Customer Reviews

Embodiment and Cognitive Science

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This book definitively establishes the fact that not only is the mind "in" the body, the mind is the body. We think with our whole nervous system. Proprioception, peripheral nerves, bodily motions, all are major parts of cognition and experience. Not only do we think with our bodies, we can't think without them. Our thought is our action in the world.

Gibbs' superb uniting of neurology, psychology, linguistics, philosophy, and common sense simply buries Descartes (of mind-body dichotomy fame) under mountains of data and theoretically sophisticated interpretation. No one will ever again be able to argue that the mind is an abstract, disembodied entity trapped in flesh. This book is in the great tradition of Tolman, Hebb, and Merleau-Ponty, and should be transformational to anyone who hasn't already gotten the message. Even for me (a veteran reader in this field and lifelong non-Cartesian) the book was transformative. I learned a startling amount about everything from brain cells to babies (the latter are far more aware of their relationship with the world and its objects and trajectories than I thought). Already familiar with George Lakoff's work, I learned rather less about metaphor (discussed rather too repetitiously), but even here Gibbs has much to say, including a convincing interpretation of the bizarre sense of self captured in such phrases as "I'm not myself today" and "I'm so busy I'm beside myself."

I notice a tendency in American culture for women to see their bodies as something outside of their "selves," and even neuter in sex, as when a friend of mine who had cancer (mercifully cured) said "I felt my body had let me down, and I was sort of mad at it." I could never think of my body as neuter, or as an opponent. Neither, I think, could most men. But once a bunch of us were discussing this over lunch; in general, things broke along the above gender lines, but a highly analytic mathematician said he could think of his body as something foreign, while a notably accomplished and talented dancer said she could never imagine such a thing--she was firmly in her definitely gendered body. So experience and culture affect body images and body philosophies. This has been discussed a great deal in recent years. Gibbs wisely avoids getting mired in that endless literature, but I suppose the next stage in embodied cognition is to bring it all in. Meanwhile, everyone interested in cognition or consciousness should read Gibbs' book.

In Embodiment and Cognitive Science, Gibbs (2005) repeatedly drives home the point that cognition is an embodied experience and as such should never be considered as separate from the body. Although the emphasis throughout is on the importance of embodiment, or the understanding of the role of one's body within "everyday, situated cognition" (p. 1), Gibbs does not suggest that this explanation provides "the single foundation for all thought and language" (p. 3), but argues that it is an integral part of how we perceive and interact with the world around us. He avidly critiques the field of cognitive science as often neglecting this integral part and takes the time to explicitly point out examples and rigorous scientific studies that coincide with his position, particularly related to human beings' perception and action, conceptualization of the world around them, the formation and interpretation of imagery, memory, and reasoning, language and communication, cognitive development, and emotional and cognitive states and interactions. Overall, as a doctoral clinical psychology student, I found the book to be extremely informative and thought provoking though it was a bit repetitious and wordy. I will briefly comment on the most helpful aspects of the book, as well as further articulate my criticism of the book.

In general, I feel like Gibbs does an excellent job breaking down the dichotomous split, technically referred to as dualism, that considers the mind and body to be separate and has been asserted for many centuries now. From a budding psychotherapist's perspective not only does he refute this philosophical notion but also lends greater credibility to a more holistic view of the human person. Gibbs is simply not comfortable reducing a person to a collection of neurons being influenced by the neurotransmitters that constantly flow from one to the other. Although he acknowledges this to be an essential part of our human functioning, he also strongly posits that these chemicals and pathways are influenced by one's physical body and their response to and experience of the environmental context. Furthermore, he does an excellent job of pointing out the common human characteristic of having bodies and also articulating that humanity's experience and interpretation of these bodies varies from culture to culture. He specifically points this out in chapter two in discussing different cultures' emphasis on various senses and their subsequent interpretation of the world around them. Essentially, Gibbs successfully straddles the often treacherous fence between the hard and social sciences and attempts to show that these fields do not exist as far apart as one may perceive.

