Cognition and embodiment

Cognition is the process of gathering information from the senses, storing it, processing it, and using what has been gathered, stored, and processed to guide behaviour. But how does cognition guide an individual's behaviour? What other functions does cognition have? Is the presence of an embodiment necessary for a cognitive thought to take place? What affordances are indispensable in order for an action, or a perceived action, to transpire? This chapter examines the building blocks of thought as well as the relationship of cognition and embodiment to further define the purpose of cognition, to establish its role in determining the evolutionary fitness and ecological niches of humans and animals, and to discover its effect on an individual's sensorimotor and behavioural responses.