Kristian Tylén

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Kristian Tylén
Born(1974-06-16)June 16, 1974[1][2]
Aarhus, Denmark[3]
DiedNovember 19, 2024(2024-11-19) (aged 50)[1][2]
NationalityDanish
Alma materAarhus University
Known forResearch on evolution of communication and symbolic behavior
Research on dialogical dynamics and social coordination
AwardsConsolidator Grant (2022)[4]
Gold Medal, Aarhus University (2003)[1]
Scientific career
FieldsCognitive science, Linguistics, Archaeology

Kristian Tylén (16 June 1974 – 19 November 2024)[1][2] was a Danish cognitive scientist and semiotician. He was known for his contributions to understanding the evolution of human communication and symbolic behavior, particularly through interdisciplinary research combining cognitive science and archaeology.[5] Tylén was a full professor in Cognitive Science at the Department of Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics at Aarhus University[1][6][7] and played a key role in establishing the university's Cognitive Science research environment and degree programs.[1]

Biography

Education

Born in Aarhus, Denmark,[3] Kristian Tylén began his university studies in Russian Language and Literature at Aarhus University, earning a bachelor's degree in 1999.[1] His interest shifted towards the study of meaning, influenced by the active research environment at the Center for Semiotics at Aarhus University.[3] This led him to pursue a master's degree in Cognitive Semiotics, which he completed in 2003, receiving the university's Gold Medal for his thesis.[1] He obtained his PhD from the Institute of Language and Communication at the University of Southern Denmark in 2009.[1] His doctoral dissertation was titled "Roses, Icebergs, Hoovers and all that language: An investigation of the cognitive foundations of our comprehension of object mediated communication."[8] During this period, he also became affiliated with the Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN) and the Interacting Minds Centre at Aarhus University.[3][8]

Academic career

After his PhD, Tylén held postdoctoral positions at the Center for Semiotics at Aarhus University, contributing to projects on cognitive aesthetics and on how language facilitates collaborative thinking.[9]

In 2015, Tylén was central to the establishment of the Bachelor's and Master's degree programs in Cognitive Science at Aarhus University.[1][3] He was subsequently appointed Associate Professor within the newly formed Department of Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics. He taught courses covering topics such as Cognition and Communication, Experimental Methods (including statistics and programming), and Human-Computer Interaction.[1][3] In recognition of his teaching contributions, his students and Aarhus University nominated him for the Danish National Teaching Prize in 2020.[1]

Tylén's academic career progressed significantly with the award of a prestigious (ERC) Consolidator Grant in 2022 for his project "The evolution of early symbolic behavior" (eSYMb).[1][4] Following this achievement, he was promoted to full professor in Cognitive Science in 2023.[1][10]

Research

Kristian Tylén's research program was characterized by the application of experimental methodologies, including behavioral studies and neuroimaging, to investigate questions traditionally addressed within the humanities, particularly concerning meaning, communication, and symbolic representation.

Experimental approaches to humanistic questions

A core focus of Tylén's work was understanding how humans manipulate their physical environment to communicate and the cognitive and neural processes involved in interpreting these communicative acts. He explored how the perception and neural processing of objects change when they are used as signals rather than for their typical function. For example, a study from his PhD examined brain activity when participants viewed objects used communicatively (like a flower signifying apology or a chair blocking a parking space) versus objects used instrumentally.[11] The findings indicated that interpreting such material signals recruited bilateral areas of the ventral stream and the pars triangularis of the inferior frontal cortex, brain regions also implicated in processing verbal language and semantics.[11] This research, suggesting shared neural resources for object-mediated and linguistic communication, attracted international media attention, including coverage in New Scientist.[12]

Dialogical Dynamics and Social Coordination

A significant portion of Tylén's research focused on understanding language and communication as dynamic processes of social coordination. This perspective shifted the focus from static, individual cognitive representations to the emergent, interpersonal dynamics that unfold during dialogue and joint action.

