Embodiment theory and education: The foundations of cognition in perception and action

Recent theories propose that cognition is embodied in the sense that it is critically based on reinstatements of external (perception) and internal states (proprioception) as well as bodily actions that produce simulations of previous experiences. The present article provides a comprehensive overview of the latest research on embodied cognition in the domains of event memory, memory for concrete, abstract and number concepts as well as reading and writing. Psychological and neuroscientific research shows that these important cognitive functions are essentially grounded in action and perception as a function of experience. Embodied cognition research has important implications for education because it highlights the relevance of appropriate sensory and motor interactions during learning for the efficient development of human cognition.

► Handwriting improves reading performance compared to typewriting.
► Establishing relevant sensory and motor memory traces during learning improves subsequent memory performance.
► Conceptual and perceptual processing functionally and neuroanatomically overlaps in sensory brain regions.
► The grounding of concepts in sensory-motor cortex is experience-dependent and a result of repeated meaningful interactions.
► Number of concepts are embodied in both visuo-spatial and action-related representations.