Colloquia, Workshops, Dialogues And Tutorials

2024-2025

Fall

CogSci Kickoff!  

Dr. Paula Rubio-Fernández, Max-Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics

Date: October 15th, 4:00pm
Location: Swift Hall 107
Website: Paula Rubio-Fernández

Title: The Cognitive Trinity of Common Ground

Abstract:

Human communication is built around interlocutors’ common ground (CG), or the information they assume to share. Despite having been the focus of intense interdisciplinary research for more than 60 years, we do not yet understand how CG works, or even what exactly it is. In this talk I will introduce a new research program that is essential to understanding CG: I propose to study CG as a product of cultural evolution. This approach requires identifying (i) those cognitive capacities that are required for the emergence of CG in human cognition, and (ii) how those capacities interact in (a) the development of CG through children’s social learning across cultures; (b) its formation through social interaction across the lifespan, and (c) its management in conversation across languages. I hypothesize that forming and using CG is a complex human ability that emerges from the interaction of three cognitive capacities — joint attention, shared memory, and the use of reference systems — under a rationality principle. This is what I informally call the Cognitive Trinity of Common Ground, which could also be described as a naïve model of rational memory.

Dr. Rachel Ryskin, University of California, Merced

Date: November 12, 4:00pm
Location: Swift Hall 107
Website: Rachel Ryskin 
(Local Host: Matt Goldrick)

Title: Language comprehension adapted to the environment

Abstract: 

In order to understand each other across diverse contexts and situations, humans must continuously adapt their linguistic expectations. Yet, the core of their language knowledge must remain stable. Research in my lab aims to understand how humans balance flexibility and stability in language comprehension in order to efficiently exchange information in the face of variability and noise. In this talk, I will first review evidence that comprehenders learn from their environment at multiple levels including adapting to the informativity of the speaker, the probability of syntactic structures, the kinds of errors the speaker makes, and the noise in the input. I will then discuss work investigating the constraints on this continuous learning. For instance, studies with individuals across the lifespan indicate that word meanings and syntactic biases are learned on different timescales. And work with individuals with aphasia — a language disorder caused by stroke — suggests that they may not update their representations of errors in the environment as rapidly as healthy language users. I will close by discussing future directions and implications for the neural mechanisms underlying language adaptation.

Winter

Dr. Laura Dabbish, Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University

Date: January 21st, 4:00pm
Location: Swift Hall 107
Website: 
(Local Host: Elizabeth Gerber)

Title: TBA

Abstract:
TBA

Faculty Flash Talks

Date: February 11th, 4:00pm
Location: Swift Hall 107

Faculty speakers

Dr. Chaz Firestone, Johns Hopkins University

Date: March 4th, 4:00pm
Location: Swift Hall 107
Website: Chaz Firestone

Title: TBA

Abstract: TBA

Spring