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HCI Redux pp 55–73Cite as

Embodied Cognition

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Part of the book series: Human–Computer Interaction Series ((HCIS))

Abstract

The body has long been ignored in discussions of cognition. After all, there is a simple and intuitive division that the brain does the thinking and that the body simply carries the brain about. This chapter revisits this position and makes the case for the corporeal as having a significant role in how we deal with the world – including our use of interactive technology. In addition to a discussion of tangible interaction and the role of gesture, we also consider the evidence that our cognitive representation (or schema) of the body reveals its astonishing flexible and plastic nature. Not only do we maintain a bodily schema but we have propensity to incorporate external tools within it too – we are, as Clark puts it, “natural born cyborgs”.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    While the notion of a cyborg carries with it a sinister science fiction aura, the original work by Clynes was benign. He was responsible for the design and development of a variety of self-regulating hospital equipment such as those devices which assist patients to control their heart rate.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Computing, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, UK

    Phil Turner

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  1. Phil Turner
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Turner, P. (2016). Embodied Cognition. In: HCI Redux. Human–Computer Interaction Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42235-0_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42235-0_4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-42233-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-42235-0

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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