Embodying Social Psychology

Embodying Social Psychology Emerging Perspectives from Grounded Cognition ASPO Fall Symposium 2009 Universiteit Utrecht Chairs: Daniël Lakens & Hans IJzerman

Wednesday, November 25, 2009 Utrecht University In just the last two decades, the grounding perspective has inspired research and new theoretical ideas across a wide swath of the behavioral and cognitive sciences. Much of the appeal underlying this impact arises from the simple insight upon which the core idea of grounding rests: that nervous systems evolved for the adaptive control of action – not for abstract cogitation. This idea immediately has several significant implications which are often ignored in new paradigms based on the grounding assumptions. With six keynote addresses, each followed by a plenary discussion, this symposium is designed to provide a roadmap for (social) psychologists based on the grounding assumptions. In order to achieve a fully interdisciplinary perspective on grounded cognition, keynote addresses are delivered by researchers from various disciplines, including Cognitive Psychology, Psycholinguistics, Cultural Cognition, Cognitive and Neuroscience, and Social Psychology. This seminar will offer new perspectives and a guiding framework from grounded cognition to researchers from diverse areas, but social psychology in particular.

To participate in this symposium, please transfer 25 Euros to the following account (registration closes November 5th, price at door is 35 Euros): Universiteit Utrecht Account Number 55.50.74.447 For international transfers, please transfer your registration fee to: Account Number 55.50.74.447 ABN-AMRO Bank Postbus 2059 3500 GB Utrecht SWIFT CODE: ABNA NL 2a IBAN: NL42ABNA0555074447 Both for International and National Transfers: When making the transfer, please state your name and SAP 13122003 and send an e-mail to [email protected] with your name and payment information. Without this information, we cannot complete registration!

Symposium Guests ASIFA MAJID Asifa Majid is the Coordinator of the Language and Cognition Group at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. Her research focuses on how language structures cognition and more recently on how experience, in terms of food, action, and body parts, is mapped onto language. Personal Homepage: http://www.mpi.nl/people/majid-asifa

THOMAS SCHUBERT Thomas Schubert is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Instituto Superior de Ciências do Trabalho e da Empresa. His research evolves around perceptual symbols, embodiment, and bodily feedback of power and ingroup-outgroup relations. One of his most recent studies focuses on effects of embodiment of power on self-related concepts. Personal Homepage: http://www.igroup.org/schubert/

NATALIE SEBANZ Natalie Sebanz is an Associate Professor at Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen. She recently started a 5-year project on Cognitive and Neural Mechanisms of Joint Action. Her research interests evolve around how perception, action, and cognition contribute to social interaction in humans and other animals. Department Homepage: http://web.mac.com/gknoblich/page2/page2.html

GÜN SEMIN Gün Semin is an Academy Professor at the Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. His most recent research focuses on how social behavior is situated and how psychological processes are embodied. Within these parameters, his empirical research is driven by an interest in communication, social cognition, and language. Personal Homepage: http://www.cratylus.org/people/gun-semin

NICOLAS VERMEULEN Nicolas Vermeulen is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Université catholique de Louvain. His most recent research focuses on whether properties from different sensory modalities produces processing costs and whether embodied cognition of emotional information is involved during emotional regulation. Personal Homepage: http://www.ecsa.ucl.ac.be/personnel/vermeulen/content.html

ROLF ZWAAN Rolf Zwaan is a full professor in Biological and Cognitive Psychology at Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam. His most recent research investigates motor resonance and simulation in language comprehension. Personal Homepage: http://www.psyweb.nl/homepage/rolf_zwaan#CurriculumVitae