MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'embodied cognition'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:39:47 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028486&cid=t_172912_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F07%2F14%2Fu-cant-touch-this%2F Look around and you will see countless examples of how we conceptualize luck as following the “logic of contagion”: the star baseball player who refuses to change his socks during his record-breaking hitting streak; the basketball player who takes a shower during halftime of a playoff game after going 0-12 from the field; the students rubbing the foot of a lucky statute on their way to a big exam. Luck, good or bad, seems to have a certain “stickiness.” Over the weekend my friend Norbert Schwarz sent me a fascinating new article that he has just published with Alison Jing Xu and Rami Zwick in the Journal of Experimental Psychology that investigates this very phenomenon.  The abstract of the paper appears below: Many superstitious practices entail the belief that good or bad luck c... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028486 Thu, 14 Jul 2011 18:48:08 +0100 5028486 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4934367&cid=t_172912_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F06%2F13%2Ftanya-chartrand-on-social-mimicry%2F From The Human Spark: Obvious mimicry can be maddening – as the “Stop copying me!” refrain screamed by generations of siblings can attest. But in this Web-Exclusive Video, Alan Alda learns that subtle mimicry in social situations can actually lead to positive emotions and behaviors. Duke University psychologist Tanya Chartrand enlists Alan as a participant in her research. Watch this clip to learn about social mimicry – and why you can’t expect an actor not to always have the best interests of the camera in mind! Related Situationist posts: The Embodied Situation of Power “The Situational Power of Appearance and Posture,” “The Situation of Imitation and Mimickry,” “The Situation of Trust,” “The Situation of Body Image,” “The (Unconscious) Situation of... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4934367 Mon, 13 Jun 2011 04:01:48 +0100 4934367 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4636555&cid=t_172912_122_f&fid=36506&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FBrainSciencePodcastBlog%2F%7E3%2F2MrgmzutFLQ%2Fembodied-cognition-with-lawrence-shapiro-bsp-73.html Discussion) Brooks, R. (1991) "New Approaches to Robotics," Science 253: 1227-32. Brooks, R. (1991) "Intelligence without Representation," Artificial Intelligence 47: 139-59. Clark, A. and Chalmer, D. (1998) "The Extended Mind." Analysis 58: 7-19. Glenberg, A. and Kaschak, M. (2002) "Grounding Lanquage in Action," Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 9: 558-65. Ehrlich, S., Levine, S., and Golden-Meadows, S. (2006) "The Importance of Gesture in Children's Spatial Reasoning," Developmental Psychology 42: 1259-68. Thelan, E. and Smith,L. (1994) A Dynamical Systems Approach to the Development of Cognition and Action (Cambridge: MIT Press) See Episode Transcript for additional references.  Subscribe to the Brain Science Podcast: Annoucements:   Join the discussion of this episode in... the Brain Science Podcast and Blog with Dr. Ginger Campbell blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4636555 Fri, 25 Mar 2011 11:00:06 +0100 4636555 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4631522&cid=t_172912_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F03%2F25%2Fpsychology-of-inequality%2F Elaine McCardle wrote a terrific review of last month’s Fifth Annual PLMS Conference.  Her article is the spotlight piece on the Harvard Law School website and includes several excellent videos, photos, and links.  Here’s the story. * * * While equality is a fundamental principle of American law and the bedrock of the national psyche, inequality has actually increased in the past four decades in the distribution of wealth, power, opportunity, even health. Yet the topic of inequality has received relatively little attention from legal theorists, and, for the most part, it is ignored in the basic law school curriculum. A conference last month at HLS, “The Psychology of Inequality,” presented by the Project on Law & Mind Sciences (PLMS), stepped into that vacuum, bringi... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4631522 Fri, 25 Mar 2011 04:01:28 +0100 4631522 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4419211&cid=t_172912_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F01%2F31%2Fsituationism-in-the-news-14%2F From Boston Globe (by Kevin Lewis): The Brand-Name Ego Boost: Researchers found that using a generic (vs. brand name) product undermines self-esteem. In one experiment, university students were asked to type out a resume, ostensibly for a recruiting event. Students used an Apple iMac to type their resumes and were told that the keyboard and mouse were new. Some students, though, were told that the keyboard and mouse were generic parts — to save money. The students who used the generic keyboard reported expecting a lower salary.  