Dear all,

The CEU Department of Cognitive Science invites you to the following talk:

Patricia A. Ganea (University of Toronto)

Title: Mechanisms underlying counterfactual reasoning in development

Abstract: Counterfactual reasoning is the ability to think of alternative representations to what we know to be true about the world, by imagining what would have happened had a situation been different. The ability to contemplate changes to reality is a fundamental aspect of human cognition involved in learning and decision-making. To date, the developmental literature has focused mostly on when children become capable of reasoning counterfactually, with little attention to how or why children reason the way they do. Conclusions about when children begin to reason counterfactually are also mixed and are underlined by different theoretical assumptions. In this talk I will present a process-based account of counterfactual reasoning by highlighting the processes it shares with other hypothetical abilities and by characterizing the factors that influence children’s counterfactual judgements.

Date: Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Time: 4 pm (to 5:30 pm) CET

Venue: D001-Tiered* (QS Vienna) and Zoom (meeting ID: 969 2496 5784, passcode: 471712)

Chair: Ágnes Kovács

*Anyone not affiliated with CEU wishing to attend in-person in Vienna must RSVP here to get access to the lecture hall.

Best,
Anna