Interactionism in language: from neural networks to bodies to dyads

ABSTRACT In a science of language, it can be useful to partition different formats of linguistic information into different categories, such as phonetics, phonology, semantics, and syntax. However, when the actual phenomena of language processing cross those boundaries and blur those lines, it can become difficult to understand how these different formats of linguistic information maintain their integrity while engaging in complex interactions with one another. For example, if the function of a cortical network that is known to process phonetics is immediately taking into account contextual influences from a cortical network that is known to process semantics, then it seems clear that this “phonetic cortical network” is doing more than just phonetics. In the neuroscience and cognitive science of language, the scope of analysis where different formats of linguistic information are seen to interact reveals a wide array of context effects in almost every possible direction. When one expands the scope of analysis to include nonlinguistic sensory modalities, such as vision and action, research is showing that even those lines are getting blurred. Visual perception and motor movement appear to influence various aspects of language processing in real time. As this scope of analysis expands further still, research is showing that two human brains and bodies exhibit various forms of synchrony or coordination with one another during natural conversation. Interactionism at all these levels of analysis poses a challenge to traditional frameworks that treat different components of language, perception, and action as operating via domain specific computations.