How to do things without words: Infants, utterance-activity and distributed cognition.



Provided by Cognitive Sciences ePrint Archive

How to do things without words:

Infants, utterance-activity and distributed
cognition.

David Spurrett and Stephen Cowley

Note

This is a preprint version of a paper subsequently published in Language Sciences.
(Spurrett, D. and Cowley, C. (2004) ‘How to Do Things Without Words: Infants,
utterance-activity and distributed cognition’
Language Sciences, 26(5), pp 443-466.) The
final published version is available from
ScienceDirect here:

http://dx.doi.Org/10.1016/j.langsci.2003.09.008

Abstract

Clark and Chalmers (1998) defend the hypothesis of an ‘Extended Mind’, maintaining
that beliefs and other paradigmatic mental states can be implemented outside the central
nervous system or body. Aspects of the problem of ‘language acquisition’ are considered
in the light of the extended mind hypothesis. Rather than ‘language’ as typically
understood, the object of study is something called ‘utterance-activity’, a term of art
intended to refer to the full range of kinetic and prosodic features of the on-line
behaviour of interacting humans. It is argued that utterance activity is plausibly regarded
as jointly controlled by the embodied activity of interacting people, and that it
contributes to the control of their behaviour. By means of specific examples it is
suggested that this complex joint control facilitates easier learning of at least some
features of language. This in turn suggests a striking form of the extended mind, in which
infants’ cognitive powers are augmented by those of the people with whom they interact.

Introduction

In ‘The Extended Mind’ Clark and Chalmers (1998) argue for ‘active externalism’ - the
view that the mind, or what realises it, need not be confined within either the brain, or
the body, of the minded individual. We’re sympathetic to their position, and line of
argument. Among the many things outside the brain and body of any particular individual
are, of course, other brains and bodies. This paper is a preliminary sketch of what might
happen when minds extend into one another. The paper is in two parts - the first
establishing some theoretical points of reference, the second being largely descriptive.
We note at the outset that what we have written here is speculative and sometimes loose.
It is also, hopefully, suggestive of fruitful lines of further reflection and investigation.

Our sub-title refers to ‘utterance-activity’. This is a term of art, used, here, to refer to the
full range of kinetic and prosodic features of the on-line behaviour of interacting
humans. Utterance-activity sometimes includes what are usually regarded as words and
strings of words, but need not. We regard utterance-activity as at least as good an object
of scientific interest in its own right as ‘language’ traditionally conceived. Further, we
regard it as continuous with, and inextricable from, (non-written) language. We combine
this continuity thesis with the developmental claim that language, as usually understood,

1 / 23



More intriguing information

1. International Financial Integration*
2. EU enlargement and environmental policy
3. Monopolistic Pricing in the Banking Industry: a Dynamic Model
4. AN EXPLORATION OF THE NEED FOR AND COST OF SELECTED TRADE FACILITATION MEASURES IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC IN THE CONTEXT OF THE WTO NEGOTIATIONS
5. The Role of Evidence in Establishing Trust in Repositories
6. Database Search Strategies for Proteomic Data Sets Generated by Electron Capture Dissociation Mass Spectrometry
7. The name is absent
8. The name is absent
9. The name is absent
10. The name is absent
11. Types of Tax Concessions for Promoting Investment in Free Economic and Trade Areas
12. Monetary Discretion, Pricing Complementarity and Dynamic Multiple Equilibria
13. ADJUSTMENT TO GLOBALISATION: A STUDY OF THE FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY IN EUROPE
14. Centre for Longitudinal Studies
15. Female Empowerment: Impact of a Commitment Savings Product in the Philippines
16. The Impact of EU Accession in Romania: An Analysis of Regional Development Policy Effects by a Multiregional I-O Model
17. Pursuit of Competitive Advantages for Entrepreneurship: Development of Enterprise as a Learning Organization. International and Russian Experience
18. Global Excess Liquidity and House Prices - A VAR Analysis for OECD Countries
19. Tissue Tracking Imaging for Identifying the Origin of Idiopathic Ventricular Arrhythmias: A New Role of Cardiac Ultrasound in Electrophysiology
20. Studying How E-Markets Evaluation Can Enhance Trust in Virtual Business Communities