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Invitation

We would like to invite you to participate in the EASP Small Group Meeting on Social Cognition and Communicationour, to be held July 9 -12, 2012, Pecs, Hungary.

Contributors to the meeting will explore the close and interdependent relationship between social cognition and communication at the individual, intergroup and cultural level. Papers may explore the psychological processes involved in the way people use language and construct narratives, stories and explanations, and the ways that our social cognitive processes are shaped by communication, and in turn, cognitive processes and representations influence how social actors communicate with each other. Cognitive mechanisms associated with priming, moods, fluency, and salience have an important influence on people’s communicative strategies, and recent theories produced important new insights into the links between evolutionary and cultural processes in shaping interactive strategies. The aim of this small group meeting is to bring together established scholars and young researchers from the fields of contemporary social cognitive and communications research, in order to explore the multifaceted ways that social cognitive mechanisms and communicative processes interact at the individual, group and cultural level.

The location: PECS, HUNGARY
Pecs, selected as European Capital of Culture in 2010, is a delightful small town in the south of Hungary, with an excellent Mediterranean climate and a rich historical and cultural tradition. The city (then called Sopianae) was founded by the Romans in the 2nd century; it was the capital of Valeria province, and has been an important cultural and religious centre and a bishopric from the Middle Ages. The first University in Hungary was founded in Pecs by Louis I the Great in 1367, and the city retains to this day a rich and varied architectural heritage and a large number of museums and artistic treasures. In 2008 Pecs was selected as the second most Livable city (The LivCom Awards) in the category of cities between 75-200 thousand inhabitants.

The meeting (and accommodation) will be located in the University Hotel Hunyor, in easy walking distance from all the major attractions. The hotel has been recently refurbished and is under new management. For details of the hotel, please see the website at http://hunyorhotel.pte.hu

All costs of accommodation and meals for the three days of the conference will be fully covered (from July 9 to July 12th). Further, a rich and varied cultural and social program including a wine tasting in the local wine region will also be organised as part of the meeting.

The conference will be supported by EASP and the University of Pécs. We expect that there will not be a registration fee.

Contributions will be subsequently published in a book form. Draft chapters should present a brief review of a significant area of research emphasizing especially the latest theoretical and empirical developments (length: 6000 words).

Abstract submission deadline: 15 June, 2011 (150-250 words)

If you wish to participate,

Please contact the organisers and send a 150-250 word abstract of your proposed paper both to Joe Forgas ( jp.forgas@unsw.edu.au ) and to Orsolya Vincze (vincze.orsolya@pte.hu) by June 15th, 2011.

1. You will be notified about acceptance a few weeks later.
2. If invited, we need to receive a full draft of your proposed paper (6000 words text) that will form the basis of the book chapter by February 15th 2012.

Thank you for considering this, and we look forward to hearing from you!

Janos Laszlo, Joe Forgas and Orsolya Vincze
Organisers/Editors