(Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto)
http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/FacultyAndResearch/Faculty/FacultyBios/LeeS.aspx
Grounded procedures: The case of cleansing as a procedure of separation
How do arbitrary linguistic symbols carry and communicate meanings? To resolve this symbol grounding problem (Harnad, 1990), perspectives of grounded cognition have been proposed and have garnered empirical support in cognitive research over the last two decades (Barsalou, 1999, 2008; Glenberg, 1997, 2002). It is far from obvious, however, how abstract constructs that matter in social life (e.g., morality, affection, power) may be grounded. Conceptual metaphors have been hypothesized as mental structures that link abstract ideas (e.g., morality) to concrete experiences (e.g., cleanliness) in sensorimotor systems (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, 1999). But this perspective is silent on a range of emerging findings. In this talk, I will focus on physical cleansing as a case example, point out the limitations of existing perspectives on its psychological effects, and offer an alternative perspective called grounded procedures. Specifically, cleansing is hypothesized to function as a grounded procedure of separation. Novel predictions are derived and tested in the context of goal processes and threats to the self. I will conclude by noting further predictions regarding self-control, morality, and how cleansing and other forms of physical separation may integrate a variety of apparently irrational but psychologically tractable phenomena.
The colloquium will be held in Psychology Building 035.