Objective Humans are social creatures throughout life. This proposal aims to advance our knowledge of the mechanisms that mediate understanding of others’ actions from a developmental perspective. A special emphasis will be devoted to mirror neuron and teleological frameworks. The former framework focuses on reciprocal motor activation during action execution and observation whereas the later framework emphasizes the application of abstract principles to observed events. The mechanisms that guide both processes will be investigated in isolation, but special attention will also be devoted to understanding how these diverse forms of action understanding jointly contribute to action understanding. The project encompasses three essential research objectives, illustrated by three research questions. How do mirror neuron and teleological processes influence action understanding? How does action understanding enable social action evaluation (empathy and pro-social preferences)? How is action understanding expressed during real-life social interactions? These questions will be addressed by presenting infants and toddlers with social events of varying complexity (from simple actions and animated sequences to complex everyday social events), relating empirical findings to predictions derived from the teleological and motor cognitive frameworks. The overarching aim is to provide a computational model of early emerging social cognitive capabilities, with a focus on action understanding and action evaluation, while passively observing others and while partaking in social interactions with others. Fields of science humanitiesphilosophy, ethics and religionphilosophymetaphysicsteleologyhumanitiesphilosophy, ethics and religionethicsethical principlessocial sciencespolitical sciencespolitical policiescivil society Programme(s) FP7-IDEAS-ERC - Specific programme: "Ideas" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Topic(s) ERC-SG-SH4 - ERC Starting Grant - The Human Mind and its complexity Call for proposal ERC-2012-StG_20111124 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERC-SG - ERC Starting Grant Host institution UPPSALA UNIVERSITET EU contribution € 1 498 920,00 Address VON KRAEMERS ALLE 4 751 05 Uppsala Sweden See on map Region Östra Sverige Östra Mellansverige Uppsala län Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Principal investigator Kjell Gustaf Gredebäck (Prof.) Administrative Contact Cecilia Wåhlstedt (Mrs.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data Beneficiaries (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all UPPSALA UNIVERSITET Sweden EU contribution € 1 498 920,00 Address VON KRAEMERS ALLE 4 751 05 Uppsala See on map Region Östra Sverige Östra Mellansverige Uppsala län Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Principal investigator Kjell Gustaf Gredebäck (Prof.) Administrative Contact Cecilia Wåhlstedt (Mrs.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data
