%0 Journal Article
%T Questioning the nature and origins of the "social agent" concept.
%A Tatone D
%A Pomiechowska B
%J Behav Brain Sci
%V 47
%N 0
%D 2024 Jun 27
%M 38934455
%F 21.357
%R 10.1017/S0140525X23003011
%X Spelke posits that the concept of "social agent," who performs object-directed actions to fulfill social goals, is the first noncore concept that infants acquire as they begin to learn their native language. We question this proposal on empirical grounds and theoretical grounds, and propose instead that the representation of object-mediated interactions may be supported by a dedicated prelinguistic mechanism.