koglist April 2026

koglist@maillist.ttk.hu

9 participants
15 discussions

[Koglist] [CEU Cogsci Talks] Departmental Colloquium: January 21st at 4pm, Anna Papafragou (University of Pennsylvania)

by Andrea Jenei

Dear All, The CEU Department of Cognitive Science cordially invites you to the following talk: Anna Papafragou<https://www.langcoglab.com/current-lab-members>, Language and Cognition Lab, University of Pennsylvania Dynamic events in mind and language Humans are surprisingly adept at interpreting what is happening around them and organizing this information in terms of dynamic events. Furthermore, across human communities, language is used to describe the events that we experience. But what, exactly, is an event? In this talk, I propose a theory of eventhood that combines insights from logico-philosophical analysis, cognitive psychology and linguistic theory. On this theory, the representational units of events in cognition rely on abstract underlying structure, including temporal boundaries. In that sense, events are similar to objects (since objects also involve abstract structure, including spatial boundaries). This proposal predicts systematic patterns in the way people spontaneously perceive unfolding events. It also explains otherwise mysterious similarities in how events and objects behave as cognitive entities. Finally, this proposal naturally accounts for the existence of a homology between the cognitive and linguistic structure of events. This framework opens up exciting possibilities for future research on how people represent, remember and talk about what happens. Date and time: Wednesday, 21st January 2026, 16:00 Venue: QS D-001 Tiered Zoom: https://ceu-edu.zoom.us/j/99674461408?pwd=OUeclRFRsjmIJRKeMivXHse68syPdH.1 Meeting ID: 996 7446 1408 Passcode: 075444 Host: Eva Wittenberg *Anyone not affiliated with CEU wishing to attend in-person in Vienna must RSVP to get access to the lecture hall. Best regards, Andi ______________________________________________ Subscribe by sending an empty mail to talks-subscribe(a)cogsci.ceu.edu Unsubscribe by sending an empty mail to talks-unsubscribe(a)cogsci.ceu.edu

5 days, 3 hours

[Koglist 1983] [CEU Cogsci Talks] REMINDER: Neil Bramley (University of Edinburgh): Information seeking in the “Adjacent possible” (April 29, 2026, 4 pm, C323)

by Gyorgyne Finta

Dear All, This is a kind reminder: ********************************************* The CEU Department of Cognitive Science cordially invites you to the following talk by: Neil Bramley (University of Edinburgh)<https://edwebprofiles.ed.ac.uk/profile/bramley> Date: Wednesday, April 29, 2026 Time: 4 pm CET Venue: C323 (QS Vienna) and Zoom: https://ceu-edu.zoom.us/j/99248369830?pwd=D0ZrXbE15r2JI9IaTjHAAIvAaF4VWY.1<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://ceu-edu.zoom.us/j/99248369830?pwd%3DD0…> Meeting ID: 992 4836 9830 Passcode: 167595 Chair: József Fiser Title: Information seeking in the “Adjacent possible” Abstract: We typically hold human information-seeking behaviour to the normative standard of expected information maximisation. Yet humans align with this norm only in narrow, overtrained settings (and often only if you squint). I highlight a series of projects that explore information seeking in less constrained settings, where human choices are systematically *anti-correlated* with global information maximisation norms. To make sense of this disconnect, I highlight how the value of information depends on what one can make of it. I’ll argue this transforms the objective of human information-seeking to that of maximising mobility within the “adjacent possible” (Kauffman, 1996)—the space of possibilities a learner can conceive of, given what they currently believe and their inferential limitations. Humans often select actions that fork the predictions of a current hypothesis and “nearby” alternatives, optimising the signal-to-noise ratio with respect to this contrast, to limit the chance of making inferential or perceptual errors. I suggest this pattern is mis-diagnosed as confirmation-biased, inefficient testing from a “god’s eye” view, but rather reflects an effective long-run strategy (in combination with model-free heuristics) for active learning in open-ended possibility spaces. *Anyone not affiliated with CEU wishing to attend in-person in Vienna must reply here please<https://forms.office.com/e/cVhWmYJWbH> to get access to the lecture hall. Let Jozsef know, please, if you would like to schedule a meeting with the speaker. Best, Reka [cid:image001.png@01DCD6FE.58A15E80] Györgyné Finta (Réka) Department Coordinator Department of Cognitive Science Pronouns: she/her | szabor(a)ceu.edu<mailto:szabor@ceu.edu> | +43 1 25230 5138 CENTRAL EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY Quellenstrasse 51 | A-1100 Vienna | Austria | www.ceu.edu<http://www.ceu.edu/> [signature_4100317087]<https://www.facebook.com/WeAreCEU/> [signature_3650446863] <https://www.instagram.com/weareceu/> [signature_2213595878] <https://at.linkedin.com/school/central-european-university/> [signature_973538284] <https://www.threads.net/@weareceu> [signature_3302971874] <https://twitter.com/ceu> ______________________________________________ Subscribe by sending an empty mail to talks-subscribe(a)cogsci.ceu.edu Unsubscribe by sending an empty mail to talks-unsubscribe(a)cogsci.ceu.edu

