our Mission
Mision
The mission of the Social Contingency Consortium is threefold:
Build more connected science by integrating insights from research on social, linguistic, neural, and cognitive development.
Bridge operational definitions of social contingency and methodological approaches across fields.
Create a comprehensive view of mechanisms through which social contingency influences learning and evaluate the scope of those effects in each domain.
Background
Social contingency is a property of a social interaction, in which actions of one party (e.g., shaking hands) happen shortly after the actions of another party (e.g., saying 'hello') and are related to each other. This construct is also often referred to as 'social reciprocity', 'social responsiveness', 'turn-taking', 'face-to-face interactions', and 'social sensitivity.'
In recent years, a new body of work has emerged showing that socially contingent interactions facilitate learning in many domains (e.g., language, causal learning, social learning) and across several species. At the same time, existing evidence is highly heterogeneous with respect to methods, hypotheses, and potential mechanisms.
Some studies consider social contingency as a general learning mechanism (e.g., Elmlinger et al., 2022, Dev Sci; Masek et al., 2022, Dev Sci), perhaps rooted in neural synchrony among parties within an interaction (e.g., Bowman & Frenkel, in prep; Piazza et al., 2021, Current Dir in Psych Sci). Other studies highlight the role of social contingency as an attentional spotlight (e.g., Masek et al., 2021, Dev Review). Still others suggest that social contingency may have domain-specific manifestations and influence learning in different domains via different mechanisms (e.g., Luchkina & Xu, 2022, Psych Review; Tamis-Lemonda et al., 2014, Current Dir in Psych Sci).
This heterogeneity suggests that social contingency is a powerful learning booster, potentially operating at a domain-general level, yet the mechanisms and the scope of its influence remain an open question. Current differences in terminology, contingency criteria, and domains of investigations make it challenging to integrate evidence from the many insightful investigations that have emerged in recent years.
To address these challenges and to better understand how social contingency affects learning in humans and other species, we formed the Social Contigency Consortium. Our collaborative effort that includes scholars from multiple disciplines around the globe will help us achieve a better understanding of mechanisms underlying the effects of social contingency on learning and the scope of these effects.
We prioritize inclusion and diversity in methods, approaches, disciplines, cultures, enthnicities, identities, and career stages. All interested scholars are welcome to join our collaboration.