Martin Pickering is Professor of the Psychology of Language and Communication at the University of Edinburgh. He served as editor of the Journal of Memory and Language, was recipient of the Experimental Psychology Society mid-career award, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Simon Garrod is Professor of Cognitive Psychology at the University of Glasgow. He was awarded the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award by the Society for Text and Discourse. Between 1989 and 1999 he was also Deputy Director of the ESRC Human Communication Research Centre. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

• 1. The Challenge of Dialogue; Part I. The Shared Workspace Framework: 2. A Systems Analysis of Joint Activity; 3. Executing, Understanding and Controlling Joint Activity; 4. Dialogue as a Joint Activity; 5. Producing, Controlling, and Understanding Dialogue; Part II. Alignment During Dialogue: 6. Interactive Alignment and Linguistic Representations; 7. Alignment of Dialogue Models; Part III. Using the Shared Workspace Efficiently: 8. Saying Just Enough; 9. Speaking in Good Time; Part IV. Extending the Shared Workspace Framework: 10. Communication Beyond the Minimal Dyad; 11. Culture and Language Use; 12. Conclusion.

'What could be easier than having a conversation with another person? But behind this apparent ease hides a complex world of cognitive and social mechanisms. Presenting state-of-the-art research, Pickering and Garrod give the reader a guided tour of the science of dialogue, explaining convincingly why dialogue is humankind's most remarkable achievement. This book is a milestone in our understanding of dialogue that will influence the field for decades.' Robert Hartsuiker, Professor of Psychology, Ghent University