Language and simulation in conceptual processing

Theories of cognition often assume that a single type of rep1esentation underlies knowledge. . Traditionally, most theories have assumed that amodal symbols provide unifo1m knowledge representation (e. ., while other theories have proposed that knowledge is grounded in linguistic context-vectors Our theme in this chapter is that multiple systems-not just one-represent knowledge . . We focus on two sources of knowledge that we believe have strong empirical support: linguistic forms in the brain's language systems, and situated simulations in the brain's modal systems. . Although we focus on these two sources of knowledge, we do not exclude the possibility that other types are important as well In particula1, we believe that statistical representations play central roles throughout the brain, and that they underlie linguistic forms and situated simulations. . At this point, we are somewhat skeptical that completely amodal representations exist in the brain, for both theoretical and empirical reasons (Barsalou 1999, 2008a; Simmons and Barsalou, 2003), but we are open to compelling arguments othe1wise We begin by reviewing linguistic and modal approaches to the representation of knowledge. . We then propose the language and situated simulation (LAS~) theory as a preliminary framework for integrating these approaches. . We then turn to empirical evidence for the LASS theory, including evidence for dual code theory (Pa1vio 19 71, 1986), evidence for Glaser's (1992) revision of dual code theory (the lexical hypothesis), evidence from our laboratory, and evidence from other laboratories Finally, we address future issues that research from the LASS perspective could address.