The OStension, Communication And Relevance (OSCAR) group, led by Dan Sperber, was established within the framework of the SOMICS project between 2015 and 2023, to study the micro-mechanisms of ostensive communication and their cumulative effects in cultural transmission.
The research group focused on closely linking theoretical issues and interdisciplinary empirical research. Its theoretical framework drew in particular on Cultural Attraction Theory and Relevance Theory. In its empirical work, it aimed at combining experimental method, ethnography, and evolutionary modelling.
According to Cultural Attraction Theory, fidelity in human imitation and communication is rarely if ever sufficient to explain cultural stability. Psychological and ecological factors of attraction must play a crucial role in explaining the evolution of cultural ideas and practices. Among these factors of attraction, mechanisms of relevance-guided ostensive communication (best studied in a combined Relevance Theory and a Natural Pedagogy perspective) play a central part. The group was particularly interested in understanding the role of these and related cognitive mechanisms in cultural transmission and evolution.
The OSCAR group ran a web site: the International Cognition and Culture Institute (cognitionandculture.net) a scientific blog with webinars, book clubs, and news.
Members of the OSCAR group:
Stefaan Blancke
Mattieu Charbonneau
Christophe Heintz
Pierre Jacob
Helena Miton
Olivier Morin
Hanna Marno
Tiffany Morisseau
Thom Scott-Phillips
Dan Sperber