More . . . Lower stress through writing: Researchers at the University of Chicago have shown that expressive writing before a test can boost scores.  More . . . Higher ground: Everyone assumes that heaven is high above the ground somewhere, while hell is down... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4419211 Mon, 31 Jan 2011 04:06:43 +0100 4419211 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4272369&cid=t_172912_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F12%2F20%2Fwhen-salsa-is-more-than-salsa%2F Ask anyone in legal academia about the annual U.S. News rankings and you will undoubtedly hear a long list of complaints about how they fail to capture the strengths and weaknesses of schools, encourage deans to invest in the wrong things, and offer little true insight for prospective students. Yet no one has managed to articulate a feasible plan for breaking free from their choke hold and so nearly every law school in the country plays the rankings game to one degree or another, whether it is hiring experts to help increase incoming LSAT scores or sending out glossy brochures to the chosen few who vote on faculty reputation scores. A few weeks ago, however, Brooklyn Law School took things to a new level by sending out . . . spicy salsa! As my colleague, Dan Filler, argued over at the Facu... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4272369 Mon, 20 Dec 2010 04:01:37 +0100 4272369 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4266009&cid=t_172912_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2FXmynFlO5_uU%2F David DiSalvo, a science and technology writer whose posts we share with you regularly, has just published his selection of the 2010 psychology studies really worth knowing about. A great tour of the brain and psychology that leads us from how many of our waking hours are dedicated to day dreaming, how the impression we are trying to give when meeting someone influences how we evaluate the other person, to how a confident posture gives a biochemical advantage that increases feelings of power and tolerance of risk. Enjoy! (Source: SharpBrains) SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4266009 Fri, 17 Dec 2010 16:45:35 +0100 4266009 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4040620&cid=t_172912_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F10%2F07%2Fthe-embodied-situation-of-power%2F From LiveScience: * * * When suiting up with that “power tie,” you may also want to strike a pose — a power pose, that is. New research indicates that holding a pose that opens up a person’s body and takes up space will alter hormone levels and make the person feel more powerful and more willing to take risks. “These poses actually make you more powerful,” said study researcher Amy C.J. Cuddy, a social psychologist at the Harvard Business School. The opposite also proved true: Constrictive postures lowered a person’s sense of power and willingness to take risks. Cuddy teaches the results of the study to her students. . . . * * * In the study, researchers randomly assigned 42 participants, 26 of them women, to assume and hold a pair of either low- or high-power poses. The hig... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4040620 Thu, 07 Oct 2010 04:01:42 +0100 4040620 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3934518&cid=t_172912_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F09%2F05%2Fthe-situational-effects-of-mirror-neurons%2F From TEDxTalks: Gustaf Gredebäck is an Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology, Uppsala University where he manages the Uppsala Babylab. His research span several topics including occulomotor development, social cognition, and object representations in infancy. Central to his research is the active infant, that perceive, interpret, and interact with his/her physical and social environment in a goal directed and future oriented manner. * * * * * * For a sample of related Situationist posts, see “A (Situationist) Body of Thought,” “Smart People Thinking about People Thinking about People Thinking,” “A Closer Look at Interior Situation,” “The Unconscious Situation of our Consciousness – Part IV,” “The Body Has a Mind of its Own,” and “Br... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3934518 Sun, 05 Sep 2010 04:01:25 +0100 3934518 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3794858&cid=t_172912_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F07%2F28%2Fthe-future-of-embodied-cogntion%2F I have just returned from the fabulous Barnard Interdisciplinary Workshop on Embodiment. The three-day workshop, funded by the National Science Foundation, brought together 23 experts from across the cognitive sciences and humanities—including George Lakoff, Larry Barsalou, and Vittorio Gallese—to plan and discuss the future of the rapidly growing field. I was lucky enough to participate as a representative from legal academia and I must say that I am more convinced than ever that embodiment research is set to revolutionize a number of disciplines both inside the mind sciences and without. In the coming weeks, I hope to bring more new work from embodied cognition to the Situationist, so find those soft slippers, put the tea kettle on, and sit back in a comfy chair . . . * * * For a sam... