Joint actions are omnipresent, ranging from a handshake between two people to the coordination of groups of people playing in an orchestra. We are highly skilled at coordinating our actions with those of others to reach common goals and rely on this ability throughout our daily lives. What are the social, cognitive and neural processes underlying this ability? How do others around us influence our task representations? How does joint action influence interpersonal interactions? How do language and gesture support joint action? What differentiates joint action from individual action?

This article forms an introductory editorial to the field of joint action. It accompanies contributions to the special issue entitled “Current Issues in Joint Action Research”. The issue brings together conceptual and empirical approaches on different topics, ranging from lower-level issues such as the link between perception and joint action, to higher-level issues such as language as a form of joint action.

联合行动无处不在，从两个人之间的握手到在乐队中演奏的人群的协调。我们非常擅长与他人协调我们的行动以达成共同的目标，并在我们的日常生活中依靠这种能力。这种能力背后的社会，认知和神经过程是什么？我们周围的其他人如何影响我们的任务表示？联合行动如何影响人际交往？语言和手势如何支持联合行动？联合行动与个人行动有何区别？

本文构成了联合行动领域的介绍性社论。它与题为“联合行动研究中的当前问题”的特刊一起提供。该问题汇集了关于不同主题的概念和经验方法，范围从较低层次的问题（例如感知与联合行动之间的联系）到较高层次的问题（例如语言，作为联合行动的形式）。