Tylén and Fusaroli proposed that meaning-making in conversation is not solely reliant on pre-existing shared concepts but is actively constructed and negotiated through interaction. They argued that the stability needed for shared understanding arises dynamically from the interplay of multiple constraints: the physical environment, human biology, socio-cultural norms, and the local history of the interaction itself. [13]

Their work employed experimental methods, often involving pairs or groups collaborating on tasks (e.g., perceptual discrimination, categorization, navigation games) mediated by dialogue. Using quantitative analyses, they investigated phenomena such as:

  • Interactive Alignment: The tendency for interlocutors to mimic each other's linguistic choices (lexical, syntactic, prosodic). While acknowledging alignment, their work suggested it is a resource used within broader coordination dynamics rather than the sole mechanism.[14][15]
  • Interpersonal Synergy: Moving beyond simple imitation, this concept highlights how interaction can lead to emergent, self-organizing structures at the interpersonal level, including complementary roles and patterns that span across individuals. They found that measures of synergy were often better predictors of collective task performance than measures of simple alignment.[16][17]
  • Contextual Adaptation: They demonstrated how conversational strategies, including the use of backchannels (signals of attention/understanding), conversational repair (fixing misunderstandings), and linguistic alignment, adapt to the specific demands of the interactional context (e.g., spontaneous chat vs. task-oriented dialogue).[18] [19][20]
  • Social Enhancement of Cognition: Experimental studies showed that groups engaged in dialogue often outperform individuals in tasks requiring abstraction and rule induction, suggesting that social interaction and the diversity of perspectives it affords can enhance cognitive processes. [21][22][23][24][25]

Overall, this research stream framed language as a skillful, embodied, and socially extended activity, where interaction dynamics are crucial for achieving mutual understanding, coordinating actions, and even enhancing cognitive capabilities.

Evolution of communication

Tylén investigated the evolution of communication systems across multiple timescales:

  • Interactional timescale: How individuals coordinate, negotiate meaning, and establish temporary communication systems using gestures or novel signs during collaborative tasks.[26][27]
  • Developmental timescale: The processes involved in language acquisition, including comparative studies exploring potential processing challenges related to specific language structures, such as the opaque sound structure of Danish.[28]
  • Evolutionary timescale: The long-term emergence and development of human symbolic capacities and communication systems within the broader context of human evolution.[5]

He conceptualized symbols as "tools of the mind," proposing that just as physical tools modify the material world, symbolic tools—whether tangible artifacts or abstract concepts like language—reshape human cognitive processes.[29] Tylén argued that the development of increasingly complex symbols and symbolic systems, such as language, art, and notation, was fundamental to the emergence of uniquely human cognitive abilities. These include capacities for external memory storage, cumulative cultural evolution (e.g., scientific knowledge), abstract thought (e.g., mathematics), narrative construction, complex social organization, and religious beliefs.[30] His collaborative research also extended to investigations into the dynamics of collective creativity.[31]

Cognitive science and archaeology

Tylén made notable contributions at the intersection of cognitive science and archaeology, developing experimental approaches to investigate the potential communicative functions and cognitive affordances of prehistoric artifacts. A key study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) in 2020, used experiments to assess cognitive properties (such as visual salience, memorability, and ease of reproduction) of engraved ochre and ostrich eggshell fragments from South African sites like and.[5] The results suggested that these ancient engravings show signs of cultural evolution towards forms that are more easily learned, reproduced, and recognized, consistent with their use as decorations or markers of social identity within culturally transmitted traditions, rather than as components of a fully symbolic referential system.[5]

Building on this work, Tylén secured the ERC Consolidator Grant in 2022 for the project "The evolution of early symbolic behavior" (eSYMb).[1][4] This five-year project aimed to develop a systematic, data-driven framework for studying the emergence and evolution of symbolic behavior during the Late Middle Paleolithic period. The eSYMb project operated on the premise that symbolic behavior emerges from the interaction between three key elements: the material form of an artifact, its cognitive affordances (how it engages cognitive processes like perception, attention, memory, and learning), and its pragmatic function within social and environmental contexts.[4] By using archaeological artifacts, or replicas thereof, as stimuli in cognitive experiments (e.g., transmission chain experiments simulating cultural learning), the project sought to understand how symbolic artifacts might have evolved through processes of social transmission and adaptive refinement to become more effective "tools of the mind."[4][30]

A central idea in this line of research is that while instrumental tools primarily function via their physical properties, symbolic artifacts exert their effects by engaging and potentially reshaping fundamental cognitive processes.[30] By experimentally measuring how different artifact forms interact with these processes, Tylén aimed to develop quantitative methods to complement traditional archaeological interpretations regarding the potential functions of artifacts in prehistoric societies.[32]

