title: Performance of Language-Coordinated Collective Systems: A Study of Wine Recognition and Description.
abstract: Most of our perceptions of and engagements with the world are shaped by our immersion in social interactions, cultural traditions, tools and linguistic categories. In this study we experimentally investigate the impact of two types of language-based coordination on the recognition and description of complex sensory stimuli: that of red wine. Participants were asked to taste, remember and successively recognize samples of wines within a larger set in a two-by-two experimental design: (1) either individually or in pairs, and (2) with or without the support of a sommelier card-a cultural linguistic tool designed for wine description. Both effectiveness of recognition and the kinds of errors in the four conditions were analyzed. While our experimental manipulations did not impact recognition accuracy, bias-variance decomposition of error revealed non-trivial differences in how participants solved the task. Pairs generally displayed reduced bias and increased variance compared to individuals, however the variance dropped significantly when they used the sommelier card. The effect of sommelier card reducing the variance was observed only in pairs, individuals did not seem to benefit from the cultural linguistic tool. Analysis of descriptions generated with the aid of sommelier cards shows that pairs were more coherent and discriminative than individuals. The findings are discussed in terms of global properties and dynamics of collective systems when constrained by different types of cultural practices.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Computer Science, Polish Academy of Sciences Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Julian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zubek
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Michał
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Denkiewicz
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Psychology, University of WarsawWarsaw, Poland; Laboratory of Psychophysiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of ScienceWarsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dębska
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Alicja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Radkowska
authors.affiliation: Institute of Philosophy, Faculty of Philosophy and Sociology, University of Warsaw Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Komorowska-Mach
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Litwin
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stępień
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Adrianna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kucińska
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sitarska
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Krystyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Komorowska
authors.affiliation: Center for Semiotics, Aarhus UniversityAarhus, Denmark; Interacting Minds Centre, Aarhus UniversityAarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fusaroli
authors.affiliation: Center for Semiotics, Aarhus University Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Kristian
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tylén
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rączaszek-Leonardi
keywords: bias-variance analysis; collective performance; language coordinated interaction; systemic complexity; wine tasting and recognition