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Module 1.6d

life, sensation and perception are two points on a continuum. It’s not surprising, then, that
the brain circuits processing our physical sensations sometimes interact with the brain cir-
cuits responsible for cognition. The result is embodied cognition. We think from within a TEACH 1.6-16
body. Two examples: Active Learning
• Judgments may mimic body sensations. Sitting at a wobbly desk and chair may make
relationships seem less stable (Forest et al., 2015: Kille et al., 2013). (10 minutes) Have students engage
• Hard chair, hard on crime. People who sat in a hard chair, compared with a soft chair, in a directed paraphrasing activity
gave harsher punishments to criminals, and to college students who cheated on a final by imagining that their first-grade
paper (Schaefer et al., 2018).
cousin saw their textbook and asked
As we attempt to decipher our world, our brain blends inputs from multiple channels.
But in a few select individuals, the brain circuits for two or more senses become joined in a them what embodied cognition is.
phenomenon called synesthesia, in which the stimulation of one sense triggers an experience embodied cognition the Have students explain this concept in
of another (Figure 1.6-27). Early in life, “exuberant neural connectivity” produces some arbi- influence of bodily sensations, writing, using examples a first grader
trary associations among the senses, which later are normally — but not always — pruned gestures, and other states on
(Wagner & Dobkins, 2011). In a brain that blends sensations, hearing music may activate cognitive preferences and would understand. Their explanations
color-sensitive cortex regions and trigger a sensation of color (Brang et al., 2008; Hubbard judgments. will show how well students under-
et al., 2005). Seeing a number may evoke a taste or color sensation (Newell & Mitchell, 2016; stand these concepts. Remember:
Ranzini & Girelli, 2019). People with synesthesia experience these kinds of sensory shifts.
You should take time to address any
misinformation that comes up in the
Figure 1.6-27
Synesthesia’s symphony activity.
A person with synesthesia
experiences blended sensations.
Copyright © Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
For example, hearing numbers
may evoke an experience of
specific colors or smells or
musical notes.

Person without synesthesia Person with synesthesia

Check Your Understanding
®
AP Science Practice Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Not for redistribution.
Examine the Concept Apply the Concept
▶ ▶Explain the difference between our systems for sensing smell, ▶ ▶Before reading this module, had you ever considered
touch, and taste. the importance of your vestibular sense? Explain how it has
▶ ▶Where are the kinesthetic receptors and the vestibular sense influenced your behavior today.
receptors located? ▶ ▶Have you ever experienced a feeling that you think could be
explained by embodied cognition?
Answers to the Examine the Concept questions can be found in Appendix C at the end of the book.

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