Introduction

In order to behave effectively in any situation people need to possess appropriate concepts. It would not be possible to play cricket without knowing the meaning of ‘out’, ‘over’, etc., or to play chess without knowing what a queen is, and what ‘check’ means.

We can see how concepts are related to the goals of behaviour, in terms of the motor-skills model of social behaviour (Argyle and Kendon, 1967), as shown in Fig. 8.1. In the first place an interactor needs to perceive and interpret the behaviour of others, in a relevant way. A motorist needs to perceive the traffic signals and signposts rather than the contents of shops, and to watch the speedometer reading rather than the state of the car's carpet. And he needs to know what the traffic signals and the speedometer reading mean. In a social situation an interactor needs categories in order to classify:

1. Persons: e.g. a teacher needs to distinguish between pupils of different intelligence and motivation, since they would need to be handled differently.

2. Social structure, i. e. the relations between those present, in terms of status, role, friendship, etc.

3. Elements of interaction: e.g. between friendly and hostile, and further categories in particular situations (discussed in Chapter 7).

4. Relevant objects of attention: e.g. parts of the physical environment and task-related objects, such as the pieces at chess.