The building blocks of intuitive physics in the mind and brain.

Abstract

There has been a recent wave of interest in understanding the mental processes underlying intuitive physics - our ability to apprehend the physical structure of the world and anticipate how objects will behave as a scene's dynamics unfold. While work to uncover the neural mechanisms of intuitive physics is just in its beginnings, vibrant lines of neuropsychological research are investigating the many facets of cognition intimately linked with the 'physics engine in the mind'. This special issue brings together a collection of papers that delve into the interactions between intuitive physics and related domains such as audiovisual scene analysis, action planning, and decision making, providing a view of the larger landscape of mental processes that allow us to predict how physical events will unfold in the next moments and plan our behaviors accordingly.