Please note that the colloquium will start today at 3PM!
________________________________
From: Fanni Takatsy <TakatsyF(a)ceu.edu>
Sent: Thursday, January 8, 2026 4:24 PM
To: 'talks(a)cogsci.ceu.edu' <talks(a)cogsci.ceu.edu>
Subject: talk by Gerry Altmann on 'Objects as Event Representations: Theory, Data, and
Models. ' - Wednesday, January 14th 2026 - 3pm (CET)
Dear All,
The CEU Department of Cognitive Science cordially invites you to the following
talk<https://events.ceu.edu/2026-01-14/departmental-colloquium-gerry-alt…
by:
Speaker: Gerry
Altmann<https://psychology.uconn.edu/person/gerry-altmann/>
<https://psychology.uconn.edu/person/gerry-altmann/> (University of Connecticut)
Time: 3 pm (to 5 pm) CET
Date: Wednesday, 14th January 2026
Venue: D001 (QS Vienna) and Zoom:
https://ceu-edu.zoom.us/j/92542715048?pwd=ABqFncllhq9NUDaoaTTwh0Zb88CZtk.1
Meeting ID: 925 4271 5048
Passcode: 829493
Chair: Eva Wittenberg
Title: Objects as Event Representations: Theory, Data, and Models.
Abstract:
To understand events like “the chef chopped the onion,” we need to grasp that objects have
shared properties (inherited from their type) and unique properties that distinguish one
token from another. The chef and the onion have (intersecting) histories that started with
them in one state and ended with them in another. These histories are in fact trajectories
of changes in state across time and space, and their intersection defines the interactions
between objects (in this case, the action of the chef on the onion). To comprehend events,
or their descriptions, in real time requires creating on-the-fly representations of object
tokens and their changes in state. In this talk I shall outline an account of how this
might be accomplished in a brain that is able to distinguish the systematic associations
that define semantic memory for object types from the non-systematic accidental
associations that define the episodic characteristics of object tokens. The talk will
include fMRI, behavioral and eye tracking data, and computational modeling – all presented
for audiences new to neuroscientific and computational methods.
*Anyone not affiliated with CEU wishing to attend in-person in Vienna must RSVP to get
access to the lecture hall.
Best regards,
Fanni
------------------------------------------------
FANNI TAKÁTSY
Lab Manager/Research Coordinator,
Social Mind Center
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[cid:42067b17-4991-4d34-9c89-2f5005166125]
CENTRAL EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY
Quellenstrasse 51. | 1100 Vienna, Austria
takatsyf@ceu.edu<mailto:jeneia@ceu.edu>
http://socialmind.ceu.edu/
http://cognitivescience.ceu.edu/
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