Everyday Activities

Abstract

The ease with which humans usually perform everyday activities masks their inherit complexity. Tasks such as setting a table prior to a meal or preparing a hot beverage require the coordination of several cognitive abilities. At the same time, many everyday activities are simple enough to afford investigation in controlled lab settings. One main goal of this issue is to raise awareness of everyday activities as a topic and a field of study in its own right, which allows investigating (a) selected cognitive abilities with high ecological validity and (b) the interplay and integration of key cognitive abilities. To this end, this topic consists of eight papers that span different aspects of everyday activities, ranging from neuroscience through philosophical considerations and implications to lessons from robotics.