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: DESIGNING INCLUSIVECOLLABORATION: LESSONSFROM OPEN-SOURCESOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

Abstract:
Collaboration involves complex processes such as decision-making,communication, identity management, and problem-solving within and acrossgroups. Open-source software (OSS)—projects where individuals collaborate todevelop freely available software—provides a rich context for studying theseprocesses at multiple levels, from individual cognition to group dynamics andorganizational systems. OSS contributors must coordinate their work across timezones, cultural differences, and varying levels of expertise, often withouthierarchical structures or face-to-face interactions. In this talk I will discuss howcognitive science concepts like group coordination, social identity, and decision-making apply to OSS communities. The unit of analysis spans individuals (e.g.,contributors’ motivations and barriers), interactions (e.g., moderation of toxicbehavior), and systems (e.g., organizational policies shaping collaboration).Drawing on empirical studies, I will explore how design principles can enhanceinclusivity, equity, and sustainability in OSS and other open collaborationenvironments, offering insights for cognitive science research and application.

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: Seeing "How"

Abstract: 

What is perception? The most intuitive and influential answer to this question has long been the one given by David Marr: To see the world is “to know what is where by looking” — to transform light into representations of objects and their features, located somewhere in space. But is this all that perception delivers? Consider the figure [below]; certainly you see some colored shapes, as well as where they are located. Yet, beyond this, you may also see how they relate to one another: The green piece can fit into the others, and even create a new object with a shape of its own.

In this talk, I present evidence that perception extracts relations between objects in much the same way as it processes the objects themselves, and that these relations are abstract, structured, and surprisingly sophisticated. We’ll explore (and experience) the perception of several sophisticated relations between objects, including combining, supporting, containing, covering, and fastening — as well as relational “illusions” in which objects appear to interact with mysteriously invisible entities. Together, this work suggests that we see not only “what” and “where”, but also “how”.

Spring