Socially Situated Cognition in Perspective

In 2004, we (Smith & Semin, 2004) described a conceptual framework of “socially situated cognition,” encompassing four major themes. Cognition is for adaptive action, involves the body and sensori-motor systems, is situated in immediate intercourse with the environment, and is distributed across other minds and tools. Here, we introduce two broader themes: social cognition is special because other people's movements and other characteristics can be mapped onto our own bodies; and social cognition is emergent, influencing the parts and subsystems that generate it rather than the reverse causal direction. We then review the current state of theory and research in the four topic areas that we laid out in 2004. We conclude by noting that much research on these themes has occurred outside of social psychology, and stressing the benefits for the future of an integrative, interdisciplinary approach to these core issues of social psychology.