Embodiment

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Embodiment ( German : embodiment, incarnation or embodiment) is a thesis from the more recent cognitive science , according to which consciousness needs a body, i.e. requires a physical interaction. This view is contrary to the classical interpretation of consciousness (especially in the sense of cognitivism and computational theories) and is seen as a fundamental turning point in cognitive science.

concept

The embodiment's understanding of cognition corresponds roughly to what is now known about the process of perception : Perception is therefore not a process of mapping sensory stimuli onto an internal model of the world, but rather a sensorimotor coordination that always occurs in the overall concept of an acting being. It is referred to as a complete agent by AI research .

More generally, embodiment is increasingly used in psychology (especially social psychology and clinical psychology ) to emphasize the interaction between body and psyche. It is not only the case that psychological states are expressed in the body (“ non-verbal ” as gestures , facial expressions , prosody , posture), there are also effects in the opposite direction: body states influence psychological states. For example, postures taken for any reason have an impact on cognition (e.g. judgments, attitudes) and emotionality .

These theses have long been advocated in sociology and social psychology, as well as by some theoretical biologists. Thus, by Jakob von Uexküll developed since 1909 an "Environmental Studies" is dependent on a functional circuit after the perception, for both "active members" (the musculoskeletal system) as well as sensory and "Wish organs" are constitutive (see. Also own movement (Anthropology) ). The theories of George Herbert Mead and from the body phenomenology Maurice Merleau-Ponty , Hermann Schmitz and social phenomenology Alfred Schütz can also serve as a basis. In more recent discussions, this knowledge was rediscovered through sociological practice theories (cf. Pierre Bourdieu and Anthony Giddens ) or theories in the course of the social-theoretical practice turn .

A link between the concepts can be found in the activity theory of the cultural-historical school of Soviet psychology, which was inspired by Vygotsky and founded by Leontjew and which was developed in Germany v. a. became known through Klaus Holzkamp's Critical Psychology . The interpretative video analysis in workplace studies, which represent the theoretical approach of ethnomethodology , also dealt intensively with the concept of embodiment as early as the 1980s. In the field of psychotherapy and body therapies, Hilarion G. Petzold has represented a consistent embodiment approach with the integrative movement and body therapy that he founded, which sees the person as a body subject embedded in the world (embodied and embedded). In the background are ideas by Maurice Merleau-Ponty , Alexander Lurija and Lev Wygotski . The reception and interiorization of information from the ecological and social world by the “total sensory organ of the body” makes the human being an “informed body” that embodies world conditions. If there are negative and stressful embodiments that are stored in body memory, psychological and psychosomatic disorders can be the result. In therapy, they require corrective embodiment through new, healing body experiences, an approach that is well supported by modern interoception research.

Six Views on Embodiment

Margaret Wilson formulated six perspectives on the embodiment:

1. Cognition is situated / located

"Cognitive activity takes place in the context of a real environment and includes perception and action". Situated cognition is understood to be cognitions that take place in the context of task-relevant inputs and outputs. So z. For example, while a cognitive process is being carried out, additional perceptual information is recorded, which in turn influences the processing. In addition, motor activities are carried out that influence the environment with regard to the relevant task. An example of a cognitive activity that is situated is driving a car, in which the cognitive system of the perceiving person constantly picks up new input from the environment while driving.

2. Cognition is under time pressure

Because situated cognitions run in real time, they are under time pressure. A metaphor that illustrates this fact is the so-called “representational bottleneck”. In situations where quick and continuously evolving responses are required, there may not be enough time to construct a full mental model of the environment from which actions for action can be derived. Efficient mechanisms are therefore required in order to be able to produce situation-appropriate actions even under time pressure. One argument is that people are “built” in such a way that they can circumvent this “representational bottleneck” and are able to function well even in situations under time pressure.

3. We offload cognitive work on the environment

Due to the limitations of the human information processing system (limitations of attention and working memory) it makes sense to use different strategies to reduce the cognitive load in certain situations. With new tasks, the cognitive load can be reduced by using the environment strategically. Information in the environment, e.g. B. in the form of calendars or computer files, which can be accessed when required. This eliminates the need for complete encoding of this information.

4. The environment is part of the cognitive system

Some authors, based on the knowledge that the body and the environment play a role in cognitive activity, make an even stronger claim. They assume that cognition is not just an activity of the mind, but is distributed over the entire situation, i.e. includes both the mind and the body and the natural and cultural environment as well as other people. This means that the cognitive activity of an individual comes not only from their head, but also from the socio-cultural environment in which the person is located. Thus, cognitive activity is always dependent on the situation in which we are. This leads to the conclusion that the situation and the perceiving person are to be examined together as a uniform system (distributed cognition).

5. Cognition is for action

Cognitive mechanisms are viewed in terms of their functions and the purpose they serve. In the case of visual perception, the traditional assumption is that the purpose of the visual system is to establish an internal representation of the perceived world. A distinction is made between the ventral visual path (“what”) and the dorsal visual path (“where”). These two paths generate the representations of the object structure and the spatial relationships of objects. The function lies in visually supported actions such as reaching and grabbing. In line with this point of view, a study by Craighero et al. (1997) found that certain types of visual input can prime motor activity . Seeing a rectangle with a certain orientation made a subsequent motorized gripping task easier if the object to be gripped had the same orientation of the rectangle.

Embodiment in image science and art

The research project Image Act and Embodiment at the Humboldt University in Berlin built a bridge between philosophical embodiment theory and image science . A central thesis of the project is that “the whole body perceives”. The research project examines, among other things, embodiment practices and theories in aesthetics and art; For example, the artist Stephan von Huene dealt with embodiment theories in his sound art works .