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3794858 Wed, 28 Jul 2010 04:01:41 +0100 3794858 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3761492&cid=t_172912_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F07%2F17%2Fthe-situation-of-practice%2F From USC News: Struggling with your chip shot? Constant drills with your wedge may not help much, but mixing in longer drives will, and a new study shows why. Previous studies have shown that variable practice improves the brain’s memory of most skills better than practice focused on a single task. Cognitive neuroscientists at USC and UCLA describe the neural basis for this paradox in a new study in Nature Neuroscience. The researchers split 59 volunteers into six groups: three groups were asked to practice a challenging arm movement, while the other three groups practiced the movement and related tasks in a variable practice structure. Volunteers in the variable practice group showed better retention of the skill. The process of consolidating memory of the skill engaged a part of the br... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3761492 Sat, 17 Jul 2010 04:01:44 +0100 3761492 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3724486&cid=t_172912_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F07%2F05%2Fthe-situation-of-touch%2F From Situationist Contributor John Bargh’s ACME Lab: Sitting in a hard chair can literally turn someone into a hardass. Holding a heavy clipboard leads to weighty decisions. Rubbing rough surfaces makes us prickly. So found researchers studying the interaction between physical touch and social cognition. The experiments included would-be car buyers who, when seated in a cushy chair, were less likely to drive a stiff bargain. The findings don’t just suggest tricks for salesman, but may illuminate how our brains develop. “The way people understand the world is through physical experiences. The first sense they develop is touch,” said study co-author Josh Ackerman, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology psychologist. As they grow up, those physical experiences shape how people co... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3724486 Mon, 05 Jul 2010 04:48:24 +0100 3724486 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3742323&cid=t_172912_122_f&fid=35077&url=http%3A%2F%2Fneurophilosophy.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F06%2F25%2Ftouch_influences_social_judgements_and_decisions%2F APPLYING for a job? The weight of the clipboard to which your CV is attached may influence your chances of getting it. Negotiating a deal? Sitting in a hard chair may lead you to drive a harder bargain. Those are two of the surprising conclusions of a study published in today’s issue of Science, which [...] (Source: Neurophilosophy) Neurophilosophy blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3742323 Fri, 25 Jun 2010 09:05:29 +0100 3742323 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3629708&cid=t_172912_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F06%2F04%2Fthe-situational-influence-of-red-ink%2F Last week, NPR’s All Things Considered included a story by Guy Raz about California psychology professor Abraham Rutchick‘s study of how people use red and blue pens to grade papers. Rutchick tells host Raz that the red graders were way tougher than those who used blue pens.  Here are some excerpts from the interview (which you can listen at this link). * * * GUY RAZ, host: Tell me how you went about studying this theory. Prof. RUTCHICK: The basic idea is that throughout our lives we get papers handed back to us from teachers with a bunch of corrections on them, and typically they’re in red ink. * * * Prof. RUTCHICK: That happens enough times over the course of our lives that the idea of red ink and red pens and error is in correction, you know, gets sort of lodged in ou... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3629708 Fri, 04 Jun 2010 15:18:40 +0100 3629708 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3742327&cid=t_172912_122_f&fid=35077&url=http%3A%2F%2Fneurophilosophy.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F05%2F27%2Fapparent_motion_steer_the_wandering_mind%2F A new study shows that apparent motion influence the direction of mental time travel (Source: Neurophilosophy) Neurophilosophy blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3742327 Thu, 27 May 2010 12:00:35 +0100 3742327 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3556174&cid=t_172912_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F05%2F11%2Fthe-situational-effects-of-hand-washing%2F NPR’s Morning Edition had a recent story (by Nell Greenfieldboyce) about research on the effects of hand-washing.  Here are some excerpts. * * * Soaping up your hands may do more than just get rid of germs. It may scrub away the inner turmoil you feel right after being forced to make a choice between two appealing options. That’s according to a new study on the psychological effects of hand washing in the journal Science. The study builds on past research into a phenomenon known as “the Macbeth effect.” It turns out that Shakespeare was really onto something when he imagined Lady Macbeth trying to clean her conscience by rubbing invisible bloodstains from her hands. A few years ago, scientists asked people to describe a past unethical act. If people were then given... