TY  - JOUR
A1  - Krause, Florian
A1  - Meyer, Marlene
A1  - Bekkering, Harold
A1  - Hunnius, Sabine
A1  - Lindemann, Oliver
T1  - Interaction between perceptual and motor magnitudes in early childhood
JF  - Cognitive development
N2  - Recent research has suggested that all types of size-related information are linked by a generalised system that codes for domain-independent magnitudes. This generalized system is further suggested to be acquired through everyday sensorimotor experiences with contingencies of size-related information in the real world. The aim of the present study was to investigate the existence of this common representation and its impact on the coupling of perception and action in early childhood. According to an embodied view on magnitude representation, an association between perceived magnitude information and size-related motor features, such as applied motor force, should emerge as soon as motor control is sufficiently developed. This hypothesis was tested in 2.5- to 3-year-old toddlers by engaging them in a computer game-like experimental task in which they were required to move objects placed on a platform upwards by pressing a button. The amount of objects was varied systematically (small amount: 3 vs. large amount: 15) and the force children applied on the button while moving the objects was recorded. Importantly, the amount of applied force was not relevant for successfully playing the game. The analysis of the peak force revealed that motor responses were executed more forcefully when children were presented with a large amount of objects compared to a small amount, irrespective of the toddler’s motor abilities which were evaluated by two additional measures (force control and general fine motor skills). This general effect of perceived magnitude information on the task-irrelevant applied motor force confirms our notion that a link between perceptual and motor magnitudes exists already in early childhood and provides new evidence for a sensorimotor grounding of magnitude concepts.
KW  - Perception-action coupling
KW  - Generalised magnitude system
KW  - Embodied cognition
KW  - motor development
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2018.11.001
SN  - 0885-2014
SN  - 1879-226X
VL  - 49
SP  - 11
EP  - 19
PB  - Elsevier Science
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Werner, Karsten
A1  - Raab, Markus
A1  - Fischer, Martin H.
T1  - Moving arms
BT  - the effects of sensorimotor information on the problem-solving process
JF  - Thinking & Reasoning
N2  - Embodied cognition postulates a bi-directional link between the human body and its cognitive functions. Whether this holds for higher cognitive functions such as problem solving is unknown. We predicted that arm movement manipulations performed by the participants could affect the problem-solving solutions. We tested this prediction in quantitative reasoning tasks that allowed two solutions to each problem (addition or subtraction). In two studies with healthy adults (N=53 and N=50), we found an effect of problem-congruent movements on problem solutions. Consistent with embodied cognition, sensorimotor information gained via right or left arm movements affects the solution in different types of problem-solving tasks.
KW  - Embodied cognition
KW  - eye movements
KW  - problem solving
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1080/13546783.2018.1494630
SN  - 1354-6783
SN  - 1464-0708
VL  - 25
IS  - 2
SP  - 171
EP  - 191
PB  - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
CY  - Abingdon
ER  -