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 "Obituary: Kristian Tylén had a unique combination of intellect, creativity and collaborative spirit". Aarhus University. 22 November 2024. Retrieved 2025-04-18.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "News". International Association for Cognitive Semiotics. Retrieved 2025-04-18. Nov20. Mourning the passing of IACS stronghold and former treasurer, Kristian Tylén (1974-2024). Obituary here.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 "Research spotlight #27: Kristian Tylén". Cognition and Behavior Lab, Aarhus University. 4 June 2019. Retrieved 2025-04-18. I am Danish, actually born in Aarhus and grew up on Djursland/Mols.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "eSYMB - The Evolution of Early Symbolic Behavior". Aarhus University. Retrieved 2025-04-17.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Tylén, Kristian; Fusaroli, Riccardo; Rojo, Sergio; Heimann, Katrin; Fay, Nicolas; Johannsen, Niels N.; Riede, Felix; Lombard, Marlize (3 March 2020). "The evolution of early symbolic behavior in Homo sapiens". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 117 (9): 4578–4584. doi:10.1101/lm.050807.119. PMC 7060705. PMID 32071254.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  6. ↑ "New AU-Professor in cognitive science". Retrieved 2025-04-18.
  7. ↑ "Kristian Tylén - Google Scholar". Google Scholar. Retrieved 2025-04-18. Kristian Tylén. Professor, Department of Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics, Aarhus University.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Roses, Icebergs, Hoovers and all that language: An investigation of the cognitive foundations of our comprehension of object mediated communication" (PDF). PhD Dissertation. University of Southern Denmark. Retrieved 2025-04-18.
  9. ↑ "Joint Diagrammatical Reasoning in Language". Aarhus University Pure. Retrieved 2025-04-17.
  10. ↑ "Postdoc in cognitive science, Aarhus (Denmark)". ILLC, University of Amsterdam. Retrieved 2025-04-18. The postdoc position is affiliated with the EU ERC Consolidator project 'The Evolution of Early Symbolic Behavior – eSYMb' awarded to Professor Kristian Tylén.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Tylén, Kristian; Weed, Ethan; Wallentin, Mikkel; Roepstorff, Andreas; Frith, Chris D. (2009). "Say it with flowers! An fMRI study of object mediated communication". Brain and Language. 108 (3): 189–191. doi:10.1016/j.bandl.2008.07.002. PMID 18771801.
  12. ↑ Ananthaswamy, Anil (2012-07-11). "Get the picture? Art in the brain of the beholder". New Scientist. Retrieved 2025-04-18.
  13. ↑ Tylén, Kristian; Fusaroli, Riccardo; Bundgaard, Peer F.; Østergaard, Svend (2013). "Making sense together: A dynamical account of linguistic meaning-making" (PDF). Semiotica. 2013 (194): 39–62. doi:10.1515/sem-2013-0021.
  14. ↑ Fusaroli, Riccardo; Tylén, Kristian (2016). "Investigating conversational dynamics: Interactive alignment, interpersonal synergy, and collective task performance" (PDF). Cognitive Science. 40 (1): 145–171. doi:10.1111/cogs.12251. PMID 25988263.
  15. ↑ Fusaroli, Riccardo; Bahrami, Bahador; Olsen, Kasper; Roepstorff, Andreas; Rees, Geraint; Frith, Chris; Tylén, Kristian (2012). "Coming to terms: Quantifying the benefits of linguistic coordination" (PDF). Psychological Science. 23 (8): 931–939. doi:10.1177/0956797612436816. PMID 22810169.
  16. ↑ Fusaroli, Riccardo; Rączaszek-Leonardi, Justyna; Tylén, Kristian (2014). "Dialog as interpersonal synergy". New Ideas in Psychology. 32: 147–157. doi:10.1016/j.newideapsych.2013.03.005.
  17. ↑ Abney, D. H.; Dale, R.; Yoshimi, J.; Kello, C. T.; Tylén, K.; Fusaroli, R. (2014). "Joint perceptual decision-making: a case study in explanatory pluralism". Frontiers in Psychology. 5: 330. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00330. PMC 4006048. PMID 24795679.