Building on the above and lending further credibility to Gibbs' deconstruction of the strict mind and body split, he consistently illustrates his point by crossing academic disciplines. One discipline integrated throughout the book includes linguistics. For Gibbs, the research within this discipline often provides support for the importance of one's embodiment within time, space, and motion. For example, in chapter four he highlights the example of a tribe of Apache Indians in North America naming the parts of a car based on the parts, and the function thereof, of body parts. Of course, he is also careful to highlight the fact that some, particularly experimental psychologists, would argue that it not sufficient to make behavioral claims based on linguistic formation; however, he just as strongly states that it is not wise to dismiss this type of embodied response as unimportant or non-representational of the way human beings make sense of the world around them. For it is by one utilizing their body within the world that they begin to create overarching templates as to their place within the world and consequently form ideas as to the responses that they consequently come to expect. After all, if we were all to simply be reduced to only our body chemistry would we not see more similarities between one another? Isn't it our experiences observed and carried out from the body that help to influence this biological interaction? Certainly, the field of contemporary neuroscience and relational attachment theory would answer this question in the affirmative. Again, it is about an interactive, open system from which Gibbs is arguing his position not a stagnant, closed position. I would argue that this basic understanding is gradually becoming more understandable from a more postmodern perspective but still faced with the at times rigid, inflexible arguments often posited within a more modern context.

Prior to summarizing my review of this book, I also want to briefly address my critique at the beginning, which suggested that the book is repetitious and wordy. Perhaps it is my perspective as a clinical psychology student that contributes to this critique since I am not one whose primary interest is focused on cognitive science. However, if one is considering utilizing this book as part of a clinical psychology training program, I would be careful to intentionally highlight the purpose of the book and the vantage point from which the writer is coming. I would also infer that the student may be wise to focus on the overarching concepts rather than attempting to understand the more finite nuances consistently emphasized throughout the book. Although these finite nuances are the very substance that help to lend credibility to the author's position they also make up the very material that can make this book somewhat daunting to try and absorb, especially if one has little prior experience with the field of cognitive science.

In closing, I did find the book to be very informative and enriching. For me, as someone who is constantly attempting to see the world from a more holistic perspective, I found the book to actually be refreshing - even in the midst of the redundancy! I feel like the author's point of integrating the mind and body and continuously looking for ways in which to do so is also extremely important within the work of psychotherapy and has caused me to be even more aware of what this may look like as I work with various clients from multiple backgrounds and even more diverse experiences. If you find yourself in the particular field of cognitive science, I see this book as invaluable, and if you find yourself within a particular sphere of the social sciences you are also bound to glean some helpful insights from reading the book, just be sure to keep the above caveats in mind! Enjoy.

The new wave of Cognitive science is solidly put forth by Gibbs in his attempt to begin to open our eyes to a more comprehensive and systemic view of the way we think, learn, perceive, develop language, remember, and interact with the world around us. While this read may be a little dense and slow for lay readers, those working in and around the cognitive sciences will find this book to be a welcome break from the historical view of cognition as its own independent process in the mind, detached from the rest of human experience. Previous views of cognition have likened the cognitive process to that of a computer; sensory information comes into the brain and a series of reactions lead to a predictable behavior. For many people, this type of view fails to encapsulate the breadth and depth of human experience. Gibbs has compiled current cognitive research that supports his idea that cognitive processes occur within a broader framework of the human body, human experience and the surrounding environment.

Gibbs works to uncover how cognition helps people develop their sense of self through touch and movement, and how this process leads people to develop their own subjective experiences. Gibbs also broadens out the view of human perception beyond that of the five senses directly. Gibbs considers that people perceive objects not only as they are, but also as something that can be changed and impacted though their behavior. While the former example includes the impact of imagination on cognition, cognition may also be impacted by using abstract thoughts or metaphors, which Gibbs identifies in the process of using and developing language. Gibbs also incorporates cultural considerations into the cognitive process, another break from traditional cognitive thought. This inclusion of culture considers the significant impact of the environment around us, and the importance of the context in which our cognitive processes develop. Gibbs frames the whole of cognition as " the body engage[ing in] the physical, cultural world [that] must be studied in terms of the dynamical interactions between people and the environment."