See also

literature

  • Shaun Gallagher: How the Body Shapes the Mind . New York: Oxford University Press 2005, ISBN 978-0-19-920416-8 .
  • Storch M, Cantieni B, Hüther G, Tschacher W (2010, 3rd ed.). Embodiment. Understand and use the interaction between body and mind. Bern: Huber. ISBN 978-3-456-85816-6 .
  • Sabine Koch: Embodiment. The influence of self-movement on affect, attitude and cognition. Experimental basics and clinical applications. Berlin: Logos 2011.
  • Andy Clark: Being There: Putting Brain, Body, and World Together Again. Bradford Book, 1998, ISBN 978-0-262-53156-6 .
  • Mark Johnson: The Body in the Mind: The Bodily Basis of Meaning, Imagination, and Reason. Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago / London 1987, ISBN 0-226-40318-1 .
  • George Lakoff , Mark Johnson: Philosophy in the Flesh , Basic Books, 1999, ISBN 978-0-465-05674-3 .
  • Louise Barrett: Beyond the Brain. How Body and Environment Shape Animal and Human Minds. Princeton University Press, 2011
  • Maurice Merleau-Ponty : Phenomenology of Perception . Translated by Rudolf Boehm, Berlin: de Gruyter 1966.
  • Rolf Pfeifer and Josh C. Bongard: How the Body Shapes the Way We Think. A New View of Intelligence . Cambridge: MIT Press 2006, ISBN 978-0-262-16239-5 .
  • Alexis Ruccius: Sound Art as Embodiment , Frankfurt am Main 2019, ISBN 978-3-96505-000-6 .
  • Evan Thompson : Mind in Life. Biology, Phenomenology, and the Sciences of Mind . Harvard University Press, Cambridge / London 2007, ISBN 978-0-674-02511-0 .
  • Francisco Varela , Evan Thompson and Eleanor Rosch : The Embodied Mind. Cognitive Science and Human Experience . Cambridge: MIT Press 1991.
  • Markus Wild , Rebekka Hufendiek and Joerg Fingerhut (eds.): Philosophy of Embodiment: Basic Texts for a Current Debate . Suhrkamp pocket book science 2060, Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-518-29660-8 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wolfgang Tschacher and Maja Storch: The importance of embodiment for psychology and psychotherapy (PDF; 1.0 MB) , in Psychotherapy 17th year 2012, vol. 17, issue 2
  2. ↑ Jakob Uexküll and Georg Kriszat: "Forays through the environments of animals and people - A picture book of invisible worlds / theory of meaning." Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag. Frankfurt am Main 1983, p. 16. On the anticipation of embodiment by Uexküll's functional group Frank Schneider: “Positions of Psychiatry.” Springer, 2011, ISBN 3-642-25475-6 , p. 256.
  3. ^ Theodore R. Schatzki, Karin Knorr-Cetina , Eike von Savigny (eds.): The Practice Turn in Contemporary Theory . Routledge, London 2001.
  4. ↑ Petzold, HG: Integrative movement therapy. In: Petzold, HG (Ed.): Psychotherapy and body dynamics . Junfermann, Paderborn 1974, p. 285-404 .
  5. ^ Petzold, HG; Sieper, J .: "Body" as "Informed Body" embodied and embedded - body-soul-spirit-world relationships in integrative therapy. Sources and concepts on the “psychophysical problem” and body therapy practice. In: Petzold, HG (Hrsg.): The images of people in psychotherapy. Interdisciplinary perspectives and the models of the therapy schools. Krammer Verlag, Vienna 2012, p. 243–321 ( fpi-publikation.de [PDF]).
  6. ↑ Petzold, HG: Body-soul-spirit-world relationships in integrative therapy. The “informed body”, the “psychophysical problem” and practice. Ed .: Psychological Medicine. tape 1 . Graz, S. 20–33 ( fpi-publikation.de ).
  7. ^ Petzold, HG: The body subject as an "informed body" - embodied and embedded. Body memory and performative synchronizations. Ed .: POLYLOGE: Materials from the European Academy for Psychosocial Health. tape 07 . Düsseldorf / Hückeswagen 2002 (2002 http://www.fpi-publikation.de/polyloge/alle-expenses/07-2002-petzold-hg-der-informierte-leib.html ).
  8. ↑ Craig, AD: The sentient self. Ed .: Brain Struct. Funct. tape 214 , p. 563-577 .
  9. ^ Petzold, HG; Orth, I .: Epitome. POLYLOGUE IN INTEGRATIVE THERAPY: "Mentalizations and Empathy", "Embodiments and Interoception". In: Petzold, HG, Leeser, B., Klempnauer, E. (Ed.): When language heals. Handbook for poetry and bibliotherapy, biography work, creative writing. Aisthesis Verlag, Bielefeld 2017, p. 885-971 .
  10. ^ Margaret Wilson: Six views of embodied cognition . In: Psychonomic Bulletin & Review . tape 9 , no. 4 , December 2002, ISSN  1069-9384 , p. 625–636 , doi : 10.3758 / bf03196322 ( springer.com [PDF; accessed July 5, 2018]).
  11. ↑ Laila Craighero, Luciano Fadiga, Carlo A. Umiltà, Giacomo Rizzolatti: Evidence for visuomotor priming effect . In: NeuroReport . tape 8 , no. 1 , December 1996, ISSN  0959-4965 , p. 347-349 , doi : 10.1097 / 00001756-199612200-00068 ( amazonaws.com [PDF; accessed July 6, 2018]).
  12. ↑ Kolleg research group Image Act and Embodiment , Humboldt University Berlin, website.
  13. ↑ Alexis Ruccius: Sound Art as Embodiment. The kinetic sound sculptures Stephan von Huenes , Frankfurt am Main 2019, ISBN 978-3-96505-000-6 .