27 May
2014
27 May
'14
9:08 a.m.
REMINDER:
The CEU Department of Cognitive Science cordially invites you to a talk
(as part of its Departmental Colloquium series)
by
Thomas Griffiths (UC Berkeley)
Date: Wednesday, May 28, 2014 - 17:00 - 18:30
Location: Department of Cognitive Science, CEU, Frankel Leó út 30-34.,
Room G15
Revealing inductive biases by simulating cultural evolution
People are remarkably good at acquiring complex knowledge from limited
data, as is required in learning causal relationships, categories, or
aspects of language. Successfully solving inductive problems of this
kind requires having good "inductive biases" - constraints that guide
inductive inference. Viewed abstractly, understanding human learning
requires identifying these inductive biases and exploring their origins.
I will argue that an effective way to solve this problem is to take a
step outside the traditional methodology of cognitive psychology, which
focuses on individuals learning from the world, and instead look at what
happens when people learn from one another. A mathematical analysis
using a simple Bayesian model predicts that inductive biases will
determine the outcome of processes of cultural transmission in which
learners learn from other learners. This provides the foundation for an
experimental method in which cultural evolution is simulated in the
laboratory as a means of magnifying the effects of human inductive
biases. I will present the results of using this method to explore
questions about both individual cognition and cultural evolution, and
highlight some surprising connections to algorithms more commonly used
in computer science and statisticsWe're looking forward to see you there
(Frankel Leo u. 30-34) !
Cognitive Science Events at CEU: http://cognitivescience.ceu.hu/events
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