Description

At one time, almost all research on cognition was conducted according to a dominant scientific paradigm. The heart of that paradigm was the idea that cognition is the formal manipulation of symbols – or computation. But even at the height of its influence, the idea that cognition is computation has had important detractors. Since at least the 1990’s, opponents of the computational model have grown in number and influence so much that very little research is now conducted explicitly within the framework of that model. Along the way, scientists have proposed new general theories, and philosophers have heralded paradigm shifts. However, no alternative model of cognition has enjoyed the widespread influence of the computational model that it was supposed to replace. Rather, the past 20 or so years have been witness to a prolonged search of model space, which has at times borne a closer resemblance to a paradigmatic war of succession, than a definitive taking of the throne.

Two frontrunners are now emerging from this process. These are 1) the predictive coding model, in which cognition is a form of implicit Bayesian hypothesis testing, and in which the mind/brain is made up of a structured hierarchy of Bayesian networks, and 2) the embodied/extended model, in which cognition is a form of dynamical stability that emerges from the interplay between organisms, their actions, and the environment. The aim of this workshop is to explore these models 1) from a more general perspective, 2) as they apply to explaining perception and action, and 3) in terms of how they can help to understand psychopathology.

Program - April 4

09.00 - 12:30 - General models session

09.15 - 10.15 – Andy Clark

10.15 - 11.15 – Jakob Hohwy

11.15 - 11.30 - coffee break

11.30 - 12.30 – Louise Barrett

12.30 - 13.30 Lunch break

13.30 - 17.00 Action-perception session:

13.30 - 14.30 – Daniel Richardson

14.30 - 14.45 - coffee break

14.45 - 15.45 –   Zoe Drayson     

15.45 - 16.00 - coffee break

16:00 - 17:00 – James Kilner

18:00 - social dinner

Program - April 5

09.00 - 11.30 - Psychopathology session:

09.15 - 10.15 - Chris Frith

10.15 - 11.15 - Liz Pellicano

11.15 - 11.30 - coffee break

11.30 - 12.30 - Discussion panel

12.30 - 13.00 - Integrating perspectives: concluding remarks - Andreas Roepstorff