Action Assembly Theory

Rather than a single theory, “action assembly theory” actually refers to a family of theoretical formulations that have in common the basic idea that message-relevant thoughts (e.g., ideational content, plans) and overt verbal and nonverbal behaviors are produced by the activation (retrieval), and subsequent assembly (integration) of elemental action specifications held in long-term memory (LTM) as components of “procedural records”—modular structures that preserve action-outcome-in-situation relationships. Also common to the various action-assembly theories is the idea that the result of the assembly process is the “output representation,” a constantly evolving configuration of action features that effectively constitutes a person’s thoughts and actions at any moment. A primary focus of the action-assembly perspective is on explicating how it is possible for people to think, say, and do things that they have never thought, heard, or done before. Other concerns are with person and situational factors bearing on speech fluency, communication-skill acquisition, sources of social-performance deficits, message planning and editing processes, cognitive processes underlying the production of deceptive messages, cross-situational consistency in message behavior, the nature of the “self,” and the nature and function of consciousness.