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Perspectives on Abstract Concepts: Cognition, language and communication
Edited by Marianna Bolognesi and Gerard J. Steen
[Human Cognitive Processing 65] 2019
► pp. 75–99

Chapter 4
Are abstract concepts grounded in bodily mimesis?

In this chapter I address the role of mental simulations for processing and representing abstract concepts, suggesting that abstract concepts are grounded in mimetic schemas: dynamic, concrete and preverbal representations that have been observed in early childhood development. The analysis is based on recordings of gesture and speech of a congenitally blind child gathered over the course of three years. The child displayed an early preference for using mimetic strategies to explain abstract concepts but drifted toward more language-centered strategies as she grew older. Through behavioral data collected in a case-study, I provide empirical evidence to support the hypothesis that embodied mental simulation play a crucial role in abstract concepts’ cognitive grounding.

Keywords: blindness, bodily mimesis, conceptual development, embodied simulations, gesture, mental simulations
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.How do concepts get their meaning?
    • 2.1Are abstract concepts amodal?
    • 2.2Mental simulations: Meaning construction inside and outside the body
      • 2.2.1Concepts and language
      • 2.2.2Concepts and sensory perception
      • 2.2.3Concepts and action
      • 2.2.4Concepts and emotion
    • 2.3Experiential evidence for mental simulations
  • 3.Are abstract concepts grounded in bodily mimesis?
    • 3.1Situated cognition – concepts in context
    • 3.2Bodily mimesis, mimetic schemas and concepts
    • 3.3Mimesis vs. mental simulation
    • 3.4Finding mimesis
  • 4.Method
  • 5.Analysis
    • 5.1Gestures
    • 5.2Mimetic behavior
  • 6.Results
    • 6.1To mime or not to mime: Explanations of abstract concepts
      • 6.1.1Cross-modality
      • 6.1.2Representation
      • 6.1.3Volition
      • 6.1.4Communicative function
    • 6.2Intersubjectivity
  • 7.Discussion
  • 8.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 6 June 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.65.05jel
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