Journal article
Beyond Single-Mindedness: A Figure-Ground Reversal for the Cognitive Sciences
Radboud University Nijmegen1
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam2
University of Sydney3
Aarhus University4
University of Gothenburg5
University of California at San Diego6
Cognitive Systems, Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, Technical University of Denmark7
Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, Technical University of Denmark8
University of Kent9
University of Warsaw10
University of Portsmouth11
Loughborough University12
University of Potsdam13
The London School of Economics and Political Science14
Lancaster University15
Dartmouth College16
Pompeu Fabra University17
Leiden University18
University College Dublin19
Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry20
Carnegie Mellon University21
University of Essex22
Marshall University23
University of the Basque Country24
...and 14 moreA fundamental fact about human minds is that they are never truly alone: all minds are steeped in situated interaction. That social interaction matters is recognized by any experimentalist who seeks to exclude its influence by studying individuals in isolation. On this view, interaction complicates cognition.
Here, we explore the more radical stance that interaction co-constitutes cognition: that we benefit from looking beyond single minds toward cognition as a process involving interacting minds. All around the cognitive sciences, there are approaches that put interaction center stage. Their diverse and pluralistic origins may obscure the fact that collectively, they harbor insights and methods that can respecify foundational assumptions and fuel novel interdisciplinary work.
What might the cognitive sciences gain from stronger interactional foundations? This represents, we believe, one of the key questions for the future. Writing as a transdisciplinary collective assembled from across the classic cognitive science hexagon and beyond, we highlight the opportunity for a figure-ground reversal that puts interaction at the heart of cognition.
The interactive stance is a way of seeing that deserves to be a key part of the conceptual toolkit of cognitive scientists.
Language: | English |
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Year: | 2023 |
Pages: | e13230 |
ISBN: | 3540108440 , 3642953972 , 9783540108443 and 9783642953972 |
ISSN: | 15516709 and 03640213 |
Types: | Journal article |
DOI: | 10.1111/cogs.13230 |
ORCIDs: | 0000-0003-4775-5219 , 0000-0003-3076-5912 , 0000-0002-3434-4843 and Konvalinka, Ivana |
Cognition Cognitive Science Humans Interdisciplinary Studies Problem Solving