1 week, 6 days

[Koglist 1982] Announcing the 17th annual BCCCD meeting in Budapest, Hungary, January 7-9, 2027

by Gergely Csibra

Dear Colleagues,  The Cognitive Development Center at CEU is pleased to announce the 17th annual BCCCD meeting in Budapest, Hungary. The meeting will be held between January 7th and January 9th, 2027.  INVITED SPEAKERS  Isabelle Dautriche<https://voynich.univ-amu.fr/> (Aix-Marseille University) Willem Frankenhuis<https://www.willemfrankenhuis.com/> (University of Amsterdam) Julian Jara-Ettinger<https://compdevlab.yale.edu/> (Yale University) Alongside our invited program, we welcome symposium, talk, and poster submissions reporting studies from all fields of cognitive development. Previous BCCCD meetings featured a wide range of topics, such as communication, pragmatics, social cognition, conceptual development, language acquisition, numeracy, object cognition, perceptual learning, inductive learning, memory, executive function, metacognition, cognitive bases of culture, and comparative cognition.  We will have a single deadline for all symposium, talk, and poster submissions. Authors can elect to have talk submissions considered for posters as well. You can find the timeline of the submission and review process below or at this link:  https://bcccd.org/timeline.htm We also welcome proposals for half-day pre-conference workshops or tutorials relevant to the BCCCD audience.  IMPORTANT DATES  Submission opens: June 22, 2026 Submission deadline: September 7, 2026 Registration opens: September 8, 2026 Pre-conference workshop submission deadline: October 5, 2026 Notification of decision*: November 9, 2026 *For authors who require a visa to attend, we can provide a letter to support your visa application shortly after the submission deadline.  We expect to hold BCCCD27 entirely in-person in Budapest. While CEU has relocated much of its operations to Vienna, we would like to reassure all prospective participants that we are committed to maintaining the tradition of the Budapest campus of CEU as the site of BCCCD meetings in 2027 and for the foreseeable future. We hope to see you there!  Mariem Diané & Beyza G. Çiftçi BCCCD27 Conference chairs 

