The Story So Far: How Embodied Cognition Advances Our Understanding of Meaning-Making
Frontiers in Psychology July 31, 2017 Cedric Galetzka 40 citations
The review traces how cognitive science has grappled with the symbol grounding problem—the difficulty of explaining how abstract symbols acquire meaning. Embodied theories propose that meaning arises from sensorimotor experiences, and concrete action-related words indeed show consistent sensorimotor activation. However, abstract concepts remain a challenge for fully embodied accounts, as sensorimotor activation alone does not seem sufficient to explain them. Integration areas like convergence zones or the 'hub and spoke' model appear to be the most promising candidates for bridging the gap between concrete and abstract concepts and for unifying the field. The review identifies key milestones, fundamental challenges, and directions for future research.