Apr 07 2026

Using Theory-based Computational Approaches to Understand Psychosis Pathophysiology - Dr. Albert Powers, Yale University

Information
Tuesday, April 7, 2026
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg., Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2026

In this talk, we will discuss how insights into the computational underpinnings of psychotic symptoms can serve as a bridge across levels of description and across time as psychosis develops.

Mar 31 2026

Species Recognition in Brood Parasitic Birds and their Hosts - Dr. Mark E. Hauber, CUNY

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Tuesday, March 31, 2026
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg., Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2026
Abstrac t : Brood parasitic birds represent several evolutionary and ontogenetic dilemmas for researchers: how do parasites recognize their own species when raised by a different one and why do
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Mar 24 2026

The Opposite of An Experiment in Developmental Science - Casey Lew-Williams, Princeton University

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Tuesday, March 24, 2026
2:00 PM - 3:20 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg., Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2026
Abstract: The best future for science on children’s learning will be one that embraces both descriptive research and great experiments. We can all look forward to the new hypotheses that
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Mar 03 2026

The Mind Delusion: Why It Arises and How It Shapes the Conscious Self, Dr. Iris Berent, Northeastern University

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Tuesday, March 3, 2026
2:00 PM - 3:20 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg., Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2026
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Mar 03 2026

How Children Learn - Dr. Elizabeth Spelke, Harvard University

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Tuesday, March 3, 2026
2:00 PM - 3:20 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg., Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2026
Abstract: Children are likely the most prodigious learners on earth: With little to no instruction, they master the commonsense concepts and skills that their culture requires, and then they go
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Feb 10 2026

Sensitivity to False Beliefs in Language  Models and Humans: What can (and can't) We Learn from the Comparison? - Dr. Sean Trott, Rutgers-Newark

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Tuesday, February 10, 2026
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg., Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2026

Abstrac t : Humans regularly reason about the belief states of others. Where does this capacity originate? Competing hypotheses include biologically evolved endowments, social interaction, and exposure to language. Recent

Feb 03 2026

The Mind Delusion: Why It Arises and How It Shapes the Conscious Self, Dr. Iris Berent, Northeastern University

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Tuesday, February 3, 2026
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg., Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2026
Abstrac t : Dualism has a terrible reputation in cognitive science, and for good reason: the tacit belief that the mind is distinct from the body wreaks havoc on reasoning
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Dec 09 2025

Focusing Attention on Sensory x Memory Contents to Guide Behavior - Dr. Kia Nobre, Yale University

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Tuesday, December 9, 2025
2:00 PM - 3:20 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg., Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Fall 2025
Abstract : The ability to anticipate, select, prioritize, and prepare the relevant contents is fundamental to flexible, proactive, and adaptive cognition. Traditionally, these attention functions have been investigated in relation
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Dec 02 2025

Consciousness Doesn't Do That - Dr. Matthias Michel, MIT

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Tuesday, December 2, 2025
2:00 PM - 3:20 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg., Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Fall 2025
Abstract: The question of which mental functions require consciousness has recently come to the forefront because of its relevance for investigating animal consciousness. Finding out that an animal can perform
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Nov 18 2025

Word-learning Challenges and Children’s Non-Adult Behaviours with Modal Force - Dr. Ailis Cournane, NYU

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Tuesday, November 18, 2025
2:00 PM - 3:20 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg., Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Fall 2025
Abstract: Do preschool-aged children understand the force of modals like can and have to —that can expresses possibility and have to expresses necessity? We argue that preschool-aged children’s non-adult behaviours
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Nov 04 2025

Algorithmic Geometry of Memory and Reasoning in Brains and AI - Dr. Ida Momennejad, Microsoft Research NYC

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Tuesday, November 4, 2025
2:00 PM - 3:20 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg., Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Fall 2025
Abstract : How do brains and AI turn what they know into multi-step reasoning, planning, and collective problem-solving? I will present a series of empirical and computational studies on how
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Oct 21 2025

General-purpose Modal Representations - Dr. Jonathan Phillips, Dartmouth College

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Tuesday, October 21, 2025
2:00 PM - 3:20 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg., Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Fall 2025
Abstract: Much of high-level cognition relies on a capacity to represent the relevant possibilities in a given situation. To judge that someone is morally responsible for a given action requires
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Oct 14 2025

