Embodied Grounding
Social, Cognitive, Affective, and Neuroscientific Approaches

An enlightening work exploring relations of the body to thought, language use, emotion and social relationships.

Gün R. Semin (Author), Eliot R. Smith (Author)

9780521706155, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 31 March 2008

320 pages
22.8 x 15 x 1.5 cm, 0.43 kg

In recent years there has been an increasing awareness that a comprehensive understanding of language, cognitive and affective processes, and social and interpersonal phenomena cannot be achieved without understanding the ways these processes are grounded in bodily states. The term 'embodiment' captures the common denominator of these developments, which come from several disciplinary perspectives ranging from neuroscience, cognitive science, social psychology, and affective sciences. For the first time, this volume brings together these varied developments under one umbrella and furnishes a comprehensive overview of this intellectual movement in the cognitive-behavioral sciences. The chapters review current work on relations of the body to thought, language use, emotion and social relationships as presented by internationally recognized experts in these areas.

1. Introducing embodied grounding G. R. Semin and E. R. Smith
Part I. Embodied Language and Concepts: 2. Grounding symbolic operations in the brain's modal systems L. Barsalou
3. Toward the integration of bodily states, language and action A. Glenberg
4. Brain embodiment of category-specific semantic memory circuits F. Pulvermüller
5. What thoughts are made of L. Boroditsky and J. Prinz
Part II. Embodiment of Social Cognition and Relationships: 6. Grounding social cognition: synchronization, coordination, and co-regulation G. R. Semin and J. T. Cacioppo
7. An embodied account of self-other 'overlap' and its effects E. R. Smith
8. The embodiment of power and communalism in space and bodily contact T. Schubert, S. Waldzus, S. and B. Seibt
9. Embodied persuasion: fundamental processes by which bodily responses can impact attitudes P. Briñol and R. E. Petty
Part III. Embodiment and Affect: 10. Affect as embodied evidence in attitude, advertising, and art G. Clore and S. Schnall
11. The embodiment of emotion L. Feldman Barrett and K. Lindquist
12. The embodied emotional mind P. Winkielman, P. M. Niedenthal and L. Oberman
13. Expression entails anticipation: toward a self-regulatory model of bodily feedback effects J. Förster and R. S. Friedman.

Subject Areas: Neurosciences [PSAN], Cognition & cognitive psychology [JMR], Social, group or collective psychology [JMH]