Gün Semin (Utrecht University) & Margarida Garrido (ISCTE-IUL)

This workshop is on the newly emerging dynamic perspective - referred to as socially situated cognition, which contrasts with a view of human cognition that became prominent with the cognitive revolution.

This view endorsed the ‘mind’ and ‘cognitive processes’ as the object proper of scientific inquiry. The consequence was the examination of the isolated individual’s processing and representation of information. In contrast, the situated cognition perspective invites understanding cognitive activities as extended to the social and physical environment, which constitute integral parts of cognitive activity in their own right. It also emphasizes the significance of our biological constitution as it puts limits on how we adaptively negotiate with the dynamic reality surrounding us.

The important result of this adaptive negotiation processes is the emergent nature of social cognition, namely the situatedness of social cognition. This workshop has two complementary goals: First, we intend to give you in depth knowledge of the field; second, we expect the formation of subgroups that with our close supervision will engage in designing studies to be executed, written and submitted for publication. We also anticipate that you will form academic networks and hopefully long lasting friendships.