An Embodied and Grounded View on Concepts and Its Possible Implications for Education

In the last years, Embodied and Grounded Cognition (EGC) Theories have been proved to successfully account for a great variety of phenomena pertaining cognitive processes as diverse as perception, action, and language comprehension. In this chapter we will overview and discuss recent evidence favouring an EGC approach to language and concepts, keeping in mind that one of the greatest problem that EGC has to face is the representation in mind of abstract concepts, such as FREEDOM or FANTASY. Since abstract concepts lack a single and concrete referent, the re-enactment of the different experiences connected to each concept could be more difficult than for concrete concepts. We argue that language can be the tool that helps us to keep together the variety of heterogeneous experiences evoked by abstract concepts. The input of others, who can help us to understand the word meaning, for example explaining it to us, can be more crucial for the acquisition of abstract than of concrete concepts. In the last part of the chapter we discuss the implications for educational theories and practice of an EGC view that highlights not only the importance of sensorimotor information but also of the bodily and social aspects of language. In our view not only sensorial and motor processes, but also linguistic and social experiences may be considered as constitutive for the individual cognitive development, in order to improve abstract reasoning and categorization .