1 week, 6 days

[Koglist 1981] Reminder: Logic and Philosophy of Science, Zsófia Zvolenszky

by Gömöri Márton

2 weeks, 3 days

[Koglist 1980] doktori vagy posztdoktori pozíció, kognitív vallástudomány

by Biró Tamás

Kedves Kollégák, Megköszönném, ha a mellékelt informális, félhivatalos felhívást minél szélesebb körben terjesztenék. Köszönettel, Biró Tamás (ELTE BTK Ókortudományi Intézet) Doctoral scholarship We have a possibility to hire one or two doctoral students, and possibly also a postdoc within the project Modelling Religious Mental Representations (https://mrmr.elte.hu/, PI: Tamas Biro). The project aims at developing the “data structures” necessary for an adequate description of religious phenomena, including but not restricted to rituals. It is located at ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary, and it is financed by the National Research, Development, and Innovation Office (NRDIO, or NKFIH in Hungarian). Subprojects to be covered by a doctoral student or postdoctoral researcher should (a) either cover historical and/or contemporary data collection and analysis pertaining to a specific religious tradition (such as one of the Abrahamic religions); or (b) engage with the development of a formal, computationally implementable model (e.g., employing Optimality Theory). Preference will be given to candidates (a) with prior knowledge in a specific religious tradition, including familiarity with the sources and the necessary languages, and/or experience with fieldwork; (b) a background in programming and formal models in any field in the cognitive sciences or linguistics. Informal expressions of interest should reach Tamas Biro (biro.tamas(a)btk.elte.hu) by April 28, 2026. Doctoral applicants will have to submit a formal application by May 8 to the doctoral school of ELTE University.

2 weeks, 5 days

[Koglist] [CEU Cogsci Talks] Steve Fleming (UCL): , April 22, 2026, 10 am (!!!), D001

by Gyorgyne Finta

Subject: Steve Fleming (UCL): , April 22, 2026, 10 am (!!!), D001 The CEU Department of Cognitive Science cordially invites you to the following talk by: Steve Fleming (UCL)<https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/28069-steve-fleming> Date: Wednesday, April 22, 2026 Time: 10 AM pm (to 11:30 am) CET (Mind the unusual timing please!!!) Venue: D001 (QS Vienna) and Zoom: https://ceu-edu.zoom.us/j/91672333857?pwd=fSO9t5VpPGihzxiXUagpTWAYsGClU5.1<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://ceu-edu.zoom.us/j/91672333857?pwd%3DfS…> Meeting ID: 916 7233 3857 Passcode: 215291 Chair: József Fiser How the human brain thinks about itself: metacognition, reality monitoring and conscious experience The human brain has a remarkable ability to monitor and evaluate its own mental states, known as metacognition. Metacognition enables us to recognise gaps in our knowledge and collaborate effectively. Conversely, problems with metacognition are linked to maladaptive behaviours, such as endorsing false beliefs or being unaware of our own limitations. In my talk I will review the development of experimental and modelling tools that allow us to isolate how metacognitive capacity relates to human brain function and supports a rich awareness of our skills and capabilities. I will elucidate the psychological structure of metacognition across tasks, cognitive domains, and timescales, and describe recent behavioural and neuroimaging experiments which investigate how and whether people are able to apply metacognitive capacities to tell the difference between reality and imagination. I’ll end by considering the implications of a science of metacognition for understanding the evolution and functions of consciousness. *Anyone not affiliated with CEU wishing to attend in-person in Vienna must reply here<https://forms.office.com/e/AXw5K8s7RB> to get access to the lecture hall. Let Jozsef know, please, if you would like to schedule a meeting with the speaker. Best, Reka [cid:image001.png@01DCCBFE.111C95D0] Györgyné Finta (Réka) Department Coordinator Department of Cognitive Science Pronouns: she/her | szabor(a)ceu.edu<mailto:szabor@ceu.edu> | +43 1 25230 5138 CENTRAL EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY Quellenstrasse 51 | A-1100 Vienna | Austria | www.ceu.edu<http://www.ceu.edu/> [signature_4100317087]<https://www.facebook.com/WeAreCEU/> [signature_3650446863] <https://www.instagram.com/weareceu/> [signature_2213595878] <https://at.linkedin.com/school/central-european-university/> [signature_973538284] <https://www.threads.net/@weareceu> [signature_3302971874] <https://twitter.com/ceu> ______________________________________________ Subscribe by sending an empty mail to talks-subscribe(a)cogsci.ceu.edu Unsubscribe by sending an empty mail to talks-unsubscribe(a)cogsci.ceu.edu

