The roundtable is held in person. The talks take place on the Stadcampus of University of Antwerp. Attendance is free and no registration is required.
Talk 1 - May 21 at 11:00AM, "Accounting for Action: Challenging the Traditional View of Multimodal Perceptual Objects "
Speaker
Aleksandra Mroczko-Wasowicz (Warsaw)
Abstract
In this talk, I present a proposal that action is involved in the formation and composition of perceptual objects. After introducing current philosophical theories regarding the structure of perceptual objects in modality-independent and multisensory settings, I show that these accounts omit action as a causal factor that can facilitate feature binding and serve as a structural component of perceptual objects. Consequently, I argue that action does play this causal role due to the connections between the brain’s motor system and perceptual processing as evidenced by neurophysiological and behavioral studies. These data include research on view-independent representations, peripersonal space, and event file coding. The conclusion is that to omit the influence of the motor system on the structure of perceptual objects is to have an incomplete account of object perception. Motor action is often required to drive the integration of sensory features into corresponding perceptual objects.
Location
In room S.004, Lange Sint-Annestraat 7, Antwerp 2000. No Zoom, only in person!
Talk 2 - May 23 at 10:45AM, "Generics, asymmetry, and strategic speech"
Speaker
Eleonore Neufeld (UM Amherst)
Abstract
Generic statements (`Tigers have stripes') are pervasive and early-emerging modes of generalization with a distinctive linguistic profile. Previous experimental work found that generics display a unique asymmetry between their introduction conditions and the implications that are typically drawn from them. This unique asymmetry effect of generics was also thought to have serious social consequences: if speakers tend to accept and communicate negative generics about social groups based on prevalence levels that are systematically lower than what is assumed by their recipients, then using generics is likely to exacerbate negative social stereotypes and biases. This paper presents evidence against the hypothesis that only generics display an asymmetry effect. Correcting for limitations of previous designs, we found a generalized asymmetry effect across generics, various kinds of explicitly quantified statements (`most', `some', `typically', `usually'), and variations of predicated properties (striking vs. neutral). To determine if generalized asymmetry may exacerbate biases, we examine whether speakers systematically choose, from a range of options, generalizing sentences based simply on their acceptance conditions, without regard for the implications which their recipients are likely to draw. We found that, in neutral or cooperative scenarios, speakers reliably choose generalizing sentences whose implied prevalence levels tend to closely match actual levels. In non-cooperative scenarios, speakers can exploit asymmetry effects to further their own goals by choosing generalizing sentences that are strictly true but likely to mislead their recipients about actual prevalences. These results refine our understanding of the source of asymmetry effects and the conditions under which they may introduce biased beliefs into social networks.
Location
In room E.122, Lange Sint Annestraat, Antwerp 2000. No Zoom, only in person!
Talk 3 - May 23 at 4:00PM, "Towards a Bounded Rationality of Reversal Learning"
Speaker
Sara Aronowitz (Toronto)
Abstract
Extinction training in rodents is one of the best understood kinds of learning, in which animals must figure out that a learned association is no longer relevant. This paradigm belongs to a broader category of what is called reversal learning. At the human level, reversal learning can be mundane - as when I have to figure out a new route to work when my usual one is blocked by construction- or life-changing - as when someone leaves a religion or becomes disillusioned with a career. This talk aims to establish that reversal learning in bounded agents is a distinct form of learning, and to bring out several ways in which the need to engage in reversal learning might shape our cognitive economy.
Location
In room S.004, Lange Sint Annestraat, Antwerp 2000. No Zoom, only in person!