The links between experiential learning and 4E cognition.

In this article, we explore the connections between two distinct approaches: experiential learning (EL) and 4E cognition. EL emphasizes the role of concrete experiences as the building blocks of learning, whereas 4E cognition views cognition as arising from the interactions that an individual has with their physical and social environment. Despite their divergent theoretical frameworks, methodologies, and interests, we argue that both frameworks share a common vision of cognition and that their integration could mutually enhance their respective fields. This article outlines the historical origins and underlying assumptions of both frameworks, highlighting the potential links that can be established between them. Specifically, we explore the significance of embodiment, embeddedness, extended cognition, and enactive processes in learning and cognition. To bridge these frameworks, we propose employing the concept of "concrete experience" as an active engagement of individuals with their physical and social surroundings. By encompassing the essential aspects assigned to concrete experiences in EL, as well as the embodiment, situatedness, extended cognition, and enactive features of 4E cognition, this notion serves as a unifying element. Ultimately, the article suggests that combining the insights from EL and 4E cognition can offer a richer, more holistic understanding of representation.

Measuring episodic memory and mental time travel: crossing the species gap.

Mental time travel is the projection of the mind into the past or future, and relates to experiential aspects of episodic memory, and episodic future thinking. Framing episodic memory and future thinking in this way causes a challenge when studying memory in animals, where demonstration of this mental projection is prevented by the absence of language. However, there is good evidence that non-human animals pass tests of episodic memory that are based on behavioural criteria, meaning a better understanding needs to be had of the relationship between episodic memory and mental time travel. We argue that mental time travel and episodic memory are not synonymous, and that mental time travel is neither a requirement of, nor an irrelevance to, episodic memory. Mental time travel can allow improved behavioural choices based on episodic memory, and work in all species (including humans) should include careful consideration of the behavioural outputs being measured. This article is part of the theme issue 'Elements of episodic memory: lessons from 40 years of research'.

Minds in movement: embodied cognition in the age of artificial intelligence.

This theme issue brings together researchers from diverse fields to assess the current status and future prospects of embodied cognition in the age of generative artificial intelligence. In this introduction, we first clarify our view of embodiment as a potentially unifying concept in the study of cognition, characterizing this as a perspective that questions mind-body dualism and recognizes a profound continuity between sensorimotor action in the world and more abstract forms of cognition. We then consider how this unifying concept is developed and elaborated by the other contributions to this issue, identifying the following two key themes: (i) the role of language in cognition and its entanglement with the body and (ii) bodily mechanisms of interpersonal perception and alignment across the domains of social affiliation, teaching and learning. On balance, we consider that embodied approaches to the study of cognition, culture and evolution remain promising, but will require greater integration across disciplines to fully realize their potential. We conclude by suggesting that researchers will need to be ready and able to meet the various methodological, theoretical and practical challenges this will entail and remain open to encountering markedly different viewpoints about how and why embodiment matters. This article is the part of this theme issue 'Minds in movement: embodied cognition in the age of artificial intelligence'.

Reaching conceptual stability by re-articulating empirical and theoretical work on affordances.

Theoretical developments on affordances have proliferated, resulting in a lack of conceptual stability and a potential compromise in scientific validity. However, affordances should not be discarded, given their centrality in post-cognitive theories and their widespread reuse across various research domains. Empirical research on affordances remains sparse, out of sync with theoretical advancements, and thus unable to contribute effectively to scientific progress due to its disarticulation with theoretical work. That is why re-articulating theoretical and empirical investigations on affordances is needed to pave a more fruitful path for the concept's advancement. To accomplish this objective, emphasis must be placed on empirical research, leveraging recent theoretical propositions and devising corresponding empirical methodologies. The proposed requirements and framework represent a step in this endeavor.

Applied human neuroscience: Fostering and designing inclusive environments with the 3E-Cognition perspective.

The conventional medical paradigm often focuses on deficits and impairments, failing to capture the rich tapestry of experiences and abilities inherent in neurodiversity conditions. In this article, we introduce the 3E-Cognition perspective, offering a paradigm shift by emphasizing the dynamic interplay between the brain, body, and environment in shaping cognitive processes. The perspective fosters a more inclusive and supportive understanding of neurodiversity, with potential applications across various domains such as education, workplace, and healthcare. We begin by introducing the 3E-Cognition principles: embodied, environmentally scaffolded, and enactive. Then, we explore how the 3E-Cognition perspective can be applied to create inclusive environments and experiences for neurodiverse individuals. We provide examples in the realms of education, workplace, and healthcare. In all of these domains, spaces, methodologies, epistemologies, and roles that cater to diverse needs and strengths can be designed using the 3E principles. Finally, we discuss the challenges and benefits of implementing the 3E-Cognition perspective. We focus on the need for technological advancements and research in complex real-world scenarios; we suggest mobile brain/body imaging is a possible solution. We furthermore highlight the importance of recognizing and valuing the diverse manners of experiencing and interacting with the world, the promotion of diverse well-being, and the facilitation of innovation and creativity. Thus, we conclude that the 3E-Cognition perspective offers a groundbreaking approach to understanding and supporting neurodiversity: by embracing the inherent interconnectedness of the brain, body, and environment, we can create a more inclusive and supportive world.

