杜威反射弧概念中的具身认知思想

The Thought of Embodied Cognition in Dewey's Reflex Arc Concept

伴随第二代认知科学的兴起,大量研究者开始在具身认知这一主张上达成共识,即有机体的身体运动以及与身体运动相关的特征和感觉经验(或称身体经验)在认知过程中扮演重要角色,而有机体的身体又嵌入在其所处的动态环境之中,从而形成一个不可分割的整体。杜威在《心理学中的反射弧概念》一文中的论证蕴含了上述具身认知思想的雏形,主要体现在:(1)身体运动协调构成了感觉运动回路。(2)在身体运动协调基础上形成的身体经验在感觉运动回路中具有连续性。(3)感觉运动回路中的身体运动与经验以环境为背景,最终目的是为了适应环境。未来的具身认知研究可以借鉴杜威所论证的反射弧概念,对上述三个方面作出进一步探索。

Embodied Cognition （EC） is a growing popular research program which is general in cognitive science and particular in cognitive psychology. The embodied cognition is featured as the emphasis it places on the role the body plays in one＇s cognitive processes. Its central meaning includes the following claims ： （ 1 ） ones actions and other body - related traits （ e. g. posture） have an effect on one cognition; （2） our understanding of the world is not an abstract proposition but fundamentally depends on our multisensory experiences with it and relevant experiences include movements, emotional events, and the processing of spatial and temperature dimensions ; （ 3 ） cognition is a progress that is continuously evolutionary, developmental and environmental, rather than a kind of prior logical ability. Body movement itself reflects survival intentionality to promote cognitive development, and one＇s cognition is meshed with the world. In recent decades, embodied cognition has received more and more popularity in psychology. Actually, it has a long past. In the history of human thought, many thoughtful people such as Heidegger, Ponty and Dewey have criticized dualism and put forward that the body and the mind are actually an integrated whole. ＂The Reflex Arc Concept in Psychology＂, wrote by Dewey in 1896, contains the prototype of embodied cognition. Its central meaning includes： （ 1 ） coordination of body movement constitutes the sensory - motor circuit ; （2） in the sensory - motor circuit , body experience based on the coordination of body movement is continuous ; （3） coordination of body movement and continuity of body experience are the component of the organism which is meshed with the environment, so its ultimate goal is to adapt to the environment. Johnson （2010） has summarized that following William James and C.S. Peirce, Dewey crafted a non - dualistic, body - based theory of human cognition, a view grounded in the brain science and psychology of his day, but also remarkably consonant with the so - called ＂embodied cognition＂ views in contemporary cognitive neuroscience. In the paper of ＂The Reflex Arc Concept in Psychology＂, Dewey emphasized that the coordination of body movement and the continuity of body experience controlled one＇s sensory - motor circuit. Moreover, he also stressed that we should not study the sensory - motor circuit regardless of the environment because they were a unity. Compared with the viewpoints of embodied cognition in contemporary psychology, Dewey＇s viewpoints have something new. On the one hand, Dewey stressed the coordination of body movement affecting one＇s cognition instead of separating the body movement as contempo- rary study does. On the other hand, compared with the study of contemporary embodied cognition, he paid attention to the continuity of body experience. Finally, he considered adapting to the environment as a final goal of organism＇s cognition ratiler than a factor affecting one＇s cognition. Therefore, in our future research, we can refer to Dewey＇s foresight of embodied cognition.