Beyond the playing field: sport psychology meets embodied cognition

Abstract

In contrast to traditional views of the mind as an abstract information processor, recent theories of embodied cognition suggest that our representations of objects and events are grounded in action. In this review, I document recent behavioral and neuropsychological evidence in support of an embodied viewpoint, and I argue that sensorimotor experience plays a pivotal role in the embodied cognition framework. As such, not only can cognitive science and cognitive neuroscience inform sport psychology theory and research, but sport psychology (and motor skill expertise research in particular) is imperative for advancing theories of embodied cognition.

Keywords:

• embodied cognition
• expertise
• cognitive science