The interactive Turn in Social Cognition Research: A Critique

TY - JOUR

T1 - The interactive Turn in Social Cognition Research

T2 - A Critique

AU - Overgaard, Søren

AU - Michael, John Andrew

PY - 2015/2/17

Y1 - 2015/2/17

N2 - Proponents of the so-called “interactive turn in social cognition research” maintain that mainstream research on social cognition has been fundamentally flawed by its neglect of social interaction, and that a new paradigm is needed in order to redress this shortcoming. We argue that proponents of the interactive turn (“interactionists”) have failed to properly substantiate their criticisms of existing research on social cognition. Although it is sometimes unclear precisely what these criticisms of existing theories are supposed to target, we sketch two possibilities: interactionists can either accept the primary explanandum addressed by mainstream social cognition research—namely mindreading—and claim that interactionism contributes some hitherto neglected but necessary component of a successful explanans, or they can argue that mainstream research has focused on a misconceived explanandum. We argue that interactionist claims of both sorts are problematic.

AB - Proponents of the so-called “interactive turn in social cognition research” maintain that mainstream research on social cognition has been fundamentally flawed by its neglect of social interaction, and that a new paradigm is needed in order to redress this shortcoming. We argue that proponents of the interactive turn (“interactionists”) have failed to properly substantiate their criticisms of existing research on social cognition. Although it is sometimes unclear precisely what these criticisms of existing theories are supposed to target, we sketch two possibilities: interactionists can either accept the primary explanandum addressed by mainstream social cognition research—namely mindreading—and claim that interactionism contributes some hitherto neglected but necessary component of a successful explanans, or they can argue that mainstream research has focused on a misconceived explanandum. We argue that interactionist claims of both sorts are problematic.

KW - Faculty of Humanities

KW - mindreading

KW - social cognition

KW - social interaction

U2 - 10.1080/09515089.2013.827109

DO - 10.1080/09515089.2013.827109

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0951-5089

VL - 28

SP - 160

EP - 183

JO - Philosophical Psychology

JF - Philosophical Psychology

IS - 2

ER -