November 10, 2022 at 15:30 (MEZ - in-person)
Title: Indexical control is essential for linguistic processing
Speaker: Volker Dellwo (Zurich University, Switzerland; invited by Shanley Allen)
Abstract: Next to a linguistic message, speech contains information about the talker by which he/she can be recognised, often referred to as indexical information. Indexical information is acoustic detail in speech that results to a considerable degree from the specific anatomy of a talker’s vocal tract. Thus, it has typically been viewed to be a byproduct of the articulation process which a talker does not intend to give away. In this presentation, I will show a drastically different approach to indexical information. I will first show that linguistic processing of dialogues collapses without indexical processing. To support indexical processing, there are ways a talker has to actively control indexical properties, for example, by providing more or less information about the anatomy of the vocal tract through modifying pitch. I will show situations in which such control mechanisms are essential in building human social communicative systems. In summary, I will demonstrate that the processing of talker specific detail plays a much more central role in linguistic processing than has hitherto been assumed.
Location: RPTU Kaiserslautern, Building 57, Room 508
OR
Zoom Link: https://uni-kl-de.zoom.us/j/64382899924?pwd=RUR5SERzVnVHSVRRQS9QZEs5YWZWdz09
November 24, 2022 at 15:30 (MEZ - Online)
Title: The Dyslexia Debate
Speaker: Julian (Joe) Elliott (Durham University, UK; invited by Thomas Lachmann)
Abstract: In this presentation I shall consider the problematics of the concept of dyslexia with particular reference to clinical diagnosis. I will describe the different ways that the dyslexia construct is understood, and has been operationalised, across research, practitioner and lay circles. I will demonstrate the tensions and contradictions that emerge and explain why a process of diagnosis and intervention that is often portrayed as emancipatory has negative consequences for many young people. Finally, I shall seek to offer a more equitable means to help all children who struggle with literacy.
Zoom Link: https://uni-kl-de.zoom.us/j/64382899924?pwd=RUR5SERzVnVHSVRRQS9QZEs5YWZWdz09
December 08, 2022 at 15:30 (MEZ - in-person)
Title: Using cognitive modelling to understand confidence and visibility in perceptual decisions
Speaker: Manuel Rausch (invited by Thomas Schmidt)
Abstract: What are the computational mechanisms underlying confidence in perceptual decision making? I present the WEV-model, which represents the theory that confidence in visual discrimination decisions is based on sensory evidence used during the perceptual decision as well as an estimate of the reliability of the stimulus on a trial-to-trial basis. Model comparisons between the WEV model and a bunch of alternative signal detection theoretic models of confidence showed that the WEV-model provided the best fit to confidence data in a low-contrast digit classification task, as well as well as a random-dot motion discrimination task. Moreover, the WEV-model successfully predicted electrophysiological markers of decision confidence during the time window of the P3 component. Fitting the WEV-model to visibility judgments revealed that visibility judgments are characterized with similar statistical properties as confidence judgments, with the exception that visibility judgments depend more strongly on the estimate of the reliability of the stimulus on a trial-to-trial basis. Finally, we extended the WEV-model to account for perceptual decisions, confidence, and reaction times at the same time. A drift-diffusion version of the WEV-model revealed that confidence is not only based on sensory evidence used during the perceptual decision as well as estimated reliability, but also on postdecisional evidence. Overall, I argue that we should no longer assume that perceptual decisions and confidence judgments are based on equivalent sensory evidence.
