Shared Intentionality http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic1155779.files/Tomasello%20and%20Carpenter%202007.pdf

What enables humans, but not our primate relatives; to accomplish complex social tasks? Shared intentionality – Collaborative interactions in which participants share psychological states with one another. Vygotsky’s Theory – Stresses the fundamental role of social interaction in development of cognition.

We Try to Share Our Mental Processes All of the things that we might think of as being critical to human interaction and culture are the result of our ability to take the contents of one mind and transfer them into another mind so that those contents are shared. Shared goals. If one assumes one part of responsibility, then the other must assume the other part of that responsibility.

Understanding Shared Experience Infants can keep track of who is familiar with what through shared experience. Moll et al. 2008:98.

How does shared intentionality make humans unique? Four important sets of social-cognitive skills that are transformed by shared intentionality

Gaze Following and Joint Attention Gaze following – Simply following another’s gaze to see if they are looking at something interesting. Joint attention – Not just two people experiencing something at the same time, but rather it is two people experiencing something at the same time and are aware that the experience is shared.

Social Manipulation and Cooperative Communication Social Manipulation – Using gestures and signals in order to get what you want from another. Chimps (Individualistic – only worried about themselves) Cooperative Communication – Not just trying to get what you want, but trying to influence another’s informational and goal states.

Group Activity and Collaboration Group Activity – An activity that is completed as a group. Collaboration – A group activity where group members actively communicate and work with one another towards a desired goal.

Social Learning and Instructed Learning Social Learning – Learning by observing others Instructed Learning – Teacher and student.

Chimps vs. Humans Our primate relatives are mainly concerned with individual goals. Humans however are more interested in cooperation, sharing, and committing themselves to a shared goal and a shared experience.

The Emergence of Shared Intentionality Tomasello et al. (2005a) hypothesized that the basic skills and motivations for shared intentionality typically emerge around the one-year mark. This is due to the interaction of two developmental trajectories. General primate line of development – Focused on understanding intentional action and perception, which evolved in the context of primates’ important competition over resources (Machiavellian intelligence; Byrne & Whitten, 1988). Human line of development – Focused on sharing psychological states, which is present early in human development as infants share emotional states with others in turn-taking sequences (Trevarthen, 1979)

Three Reason Why Shared Intentionality is a Key Concept in Our Understanding of Human Development Shared intentionality is uniquely human and separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom. Shared intentionality allows for insight into cognitive, motivational, and social issues working together. Shared intentionality acts as a link between biology and culture.

Conclusion Shared intentionality is a phenomenon that is used by humans to allow us to collaborate in unique ways. It seems as though the big difference between humans and other species is our ability to participate with others in collaborative activities with shared goals and intentions. It’s not just about cognitive or biological differences; it’s the social differences that make us human.