Concepts in interaction with others and with ourselves: abstractness in social interaction, metacognition and mind wandering

Anno
2021
Proponente Anna Maria Borghi - Professore Ordinario
Sottosettore ERC del proponente del progetto
SH4_6
Componenti gruppo di ricerca
Componente Categoria
Francesca Bellagamba Componenti strutturati del gruppo di ricerca / Structured participants in the research project
Melania Paoletti Dottorando/Assegnista/Specializzando componente non strutturato del gruppo di ricerca / PhD/Assegnista/Specializzando member non structured of the research group
Giuliana Mazzoni Componenti strutturati del gruppo di ricerca / Structured participants in the research project
Silvia Mazzoni Componenti strutturati del gruppo di ricerca / Structured participants in the research project
Alessandro Gennaro Componenti strutturati del gruppo di ricerca / Structured participants in the research project
Componente Qualifica Struttura Categoria
Luca Tummolini researcher ISTC-CNR Altro personale aggregato Sapienza o esterni, titolari di borse di studio di ricerca / Other aggregate personnel Sapienza or other institution, holders of research scholarships
Laura Barca researcher ISTC-CNR Altro personale aggregato Sapienza o esterni, titolari di borse di studio di ricerca / Other aggregate personnel Sapienza or other institution, holders of research scholarships
Elena Daprati associate professor University of Rome, Tor Vergata Altro personale aggregato Sapienza o esterni, titolari di borse di studio di ricerca / Other aggregate personnel Sapienza or other institution, holders of research scholarships
Luisa Lugli associate professor University of Bologna Altro personale aggregato Sapienza o esterni, titolari di borse di studio di ricerca / Other aggregate personnel Sapienza or other institution, holders of research scholarships
Corrado Roversi associate professor University of Bologna Altro personale aggregato Sapienza o esterni, titolari di borse di studio di ricerca / Other aggregate personnel Sapienza or other institution, holders of research scholarships
Arthur-Henry Michalland post-doc University of Montpellier Altro personale aggregato Sapienza o esterni, titolari di borse di studio di ricerca / Other aggregate personnel Sapienza or other institution, holders of research scholarships
Caterina Villani phD student University of Bologna Altro personale aggregato Sapienza o esterni, titolari di borse di studio di ricerca / Other aggregate personnel Sapienza or other institution, holders of research scholarships
Abstract

Concepts are the building blocks of our knowledge that link our past, present, and future. They can be distinguished into concrete (CCs) and abstract concepts (ACs). Recent research investigated differences among kinds of ACs (e.g., emotional, numerical, philosophical ACs); for each of them, specific dimensions (e.g., emotions, language) can assume relevance.
Since ACs are more complex than CCs, they might generate higher uncertainty. Hence, metacognitive monitoring might be crucial: with ACs, we would inspect our knowledge longer, being aware of its limitations. This monitoring process might turn either to a continuous search for word meaning or to the (implicit or explicit) request of information to others. In both cases, inner speech might play an important role.
The project consists of two parts. The first focuses on acquiring and using ACs and CCs and their kinds during social interaction, in line with the fresher developments in the field. We will analyze online and real conversations between children from age 5 and parents and between pairs of adults.
The second assesses whether ACs and their kinds, more than CCs, induce forms of interaction with the self, in particular inner speech. We are interested in how metacognitive monitoring is mediated by inner speech during the use of ACs. We will use ratings and mouth tracking experiments to study uncertainty with ACs, articulatory suppression, EMG, and questionnaires to investigate inner speech. We will also address whether the lower confidence in our knowledge leads to higher cooperation with others because their input is particularly needed. Finally, we will focus on inner speech related to mind wandering and ACs. We will address whether and when ACs and CCs evoke more or less vivid involuntary memories.
We will adopt novel, interactive methods investigating concepts and words during their use and various paradigms and techniques (mouse tracking, kinematics, EMG, sophisticated textual analysis techniques).

ERC
SH4_1, SH4_6, SH4_8
Keywords:
COGNIZIONE, MEMORIA, APPRENDIMENTO LINGUISTICO, COGNIZIONE SOCIALE, SVILUPPO COGNITIVO

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