Abstract
Empirical attempts to understand connections between abstract cognition and sensori-motor processes have pointed toward an embodied view of cognition, where cognitive activity is strongly tied to sensori-motor activity. Here the authors test the ability of the cognitive system to impose structure on the world using a well-established phenomenon in spatial cognition--biases near spatial category boundaries. Results from 5 experiments suggest that participants were unable to mentally impose a spatial category boundary without perceptual support, even when explicitly instructed to do so. The authors conclude by considering the implications of these findings for abstraction within other domains of cognition.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 871-894 |
Number of pages | 24 |
Journal | Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance |
Volume | 33 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Aug 2007 |