[Koglist] [CEU Cogsci Talks] `Bayesian brains without probabilities` a talk by by Adam Sanborn (University of Warwick), April 25, 5 pm

Dear all, The CEU Department of Cognitive Science cordially invites you to its next week talk by: Adam Sanborn (University of Warwick) Date: Wednesday, April 25, 2018 - 17:00-18:30 Host: Jozsef Fiser Location: Department of Cognitive Science, CEU, Oktober 6 street 7, room 101. Title: Bayesian brains without probabilities Over the past two decades, a wave of Bayesian explanations has swept through cognitive science, explaining behavior in domains from intuitive physics and causal learning, to perception, motor control and language. Yet people produce stunningly incorrect answers in response to even the simplest questions about probabilities. How can a supposedly Bayesian brain paradoxically reason so poorly with probabilities? Perhaps Bayesian brains do not represent or calculate probabilities at all and are, indeed, poorly adapted to do so. Instead the brain could be approximating Bayesian inference through sampling: drawing samples from its distribution of likely hypotheses over time. Only with infinite samples does a Bayesian sampler conform to the laws of probability, and in this talk I show how reasoning with a finite number of samples systematically generates classic probabilistic reasoning errors in individuals, upending the longstanding consensus on these effects. I then discuss how we might determine what kind of sampling algorithm the brain is using, comparing algorithms in their ability to deal with complex probability distributions and to their match with the known characteristics of mental samples. See more at: https://cognitivescience.ceu.edu/events/2018-04-25/departmental-colloquium-… We look forward to seeing you there! Cognitive Science Events at CEU: http://cognitivescience.ceu.edu/events Györgyné Finta (Réka) Department Coordinator ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Central European University Department of Cognitive Science H-1051 Budapest Oktober 6 utca 7. tel: (36-1) 887-5138 fax: (36-1) 887-5010 http://www.ceu.edu http://cognitivescience.ceu.edu ______________________________________________ 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