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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
body. Two examples:
• 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).
• Hard chair, hard on crime. People who sat in a hard chair, compared with a soft chair,
gave harsher punishments to criminals, and to college students who cheated on a final
paper (Schaefer et al., 2018).
As we attempt to decipher our world, our brain blends inputs from multiple channels.
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But in a few select individuals, the brain circuits for two or more senses become joined in a
phenomenon called synesthesia, in which the stimulation of one sense triggers an experience
of another (Figure 1.6-27). Early in life, “exuberant neural connectivity” produces some arbi- embodied cognition the
influence of bodily sensations,
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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
color-sensitive cortex regions and trigger a sensation of color (Brang et al., 2008; Hubbard judgments.
et al., 2005). Seeing a number may evoke a taste or color sensation (Newell & Mitchell, 2016;
Ranzini & Girelli, 2019). People with synesthesia experience these kinds of sensory shifts.

Figure 1.6-27
Synesthesia’s symphony
A person with synesthesia
experiences blended sensations.
For example, hearing numbers
may evoke an experience of
specific colors or smells or
musical notes.

Person without synesthesia Person with synesthesia

®
AP Science Practice Check Your Understanding

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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