Learning Through the Eyes and  Ears of a Child -  Dr. Brenden Lake, Princeton University

Information
Tuesday, October 14, 2025
2:00 PM - 3:20 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg., Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Fall 2025
Abstract: Young children have sophisticated representations of their visual and linguistic environment. Where do these representations come from? How much knowledge arises through generic learning mechanisms applied to sensory data,
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Sep 30 2025

Sequences, Affordances, & the Evolution of Complexity  - Dr. Dennis Waters, Rutgers University

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Tuesday, September 30, 2025
2:00 PM - 3:20 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg., Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Fall 2025
Abstract: Sequences shape the foundations of life, culture, and technology. DNA sequences guide biological processes, sequences of speech and writing structure human culture, and sequences of code govern our technological
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Apr 22 2025

Emotional Dynamics (With Grief as a Case Study) - Dr. Grace Helton, University of Rochester

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Tuesday, April 22, 2025
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg, Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2025
Abstract: Grief after bereavement is sometimes thought to be a life-altering experience, of the kind one never truly recovers from. But recent results suggest that people who are bereaved typically
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Apr 08 2025

Bridging Vision and Language: Shared Representational Format and Content - Dr. Alon Hafri, University of Delaware

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Tuesday, April 8, 2025
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg, Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2025
Abstract: Few domains are as central to cognitive science as language and visual perception. While they are typically studied independently, at some level, they must connect. How? In my talk,
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Mar 11 2025

Three formats for abstract concepts - Dr. Susan Carey, Professor (Emeritus), Harvard University, Dept of Psychology

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Tuesday, March 11, 2025
2:00 PM - 3:20 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg, Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2025
Abstract: Considering the past 40 years of research on the mental representations of animals and infants has led many to conclude that non-linguistic thought contains abstract concepts such as logical
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Feb 18 2025

Not-Your-Mother's-Connectionism: LLMs as Cognitive Models - Dr. Ellie Pavlick, Brown University

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Tuesday, February 18, 2025
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg, Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2025
Abstract: Recent advances in AI have led to large neural network models which exhibit human-like behavior across a range of language and reasoning tasks. This (re-)opens important theoretical questions about
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Feb 11 2025

Beyond Child-Directed Speech: Active Learning in Early Language Development.   Dr. Ruthe Foushee, New School for Social Research

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Tuesday, February 11, 2025
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg, Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2025
Abstract: Arguably as a consequence of conducting research in primarily Western, child-centered settings, studies in language development have overwhelmingly focused on child-directed language in face-to-face, child-centered interactions as the primary
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Feb 04 2025

Learning and memory in human and artificial brains - Dr. Zoran Tiganj, Dept of Computer Science; Dept of Psychological and Brain Science - Indiana University Bloomington

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Tuesday, February 4, 2025
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg, Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2025
Abstract: Converging evidence from cognitive science and neuroscience suggests that the brain encodes physical and abstract variables—such as distance, time, and numerosity—within structured mental or cognitive maps. These maps are
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Dec 10 2024

Fairness and Randomness in Predictive Systems - Dr. Katie Creel, Northeastern University

Information
Tuesday, December 10, 2024
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg, Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Fall 2024
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Dec 03 2024

"What Shapes the Space of Possibilities that Children Consider?" -  Dr. Caren Walker, University of California San Diego

Information
Tuesday, December 3, 2024
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg, Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Fall 2024
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Nov 12 2024

Computing the location(s) of sound(s) in the visual scene -  Dr. Jennifer Groh, Duke University

Information
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg, Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Fall 2024
Abstract: Sounds and visual stimuli are localized and represented differently by the brain. In this talk, I’ll cover two topics: how eye movement signals are incorporated into auditory processing, and
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Oct 29 2024

“Seeing What’s Not There” - Jorge Morales, Northeastern University, Dept. of Psychology and Dept. of Philosophy (Assistant Professor and Director of the Subjectivity Lab)

Information
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg, Busch Campus, (Hybrid; Room 105)Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Fall 2024
Abstract: This talk is not about ghosts or the occult. It is also not about hallucinations or illusions. Rather, I discuss a series of otherwise normal visual experiences that are,
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Oct 22 2024