2 weeks, 6 days

[Koglist] Logic and Philosophy of Science, Zsófia Zvolenszky

by Gömöri Márton

Logic and Philosophy of Science Seminar Department of Logic, Institute of Philosophy Eötvös Loránd University Budapest, Múzeum krt. 4/i Room 224 _____________________________________________ P R O G R A M The seminar is held in hybrid format, in person (Múzeum krt. 4/i Room 224) and online. Zoom link <https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84594385686?pwd=a7KPWoNLrPg11xNTi5Ug91YR5mHmmS.1> 24 April (Friday) 4:15 PM Room 224 + ONLINE Zsófia Zvolenszky Department of Logic, Institute of Philosophy, Eötvös Loránd University, Title: Varieties of artifactualism and the process of making a fictional character _____________________________________________ ABSTRACT: In my talk I’ll outline a proposal about the process of making a fictional character that I argue provides a superior response to two challenges: (1) If created, then “how (and when…) are fictional characters created?” (much discussed since Stuart Brock formulated the challenge in his “The creationist fiction: The case against creationism about fictional characters”, *Philosophical Review*, 2010). (2) If one opts for artifactualism about fictional characters, analogous arguments motivate artifactualism about LeVerrier’s Vulcan as well. (See, for example, Nathan Salmón’s “Nonexistence”, *Noûs*, 1998; also, Braun, Caplan). I put this in slogan form: “The artifactualism train runs express only”. This will be a – hopefully smooth – train ride, starting with (1), culminating with a response to (2). What if you want to get to a certain local train stop and are told that no local service is running to that destination; meanwhile the express trains you could board take you way further than you had planned? It’s well to choose the train ride only if you are in a position to embrace the express stop available. This is the situation that has recurringly been confronting philosophers over the past half century with respect to one form of realism about fictional characters (FCs): *artifactualism*, according to which *FCs **are non**-**concrete human-**made** objects, that is, non**-**concrete artifacts*. Various influential arguments suggest that FC-artifactualism is an unavailable local stop on the artifactualism train which offers express service only. Once on board that train, it inescapably wizzes one to a further-away express stop: *artifactualism about the posits of failed scientific hypotheses* like Babinet’s and LeVerrier’s hypothetical planet Vulcan. Some philosophers, among them Nathan Salmón, David Braun, Ben Caplan, have embraced that destination point. Others, among them Stuart Brock, cautioned to stay off the artifactualism train altogether. Can we instead find the elusive local train and disembark at a local stop without taking a stance on artifactualism about the likes of Vulcan? I will argue that we can and have strong reasons to do so. Though the task is especially challenging in the light of a phenomenon I had discussed in prior papers: I envisioned a (contrary to fact) scenario *T* in which Tolstoy, while writing *War and Peace*, “was under the mistaken impression that the protagonist, Prince Bolkonsky, like Napoleon (also featured in the novel), was a real person. Introducing the name ‘Andrei Bolkonksy’, Tolstoy intended to refer to a historical figure he thought existed quite independently of his novel” (Zvolenszky 2016, “Fictional characters, mythical objects, and the phenomenon of inadvertent creation”, *Res Philosophica*). If one is an artifactualist about FCs then in *T*, due to Tolstoy’s error, his novel-writing activity launched an FC-making process whose outcome was a new FC, Andrei Bolkonsky. Crucially, in *T*, Tolstoy’s process-launching was unintended, inadvertent. I had argued that such inadvertent authorial launchings are unmysterious and even expected given Saul Kripke’s general arguments (in his 1970 *Naming and Necessity *lectures) about name-users’ potential error that can, on occasion, afflict authors as well. The *process-launching* aspect of FC-making is a new development on my prior work. In my talk I will argue that authors as launchers who need not complete the process, is a plausible stance according to which making FCs can be *group-projects* on occasion in the context of novels. And even regularly in the context of other types of works of fiction, for example, when, in the context of making films, comics, a fictional character is created (examples prominently discussed in Chris Tillman & Joshua Spencer’s 2023, “Creature features: Character production and failed explanation in fiction, folklore and theorizing”, *Canadian Journal of Philosophy*). Yet this process and group-project aspect has been ignored and deemphasized in the literature, which has instead focused on a *solo-act* model of FC-making, with authors single-handedly making FCs. This solo-act focus affects even local-train-seeking artifactualists like Kripke (in his 1973 *Reference and Existence *lectures) and more recently, Tillman&Spencer (2023), but is especially prominent in Brock’s (2010) arguments against FC-artifactualism. Along the way, I’ll raise various considerations about philosophical methodology that allow for artifactualists to shift away from the solo-act focus and provide better responses than before to various challenges, including (1) and (2). _____________________________________________ The seminar is open to everyone, including students, visitors, and faculty members from all departments and institutes! Format: 60 minute lecture, coffee break, discussion. _____________________________________________ Organizers: Márton Gömöri and Zalán Molnár _____________________________________________ LPS - Logic and Philosophy of Science (Student and Faculty Seminar) Department of Logic, Institute of Philosophy Eötvös University Budapest http://phil.elte.hu/lps