This is a refreshing view of cognition and science that reattaches the mind to the body and even takes the next step forward in calling for a shift in the methods used to explore our thoughts and behaviors. Effective future research from Gibbs' perspective of embodied cognitive science will consider cognition in the context of a physical and environmental system and not in isolation. Current science often tends to break pieces of human experiences in to their smallest pieces, but the context, meaning, and true causes and effects of cognitions are lost when isolated from their larger system. If you have a desire to start thinking more holistically about cognition, and do it in a way that is still scientific and supported by research, then Gibb's book is a good place to start.

In the book, the author, Gibbs, attempts to provide a survey of the wide range of theoretical and clinical/experimental data that he believes supports the embodied view of cognition. The embodied view of cognition essentially argues that all aspects of cognition (for example our thoughts and ideas) are actually formed by aspects of our bodies. These bodily aspects would include our perceptual system, our activity and our interaction with our environment, as well as language and communication. In Gibbs' approach towards embodiment, a person's conscious experience of their physical activities plays an essential role in structuring their cognitive processing. Gibbs' overall approach to the subject is extensive. For those interested in the subject such as advanced students and professional clinicians and academics this book would be a valuable resource to add to one's library. Even to those whose main focus is already in the embodied view of cognition, Gibbs' provides enough broad material so that the text would probably provide enough information outside of their own specialized areas for the book to be of interest to even this group.

While I do believe Gibbs' succeeds in presenting an impressive survey of the field, his text is not without its shortcomings. The purpose of the text is not just to gather a bunch of current research and present it to the reader, nor is it to just motivate future research, instead Gibbs takes the current thought and adds to it his own extended argument in support of the embodied view. Gibbs seeks to place the embodied view in a place of prominence in cognitive science (p. 276), and appears to argue that any disembodied view (think Cartesian Dualism; Descartes view) should not even be considered unless an embodied view has first been proven false. Gibbs presentation did not leave me with the same full certainty that he holds regarding this view of cognition. I think part of this was due to the wide scope and variety of the areas surveyed in the text. In trying to offer a concise grounded view instead it appeared as a broad argument for a position that is still trying to find its foundation (to which Gibbs ultimately does not do well). I do believe Gibbs does have a point in that orthodox cognitive science has ignored embodiment in favor of more materialistic perspectives (p. 3), but I'm not too sure if I agree with his idea that if a shift in paradigm were to occur this would cause a renaissance regarding our general understanding of the mind.

Another major problem with the text is that Gibbs appears to favor presenting research that backs up his claims, yet includes very little discussion regarding theoretical issues pertaining to the issues being reviewed. If this text were just a book presenting the latest research this would be less of a problem than it currently is given Gibbs' stated purpose. Gibbs presents results but then fails to make clear what conclusion the results are supposed to support. He also doesn't contrast it with an opposing view that provides conflicting predictions (through he does sometimes offer straw man arguments) and he doesn't show how the embodied view would then handle any criticism regarding the research and conclusions he presents. This is best seen in how he approaches the issue of representation. Gibbs' views at times seem to be almost anti-representational (which denies that we are related to the world in anything other than causal terms), yet despite seeming to flirt with this view he never addresses it. Instead he asserts that his views toward representation are in fact the dominate view (which in my limited knowledge, I don't believe that they are). An example of this is seen on page 16 where he writes that "many cognitive scientists embrace this idea [that human bodies are separate from the external world] by assuming that individuals learn to know the world by re-presenting it to their minds." Anyone who is not familiar with the various arguments could easily assert that what he states is indeed correct. Yet orthodox views do not make any of these claims or presuppositions toward representational structures.

