BPS Core Textbooks Series

Developed in collaboration with the British Psychological Society

Chapter 29 – The Power Within: Cognitive Psychology’s Embodied Cognition

Chapter Summary

This chapter challenges the assumption that cognitive psychology is a neutral, disembodied science of the mind. Instead, it reveals that cognitive psychology emerged from a particular time and place, shaped by the pressures of war, the demands of bureaucracy, and the technical metaphors of control, command, and computation. Beginning with the story of Kenneth Craik, a brilliant young psychologist whose wartime research helped lay the foundations for modern cognitive models, the chapter shows how metaphors of memory as storage, processing, and retrieval were never simply descriptive. They were imaginative projections of the environments and values in which psychologists themselves were embedded. Drawing on the critical thinking tool of embodied cognition, the chapter argues that thought is not abstract or free-floating but shaped by our physical bodies, our lived experiences, and our institutional contexts. It examines how cognitive psychology borrowed from engineering, telecommunications, and military systems. It concludes with a call to rethink metaphors of mind not as data manipulation but as embodied activity.

Chapter 29 – Quiz

  • Chapter 29 – Flashcards

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  • Chapter 29 – Key Readings

    Arrigo, J. M., Rockwood, L. P., O’Brien, J., Franz, D., DeBatto, D., & Kiriakou, J. (2022). A military/intelligence operational perspective on the American Psychological Association’s weaponization of psychology post-9/11. History of the Human Sciences, 35(5), 51-79. https://doi.org/10.1177/09526951221121711 

    Baddeley, A.D. (2001). ‘Memories of memory research’. In G.C. Bunn, A.D. Lovie and G.D. Richards, (Eds.), Psychology in Britain: Historical essays and personal reflections, (pp.344-352). BPS Books/Wiley. 

    Bloor, D. (2025). The Cambridge Cockpit and the paradoxes of fatigue, 1940-1977. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 

    Chen, W., Ping, X., & Dong, D. (2023). Filling in the vacuous flesh: Embodiment, constitution, and interoception. Theory & Psychology, 33(4), 515-534. https://doi.org/10.1177/09593543231169967 

    Coulter, J. (2008). Twenty-five theses against cognitivism. Theory, Culture & Society, 25(2), 19–32. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276407086789 

    Danziger, K. (1990). Generative metaphor and the history of psychological discourse. In D. J. Leary (Ed.), Metaphors in the history of psychology (pp.331-356). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 

    Draaisma, D. (2000). Metaphors of memory: A history of ideas about the mind. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 

    Hampe, B. (2017). Metaphor: embodied cognition and discourse. Cambridge University Press. 

    Jackson, P. (2022). Theorising embodied interaction in coaching: A Merleau-Pontian perspective on embodied practice. Theory & Psychology, 33(1), 78-98. https://doi.org/10.1177/09593543221123970 

    Jones, E. (2012). ‘The gut war’: Functional somatic disorders in the UK during the Second World War. History of the Human Sciences, 25(5), 30-48. https://doi.org/10.1177/0952695112466515 

    Kölbl, C. (2023). Klaus Holzkamp smiled: Soviet psychology in the Federal Republic of Germany in the Cold War era. History of Psychology, 26(4), 314–333. https://doi.org/10.1037/hop0000243 

    Ma, H. L., Dawson, M. R. W., Prinsen, R. S., & Hayward, D. A. (2022). Embodying cognitive ethology. Theory & Psychology, 33(1), 42-58. https://doi.org/10.1177/09593543221126165 

    Nietzel, B. (2016). Propaganda, psychological warfare and communication research in the USA and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. History of the Human Sciences, 29(4-5), 59-76. https://doi.org/10.1177/0952695116667881 

    Randall, W. (2007). From computer to compost: Rethinking our metaphors for memory. Theory & Psychology, 17(5), 611–633. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354307081619 

    Sampson, E. E. (1996). Establishing Embodiment in Psychology. Theory & Psychology, 6(4), 601-624. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354396064004 

    Wu, H. Y.-J. (2020). Psychiatrists’ agency and their distance from the authoritarian state in post-World War II Taiwan. History of Psychology, 23(4), 351–370. https://doi.org/10.1037/hop0000174 

  • Chapter 29 – Reflective Questions

    1. How did the military-industrial context of the 1940s and 1950s shape the development of cognitive psychology? 
    2. What does the concept of embodied cognition reveal about the limitations of the ‘mind as computer’ metaphor? 
    3. Why is Kenneth Craik considered such a pivotal figure in the emergence of cognitive psychology, and what aspects of his work remain overlooked? 
    4. In what ways can metaphor serve as both a creative and constraining force in psychological theory? 
    5. What might cognitive psychology have looked like if it had taken a more embodied or ecological direction earlier in its history? 

  • Chapter 29 – Weblinks

    History of Psychology Centre – British Psychological Society (Educational Resource)

    https://www.bps.org.uk/history-psychology-centre

    This webpage contains an excellent collection of archival materials, including access to insights in to British contributions to psychology during and after WWII, such as the APU and key figures like Kenneth Craik and Donald Broadbent.

    Wellcome Collection – Military and Psychology Archives (Archival Resource)

    https://wellcomecollection.org/search/works?query=military+and+psychology

    An extensive archive of primary resources for students wanting to deepen their understanding of what happened during wartime in psychological experimentation, which helps to frame the history-focused aspects of psychology’s militarised origins.

    MIT OpenCourseWare – Embodied Cognition

    https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/9-00sc-introduction-to-psychology-fall-2011/resources/embodied-cognition

    A 1-hour and 11-minute lecture about Embodied Cognition, presented by Professor John D. E. Gabrieli, enabling students to understand the topic and enable them to engage on a critical and theoretical basis more confidently.

    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy – Embodied Cognition

    https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/embodied-cognition/

    This webpage provides a clear and accessible overview of the concept of embodied cognition, with extensive further reading and examples of research on this subject, giving students a variety of ways to engage with the concept and build their understanding.