Getting interaction theory (IT) together: integrating developmental, phenomenological, enactive, and dynamical approaches to social interaction

RIS ID

89074

Publication Details

Froese, T. and Gallagher, S. 2012, 'Getting interaction theory (IT) together: integrating developmental, phenomenological, enactive, and dynamical approaches to social interaction', Interaction Studies: social behaviour and communication in biological and artificial systems, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 436-468.

Abstract

We argue tbat progress in our scientific understanding of tbe 'social mind' is bampered by a number of unfounded asstmiptions. We single out tbe widely sbared assumption tbat social bebavior depends solely on tbe capacities of an individual agent. In contrast, botb developmental and pbenomenological studies suggest tbat tbe personal-level capacity for detacbed 'social cognition' (conceived as a process of tbeorizing about and/or simulating anotber mind) is a secondary acbievement that is dependent on more immediate processes of embodied social interaction. We draw on the enactive approach to cognitive science to furtber clarify tbis strong notion of'social interaction' in tbeoretical terms. In addition, we indicate bow tbis interaction tbeory (IT) could eventually be formalized witb tbe belp of a dynamical systems perspective on tbe interaction process, especially by making use of evolutionary robotics modeling. We conclude tbat bringing togetber tbe metbods and insigbts of developmental, pbenomenological, enactive and dynamical approacbes to social interaction can provide a promising framework for future researcb.

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/is.13.3.06