2 weeks, 6 days

[Koglist] talk of Rachael Bedford

by Vera Konok

Dear All, Our next speaker in the Digital Minds lecture series is Rachael Bedford from the Department of Psychology, School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London. Title: Triangulating the impact of digital media on early cognitive development Date: 06 May 2026, 15:00-16:30 (CEST) Place: Join the event online via Zoom! Meeting details will be sent to registered participants. Register here: https://forms.office.com/e/PxBVZHQzfV Registration closes on 05 May 2026, 23:59! Join us and stay mindful in the digital age! Abstract: The rapid proliferation of digital media throughout the previous decade has fundamentally altered the developmental landscape for preschool-aged children. Establishing a robust understanding of how screen exposure influences cognitive development is essential for formulating evidence-based guidelines for caregivers and early childhood practitioners. This presentation synthesizes findings from our research programme investigating media effects in infants and toddlers. By triangulating effects based on data from a longitudinal laboratory study, a randomised controlled trial (RCT), and experimental designs, we can build a robust evidence-base for the effect on neurocognitive outcomes. Results suggest negative associations between screen use and both sleep quality and attentional control. Further, findings suggest that effects for attention control are moderated by the type of content children view. More work is needed to understand the potentially beneficial effects of high-quality content. -- Konok Veronika / Veronika Konok www.alfageneracio.hu www.alphageneration.eu

3 weeks

[Koglist] Logic and Philosophy of Science, Klaus Kellerwessel

by Gömöri Márton

3 weeks, 4 days

[Koglist] {Disarmed} Ma!!! Fluencia Party on Wednesday, April 15

by Dezső Németh

Dear Cognitive Folks, We’re excited to announce that the next Fluencia Party will take place on Wednesday, April 15, starting at 7:00 PM at Élesztőház (Tűzoltó utca 22). You can find more details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1821950915145949/ Fluencia is a monthly, informal gathering designed for students (both undergraduate and graduate), professors, and researchers across cognitive science, psychology, psychiatry, neurology, and neuroscience. Attendees come from various universities and research institutes, though individuals from other institutions are always warmly welcome! The main goal of Fluencia is to foster interaction, collaboration, and communication among researchers in these related fields. It’s an excellent opportunity to meet new people, discuss your research interests, and, of course, enjoy a relaxing evening with drinks in a friendly atmosphere. Everyone is welcome! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. Looking forward to seeing you there! Cheers, Dezső ---------------------------------------------- https://nemethlab.com/ <http://www.memory-and-language.com/>

3 weeks, 4 days

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koglist April 2026