Social cognition research studies how people think about others and as well as how they think they form impressions of each other, a critical topic in today's global village. The European Social Cognition Network's annual conference provides a unique forum for international scientific exchange, focusing on recent developments. The PI conducts cutting-edge research on the role of category salience and social scripts in social norms. Whereas past work has emphasized drawbacks of diversity and especially drawbacks of differences in perspective in group settings, the PI's work shows, for example, that diversity of perspectives in large groups can promote the social norm of fairness. Funds are requested for the PI and a current postdoctoral scholar to attend the annual conference in Gothenberg, Sweden, August 25-29th, 2010. The PI is an invited plenary speaker.
The conference mixes junior (70%) and senior (30%) researchers, from 15-20 countries, mostly but not all European; all present research and receive concentrated feedback. Attendees interact formally and informally, fostering international research collaboration and general networks for future contact, serving to integrate the younger researchers into the international scientific community. This travel award ontributes to the broader impacts of the PI's involvement in this work.
. The paper was delivered at the conference and the PI had extensive contacts/discussions with participants, both faculty and graduate students. The theme of the conference was Social cognition. Social cognition as a modern field dates back three decades, and although American and European social cognition researchers all have influenced each other profoundly, most of the contact occurs at the top level, with junior researchers having some difficulty crossing the international boundaries. The European Social Cognition Network (ESCON) was designed to remedy this situation, focusing on European exchange, but including a few Americans. The Transfer of Knowledge Conference provides a European forum where both junior and senior researchers present the latest research developments in the field and receive feedback from senior scholars in their respective fields of specialization. Around 75% of the presentations are made by junior researchers and the conference is attended by a bit more than one hundred scholars, from 15-20 countries, mostly but not all European, whereby all present research and receive concentrated feedback. Attendees interact formally and informally, fostering international research collaboration and general networks for future contact, serving to integrate the younger researchers into the international scientific community. The PI was invited as a plenary speaker, in a long series of American speakers at ESCON. The PI has contributed a foundational text (Bicchieri 2006), basic research, and central theories on social norms and their cognitive underpinnings. The PI also has a history of involvement with European universities and science foundations, has taught at several European universities and received fellowships from prestigious European research centers. The PI has experience with European students, as well as other international visitors to her Penn research unit over the years (China, Spain, France, Italy, Columbia, the Netherlands, England). One of her goals is mentoring of diverse students, so she contacted new ones through the ESCON conferrence. The PI’s Social Norms model has been picked up by international colleagues, so this conference provided an opportunity to consult and collaborate. In particular, some European collaborators scheduled research consultations with the PI and have kept exchanging data with the PI.
