CFP: Minds in Common

Speakers

Estela Bicho (University of Munho); Guy Kahane (University of Oxford); Etienne Koechlin (Ecole Normale Supérieure); Ivana Konvalinka (Technical University of Denmark); Christina Pawlowitsch (University Paris 2); Michael Bang Pedersen (University of Aarhus); Martin Pickering (University of Edinburgh); Nicholas Shea (King’s College London); Luc Steels (Vrije Universiteit Brussel); Tad Zawidzki (George Washington University).

Central Research Questions

The second Aarhus - Paris conference in social ontology and social cognition addresses the role of coordination and common ground in the constitution of the social reality, as well as their relations within the architecture of human social cognition. Coordination of behaviour depends on common ground at multiple levels: a shared understanding of who is coordinating with whom, what their goals and strategies are, what objects, people and events are relevant to the shared goal. Common ground may include things as different as physical bodies, artefacts, spaces, linguistic contexts, mutual knowledge and the background of human-like biological propensities. On the other hand, coordination also creates and sustains common ground, e.g. by means of bodily synchronization, conversational and mental alignment, the sharing of conventional worlds and situation models. 

What psychological, neural, cultural, evolutionary processes facilitate the cultivation and maintenance of common ground as a condition for coordinated interaction? How are such processes related to each other? How are we to model top-down and bottom-up interactions among these processes? What is the role played by development in easing coordination through common ground? How have dual processes of biological evolution and of cultural acquisition contributed to the mutual interplay of coordination and common ground?

Call for Posters
We invite posters suitable for presentation on any topic related to the themes of the conference. Abstracts for posters not exceeding 350 words should be submitted in .doc or .pdf format by email to:[email protected]. Please include a separate cover sheet including name, poster title and affiliation. The deadline for receipt of submissions is March 1st, 2013. We will notify authors of the decision regarding posters on a rolling basis, usually within 3 days of submission.

Registration
Attendance is free of charge, but space is limited. Please register by sending an email to:[email protected].

Scientific Organization
Mattia Gallotti (Jean Nicod Institute, Paris) & John Michael (University of Aarhus)

This conference is jointly funded by the Interacting Minds Centre at the University of Aarhus (http://interactingminds.au.dk/), and by the Jean Nicod Institute at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris