perception field by including also
psychopathological conditions,
iii) the definition of the theoretical and ethical borders about the concept of human health
and the associated decision-making processes
Pride and its expression in political debates. 221-253; 978-1-84890-094-3.
No full textThe paper analyses pride, its nature, expression and functions, according to a model in terms of goals and beliefs, by connecting it to the goals of power, image and self-image. Starting from a semantic analysis of the lexicon of pride, image and self-image in Italian, it defines the trait of “pride” and the emotion of “being proud of” in terms of their mental ingredients, the beliefs and goals represented in the mind of a proud person, and distinguishes three types of pride: dignity, superiority and arrogance pride. Then it overviews the body expressions of the affective states under analysis, and their function as a display of dominance during TV broadcasted political debates, finding that the three types of pride di↵er in terms of their gaze and smile behavior
EXPLORING THE PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES OF LARGE LANGUAGE MODELS FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING AND PRODUCTION
No full textThe success of Large Language Models (LLMs) in many application domains suggests that they may
also change how we conceive cognition. LLMs possess capabilities traditionally considered
exclusively human. Can the experience with language alone facilitate the acquisition of other complex
cognitive abilities? Do linguistic, sensorimotor, and interoceptive experiences need to be integrated?
Are there domains, like that of abstract concepts (e.g., freedom), where linguistic experience suffices
to capture meaning? After introducing what LLMs are, we address their potential impact, discussing
five differences from human cognition: they are not grounded, lack action, hardly capture pragmatics,
are culturally biased, and do not reflect individual characteristics
Words as social tools: flexibility, situatedness, language and sociality in abstract concepts. Reply to comments on “Words as social tools: language, sociality and inner grounding in abstract concepts”
Full text linkThe article is a reply to comments by other authors on the topic of abstract concepts
Differences and similarities in the conceptualization of COVID-19 and other diseases in the first Italian lockdown
Full text linkSeveral studies have highlighted the flexible character of our conceptual system. However, less is known about the construction of meaning and the impact of novel concepts on the structuring of our conceptual space. We addressed these questions by collecting free listing data from Italian participants on a newly–and yet nowadays critical–introduced concept, i.e., COVID-19, during the first Italian lockdown. We also collected data for other five illness-related concepts. Our results show that COVID-19’s representation is mostly couched in the emotional sphere, predominantly evoking fear—linked to both possible health-related concerns and social-emotional ones. In contrast with initial public debates we found that participants did not assimilate COVID-19 neither completely to severe illnesses (e.g., tumor) nor completely to mild illnesses (e.g., flu). Moreover, we also found that COVID-19 has shaped conceptual relations of other concepts in the illness domain, making certain features and associations more salient (e.g., flu-fear; disease-mask). Overall, our results show for the first time how a novel, real concept molds existing conceptual relations, testifying the malleability of our conceptual system
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