Cognition and Game ?

Language, technology, reason and sociality have often been invoked to define the uniqueness of human beings, particularly the distinctiveness of human cognition as opposed to other forms of animal cognition. Play (including the meaning of play, its appeal and attraction, and the pleasure involved in playing, whether collectively or individually) also constitutes a significant (though not exclusive) feature of our humanity. In 1938, the Dutch historian Johan Huizinga used the term ‘Homo Ludens’ in defining play as a specific and distinctive feature of Man. Play in its various forms (symbolic play, rule games, role-playing, team games, sports games, betting games, etc.) constitutes a central activity in the development of children and individuals more generally. Play also performs an important role in the development of social interactions (especially between men and animals), in learning, and in the development and/or remediation of a whole range of cognitive functions, such as reasoning, decision-making, the imagination, creativity, and the aesthetic sense. In the cognitive sciences, play and games are often used to conduct experiments aimed at improving our understanding of these key faculties. The increasing ludic, economic and social development of video games and the emergence of new kinds of interaction in play and games (tangible user interfaces, virtual reality and immersion, avatars, etc.) also raise new questions about the human significance and implications of play.

The cognitive sciences provide a range of different approaches that shed light on this issue. The conference will address the following questions (the list is not exhaustive):

-          What are the distinctive features of human play as opposed to forms of play observed in other animals (ethology, primatology, etc.)?

-          What are the roles performed by different types of play in learning and development throughout life? What are their effects on cognitive functions (attention, memory, decision-making, spatial awareness, etc.) and forms of interaction (between humans, between humans and machines, between humans and animals, between humans and digital avatars, etc.)?

-          What game(s) should we use to study reasoning, social interaction or decision-making? To what extent do such choices generally reflect an implicit preconception of rationality and of cognition more generally?

-          What kinds of relations do players have with play? Taking part in a game often appears to be inseparable from a cognitive engagement for and in the reality of the game or from a kind of ‘immersion’. What is the exact nature of this engagement? What are the conditions that facilitate such engagement? How do new forms of interaction transform this engagement? What are the effects on players? In particular, the issue of ‘addiction’ will be addressed and discussed, as well as the more general origins (biological, historical and cultural) of the significance and appeal of play, both individual and social (without implying any restriction to human societies).

The following themes may also be addressed:

-          Modeling the reasoning/behavior of players;

-          Play, social/linguistic interactions and the negotiation of meaning;

-          Play, rules, and circumventing rules through play;

-          Play and technologies (tangible user interfaces, virtual and augmented reality), serious games;

-          Cognitive remediation and the therapeutic dimension of play;

-          Taxonomy of different types of play and cognitive engagement for and in play.

-          Etc.

All disciplines in the general field of cognitive science are encouraged to contribute, including: philosophy and epistemology, computer science, artificial intelligence, robotics, virtual reality, linguistics, psychology, neuroscience, ergonomics, anthropology, ethology, education, ICT, etc.