The Embodiment of Concepts

Theoretical Perspectives and the Role of Predictive Processing

Bibliographic Data

ID23618090
AuthorsMichiel Van Elk (0000-0002-7631-3551, Leiden University), Harold Bekkering (0000-0001-8957-4817, Radboud University Nijmegen)
Year2018
Pages641-660
Publication date2018-10-09
Open AccessNo
TypeCHAPTER
VenueThe Oxford Handbook of 4E Cognition (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198735410.013.34
OpenAlexW2895951943
ISBN9780198735410
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited4

We characterize theories of conceptual representation as embodied, disembodied, or hybrid according to their stance on a number of different dimensions: the nature of concepts, the relation between language and concepts, the function of concepts, the acquisition of concepts, the representation of concepts, and the role of context. We propose to extend an embodied view of concepts, by taking into account the importance of multimodal associations and predictive processing. We argue that concepts are dynamically acquired and updated, based on recurrent processing of prediction error signals in a hierarchically structured network. Concepts are thus used as prior models to generate multimodal expectations, thereby reducing surprise and enabling greater precision in the perception of exemplars. This view places embodied theories of concepts in a novel predictive processing framework, by highlighting the importance of concepts for prediction, learning and shaping categories on the basis of prediction errors.

Cognitive science · Context (archaeology) · Embodied cognition · Epistemology · Human–computer interaction · Perception · Relation (database) · Representation (politics) · Surprise · Artificial Intelligence · Communication · Computer Science · Language and cultural evolution · Psychology

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