The ecological dynamics of trumpet improvisation.

The nature of music improvisation continues to provide an interesting showcase of the multifaceted and skilful ways we engage with and act within our environments. Improvising musicians are somehow able to generate musical material in real time that adaptively navigates musical situations. In this article I explore the broader aspects of improvised activity-such as our bodily interactions with the instrument and environment-as they relate to improvised music-making. I do so by drawing upon principles from the embodied cognitive sciences, namely ecological and dynamical systems approaches. Firstly, I introduce the concept of affordances to illustrate the bidirectional relationship between improvisor and environment. I then take a dynamical view, exploring the ways that a trumpet player coordinates their body with their instrument and engages with trumpet affordances in order to navigate musical situations. I continue this dynamical view, taking the improviser to be an adaptive system whose behaviours are self-organised responses to a set of constraints. To conclude, I situate my research within the wider 4E approach. I advocate that 'E' approaches, which take seriously the role of the body-instrument-environment relationship, provide an insightful perspective on the nature of improvisation.

El estudio de la cognición: hacia una perspectiva corporizada / O estudo da cognição: em direção a uma perspectiva incorporada / The study of cognition: towards an embodied perspective / L'étude de la cognition: vers une perspective incarnée

Resumen El campo de la cognición ha tenido una larga historia en la que los modelos formales, el cuerpo y la interacción con el mundo físico y social han tenido significados y papeles variados. En los últimos años, las propuestas han intentado reintroducir el cuerpo y la variabilidad cognitiva resultante de la sensibilidad a contextos ricos e impredecibles. Este artículo presenta el enactivismo autopoiético, una de las versiones esenciales de las teorías encarnadas dentro de las ciencias cognitivas, señalando algunas limitaciones de las teorías clásicas de procesamiento de la información y sus nociones de representación. En este distanciamiento, las ciencias cognitivas han recuperado el cuerpo, la sensibilidad y flexibilidad de los procesos cognitivos, la naturaleza dinámica de la experiencia y el valor de los sistemas culturales que sustentan la actividad cognitiva.

Resumo O campo da cognição tem uma longa história na qual modelos formais, o corpo, e a interação com o mundo físico e social tiveram significados e papéis variados. Nos últimos anos, as propostas tentaram reintroduzir o corpo e a variabilidade cognitiva resultante da sensibilidade a contextos ricos e imprevisíveis. Este artigo apresenta o enativismo autopoiético, uma das versões essenciais das teorias corporizadas dentro das ciências cognitivas, apontando algumas limitações das teorias clássicas de processamento de informação e as suas noções de representação. Nesse distanciamento, as ciências cognitivas recuperaram o corpo, a sensibilidade e flexibilidade dos processos cognitivos, a natureza dinâmica da experiência e o valor dos sistemas culturais que sustentam a atividade cognitiva.

Abstract The field of cognition has had a long history where formal models, the body, and interaction with the physical and social world have had varied meanings and roles. In recent years, proposals have tried to reintroduce the body and the cognitive variability resulting from sensitivity to rich and unpredictable contexts. This article presents the autopoietic enactivism, one of the essential versions of embodied theories within the cognitive sciences, pointing out some limitations of classical information processing theories and their notions of representation. In this distancing, cognitive sciences have recovered the body, the sensitivity and flexibility of cognitive processes, the dynamic nature of experience, and the value of the cultural systems that support cognitive activity.

Résumé Le domaine de la cognition a connu une longue histoire dans laquelle les modèles formels, le corps et l'interaction avec le monde physique et social ont eu des significations et des rôles variés. Ces dernières années, des propositions ont tenté de réintroduire le corps et la variabilité cognitive résultant de la sensibilité à des contextes riches et imprévisibles. Cet article présente l'enactivisme autopoïétique, l'une des versions essentielles des théories incarnées au sein des sciences cognitives, en soulignant certaines limites des théories classiques du traitement de l'information et de leurs notions de représentation. Avec cet écartement, les sciences cognitives ont récupéré le corps, la sensibilité et la flexibilité des processus cognitifs, la nature dynamique de l'expérience et la valeur des systèmes culturels qui soutiennent l'activité cognitive.