This is just but one highlight of the shortcomings of the text, but I think it best highlights the overarching problem throughout the book. In the end though, I will say that research done through the perspective of the embodied approach does indeed have a lot to offer, and it has the potential to push the field further towards a better understanding of cognitive science, and Gibbs passion will help some pursue this needed research. However, passion can easily lead to shortcomings that in my opinion are becoming all too common in science. By automatically disregarding opposing views and by failing to consider potential (non-straw man) viewpoints and criticisms/objections (and thus not providing potential answers) this can either turn some off to one's perspective before they have the opportunity to finish reading and thus start to consider the potential areas that may offer valid evidence that needs to be taken into consideration (particularly that which conflicts with what they believe), or it will bring in new converts who will then do the same to data from the opposing viewpoints furthering this vicious cycle of dogmatism, that I believe impedes progress in cognitive science.

My ultimate opinion is that, if you're interested in cognition this text offers a broad survey of the embodiment field and is not an overall bad text. However, as with any text, the reader must be aware of areas where the author glosses over theoretical issues, and be aware that he does write from his own embodiment view slant. With that said, I do encourage interested readers to read the book, but then follow-up by reading someone who holds an opposing view in order to gain a fuller picture of the field and the different perspectives that are held.

***Since this is a brief review I did not add references to anything other than the book being reviewed. If you are so interested in references to what I mentioned or would like books or articles of opposing viewpoints. Feel free to contact me. ***

Raymond W. Gibbs, Jr., in his book, Embodiment and Cognitive Science, lays a strong empirical foundation for the role of subjective, bodily experiences in cognition and language. In contrast to Cartesian notions of mind-body dualism which have laid the groundwork for modern scientific research endeavors so foundationally that to challenge them seems to challenge science itself, Gibbs provides an exorbitant amount of seemingly indisputable evidence that the mind must be studied as an embodied entity and that embodiment is a critical part of the processes by which we understand our world.

According to Gibbs, embodiment refers to an understanding of the role of one's own body in the formation of our thoughts and language. He asserts that perception, concepts, mental imagery, memory, reasoning, cognitive development, language, emotion, and consciousness are based in the interactions of how our bodies engage with the physical, cultural world. The mind and body are engaged in a reciprocal relationship with the physical world, mutually influencing one another. This seemingly simplistic, and perhaps even obvious, premise had been lost to Western society since Plato's descriptions of the body and physicality as a "contamination" from which the mind and soul must dissociate as much as possible. Only recently have scholars begun to respect the importance of embodiment in human functioning. Gibbs outlines, chapter by chapter, cognitive function by cognitive function, the implications of recent research that definitively speaks to the dynamic relationship between the embodied mind and the environment, urging the need for scientists to once and for all abandon dualistic approaches to the study of cognition and language.

Gibbs' assertion described above does not only have implications for researchers and armchair scholars, but also contains very practical applications for real world situations. For example, a transcript is presented in chapter eight in which Gibbs highlights the embodied metaphors used by a man to describe the way he feels about his life. Many of us use such "EMOTION IS FORCE" metaphors (e.g., "She was overcome with emotion," "His emotions ran away with him," or "I am all shook up."). Describing emotions in this way as felt movement suggests that embodiment is central to understanding emotional experience. We also use the human body as a metaphor to describe concepts. According to Gibbs, concepts are based on embodied simulations, influenced by the nature of their environmental context. In other words, environment influences the way we perceive and categorize concepts in our world.

From a clinical viewpoint, Embodiment and Cognitive Science may have direct implications and provide insights for those suffering from various mental disorders. For example, an already well-accepted intervention in the treatment of depression is exercise. Those with depressive disorders often complain of feelings of sluggishness, fatigue, and mental slowness or the inability to concentrate. Moving the body appears to correlate with feelings of fitness and mental capability. The sadness a depressed person experiences may be described as a feeling of suffocation, separateness from others, a heavy burden on one's shoulders, etc. Treatment may come through the explicit use of such embodied metaphors, to reframe or reposition oneself in "affective space," the space in which one moves through as they experience distinct emotions. "This idea of affective space is nicely illustrated by considering how we hesitate in advancing when worried, gently blossom when in love, distinctly loiter about when sad or depressed, or suddenly burst forward when feeling outraged" (p. 244).