Logicality and exhaustification: Towards an explanatory account of meaning-based distributional constraints - Dr. Guillermo Del Pinal, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Information
Tuesday, October 22, 2024
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg, Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Fall 2024
Abstract: Various classes of functional terms---quantifiers, exceptives, comparatives, auxiliaries, attitude verbs, etc.---are subject to distributional constraints that don't seem amenable to syntactic or complexity based characterizations, yet can be systematically
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Sep 24 2024

“Events in Language and Mind” – Dr. Anna Papafragou, Professor, University of Pennsylvania

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Tuesday, September 24, 2024
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg, Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Fall 2024
Abstract: Humans are surprisingly adept at interpreting what is happening around them, even from a single glance. Beginning at infancy, we are able to recognize dynamic events, the roles that
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Apr 30 2024

"Human-AI Collaboration" - Dr. Mark Steyvers, Dept. of Cognitive Science, University of California, Irvine

Information
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg, Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2024
Abstract: Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning models are increasingly deployed in real-world applications. In many of these applications, there is strong motivation to develop hybrid systems in which humans
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Apr 30 2024

"Human-AI Collaboration" - Dr. Mark Steyvers, Dept. of Cognitive Science, University of California, Irvine

Information
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg, Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2024
Abstract: Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning models are increasingly deployed in real-world applications. In many of these applications, there is strong motivation to develop hybrid systems in which humans
Event Website
Apr 23 2024

"The Development of Negation in Language and Thought" - Dr. Roman Feiman, Asst. Professor, Brown University

Information
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg, Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2024
Abstract: You may have never heard the sentence, There are no pineapples on the moon, but you have no trouble understanding what it means, judging that it’s probably true, and
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Feb 20 2024

"The Perception of Silence" - Chaz Firestone, Johns Hopkins University, Assistant Professor

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Tuesday, February 20, 2024
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg,  Busch Campus, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2024
Abstract: What do we hear? An intuitive and canonical answer is that we hear *sounds* — a friend’s voice, a clap of thunder, a minor chord. But can we also
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Dec 12 2023

Hybrid Event -  Meet Me in The Elevator! A presentation by The Center for Cognitive Science Post-Docs (RuCCS)

Information
Tuesday, December 12, 2023
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Hybrid - Registration Required (Zoom link TBD)
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Fall 2023
Event Website
Nov 28 2023

Why language remains AI-complete, & what that means for human cognition. Dr. Joshua Hartshorne, Asst. Professor, Psychology Department, Boston College

Information
Tuesday, November 28, 2023
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Busch Campus, Psych Bldg, Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Fall 2023
Abstract: Starting with Alan Turing, scientists have long speculated that any artificial system with human-level language understanding would necessarily have human-level intelligence, that language is "AI-complete". Does the linguistic success
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Apr 04 2023

Characterizing the Link Between Relational Concepts and Numeracy Skills in Preschool Children, Dr. Vanessa Vieities (Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick)

Information
Tuesday, April 4, 2023
2:00 PM - 3:20 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg. Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2023
Event Website
Mar 28 2023

Event structure and English pronoun choice, Dr. Shannon Bryant, (Rutgers Center for Cognitive Science, RuCCS, Rutgers University, New Brunswick)

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Tuesday, March 28, 2023
2:00 PM - 3:20 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg. Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2023
ABSTRACT: In English, as in many languages, both reflexive pronouns (e.g., herself) and personal pronouns (e.g., her) can be used to refer to someone who was previously mentioned in a
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Mar 07 2023

Is it Worth the Work? The Neuroscience of Effort, Dr. David Zald (Department of Psychiatry, Rutgers Center for Advances Human Brain Imaging Research, Rutgers University)

Information
Tuesday, March 7, 2023
2:00 PM - 3:20 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg. Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2023
Abstract: Decisions about whether to exert effort are ubiquitous. Decisions to work on a paper or go exercise or run an errand all involve considerations of goals and rewards relative
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Feb 28 2023

“Are Phenomenal Theories of Thought Chauvinistic?”, Dr. James Preston Lennon (Rutgers Center for Cognitive Science, RuCCS, Rutgers University, New Brunswick)

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Tuesday, February 28, 2023
2:00 PM - 3:20 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg. Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2023
Abstract: The phenomenal view of thought says that thoughts are episodes in the stream of consciousness: they have phenomenal character, and this phenomenal character partially determines their content (Horgan and
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Feb 21 2023

"Towards Understanding Heterogeneity" Dr. Michel Regenwetter (Department of Psychology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)

