Robert Hawkins: Language in social interaction: Weaving together cognition and culture

Note: Streaming via Zoom will be possible for this talk.

Abstract: Why do we talk differently with different people? How does our language reflect and shape our social knowledge? In this talk, I will present a computational framework that aims to explain the collective behavior of social groups via mechanisms of individual social cognition and communication. First, I will present evidence for three basic components of the framework: structured uncertainty about what language will mean to different people, social inference to quickly learn about people from talking with them, and generalization to abstract away these meanings to broader "communal lexicons" that signal social identity. Next I will demonstrate the consequences of these mechanisms for the emergence of linguistic conventions in groups. Finally, I will discuss ongoing work exploring broader implications of this framework across three areas of cognitive science: (1) the neural basis for interactive communication, using fMRI data collected in a hyperscanning setup, (2) the developmental trajectories of communicative flexibility, and (3) scaling up our models to build artificial agents that can flexibly construct meaning with human partners on the fly. Together, this line of work highlights language as a critical bridge between cognition and culture, contributing to a more mechanistic theory of social interaction across scales.

Judith Ellen Fan: Cognitive tools for uncovering useful abstractions

Note: Streaming via Zoom will not be possible for this talk.

Abstract: In the 17th century, the Cartesian coordinate system was groundbreaking. It exposed the unity between algebra and geometry, accelerating the development of the math that took humans to the moon. It was not just another concept, but a cognitive tool that people could wield to express abstract ideas in visual form, thereby expanding their capacity to think and generate new insights about a variety of other problems. Research in my lab aims to uncover the psychological mechanisms that explain how people have come to deploy these technologies in such innovative ways to learn, share knowledge, and create new things. In the first part of this talk, I will provide an overview of our recent work investigating drawing — one of our most enduring and versatile tools. Across several empirical and computational studies, I’ll argue that drawing not only provides a window into how we perceive and understand the visual world, but also accelerates our ability to learn and communicate useful abstractions. In the second part, I will describe an emerging line of work investigating how we discover new abstractions when building physical structures, and externalize these abstractions to support planning and collaboration. I will close by noting the broader implications of embracing such complex, naturalistic behaviors for advancing psychological theory and enhancing real-world impact, including in AI and education.

About the speakers

Judith Ellen Fan, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Stanford University
Robert Hawkins, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Free of charge - All are welcome