An interesting area of discussion may be whether or not Gibbs' argument has implications for spirituality and religion. Though Gibbs does not address this topic directly, I find it fascinating to explore how his assertions relate to the body-spirit split long held in Christian theology. Gibbs' dynamical relationship between the mind, body, and environment are reminiscent of Hebraic concepts of the soul as one entity encompassing the mind and body, an accepted view prior to Greek philosophical influences of the mind-body problem. For further exploration on this topic, see Bodies and Souls, or Spirited Bodies? by Nancey C. Murphy or Whatever Happened to the Soul? Scientific and Theological Portraits of Human Nature by Warren Brown, Nancey Murphy, and H. Newton Malony.

Although Embodiment and Cognitive Science contains critical insights to the field of cognitive science, they are difficult to extract from the overly technical and dense nature of this book. Beware, this book is not for those looking for an easy read or introduction to embodiment and/or cognitive science. Rather, it is written for those with sufficient knowledge in the areas of neuroanatomy, philosophy, cognitive science, and psychology. As a graduate student in clinical psychology with some, although limited, experience in cognitive neuropsychology, this book was a difficult and slow read. While Gibbs' extensive listing of empirical evidence to substantiate his premise on embodiment is convincing, it is rather overwhelming for someone who did not need much convincing in the first place.

Embodiment and Cognitive Science by Raymond W. Gibbs, Jr. explores and comments on the area of cognition in terms of interpersonal and environmental impacts rather than the traditional thinking that cognition is simply an internal construct. I felt that the work as a whole was beneficial to my understanding of cognitive science, however this does not come without some criticisms when recommending this book.

Overall, Gibbs does an excellent job explaining and critiquing several complex theories in a very streamline manner. The chapters can essentially be broken down into: a few anecdotal examples of the chapter's topic, then a commentary or explanation of the traditional theory attached to the topic, then empirical evidence supporting Gibbs chapter's thesis and a conclusion that efficiently summarizes the major points of the chapter. This makes the reading go very quickly if the reader is familiar with the subject. One particular example of Gibbs ability to synthesize large amounts of information was his discussion of the traditional view of "concepts". I remember as an undergraduate spending several weeks in a psychology and linguistics class attempting to understand what Gibbs successfully summarizes in roughly a page. Another thing that I really appreciated while reading was the summaries at the end of the chapter. They provided a succinct overview of each chapter and reinforced the major points for the reader. The function of this work is to argue that cognitive scientists need to start thinking systemically and that point comes across well. However, without prior exposure to many of these topics it may be difficult for the reader to engage much with the material. This leads into some of the criticisms of the text.

This book is best suited for someone with at least an elementary knowledge of cognition and linguistics. Without prior knowledge, as other reviewers have pointed out, it is easy to get lost in Gibbs' chapters. Due to the pace at which Gibbs presents theories and research, the neophyte to the study of cognition will find the text difficult. Another criticism is there are so many topics and studies presented those who are familiar with the material may find that there is not enough depth in any one aspect of cognition. Finally, a grievance with the book that may be petty is that many of the studies are slightly dated. Especially the studies that involve technology such as robotics. The most recent study presented in the book was from 2003.While this was cutting edge at the time of the publication, another edition with updated studies would have been nice.

In summary, Embodiment and Cognitive Science may be too difficult for the lay person and not in-depth enough for the audience who this book likely targets. I believe the points Gibbs present are important for those in the field, I just wish he would have done it in a way that was either more accessible or more in-depth.

Gibbs sets out to show the reader that "the ways that perception, concepts, mental imagery, memory, reasoning, cognitive development, language, emotion, and consciousness have, to varying extents, groundings in embodiment" (p. 9) by the use of what he calls the `embodiment premise'. This premise presupposes that cognition happens when the body interacts with the "physical, cultural" world, so cognition must be studied by examining interactions and relationships between the mind and body, person and environment. Gibbs further extends his theory of embedment by exploring how language and cognitive linguistics expresses human experience by utilizing the manner in which humans conceptualize their bodily experiences. He combines tangible, relatable examples with extensive research of history, literature, philosophy, and sciences to support and explain his points. Gibbs is not saying the mind-body connection is the be all, end all of this book, but that it is important to explore how human bodily and sensory experience influence the way people perceive and express themselves, which in turns affect the way people conceptualize and communicate with others.

