5. Coming to agreement: Object use by infants and adults
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Cintia Rodríguez
Abstract
According to the “naturalistic view of the object” children give meaning to objects in a natural, direct, and spontaneous manner, without the need of others. The myth underlying the spontaneity of subject-object encounter is that, in contrast to the widely assumed opacity of “social” reality within modern psychological theory, there exists an alternative reality of “non-social physical” that is literal and transparent. We challenge this by adopting a pragmatic approach to objects. In everyday life, objects are situated in communicative contexts and used for doing things. During their first year of life, children achieve triadic interactions (baby-object-adult) involving very different degrees of agreement with adults concerning an object’s use and meaning by means of diverse semiotic systems in contexts of joint communicative action.
Abstract
According to the “naturalistic view of the object” children give meaning to objects in a natural, direct, and spontaneous manner, without the need of others. The myth underlying the spontaneity of subject-object encounter is that, in contrast to the widely assumed opacity of “social” reality within modern psychological theory, there exists an alternative reality of “non-social physical” that is literal and transparent. We challenge this by adopting a pragmatic approach to objects. In everyday life, objects are situated in communicative contexts and used for doing things. During their first year of life, children achieve triadic interactions (baby-object-adult) involving very different degrees of agreement with adults concerning an object’s use and meaning by means of diverse semiotic systems in contexts of joint communicative action.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword. Shared minds and the science of fiction: Why theories will differ vii
- 1. Intersubjectivity: What makes us human? 1
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Part I. Development
- 2. Understanding others through primary interaction and narrative practice 17
- 3. The neuroscience of social understanding 39
- 4. Engaging, sharing, knowing: Some lessons from research in autism 67
- 5. Coming to agreement: Object use by infants and adults 89
- 6. The role of intersubjectivity in the development of intentional communication 115
- 7. Sharing mental states: Causal and definitional issues in intersubjectivity 141
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Part II. Evolution
- 8. Evidence for intentional and referential communication in great apes? 165
- 9. The heterochronic origins of explicit reference 187
- 10. The co-evolution of intersubjectivity and bodily mimesis 215
- 11. First communions: Mimetic sharing without theory of mind 245
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Part III. Language
- 12. The central role of normativity in language and linguistics 279
- 13. Intersubjectivity in the architecture of language system 307
- 14. Intersubjectivity in interpreted interactions: The interpreter's role in co-constructing meaning 333
- 15. Language and the signifying object: From convention to imagination 357
- Author index 379
- Subject index 383
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword. Shared minds and the science of fiction: Why theories will differ vii
- 1. Intersubjectivity: What makes us human? 1
-
Part I. Development
- 2. Understanding others through primary interaction and narrative practice 17
- 3. The neuroscience of social understanding 39
- 4. Engaging, sharing, knowing: Some lessons from research in autism 67
- 5. Coming to agreement: Object use by infants and adults 89
- 6. The role of intersubjectivity in the development of intentional communication 115
- 7. Sharing mental states: Causal and definitional issues in intersubjectivity 141
-
Part II. Evolution
- 8. Evidence for intentional and referential communication in great apes? 165
- 9. The heterochronic origins of explicit reference 187
- 10. The co-evolution of intersubjectivity and bodily mimesis 215
- 11. First communions: Mimetic sharing without theory of mind 245
-
Part III. Language
- 12. The central role of normativity in language and linguistics 279
- 13. Intersubjectivity in the architecture of language system 307
- 14. Intersubjectivity in interpreted interactions: The interpreter's role in co-constructing meaning 333
- 15. Language and the signifying object: From convention to imagination 357
- Author index 379
- Subject index 383
