Cognitive representations of tool-use interactions

Tools are important mediators between our bodies and the world surrounding us. They can substantially change the usual relationship between our body movements and the effects that ensue in the environment. Given the ease with which we learn to apply new tools, the question arises how our motor system flexibly adapts to specific tool transformations. There are two basic possibilities. One consists of incorporating the tool into one's body by updating one's body schema. Movement planning can then proceed in the same manner as it did without the tool. In the present paper I argue for a second view, that tool use involves representations of the tool-specific mappings between body movements and environmental effects at a central level. I present evidence for this view from several research areas including stimulus–response compatibility, bimanual coordination, and action observation. Finally, I discuss the degree of abstractness of these central representations of tool-use interactions.