What autobiographical story might this body position evoke?
Katinka Dijkstra, Michael P. Kaschak, and Rolf A. Zwaan have conducted research that shows that people can recall their autobiographical stories faster by getting into body positions “similar to the body positions in the original events” than they can when in different positions. Here’s the abstract of their research:
We assessed potential facilitation of congruent body posture on access to and retention of autobiographical memories in younger and older adults. Response times were shorter when body positions during prompted retrieval of autobiographical events were similar to the body positions in the original events than when body position was incongruent. Free recall of the autobiographical events two weeks later was also better for congruent-posture than for incongruent-posture memories. The findings were similar for younger and older adults, except for the finding that free recall was more accurate in younger adults than in older adults in the congruent condition. We discuss these findings in the context of theories of embodied cognition.
[ Thanks to Stephanie West Allen for turning me on to this study. ]