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
Kedves Kollégák,
Csibra Gergő 1993 júliusában hozta létre a koglistet, amely talán a legrégebben folyamatosan működő magyar levelezőlista. Az utóbbi évtizedekben ő is kezelte, és moderálta a listát. Gergő, nagyon köszönjük a kezdeményezést és a lista sok évtizedes kezelését!
A lista kezelését az utóbbi hetektől kezdve én vettem át, így ha bármi kérdésetek, kérésetek lenne a listával kapcsolatban, keressetek nyugodtan.
A listát technikailag (az elkövetkező hetekben még várhatóan változatlan nevű) HUN-REN ttk kezeli, és a https://maillist.ttk.hu/mailman3/postorius/lists/koglist.maillist.ttk.hu/ címen érhető el. Szórakoztató pl. a lista archívumát böngészgetni. :)
A cím azért is fontos, mert mint kiderült, vannak hallgatóink, akik fel szerettek volna iratkozni, de nem találták a linket. Utóbbinak az az oka, hogy a lista címe nem érhető el a keresőkben, pl. mert nem mutatnak linkek rá.
Emiatt kérlek benneteket, hogy a lista linkjét adjátok hozzá a tanszéketek, intézetetek, laborotok, szakmai oldalatok, stb. linkgyűjteményéhez, hogy a keresők és egyéb robotok is könnyen megtalálják. Illetve mivel megfelelő kognitívokként nem csak a gépekkel, hanem az emberekkel is foglalkozhatunk, kérem, hogy a lista linkjét terjesszétek a hallgatóitok, laborotok, vagy akár kollégáitok közt is.
További kellemes és hasznos információ megosztást a következő évtizedekben is! Gergőnek pedig jó pihenést! :)
Attila
-------------------------------------------
Attila Krajcsihttps://www.thenumberworks.org
Kedves Kollégák!
Szeretettel hívunk mindenkit Czigler István professzor úr, a HUN-REN TTK Kognitív Idegtudományi és Pszichológiai Intézetének korábbi igazgatója és jelenlegi professor emeritusa 80. születésnapjának ünneplésére.
Időpont: 2026. május 22. (péntek) 14:00
Helyszín: HUN-REN TTK Nagyterem (1117 Budapest, Magyar tudósok körútja 2.)
Üdvözlettel,
Gaál Zsófia Anna
--
Zsófia Anna Gaál, PhD
Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology
HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences
Tel.: +36-1-382-6817
1519 Budapest, POB 286.
http://www.ttk.hu/en/phonebook/zsofia-anna-gaalhttp://gaallab.ttk.hu

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
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
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 is available from the seminar website:
https://lps.elte.hu/lps/2025-2026/April/
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
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.
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
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