On the Science of Embodied Cognition in the 2010s: Research Questions, Appropriate Reductionism, and Testable Explanations

The Journal of the Learning Sciences has devoted this special issue to the study of embodied cognition (as it applies to mathematics), a topic that for several decades has gained attention in the cognitive sciences (Anderson, 2003; Barsalou; 2008; Calvo & Gomila, 2008; Lakoff & Núñez, 2000; Pfeifer & Scheier, 1999; Varela, Thompson, & Rosch, 1991; Wilson, 2002) and in mathematics education, in particular (Edwards, 2009; Nemirovsky & Ferrara, 2009; Núñez, Edwards, & Matos, 1999; Roth, 2009). The articles in this issue provide excellent examples of the type of work that needs to be produced in order to properly investigate the embodiment of mathematical cognition and this, with respect to the scope of mathematical content, the populations to be studied and the contexts in which mathematics is practiced and learned. Williams (2012/this issue) studies elementary school children learning basic mathematical concepts applied to a relevant everyday activity: clock reading and time telling. Beyond the simple understanding of numerals and numerical magnitude representing time units, his study builds on image schemas (Johnson, 1987)—a powerful concept in embodied cognition— to analyze the cognitive complexities that children need to coordinate in order to learn a seemingly banal activity. Alibali and Nathan (2012/this issue) analyze elementary and middle school teachers and students working with simple arithmetic and algebraic concepts and formulations. Focusing on gesture production, a topic