I respect that Gibbs delineates his ideas and viewpoints, supporting them with evidence, while keeping an open mind to that in his field that he may not understand or have explored as thoroughly. I particularly enjoyed how he connects how language, grammar, and emotion are influenced by human bodily and sensory experience, especially exploring how culture affects what sensory experiences are emphasized. The section about how American Sign Language (ASL) signs utilize the same space and dimension as language similar concepts was very interesting. However, Gibbs' interesting examples and ideas are muddled by the sheer amount of wordiness and language that made it difficult to read quickly. This does not seem to be a book for beginners unless it is broken down for easier comprehension; still, this tough read can result in great insights if one takes the time to process the information. Overall, this book offers thoughtful ideas and has made me more conscious of how embodiment saturates many aspects of cognition.

Embodiment and Cognitive Science by Raymond W. Gibbs, Jr.

Review by GAlvarado

September 28, 2010

If you are looking for a book that gathers a surmountable amount of research in order to posit that cognitive science needs to account for, and incorporate explanations of the embodied cognitive experience and not reduce cognitive psychology and its mental processes to thought that is disconnected from our bodily experiences, then this is your book. If you are looking for an exciting easy read, this is not your book. Granted, Gibbs does an amazing job illustrating and proving his point of an embodied cognitive experience through the mass amount of empirical evidence he provides the reader with. It is still a rough read due to the nature of the topic and the redundancy. Gibbs' passion for the topic can be felt over and over again with each illustration. This type of redundancy may be good for the reader that does not get the point the first few go-arounds. A few illustrations per point would have sufficed for me personally.

Given that, Gibbs does in fact make good points for the consideration and not exclusion of an embodied cognitive science. Gibbs illustrates empirical evidence as well as our everyday experiences with our body, thoughts, and language that anyone would be able to relate to, as evidence and proof for, at least the inclusion of our embodied experiences into the further study and understanding of cognitive science. Gibbs states at the start of his book that cognitive science has been neglectful of embodiment in constructing theories of perception, cognition, and language. He reasons that denial of the body when considering human thought has been part of the Western intellectual tradition since the times of the ancient Greeks (p. 3), which is probably why he felt he needed to make so many of his points.

If I had to choose the most convincing part of his argument that stands out the most to me, it would have to be when he describes our language as embodied, meaning that our language, in itself, many times carries with it implied or imagined movement. For example, the comment, "My mind was racing" implies that our thinking was moving, or "He was forced to accept that plan" implies that reason is a force. These statements illustrate how our language and our processing of that language shows movement that we would have knowledge of through our own bodily experiences. Gibbs even points out, as does some of the literature surrounding cognition, that if we are asked to imagine moving our hands, the motor cortex in our brain actually becomes responsive, even though this is just an imagined task. Movement appears even in our imagery. Another good example that pops out to me is when Gibbs mentions a study in which participants are shown a small balloon and a large balloon. They are later asked which one would be easiest to inflate. In order to answer that question one must think back to prior experiences and recall from remembering their bodily sensations and perceptions, which balloon may actually be easiest to inflate.

Granted Gibbs was a tough reed, he really does get his point across. It makes one begin to notice just how much of our cognition actually has some foundation or base in our embodied experiences.

Gibbs call to the scientific community is not to divorce cognition from our bodily and phenomenological experiences of our bodies, but to recognize that our mind and body are deeply intertwined. He hopes that the scientific community will not shut out the idea of an embodied cognitive science, but actually look for more instances that illustrate how embodiment cuts across the many areas of cognitive science research, including perception/action, concepts, mental imagery, memory, language, development, and consciousness (p. 275).

This book is aimed mainly at workers in the field and in related aspects of brain functioning. It is solid, important and well worth reading.

For the ones who are interested in learning more about the relation between body and mind and how our language is influenced by this relation, in this book Gibbs shows a lot of evidence that support this relation.