Consciousness, 4E cognition and Aristotle: a few conceptual and historical aspects.

The new approach in cognitive science largely known as "4E cognition" (embodied/embedded/enactive/extended cognition), which sheds new light on the complex dynamics of human consciousness, seems to revive some of Aristotle's views. For instance, the concept of "nature" (phusis) and the discussion on "active intellect" (nous poiêtikos) may be particularly relevant in this respect. Out of the various definitions of "nature" in Aristotle's Physics, On the Parts of Animals and Second Analytics, I will concentrate on nature defined as an inner impulse to movement, neither entirely "corporeal," nor entirely "incorporeal," and neither entirely "substantial," nor entirely "accidental." Related to that, I will consider the distinction in On the Soul between the "active" and the "passive" intellect, which Aristotle asserted as generally present in "nature" itself. By offering a conceptual and historical analysis of these views, I intend to show how the mind-body problem, which is essential for the explanation of consciousness, could be somewhat either eluded or transcended by both ancients and contemporaries on the basis of a subtle account of causation. While not attempting to diminish the impact of the Cartesian paradigm, which led to the so-called "hard problem of consciousness," I suggest that the most recent neuroscience discoveries on the neurophysiological phenomena related to human consciousness could be better explained and understood if interpreted within a 4E cognition paradigm, inspired by some Aristotelian views.

A grand unified theory for the unification of physics, life, information and cognition (mind).

The modern scientific world view was built on the incommensurability between cognition (mind) and physics (matter) and later life and physics (the autonomy of biology). Fuelled by Boltzmann's view of the second law of thermodynamics as a 'law of disorder', the idea of 'two opposing rivers', the river of physics 'flowing down' to disorder and the river of life and mind 'flowing up' to higher states of order became a cornerstone of contemporary thinking. The deleterious result of this paradigmatic separation of physics, life and mind has been to considerably incapacitate each by bracketing many of the deepest problems of science, including the very nature of life itself and its cognitive capabilities, outside the theoretical reach of contemporary science. An expanded view of physics, notably the addition of the fourth law of thermodynamics (LMEP), or the law of maximum entropy production, coupled with first law time-translation symmetry, and the self-referencing circularity of the relational ontology of autocatakinetic systems, provides the basis for a grand unified theory unifying physics, life, information and cognition (mind). This dissolves the dysfunctional myth of the two rivers, and solves the previously insoluble problems at the foundations of modern science associated with it. This article is part of the theme issue 'Thermodynamics 2.0: Bridging the natural and social sciences (Part 1)'.

Embodied cognitive morphogenesis as a route to intelligent systems.

The embryological view of development is that coordinated gene expression, cellular physics and migration provides the basis for phenotypic complexity. This stands in contrast with the prevailing view of embodied cognition, which claims that informational feedback between organisms and their environment is key to the emergence of intelligent behaviours. We aim to unite these two perspectives as embodied cognitive morphogenesis, in which morphogenetic symmetry breaking produces specialized organismal subsystems which serve as a substrate for the emergence of autonomous behaviours. As embodied cognitive morphogenesis produces fluctuating phenotypic asymmetry and the emergence of information processing subsystems, we observe three distinct properties: acquisition, generativity and transformation. Using a generic organismal agent, such properties are captured through models such as tensegrity networks, differentiation trees and embodied hypernetworks, providing a means to identify the context of various symmetry-breaking events in developmental time. Related concepts that help us define this phenotype further include concepts such as modularity, homeostasis and 4E (embodied, enactive, embedded and extended) cognition. We conclude by considering these autonomous developmental systems as a process called connectogenesis, connecting various parts of the emerged phenotype into an approach useful for the analysis of organisms and the design of bioinspired computational agents.

Understanding mixed and ambiguous emotions - integrating neurophenomenology and literary studies.

This commentary makes three suggestions on Willems' neurocognitive model for understanding mixed and ambiguous emotions and morality. First, it proposes that his atheoretical approach risks unwittingly adopting theoretical and conceptual limitations implicit in reigning paradigms and overlooking the need for theoretical impetus and constraints in the development of valid constructs of targeted emotions. Second, it suggests that a dynamical systems approach to emotions provides a fruitful theory and neuro-phenomenology as a corresponding methodology. Lastly, it proposes that Willems' objective would benefit from a more systematic integration of insights from the humanities into the nature and nuances of literary (moral) emotions.

