The
34th Carnegie Symposium on Cognition
June 2-4,
2006 .."Embodiment,
Ego-space, and Action"
Co-organizers: Roberta
Klatzky,
Brian MacWhinney
& Marlene Behrmann
Overview
The majority of research on human perception and action examines sensors
and
effectors in relative isolation. What is less often considered in these
research domains
is that humans interact with a perceived world in which they themselves
are part of the
perceptual representation, as are the positions and actions (potential
or ongoing) of
other active organisms. It is this self-in-world representation that
we call embodiment.
Increasingly, research demonstrates that embodiment is fundamental
to both executing
and understanding spatially directed action. It has been theorized
to play a role in
reaching and grasping, locomotion and navigation, infant imitation,
spatial and social
perspective taking, and neurological dysfunctions as diverse as phantom
limb pain
and autism. Few formalisms have been put forward, however, to describe
how
self-representation functions at a mechanistic level and what neural
structures support
those functions. Behavioral research has revealed a number of tantalizing
outcomes that
point to a role for the representation of the body in basic human function;
neuroscientists
have identified multiple sensorimotor maps of the body within the cortex
and specific brain
areas devoted to the representation of space and place; and developmental
researchers
have identified neonatal behaviors indicating a representation of self
and have traced the
course of spatially oriented action across the early years. What is
needed is a shared effort
to merge perspectives of behavioral science, neuroscience, and developmental
psychology
in order to further our understanding of the forms and functional roles
of the embodied
representation. The 2006 symposium will provide a forum by which researchers
from
these various perspectives can come together to share their findings,
ideas,
aspirations, and concerns.
The Carnegie Symposium on Cognition is sponsored
by -
The Department of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon
University