{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/82169"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/82169","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Directed Actions Guide Insight in Problem Solving","abstract":"Accumulating evidence within the embodied cognition literature shows that mental simulations, situated action, and bodily states underlie cognition, but researchers have done relatively little work to examine whether cognitive processes can arise from the manner in which our bodies interact with the immediate environment, nor whether it is possible to guide people's thoughts by manipulating their actions. The mind uses the body to accomplish cognitive goals, but can we make the body move in ways that guide the mind? I conducted a series of experiments that investigated embodied cognition in problem-solving tasks, examining the influence of directed actions on higher-order cognition. By experimentally directing participants' movements for a small portion of time as they tried to solve an insight problem---whether these were subtle movements of the eyes (Experiment 1), movements of attention (Experiment 2), or large movements of the arms (Experiments 3--4)---I was able to substantially alter their chances of successfully solving that problem. This research adds a new dimension to the embodied cognition literature, providing evidence for a causal link between action and cognition.","abstract_html":"Accumulating evidence within the embodied cognition literature shows that mental simulations, situated action, and bodily states underlie cognition, but researchers have done relatively little work to examine whether cognitive processes can arise from the manner in which our bodies interact with the immediate environment, nor whether it is possible to guide people's thoughts by manipulating their actions. The mind uses the body to accomplish cognitive goals, but can we make the body move in ways that guide the mind? I conducted a series of experiments that investigated embodied cognition in problem-solving tasks, examining the influence of directed actions on higher-order cognition. By experimentally directing participants' movements for a small portion of time as they tried to solve an insight problem---whether these were subtle movements of the eyes (Experiment 1), movements of attention (Experiment 2), or large movements of the arms (Experiments 3--4)---I was able to substantially alter their chances of successfully solving that problem. This research adds a new dimension to the embodied cognition literature, providing evidence for a causal link between action and cognition.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Thomas, Laura Elizabeth"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Irwin, David E."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-09-25T20:39:26Z","date_published":"2015-09-25T20:39:26Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:26:17Z","subjects":["Psychology, Experimental"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["(MiAaPQ)AAI3337940"],"render_values":[{"text":"(MiAaPQ)AAI3337940","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/82169","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Irwin, David E."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Thomas, Laura Elizabeth"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2015-09-25T20:39:26Z","10000-01-01","2008"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Psychology, Experimental"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/82169","(MiAaPQ)AAI3337940"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Accumulating evidence within the embodied cognition literature shows that mental simulations, situated action, and bodily states underlie cognition, but researchers have done relatively little work to examine whether cognitive processes can arise from the manner in which our bodies interact with the immediate environment, nor whether it is possible to guide people's thoughts by manipulating their actions. The mind uses the body to accomplish cognitive goals, but can we make the body move in ways that guide the mind? I conducted a series of experiments that investigated embodied cognition in problem-solving tasks, examining the influence of directed actions on higher-order cognition. By experimentally directing participants' movements for a small portion of time as they tried to solve an insight problem---whether these were subtle movements of the eyes (Experiment 1), movements of attention (Experiment 2), or large movements of the arms (Experiments 3--4)---I was able to substantially alter their chances of successfully solving that problem. This research adds a new dimension to the embodied cognition literature, providing evidence for a causal link between action and cognition.","Made available in DSpace on 2015-09-25T20:39:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license.txt: 4848 bytes, checksum: 96035ab3f5e1c23cc7138a224ce498bd (MD5) 3337940.pdf: 5390609 bytes, checksum: 105ebfb8750beee36e418eab0603a0d8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 83450 Lift date: Forever Reason: Restricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETDs","Restricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETDs","U of I Only","84 p.","Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Directed Actions Guide Insight in Problem Solving"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Irwin, David E."],"dc:creator":["Thomas, Laura Elizabeth"],"dc:date":["2015-09-25T20:39:26Z","10000-01-01","2008"],"dc:description":["Accumulating evidence within the embodied cognition literature shows that mental simulations, situated action, and bodily states underlie cognition, but researchers have done relatively little work to examine whether cognitive processes can arise from the manner in which our bodies interact with the immediate environment, nor whether it is possible to guide people's thoughts by manipulating their actions. The mind uses the body to accomplish cognitive goals, but can we make the body move in ways that guide the mind? I conducted a series of experiments that investigated embodied cognition in problem-solving tasks, examining the influence of directed actions on higher-order cognition. By experimentally directing participants' movements for a small portion of time as they tried to solve an insight problem---whether these were subtle movements of the eyes (Experiment 1), movements of attention (Experiment 2), or large movements of the arms (Experiments 3--4)---I was able to substantially alter their chances of successfully solving that problem. This research adds a new dimension to the embodied cognition literature, providing evidence for a causal link between action and cognition.","Made available in DSpace on 2015-09-25T20:39:26Z (GMT). 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