ABSTRACT
Previously, the construct of situated conceptualization developed as an account of how simulations of conceptual knowledge become situated (Barsalou, 2003a-b, 2005a-b, 2008a-b, 2009; Barsalou et al., 2003; Yeh & Barsalou, 2006; also see Barsalou et al., 1993). Simulating conceptual knowledge about a bicycle, for example, does not simply represent a bicycle alone against an empty background. Instead, simulating a bicycle typically occurs in a background situation, such as riding cautiously along a busy street on the way to work (one of infinitely many situated conceptualizations associated with the category of bicycles). By simulating background situations this way, agents prepare themselves for situated action with the focal object or event. Simulating the ride to work, for example, generates useful inferences about the setting, relevant agents and objects likely to be encountered, relevant actions to perform, and mental states likely to result.
