Thursday Morning Talk

Abstract: Over the last 20 years, it has been shown that birds and mammals are startlingly similar in their cognitive repertoire. Even the most intelligent taxa from each group – great apes and large corvids and parrots – match each other in most domains of cognition. This functional similarity is remarkable considering that birds and

Abstract: What is a useful skill hierarchy for an autonomous agent? In this talk, we will consider a possible answer based on a graphical representation of how the interaction between an agent and its environment may unfold. The proposed approach uses modularity maximisation as a central organising principle to expose the structure of the interaction

More details to follow. This talk will take place in person at SCIoI. Photo by: Rodrigo Friscione Wyssmann.  

More details to follow.   This talk will take place in person at SCIoI.  

Abstract: Machine Learning (ML) systems typically yield definitive outputs, even when the underlying probabilities do not justify a decision. This poses a significant challenge in medical applications, where patients rely on individualized diagnoses, treatments, and prognoses. A recent advancement in ML research addresses this issue by introducing so-called “abstention models,” which enable ML systems to

More details to follow.   This talk will take place in person at SCIoI. Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash.  

A core task of animal cognition is to carve the world up into relevant contextual states – based on sensory input, internal drives, and awareness of one’s own recent behavior – and then hold these state assignments in working memory as guides for action and anchors for learning. By training animals to perform asks with

More info to follow.   This talk will take place in person at SCIoI.

Abstract Collecting new information about the outside world is a key aspect of brain function. In the context of vision, we move our eyes multiple times per second to accumulate evidence about a scene. Prior studies have suggested that this process is goal-directed and close to optimal. Here, we show that this process of seeking

Abstract "Moral judgments are inherently social, shaped by interactions with others in everyday life. Despite this, psychological research has rarely examined the impact of social interactions on these judgments. In our study, we explored the role of group dynamics in moral decision making by having small groups (4-5 participants) evaluate moral dilemmas first individually, then

Abstract: Research in developmental robotics includes modeling human intelligence and the process of its emergence in robotic systems. A novel research paradigm in psychology is emerging in conjunction with such efforts regarding reproducing human-specific communication abilities in robots and observing how children interact with robots with various communication capabilities. I will discuss such research trends

Moral judgments are inherently social, shaped by interactions with others in everyday life. Despite this, psychological research has rarely examined the impact of social interactions on these judgments. In our study, we explored the role of group dynamics in moral decision-making by having small groups (4-5 participants) evaluate moral dilemmas first individually, then collectively, and