ReviewPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences2018
Language as a disruptive technology: abstract concepts, embodiment and the flexible mind.
Review in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed.
- Breakdown of category-specific word representations in a brain-constrained neurocomputational model of semantic dementia.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Influence of language on perception and concept formation in a brain-constrained deep neural network model.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023Article
- A context-sensitive and non-linguistic approach to abstract concepts.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023Article
- Rethinking the role of language in embodied cognition.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023Review
- Abstract concepts and emotion: cross-linguistic evidence and arguments against affective embodiment.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023Article
- Modelling concrete and abstract concepts using brain-constrained deep neural networks.Psychological research · 2022Article
- Editorial: The Next Step in Developmental Embodiment Research: Integrating Concepts and Methods.Frontiers in systems neuroscience · 2022Article
- Ultimate Grounding of Abstract Concepts: A Graded Account.Journal of cognition · 2022Article
- A test of indirect grounding of abstract concepts using multimodal distributional semantics.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- Evidence for the Concreteness of Abstract Language: A Meta-Analysis of Neuroimaging Studies.Brain sciences · 2021Review
- From Affordances to Abstract Words: The Flexibility of Sensorimotor Grounding.Brain sciences · 2021Review
- A computational model of language functions in flexible goal-directed behaviour.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- How Abstract (Non-embodied) Linguistic Representations Augment Cognitive Control.Frontiers in psychology · 2020Article
- Sociality to Reach Objects and to Catch Meaning.Frontiers in psychology · 2019Article
- Varieties of abstract concepts: development, use and representation in the brain.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2018Article
- Article
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Abstract
A growing body of evidence suggests that cognition is embodied and grounded. Abstract concepts, though, remain a significant theoretical challenge. A number of researchers have proposed that language makes an important contribution to our capacity to acquire and employ concepts, particularly abstract ones. In this essay, I critically examine this suggestion and ultimately defend a version of it. I argue that a successful account of how language augments cognition should emphasize its symbolic properties and incorporate a view of embodiment that recognizes the flexible, multimodal and task-related nature of action, emotion and perception systems. On this view, language is an ontogenetically disruptive cognitive technology that expands our conceptual reach.This article is part of the theme issue 'Varieties of abstract concepts: development, use and representation in the brain'.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.