The CEU Department of Cognitive Science and the Social Mind Center cordially invites you to its talk by

Asli Özyurek (Donders Institute and Center for Language Studies Radboud University, Nijmegen; Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics)

Date: Wednesday, January 24, 2018 - 17:00-18:30

Location: Department of Cognitive Science, CEU, Oktober 6 St. 7, room 101

How communicative intent modulates gesture and action: Implications for social interaction and cultural transmission

Bodily actions may be used to directly act on the world around us (e.g., to open a jar), or as a means of communication as in gestures- when the hands simulate opening a jar or point to entities (real or absent).  Probably as unique to our species both types of actions can be modulated for communicative purposes and thus in relation to communicative intent. I will present behavioral, neural and cross-cultural evidence specifically for  the role of  kinematic modulation as well as eye gaze (i.e, ostensive signals) in conveying communicative intent  during both production and perception of  gestures and actions in various contexts (e.g., in absence or presence of language). I will also argue that communicative modulation of actions and gestures plays a significant role especially in facilitating social interaction and cultural transmission (i.e., language, world knowledge).

We are looking forward to see you at the talk!

Cognitive Science Events at CEU: http://cognitivescience.ceu.hu/events

Social Mind Center Events at CEU: http://socialmind.ceu.edu/events