Symbols and Embodiment

Topic and scope	The relationship between words and concepts is often blurred, since most of the scientific contributions about knowledge representation, theory of meaning, language processing and comprehension, and semantic memory either do not distinguish between words and concepts, or take implicitly a position, without addressing in details the motivation and consequences of such choice. The aim of this study is to clarify the state of art of the theoretical debate around these two notions and reviewing the empirical studies that address such topic.
Duration	May 2015 – May 2016
Research question	This study addresses the question whether the cognitive processing of linguistic vs perceptual information differ/overlap, and whether the two streams of semantic information (language and perceptual experience) feed into one or two cognitive systems.
Method	The study will provide a review of the literature (theoretical and empirical) that address this topic.
Researchers	Marianna Bolognesi, Valentina Cuccio, Gerard Steen