Objective
This project addresses a serious gap at the heart of the social and cognitive sciences. The proposal is to fast-start an interdisciplinary science of human communicative interaction focused on sequences of contingent actions. The research will be guided by a novel hypothesis, the ‘interaction engine’, which holds that human interactive abilities are distinct from and phylogenetically older than our language capacity. Inverting the usual assumptions, the hypothesis suggests that the human interaction system is fundamentally universal, while the language system lacks substantial universals and is diversified by cultural evolution. The interaction system and language system therefore do not mesh neatly, and this can be detected in the domain of contingent action sequences – the crucial characteristic of human interaction. Two specific areas, (a) the timing of turn-taking and (b) the ascription of speech acts or intentions, will be examined from three distinct disciplinary perspectives:
(i) cross-cultural corpus and experimental studies in a dozen languages,
(ii) developmental studies (corpus and experiment based) from early infancy up to middle childhood,
(iii) cognitive studies employing both behavioural measures (reaction time, eye tracking), and neurocognitive methods (EEG, fMRI).
The ‘interaction engine’ hypothesis makes detailed predictions about cross-cultural universals, developmental trajectories, and processing complexities in both turn-taking and action ascription.
The project aims to build an integrated, interdisciplinary science of communicative interaction. New developments (multi-media corpora, dual eye-tracking, EEG, fMRI, baby-lab techniques) now make this feasible. The PI and host institution are uniquely equipped to undertake this project.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
ERC-2010-AdG_20100407
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Host institution
80539 Munchen
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.