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11:00 - 12:30
Parallel sessions 8
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11:00 - 12:30
Room: HSZ - N3
Chair/s:
Barbara Kaup, David Dignath
This symposium examines the interplay between linguistic and non-linguistic cognition. While some cognitive functions appear to depend on language, others seem rather independent of it and many more integrate both aspects. In psychology, however, the distinction between linguistic and non-linguistic cognition is rarely made explicitly and there is currently no consensus on how language may shape, enable or constrain thought.

The symposium brings together perspectives from cognitive research, developmental psychology and animal cognition to address three questions:

(1) How are language and thought related?
(2) Which cognitive functions are inherently linguistic, and which are not?
(3) To what extend can language modulate domains traditionally considered non-linguistic?

Part 1 of the double symposium brings together comparative and ontogenetic perspectives, focusing on animal cognition and human development. (see detailled description there)

Part 2 adopts a cognitive psychology perspective. First, Carolin Dudschig examines common mechanisms in linguistic and non-linguistic processing by means of electrophysiological investigations. Rasha Abdel-Rahman's contribution addresses the question of whether language influences the formation of visual representations. Senne Braem investigates how semantic knowledge guides learning of new tasks. Tally Miller tests the influence of verbal labels on the categorization of musical stimuli. Finally, Günther Knoblich discusses the role of linguistic and non-linguistic cognition in joint action.
At the end of the double symposium, philosopher Hong Yu Wong will integrate these diverse perspectives in a concluding discussion, aiming to clarify when, whether, and how cognition harnesses the faculty of language.
Submission 625
Linguistic and Non-Linguistic Cognition in Joint Action
SymposiumTalk-05
Presented by: Günther Knoblich
Günther Knoblich
Central European University PU, Vienna, Austria
When individuals act together they coordinate their actions in space and time to achieve joint outcomes. Joint action coordination can be achieved without linguistic cognition. Action prediction supports coordinating the timing and location of individual actions. Exchange of non-verbal communication signals supports aligning action plans. Implicit commitment arising from expectations that individuals will remain engaged in joint action reduce joint action partners’ tendency to abandon the joint action in the face of tempting options for individual action. However, linguistic cognition may enhance the efficiency and flexibility of joint action. This includes 1) added opportunities to align plans for joint action, 2) the possibility of distributing tasks and roles in advance, 3) added opportunities for error correction, and 4) explicit forms of commitment that may create strong disincentives for abandoning joint actions.

How do linguistic and non-linguistic cognition relate in joint action? One possibility is that linguistic and non-linguistic contributions to joint action arise from a unitary process that reflects alignment at different levels of a predictive hierarchy. Alternatively, linguistic and non-linguistic contributions to joint action could be construed as arising from two independent systems recruiting qualitatively different processes: one system for linguistic interpersonal alignment of mental content and one system for non-linguistic interpersonal alignment of instrumental actions.