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3556174 Tue, 11 May 2010 16:55:24 +0100 3556174 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3479740&cid=t_172912_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F04%2F17%2Fembodied-rationality%2F Barbara Spellman and  Simone Schnall recently posted their fascinating paper, Embodied Rationality, on SSRN.  Here’s the abstract. * * * In the last decade, many cognitive and social psychology researchers have been inspired by the notion of “embodied cognition” – that cognition is grounded in actual bodily states, and that cognition takes place in the service of action. Consider two examples: (1) when wearing a backpack people perceive hills to be steeper than when not wearing one; (2) when holding a cup containing a hot drink people rate another person as more warm and friendly than when holding a cup containing a cold drink. Findings such as these suggest that behavioral law and economics’s emphasis on “irrationality” in decision making could bene... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3479740 Sat, 17 Apr 2010 04:20:27 +0100 3479740 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3239637&cid=t_172912_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F02%2F04%2Fthe-embodied-cognition-bonanza%2F I am excited to be back after a two-month stint guest blogging at Concurring Opinions and I thought I’d jump right in on the matter of “embodied cognition.” Tuesday morning, I opened up the New York Times to find yet another popular article taking up the topic.  While I continue to be happy to see “embodied cognition fever” catching among the nation’s journalists, I worry ever-so-slightly that the rush to bring the fascinating research to the public may ultimately have negative consequences. I have been interested in embodied cognition for a while and have had students in my Law and Mind Science course read some of the work in the field the last two years I taught the seminar.  That led me to present some of my thoughts about the implications of the work for law last year at ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3239637 Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:28:43 +0100 3239637 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3197729&cid=t_172912_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F01%2F22%2Fthe-embodied-situation-of-metaphors%2F In the current issue of  Observer, the magazine of the Association of Psychological Science, Barbara Isanski and Catherine wrote a great article, “The Body of Knowledge” summarizing the growing field of embodied cognition.  Here are some excerpts. * * * The cold shoulder. A heavy topic. A heroic white knight. We regularly use concrete, sensory-rich metaphors like these to express abstract ideas and complicated emotions. But a growing body of research is suggesting that these metaphors are more than just colorful literary devices — there may be an underlying neural basis that literally embodies these metaphors. Psychological scientists are giving us more insight into embodied cognition — the notion that the brain circuits responsible for abstract thinking are closely tied ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3197729 Fri, 22 Jan 2010 05:58:11 +0100 3197729 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1416673&cid=t_172912_122_f&fid=36506&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FBrainSciencePodcastBlog%2F%7E3%2F282183434%2F Discussion Forum Audience Survey Subscribe via iTunes™ Subscribe in a reader or podcatcher Subscribe to Brain Science Podcast with Dr. Ginger Campbell by Email Donations and Subscriptions are appreciated (Source: the Brain Science Podcast and Blog with Dr. Ginger Campbell) the Brain Science Podcast and Blog with Dr. Ginger Campbell blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1416673 Fri, 02 May 2008 15:41:23 +0100 1416673 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1288708&cid=t_172912_122_f&fid=36506&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FBrainSciencePodcastBlog%2F%7E3%2F248006264%2F Discussion Forum about whether the importance of embodiment is an essential obstacle to trying to simulate human cognition with computers. Meanwhile, the role of embodiment in cognition continues to be a growing area of research. I enjoyed a recent post on the Scientific American Community website entitled Thinking with the Body by Art Glenberg from Arizona State University. He reviews recent research by Holt and Bellock. The bottom line is that even when people are involved in verbal tasks, like reading sentences, their comprehension is influenced by their body knowledge of what is being described. You can read more at Mind Matters: Neuroscience, Psychology, Psychiatry, and More. (Source: the Brain Science Podcast and Blog with Dr. Ginger Campbell) the Brain Science Podcast and Blog with Dr. Ginger Campbell blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1288708 Sat, 08 Mar 2008 18:52:07 +0100 1288708