Seminários em Neurociências

Sexta-feira 17/12/2010 15:30h Auditório do Centro de Pesquisa César Timo-Iaria

Studying the emergence of human communication systems in the laboratory

Bruno Galantucci (Yeshiva University and Haskins Laboratories)

The emergence of human communication systems is typically investigated via either field studies or simulations with artificial agents. The former option captures the full complexity of human behavior, the latter offers robust experimental control. In this talk I present a method that combines the two options. Pairs of participants are invited to play a coordination game with interconnected computers. The game requires players to communicate, but players cannot see, hear, or touch each other. The only means of contact between them is a device that supports the exchange of visual signals but prevents the use of standard graphic forms (e.g., letters or numbers). In other words, to communicate, players must craft a visual communication system from its very foundations. Novel communication systems emerge and develop rapidly during the games, integrating the use of explicit signs with information implicitly available to players and silent behavior-coordinating procedures. The method is discussed in some detail in the context of three studies aimed at uncovering general design principles of human communication.

Centro de Estudos e Pesquisa Prof. Cesar Timo-Iaria – IINN-ELS

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