Sensory Schema: From Sensation to Knowledge

Abstract

How do we know we used the right word in a sentence? The standard answer invokes grammatical rules, context, usage, and logic—but this article argues that the process of reasoning is guided by sensations. Human individuals experience sensations—not the molecular or neural mechanisms that produce them. Therefore, meaning arises from the sensations that words prompt, not from words themselves. Thinking operates through patterns of sensations, most below conscious awareness, while those that rise to consciousness guide the process by signaling alignment or conflict with patterns from past experiences. To explain this process, the article proposes the sensory schema framework, which investigates how sensations are organized at a more fundamental level than image schemas and conceptual metaphors in cognitive linguistics. Analysis across diverse domains—language, mathematics, science, art, and everyday behavior—reveals that sensory experience is inherently structured as products of intensity and extent, the core mechanism by which embodiment shapes conceptual knowledge. This cross-domain consistency demonstrates that patterns cognitive linguistics identifies within language reflect universal organizational principles of sensory experience. The article synthesizes core ideas from previously published works and demonstrates how the framework generates testable predictions for empirical research while offering applications in language acquisition, computational linguistics, and clinical assessment.