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Metaphor muddles in communication theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 August 2003

Drew Rendall
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta T1K 3M4, Canadad.rendall@uleth.capaul.vasey@uleth.ca http://home.uleth.ca/~d.rendall http://www.psych.uleth.ca/People/Vasey/Vasey.html
Paul Vasey
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta T1K 3M4, Canadad.rendall@uleth.capaul.vasey@uleth.ca http://home.uleth.ca/~d.rendall http://www.psych.uleth.ca/People/Vasey/Vasey.html

Abstract

Shanker & King (S&K) argue that information-theoretic approaches to communication are too rigid to capture the ebb and flow of communicative interactions. They advocate instead a dynamic systems approach based on the metaphor of dance. We focus on two problems arising from the dance metaphor: first, that its inherently cooperative tone contradicts basic tenets of behavioral biology; and second, that it risks obscuring rather than clarifying the details of communicative interactions.

Type
Brief Report
Copyright
© 2002 Cambridge University Press

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