Dear all,

We would like to invite you to the following talk by Bálint Forgács, organized as part of the ELTE Cognitive Seminar series.

Time and date: 16:00 (CET), Thursday, 24. 06. 2021. 

Speaker: Bálint Forgács

Title:  Why embodiment cannot become a full-fledged model of cognition

Abstract: Embodied cognition has become a highly influential model in the past two decades not only of the neural implementation of language but that of "high-level" cognition as well. Research findings supporting the theory, however, do not stand on firm grounds, as truly decisive experiments and data have not been published. First, I am going to provide an overview of the most pressing theoretical concerns with the theory, such as the question of its novelty (e.g., the eternal debate of imageless thought), its associationist stance with respect to neurocognitive functioning, and its falsifiability (as it often offers axioms instead of hypotheses). Next, I am going to review the limits of the available neuroscientific data (e.g., the automaticity of early sensorimotor activations). Then, I am going to argue, based on my recent findings, that the neural processing of metaphor do not support the proposal of embodiment that abstract thought is enabled by metaphorical mappings of concrete, sensorimotor experience. Even though research into the embodied nature of cognition brought some important results (the influences between "low-" and "high-level" cognition), it does not have the firepower to become a self-sufficient, comprehensive model of cognition. The conclusion might be less surprising given that its theoretical innovations, at least from an information-processing perspective, are mostly neo-behaviorist frequency and association based models in new clothes - which meant a step backwards from models conceptualizing brain and cognition by assuming abstract, symbolic, algebraic operations.

Zoom link: https://ppk-elte-hu.zoom.us/j/97865084088?pwd=VlFydGpNL1pnMWNUUlpqNHgrQXBrdz09 Meeting ID: 978 6508 4088 Passcode: 183065

The talk will be recorded. You can find the privacy notice here: http://bit.ly/Privacy-Notice_ELTE-Cognitive-Seminar 

We look forward to seeing you at the event,

Zsuzsanna Nemecz

Réka Schvajda

organizers

ELTE Department of Cognitive Psychology