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Graphical Language Games: Interactional Constraints on Representational Form
Author(s) -
Healey Patrick G. T.,
Swoboda Nik,
Umata Ichiro,
King James
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
cognitive science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.498
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1551-6709
pISSN - 0364-0213
DOI - 10.1080/15326900701221363
Subject(s) - principle of compositionality , symbol (formal) , computer science , constraint (computer aided design) , cognitive science , cognition , affect (linguistics) , cognitive psychology , human–computer interaction , psychology , communication , artificial intelligence , programming language , neuroscience , mechanical engineering , engineering
The emergence of shared symbol systems is considered to be a pivotal moment in human evolution and human development. These changes are normally explained by reference to changes in people's internal cognitive processes. We present 2 experiments which provide evidence that changes in the external, collaborative processes that people use to communicate can also affect the structure and organization of symbol systems independently of cognitive change. We propose that mutual‐modifiability—opportunities for people to edit or manipulate each other's contributions—is a key constraint on the emergence of complex symbol systems. We discuss the implications for models of language development and the origins of compositionality.