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A vital part of successful social interaction is the ability to understand events in terms of other people's mental states, such as their intentions, beliefs, desires (Theory of Mind, ToM). This book explores how human social interactive abilities change across the lifespan, from infancy to old age, and in healthy and atypical development.
List of contents
- 1: Heather J. Ferguson: The Cognitive Basis of Social Interaction Across the Lifespan: An Introduction
- 2: Tobias Schuwerk and Hannes Rakoczy: Social Interaction in Infancy
- 3: Serena Lecce and Rory T. Devine: Social Interaction in Early and Middle Childhood: The Role of Theory Of Mind
- 4: Sarah Donaldson and Kathryn Mills: Development of Social Cognition in Adolescence and The Importance of Mating
- 5: Ian A. Apperly and J. Jessica Wang: Mindreading in Adults: Cognitive Basis, Motivation, and Individual Differences
- 6: Victoria E. A. Brunsdon, Elisabeth E. F. Bradford, and Heather J. Ferguson: Social Interactions in Old Age
- 7: Lucy Anne Livingston and Francesca Happé: Understanding Atypical Social Behaviour Using Social Cognitive Theory: Lessons from Autism
- 8: Muireann Irish and Siddharth Ramanan: The Ageing Brain in Context: Towards a Refined Understanding of Social Cognition in Ageing and Dementia
- 9: Elisabeth E.F. Bradford, Martina De Lillo, and Heather J. Ferguson: The Future of Research on Social Interaction
About the author
Heather J. Ferguson is a Professor in Psychology at the University of Kent. She completed her PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience and Psycholinguistics at the University of Glasgow in 2007, followed by a two-year postdoctoral research position at UCL. Her research examines the cognitive basis of social communication. Professor Ferguson examines the time-course of integration, the underlying neural mechanisms, and the extent to which constraints from world knowledge and context compete to influence social interaction and pragmatic language comprehension. This work has received generous funding, including a European Research Council grant examining social communication across the lifespan, and Leverhulme Trust grants that link social processing to language (including in autism spectrum disorders). She has been recognized through multiple prizes (e.g. Psychonomic Early Career Award 2019), and holds key leadership positions in the discipline (e.g. Honorary Secretary to the Experimental Psychology Society).
Elisabeth E.F. Bradford is a Lecturer in Cognitive and Developmental Psychology at the School of Social Sciences, University of Dundee (Scotland, U.K.). She completed her PhD at the University of St Andrews in 2016. Prior to her lectureship at the University of Dundee, Lizzie worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Kent (England, U.K.). Her research focuses on social cognition abilities, examining how these capacities change and develop across the lifespan, the impacts of deficits in social cognition abilities, how social cognition may vary across cultures, and factors that may underlie successful engagement of social cognition abilities at different ages (e.g., executive functions).
Summary
A vital part of successful social interaction is the ability to understand events in terms of other people's mental states, such as their intentions, beliefs, desires (Theory of Mind, ToM). This book explores how human social interactive abilities change across the lifespan, from infancy to old age, and in healthy and atypical development.
Additional text
In this volume, Ferguson and Bradford have expertly selected authors and chapters that bridge research, theory, and application ... They collectively show how understanding the relationships between thought about others and interaction with others can facilitate better understanding of individuals at any phase of life ... Students and professionals interested in lifespan development will find this work useful.