La cognición 4E para el aprendizaje matemático en pospandemia: una revisión sistemática / 4E cognition for post-pandemic math learning: A systematic review / 4E cognição para aprendizagem de matemática pós-pandemia: uma revisão sistemática

Resumen (analítico) Este estudio tiene como objetivo describir la adaptación de las ideas de la cognición 4E en el estudio del aprendizaje de las matemáticas en la investigación contemporánea, de manera que pueda proporcionar estrategias para cualificar los procesos pedagógicos y didácticos en las aulas en tiempos de pospandemia. Se realizó la búsqueda de artículos a texto completo en las bases de datos Science Direct y Ebsco Academic Search Ultimate, de los últimos cuatro años. Se seleccionaron 56 artículos, que se analizaron mediante análisis de conglomerados, nubes de palabras y mapas jerárquicos en Nvivo 11. Se obtuvieron cuatro núcleos temáticos (andamiaje, trayectoria socio-cultural, numerosidad y adquisición de conceptos básicos en matemáticas y exploración de nichos matemáticos) que permiten avanzar en la implementación de mejoras en la enseñanza y el aprendizaje en pospandemia.

Abstract (analytical) This study aims to describe the adaptation of the ideas of 4E cognition in research on Mathematics learning in contemporary research. These ideas can provide strategies to improve pedagogical and didactic processes in classrooms during the post-pandemic period. Fulltext articles published in the last 4 years were searched for in the Science Direct and Ebsco Academic Search Ultimate databases. A total of 56 articles were selected and were analyzed through the generation of cluster analysis, word clouds and hierarchical maps in the NVivo 11 software. Four thematic cores were identified (scaffolding; sociocultural trajectory; numeracy and acquisition of basic concepts in mathematics; and exploration of mathematical niches) that contribute to improvements in teaching and learning in the post-pandemic period.

Resumo (analítico) Este estudo tem como objetivo descrever a adaptação das ideias da cognição 4E no estudo da aprendizagem da Matemática na pesquisa contemporânea, de modo que possa fornecer estratégias para qualificar processos pedagógicos e didáticos em sala de aula em tempos pós-pandêmicos. Artigos de texto completo foram pesquisados nas bases de dados Science Direct e Ebsco Academic Search Ultimate nos últimos 4 anos. Foram selecionados 56 artigos, os quais foram analisados por meio de análise de cluster, nuvem de palavras e mapas hierárquicos no Nvivo 11. Foram obtidos quatro núcleos temáticos (andaimes, trajetória sociocultural, multiplicidade e aquisição de conceitos básicos em matemática e exploração de nichos matemáticos) que permitem avançar na implementação de melhorias no ensino e aprendizagem no pós-pandemia.

The 4E approach to the human microbiome: Nested interactions between the gut-brain/body system within natural and built environments.

The complexity of the human mind and its interaction with the environment is one of the main epistemological debates throughout history. Recent ideas, framed as the 4E perspective to cognition, highlight that human experience depends causally on both cerebral and extracranial processes, but also is embedded in a particular sociomaterial context and is a product of historical accumulation of trajectory changes throughout life. Accordingly, the human microbiome is one of the most intriguing actors modulating brain function and physiology. Here, we present the 4E approach to the Human Microbiome for understanding mental processes from a broader perspective, encompassing one's body physiology and environment throughout their lifespan, interconnected by microbiome community structure and dynamics. We review evidence supporting the approach theoretically and motivates the study of the global set of microbial ecosystem networks encountered by a person across their lifetime (from skin to gut to natural and built environments). We furthermore trace future empirical implementation of the approach. We finally discuss novel research opportunities and clinical interventions aimed toward developing low-cost/high-benefit integrative and personalized bio-psycho-socio-environmental treatments for mental health and including the brain-gut-microbiome axis.

Enacting Media. An Embodied Account of Enculturation Between Neuromediality and New Cognitive Media Theory.

