Ambiguity and Representational Stability: What is the role of embodied experiences?

Abstract

The influence of embodied experiences on cognition is not yet fully understood. To explore its effects, we analyzed the responses of adults in a high-ambiguity prediction task: Adults had to decide which of two objects would sink faster (or slower) in water. Ambiguity was achieved by pitting object volume and object mass against buoyancy: The winning object was sometimes heavy and big, and sometimes it was light and small. Thus, the task could not be solved with a simplistic rule alone. The crucial manipulation was whether adults haptically explored the objects, either prior to feedback training or afterward. Findings showed a clear disadvantage of hands-on experiences: When allowed to hold the objects, participants were likely to show a simplistic focus on object heaviness. These results call for a more a nuanced understanding of the effect of embodied experiences on the stability of representations.


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