Discourse, Conversation and Argumentation: Theoretical Perspectives and Innovative Empirical Studies, volume III

Book excerpt: This Research Topic is the third volume of Research Topic "Discourse, Conversation and Argumentation: Theoretical Perspectives and Innovative Empirical Studies". Please, see the second volume here. Also, please see the first volume here. As members of a social world within which interaction needs and communicative tools are intertwined in a series of situated relationships, interactions between individuals, but also between groups and between institutions, emerges from the beginning of life. Thinking about how we participate in an interaction, through verbal and non-verbal exchanges, allows us to focus on explicit and implicit norms, on personal and collective preferences, on subjective and interpersonal theories, and on social processes of construction of meaning that characterize the communicative interactions. Although discursive, conversational, and argumentative interactions play an essential role in our lives, there is no integrated area of psychological research on these types of communicative interactions. A wide variety of works is available concerning the focus on the different roles played by social actors within the interactions (symmetric-asymmetric, protagonist-antagonist, teacher-learner), as well as the interest for the constitutive aspects of the interactions (emotional, motivational, cognitive) or developmental factors (skills, competences, knowledge). However, research on discourse, conversation, and argumentation is conducted in a number of separate research communities that are spread across disciplines and have only limited intertwinement. We believe as necessary to create a space for open dialogue within the community of researchers interested in discourse, conversation, and argumentation from a psychological perspective.