  18. ↑ Dideriksen, Christina; Christiansen, Morten H.; Tylén, Kristian; Dingemanse, Mark; Fusaroli, Riccardo (2023). "Quantifying the interplay of conversational devices in building mutual understanding" (PDF). Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. 152 (3): 864–889. doi:10.1037/xge0001301. PMID 36521115.
  19. ↑ Trujillo, J. P.; Dideriksen, C.; Tylén, K.; Christiansen, M. H.; Fusaroli, R. (2023). "The dynamic interplay of kinetic and linguistic coordination in Danish and Norwegian conversation". Cognitive Science. 47 (6): e13298. doi:10.1111/cogs.13298. PMID 37303224.
  20. ↑ Dideriksen, C.; Christiansen, M. H.; Dingemanse, M.; Højmark-Bertelsen, M.; Johansson, C.; Tylén, K.; Fusaroli, R. (2023). "Language-specific constraints on conversation: Evidence from Danish and Norwegian" (PDF). Cognitive Science. 47 (11): e13387. doi:10.1111/cogs.13387.
  21. ↑ Fusaroli, Riccardo; Gangopadhyay, Nivedita; Tylén, Kristian (2014). "The dialogically extended mind: Language as skilful intersubjective engagement" (PDF). Cognitive Systems Research. 29: 31–39. doi:10.1016/j.cogsys.2013.06.002.
  22. ↑ Tylén, Kristian; Fusaroli, Riccardo; Smith, Pernille; Arnoldi, Jakob (2016). "The social route to abstraction". Cognitive Science 2016.
  23. ↑ Olsen, Kasper; Tylén, Kristian (2023). "On the social nature of abstraction: cognitive implications of interaction and diversity". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. 378 (1870): 20210361. doi:10.1098/rstb.2021.0361. PMC 9791485. PMID 36571125.
  24. ↑ Rocca, Roberta; Tylén, Kristian (2022). "Cognitive diversity promotes collective creativity: an agent-based simulation". Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society. Vol. 44.
  25. ↑ Tylen, Kristian; Philipsen, Johanne; Raczaszek-Leonardi, Justyna; Stjernfelt, Frederik; Fusaroli, Riccardo (2018). "Interaction, cognitive diversity and abstraction". Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society. Vol. 40.
  26. ↑ Nölle, J.; Staib, M.; Fusaroli, R.; Tylén, K. (2018). "The emergence of systematicity: How environmental and communicative factors shape a novel communication system". Cognition. 181: 93–104. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2018.08.014. PMID 30173106.
  27. ↑ Christensen, P.; Fusaroli, R.; Tylén, K. (2016). "Environmental constraints shaping constituent order in emerging communication systems: Structural iconicity, interactive alignment and conventionalization" (PDF). Cognition. 146: 67–80. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2015.09.004. PMID 26402649.
  28. ↑ Trecca, F.; Tylén, K.; Højen, A.; Christiansen, M. H. (2021). "Danish as a window onto language processing and learning". Language Learning. 71 (3): 799–833. doi:10.1111/lang.12450.
  29. ↑ Tylen, K.; Sablé-Meyer, M.; Fan, J. E.; Langley, M. C. (July 26–29, 2023). Marks and Meanings: new perspectives on the evolution of human symbolic behavior. 45th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society (CogSci 2023). Vol. 45. Sydney, Australia. pp. 3495–3503. Retrieved 18 April 2025.{{cite conference}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 Tylén, Kristian; Hussain, Shumon T.; Velliky, Elizabeth; Martinez Gonzalez, Roberto; Mendoza Straffon, Larissa (25 January 2024). "Honing tools of the mind: A dynamic framework for the study of symbolic behavior in early human evolution". Preprint on OSF. doi:10.31219/osf.io/b8fz2. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
  31. ↑ Rosenberg, M.; Gordon, G.; Noy, L.; Tylén, K. Social interaction dynamics modulates collective creativity. Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
  32. ↑ Pagnotta, Murillo; Wisher, Izzy; Petersen, Malte Lau; Riede, Felix; Fusaroli, Riccardo; Tylén, Kristian (May 2024). "The evolution of symbolic artefacts: How function shapes form". Evolution and Human Behavior. 45 (3): 261–267. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2024.02.001.

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