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Tuesday, February 21, 2023
2:00 PM - 3:20 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg. Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2023
Abstract: Behavioral science faces the formidable task of having to determine simultaneously what is deterministic (constant and same), while also determining what is probabilistic (uncertain and variable). Should scholars treat
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Feb 14 2023

"Global–local incompatibility: The misperception of reliability in judgment regarding global variables" Dr. Stephen Broomell (Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University)

Information
Tuesday, February 14, 2023
2:00 PM - 3:20 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg. Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2023
Abstract : In the study of judgment and choice under uncertainty, I have found that there are many contexts where observations provide far less information than is realized because of
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Dec 06 2022

"Scalar Implicatures in Child Language" Dr. Shuyan Wang (Department of Linguistics, Rutgers University)

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Tuesday, December 6, 2022
2:00 PM - 3:20 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg. Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Fall 2022
Abstract : Relatively late mastery of scalar implicatures has been suggested to correlate with children’s immature processing capacities, such as their limited working memory (e.g., Chierchia et al. 2001; Pouscoulous
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Nov 29 2022

"Updating, Evidence Evaluation, and Operators: The Steering of Belief" Dr. Joseph Sommer (Department of Psychology, Rutgers University)  

Information
Tuesday, November 29, 2022
2:00 PM - 3:20 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg. Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2022
Abstrac t: How does human belief work? In contrast to the normative assumption that people update their beliefs via Bayes’ rule, psychologists have documented belief phenomena which appear difficult to
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Nov 08 2022

"Neural Dynamics of Working Memory" Dr. Tim Buschman (Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Princeton University)

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Tuesday, November 8, 2022
2:00 PM - 3:20 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg. Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Fall 2022
Abstract : Working memory is our ability to hold things ‘in mind’, acting as a flexible substrate on which thoughts can be placed and manipulated. Despite its importance to cognition,
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Oct 14 2022

Timothy from Yale University

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Friday, October 14, 2022
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
via zoom
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Fall 2022
Event Website
Oct 13 2022

Timothy From Yale Univevrsity

Information
Thursday, October 13, 2022
8:00 AM
zoom
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2023
Event Website
Sep 20 2022

"Using arm movements to study consciously and unconsciously perceived stimuli in decision making" Dr. Jason Friedman (Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University)

Information
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
2:00 PM - 3:20 PM
152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Psych Bldg. Room 105
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Fall 2022
Event Website
Apr 12 2022

Hybrid Event - Prof Sai Prasanth Krishnamoorthy (Honeywell) and Prof Ryan Rhodes, (RU Center for Cognitive Science)

Information
Tuesday, April 12, 2022
1:00 PM - 1:50 PM
Hybrid - Registration Required
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2022
Event Website
Apr 05 2022

Details forthcoming - Carolyn Jane Lutken (Rutgers University, Dept. of Cognitive Science)

Information
Tuesday, April 5, 2022
2:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Hybrid event (in-person pre-registration, and virtual), more details to follow.
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2022
Carolyn Jane Lutken
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Apr 05 2022

Hybrid Event - Austin Baker and Carolyn Jane Lutken (Rutgers University, Center for Cognitive Science)

Information
Tuesday, April 5, 2022
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Hybrid - Registration Required
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2022
Event Website
Mar 29 2022

Details forthcoming - Marta Mielicki (Rutgers University, Dept. of Cognitive Science)

Information
Tuesday, March 29, 2022
2:00 PM - 2:50 PM
Hybrid event (in-person pre-registration, and virtual), more details to follow.
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2022
Marta Mielicki
Event Website
Mar 29 2022

Hybrid Event - Paul Robinson and Marta Mielicki (Rutgers University, Center for Cognitive Science)

Information
Tuesday, March 29, 2022
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Hybrid - Registration Required
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2022
Event Website
Mar 22 2022

"Learning in open worlds" Patrick Shafto (Associate Professor, Dept. of Mathematics and Computer Science, Rutgers University - Newark)

Information
Tuesday, March 22, 2022
1:00 PM
Hybrid event (in-person pre-registration, and virtual), more details to follow.
Event Type: Talks: RuCCS Colloquia | Semester: Spring 2022
Dr. Patrick Shafto Abstract : Cognitive science is dominated by models of closed world experiments that have unclear relations and few if any provable properties. I will discuss a new
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