This paper argues that the still-emerging paradigm of situated cognition requires a more systematic perspective on media to capture the enculturation of the human mind. By virtue of being media, cultural artifacts present central experiential models of the world for our embodied minds to latch onto. The paper identifies references to external media within embodied, extended, enactive, and predictive approaches to cognition, which remain underdeveloped in terms of the profound impact that media have on our mind. To grasp this impact, I propose an enactive account of media that is based on expansive habits as media-structured, embodied ways of bringing forth meaning and new domains of values. We apply such habits, for instance, when seeing a picture or perceiving a movie. They become established through a process of reciprocal adaptation between media artifacts and organisms and define the range of viable actions within such a media ecology. Within an artifactual habit, we then become attuned to a specific media work (e.g., a TV series, a picture, a text, or even a city) that engages us. Both the plurality of habits and the dynamical adjustments within a habit require a more flexible neural architecture than is addressed by classical cognitive neuroscience. To detail how neural and media processes interlock, I will introduce the concept of neuromediality and discuss radical predictive processing accounts that could contribute to the externalization of the mind by treating media themselves as generative models of the world. After a short primer on general media theory, I discuss media examples in three domains: pictures and moving images; digital media; architecture and the built environment. This discussion demonstrates the need for a new cognitive media theory based on enactive artifactual habits-one that will help us gain perspective on the continuous re-mediation of our mind.

Using mobile brain/body imaging to advance research in arts, health, and related therapeutics.

The uses of mobile brain/body imaging (MoBI) are expanding and allow for more direct study of the neurophysiological signals associated with behavior in psychotherapeutic encounters. Neuroaesthetics is concerned with the cognitive and neural basis of art appreciation, and scientific correlations are being made in the field that might help to clarify theories claimed in the creative arts therapies. Yet, most neuroaesthetics studies are confined to the laboratory and do not propose a translation for research methods and clinical applications. The creative arts therapies have a long history of clinical success with various patient populations and will benefit from increased scientific explanation to support intervention strategies. Examining the brain dynamics and motor behaviors that are associated with the higher complex processes involved in artistic expression offers MoBI as a promising instrumentation to move forward in linking ideas from neuroaesthetics to the creative arts therapies. Tracking brain dynamics in association with behavioral change allows for more objective and quantitative physiological monitors to evaluate, and together with subjective patient reports provides insight into the psychological mechanisms of change in treatment. We outline a framework that shows how MoBI can be used to study the effectiveness of creative arts therapy interventions motivated by the 4E approach to cognition with a focus on visual art therapy. The article illuminates how a new partnership among the fields of art therapy, neuroscience, and neuroaesthetics might work together within the 4E/MoBI framework in efforts to advance transdisciplinary research for clinical health populations.

Perfect timing: Mobile brain/body imaging scaffolds the 4E-cognition research program.

Recent technological advancements encompassed under the Mobile Brain/Body Imaging (MoBI) framework have produced exciting new experimental results linking mind, brain and behaviour. Nevertheless, novel hypotheses, measures and experimental paradigms are needed in order to tackle MoBI's ultimate goal: to model and understand cognition, behaviour and experience as it emerges and unfolds unto and from the world. Such a goal is not completely novel or unique to the MoBI framework; it is at the core of a long-standing scientific and philosophical challenge. The ages-long debate revolves around the role of the body and the world on the emergence of the mind. Considering this, the present work has two goals. Our first goal is to briefly summarize some of the main ideas encompassed by the materialist/naturalist view of cognition as a complex emergent phenomenon. Our second and main goal is to argue that thanks to both MoBI and recent theoretical advances encompassed under the 4E-Cognition banner, theory and methodology might be finally synchronized, giving way to a revitalized form of emergentism, which lays new grounds for the understanding of cognitive phenomena. Finally, we offer the reader what we consider to be the main objective for the MoBI/4E framework and the understanding of the functional role of brain/body/world couplings in the emergence of cognition.

Out of our heads: Addiction and psychiatric externalism.

In addiction, apparently causally significant phenomena occur at a huge number of levels; addiction is affected by biomedical, neurological, pharmacological, clinical, social, and politico-legal factors, among many others. In such a complex, multifaceted field of inquiry, it seems very unlikely that all the many layers of explanation will prove amenable to any simple or straightforward, reductive analysis; if we are to unify the many different sciences of addiction while respecting their causal autonomy, then, what we are likely to need is an integrative framework. In this paper, we propose the theory of "Externalist" or "4E" - for extended, embodied, embedded, and enactive - cognition, which focuses on the empirical and conceptual centrality of the wider extra-neural environment to cognitive and mental processes, as a candidate for such a framework. We begin in Section 2 by outlining how such a perspective might apply to psychiatry more generally, before turning to some of the ways it can illuminate addiction in particular: Section 3 points to a way of dissolving the classic dichotomy between the "choice model" and "disease model" in the addiction literature; Section 4 shows how 4E concepts can clarify the interplay between the addict's brain and her environment; and Section 5 considers how these insights help to explain the success of some recovery strategies, and may help to inform the development of new ones.