The CEU Department of Cognitive Science cordially invites you to its public lecture
as part of the Summer University ` Understanding Communication and Understanding Minds: The Role of Metarepresentation` course
by
Richard Moore, Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt University, Germany
Date: Thursday, July 30, 2016 - 16:30-18:00
Host: Ildiko Kiraly
Which came first: language or high-order metarepresentation?
On standard Gricean and neo-Gricean accounts of language development in ontogeny and phylogeny (defended by Tomasello, Sperber and Wilson, and Scott-Phillips among others), language acquisition becomes possible only when speakers are able to act with and understand communicative intentions. Since acting with and understanding communicative intentions is thought to require very sophisticated socio-cognitive abilities, including the ability to entertain fourth order meta-representations, the possession of fourth-order metarepresentational abilities is held to be a pre-requisite of language development. On the standard view, it was the emergence of uniquely human abilities for high-order metarepresentation in phylogeny that led to the evolution of language; and it is because young children but not apes possess these abilities that they alone can acquire language.
For all that the standard view has been adopted by developmental psychologists, it faces potentially insurmountable empirical obstacles. This is because while children start to use words not long after their first birthday, current evidence suggests that they master fourth-order metarepresentations only around the age of 11. Given this, I argue, standard interpretations of the cognitive pre-requisites of Gricean communication must be wrong.
Against the standard view, I defend a 'minimally Gricean' account of intentional communication, according to which the socio-cognitive abilities required for Gricean communication are shared by both human and chimpanzees. I offer a new explanation of why humans but not apes acquired language, and I defend the view that human abilities for high-order metarepresentation are likely language dependent. In the course of developing my position, I will also argue against the view (defended by Gergely and Csibra) that ostensive eye contact constitutes a human-specific adaptation for understanding communicative intentions.
Location: Department of Cognitive Science, CEU, Oktober 6 street 7, room 101.
See more at:
https://summeruniversity.ceu.edu/understanding-2016
We are looking forward to see you there!
Cognitive Science Events at CEU: http://cognitivescience.ceu.edu/events
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The Brain, Memory and Language Lab and Department of Clinical Psychology
&
Addiction at Eotvos Lorand University cordially invite you to a talk
by
Eva Gilboa-Schechtman, Bar-Ilan University
"A Biopsychosocial Model of Social Anxiety Disorder"
Date: Thursday, June 9, 17:00
Location:
Institute of Psychology, ELTE
Damjanich u. 41-43. Building "C" ROOM 305
Abstract:
Theoretical accounts of Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) consider enhanced
sensitivity to, and impaired regulation of social threat to be at the core
of this condition. In this talk I seek to advance a more refined
understanding of the types of social threat affecting individuals with
SAD. To this end, social threat is examined from the perspective of two
systems: the social rank biobehavioral system (SRBS) and the affiliation
biobehavioral system (AFBS). I argue that SAD is associated with
vulnerability to events signaling loss of social-rank (defeat) and loss of
affiliation (exclusion). These events elicit distinct patterns of
subjective, cognitive, behavioral, endocrine, physiological, and neural
responses. I suggest that SAD is characterized by a (a) hyper-reactivity to
both defeat and exclusion; (b) propensity to respond to social defeat by
deploying conflict-reducing strategies (down-regulating SRBS); (c)
propensity to respond to social exclusion by deploying distancing and
withdrawal strategies (down-regulating AFBS), and (d) enhanced linkage of
the two systems, with exclusion events activating not only AFBS but also
SRBS. This dual-system account is consistent with calls to redefine
psychological disorders in terms of basic neuropsychological phenomena. It
may help integrate clinically significant information about SAD, especially
developmental trajectory, gender differences, and patterns of comorbidity
with depression and personality disorders. Exploring the mechanisms needed
to obtain and maintain a flexible regulatory repertoire to cope with social
challenges may help understand and treat SAD.
You can find this event on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1087761634618730/
We're looking forward to seeing you there!
--------------------------------------
NEMETH, Dezso (PhD)
Brain, Memory and Language Lab: http://www.memory-and-language.com
Phone: +36-1-461500/3565
REMINDER:
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The CEU Department of Cognitive Science cordially invites you to its talk by
Alex Thornton, Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter
Date: Wednesday, June 8, 2016 - 17:00-18:30
Host: Gergely Csibra, Denis Tatone
Location: Department of Cognitive Science, CEU, Oktober 6 street 7, room 101.
Social learning and the Evolution of Culture
Throughout the animal kingdom, individuals can acquire valuable information by learning from others. In some species, this social transmission of information can shape the behaviour and skills not only of individuals, but of whole groups, leading to the establishment of local cultural variants. In our own species, cultural traits themselves evolve, permitting the incremental improvements in tools and technologies that have allowed us to colonise the harshest environments on Earth and even explore beyond the confines of our own planet. In this talk I will consider the ultimate and proximate factors underpinning the biological origins of culture and its subsequent elaboration in humans. Using examples from my research on meerkats, jackdaws and great tits I will begin by consider how variation in the adaptive value of social information drives learning mechanisms and strategies and the potential for group-level conformity. I will then present data from experiments on humans, casting some doubt on the widely accepted notion that the human capacity for cumulative culture rests on the evolution of high-fidelity mechanisms of social learning.
See more at:
http://cognitivescience.ceu.edu/events/2016-06-08/departmental-colloquium-a…
We are looking forward to see you there!
Cognitive Science Events at CEU: http://cognitivescience.ceu.edu/events
______________________________________________
Subscribe by sending an empty mail to talks-subscribe(a)cogsci.ceu.edu
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*Hands-on Workshop for Mouse-Tracking Research using OpenSesame and R*
by Pascal Kieslich, University of Mannheim
The aim of this free workshop is to help those who wish to learn about the
methodological and practical aspects of computer mouse tracking.
A researcher of the method and the developer of the *mousetrap
<https://github.com/PascalKieslich/mousetrap>*R package, Pascal Kieslich
<https://www.jdm.uni-mannheim.de/cms/team/pascal-kieslich/> will guide the
participants in getting
a good overview of the method and a basic insight into the technical
procedures.
No background experience with the method is required.
*Date*: 14th June, 10am-16pm (with lunch break)
*Location*: Izabella u. 46., 1064, Room 127
Available places are very limited.
*To registrer* please email Barnabas Szaszi: szaszi.barnabas(a)gmail.com