Objective
"According to all treatments of human communication, humans do not only transmit information about facts, but also about their intention to transmit information. That is, when being addressed with a sentence, we do not only grasp the message carried by the sentence, but also that the speaker intended to address this message to us. While there is little doubt that adults understand the communicative intent of speakers, it is unclear whether this is also the case in infancy, or whether infants just understand that humans happen to be useful information sources, but not that speakers intend to transmit information. Here we start exploring whether and when young infants perceive linguistic utterances as intentional acts of communication from two directions. First, testing bilingual infants, we ask whether infants expect speakers and listeners to share a common code for successful communication. We first test whether bilingual infants know that they learn two distinct languages. Then, we ask whether they expect agents to share a language when they speak to each other; further we ask whether this expectation is specific to linguistic sounds, or whether any human-made sound would work as well, and whether familiarity with the speakers’ languages is required for this expectation to emerge. Second, we ask whether monolingual infants expect agents to produce utterances that are communicatively relevant to listeners. We explore whether they expect speakers to transmit information that is relevant to the listeners’ goals; further, we test whether infants perceive the speakers’ verbal behaviour as under the control of the speakers’ goals, or whether they expect speakers to reflexively “leak” relevant information. Taken together, these experiments are among the first to target the perception of speaker and listener intentions in verbal behaviour in young infants, exploring the emergence of a crucial facet of linguistic communication that might well be unique in the animal kingdom."
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IIF
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Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
08002 Barcelona
Spain
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.