Location: RPTU Kaiserslautern, Building 57, Room 508
OR
Zoom Link: https://uni-kl-de.zoom.us/j/64382899924?pwd=RUR5SERzVnVHSVRRQS9QZEs5YWZWdz09
January 19, 2023 at 15:30 (online)
Title: An electrophysiological perspective on the embodied self: implications for consciousness, creativity and cognition
Speaker: Tal Dotan Ben-Soussan (Institute for Neuroscience, Education and Didactics, Assisi Italy; invited by Thomas Lachmann)
Abstract: In the current talk I will introduce the Sphere Model of Consciousness (SMC), a recent neuro-phenomenological model as a practical tool to address several methodological issues in consciousness research. Based on the SMC, I will present a simplified electrophysiological topographic map of the Self. This map depicts the gradual shift from faster to slower frequency bands that appears to mirror the dynamic between the various states of Self, which, in turn, mirrors the hierarchical organization of meditation, ranging from Focused Attention to Open Monitoring and Non-Dual meditation. I will then address the main cognitive functions involved in different states of Self, such as creativity, spatial and temporal cognition. This electro-topographic framework will be discussed in relation to several lines of research from our lab, (e.g. Quadrato Motor Training, the OVO-Whole Body Perceptual Deprivation chamber) and their possible implications for learning and wellbeing.
Zoom Link: https://uni-kl-de.zoom.us/j/64382899924?pwd=RUR5SERzVnVHSVRRQS9QZEs5YWZWdz09
January 26, 2023 at 15:30 (MEZ - in-person)
Title: The Inverse Base-Rate Effect: Sixty Years of Partial Progress
Speaker: Andy Wills (School of Psychology, University of Plymouth, UK; invited by Thomas Lachmann)
Abstract: The inverse base-rate effect, first reported in 1966, is a robust, non-rational phenomenon in human learning and a challenging benchmark result for formal models of cognition. In this talk, I'll briefly outline the nature and history of the IBRE. I'll then turn to the behavioural, neuroscientific, and theoretical contributions our lab has made over the last decade to understanding this phenomenon. My talk will include some published work, but also a series of more recent, as-yet-unpublished investigations. I'll conclude that while we know a lot more about the IBRE than we did sixty years ago, a complete and compelling explanation remains elusive.
Location: RPTU Kaiserslautern, Building 57, Room 508
OR
Zoom: https://uni-kl-de.zoom.us/j/64382899924?pwd=RUR5SERzVnVHSVRRQS9QZEs5YWZWdz09
February 02, 2023 at 15:30 (MEZ - in-person)
Title: Cybersickness
Speaker: Heiko Hecht (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Germany; invited by Thomas Lachmann)
Abstract:
Visually induced motion sickness (VIMS) or simulator sickness is a common side-effect in virtual environments and simulators. Several countermeasures against VIMS exist, but a reliable method to prevent VIMS is unfortunately still missing. Since, the standard method to measure VIMS, the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire, is rather time-consuming, I will report our efforts to validate a a fast motion sickness scale (FMS) that makes it possible to measure VIMS reliably and repeatedly. With this scale, we have been able to look at VIMS-profiles over time, and more importantly at some of the determinants of VIMS. Based on the conflict-theory of motion sickness, we have conducted a series of experiments to assess the role of the complexity of the simulated visual motion and stereopsis in the genesis of VIMS. We have also investigated the power of extra-retinal factors, such as music and odors, to reduce motion sickness.
Location: RPTU Kaiserslautern, Building 57, Room 508
February 09, 2023 at 15:30 (MEZ - in-person)
Title: Practice tests as learning opportunities at university
Speaker: Judith Schweppe (Passau Universtiy; invited by Daniela Czernochowski)
Abstract:
Location: RPTU Kaiserslautern, Building 57, Room 508
March 30, 2023 at 15:30 (MEZ - in-person)
Title: Why is it so hard to investigate unconscious mental processes?
Speaker: David Shanks (invited by Thomas Schmidt)
Abstract: Studies of unconscious mental processes often compare a performance measure (e.g., some assessment of perception or memory) with an awareness measure (such as a verbal report or a forced-choice response). Isolating unconscious processes requires eliminating or controlling for any influences from conscious processes, but the available methods for achieving this are prone to a surprising range of artifacts. The statistical property of regression to the mean is fundamental to some of these artifacts (e.g., Kelley's paradox). I argue that the existence of meaningful unconscious mental processes remains unproven.
Location: RPTU Kaiserslautern, Building 57, Room 508
OR
Zoom Link: https://uni-kl-de.zoom.us/j/64382899924?pwd=RUR5SERzVnVHSVRRQS9QZEs5YWZWdz09