Thursdays 15:30 to 17:00  - Building 57, Room 508

April 12, 2018

Note, this appointment will start at 3:15 and will end at 6 pm!

Speakers: Master students from Cognitive Science

Topic: Mini-Conference Cognitive Science - I

Abstracts: Talks and poster presentations from various labrotations

April 19, 2018

Speaker: PD Dr. Frederike Hanke (invited by Prof. Friauf and Dr. Patricia Wesseling)

Topic: Living at and in the sea – how the senses contribute to harbor seal orientation, navigation, and foraging

Abstract: Harbor seals live at the coast where they can often be seen hauled out on the beach. However, from time to time, they leave their haul out places and return to the sea for foraging. Although they were observed travelling up to 50km to reach their foraging grounds, they are able to refind their haul out places. While we thus know from tagging studies that harbor seals are very well oriented in their habitat, we hardly know anything about the underlying mechanisms of orientation and navigation. In my talk, I would like to outline how the senses (may) contribute to seal orientation and navigation as well as to foraging.

April 26, 2018

No Colloquium (due to Haaß Talk on April 25 with Gerd Gigerenzer)

May 3, 2018

Speakers:Students of Cognitive Science

Topic: Mini-Conference Cognitive Science - II

May 17, 2018

Speaker: Theres Grüter (University of Hawai´i - invited by Prof. Allen)

Topic: Thinking ahead in a second language: On the role of prediction in L2 processing

Abstract: The role of prediction in native language (L1) processing has been investigated, and debated, extensively over the past couple of decades. Yet it is only in the last few years that prediction/anticipation in second language (L2) processing has become a topic of interest. In this talk, I will discuss how the investigation of prediction in L2 processing may help us move beyond the common but rather unsatisfying description of differences between L1 and L2 speakers as L2 learners having “a processing problem”. In recent and on-going research in our lab, we have used online (visual-world eye-tracking) and offline methods to probe to what extent L2 listeners engage in proactive ‘thinking ahead’ during sentence and discourse processing. Drawing on findings from studies targeting various linguistic cues that can give rise to anticipatory processing - including classifiers in Mandarin Chinese and grammatical aspect in English - I will argue that L2 speakers do not necessarily differ from L1 speakers in whether or not they engage in prediction, but in how and when they engage in prediction, and what information they use to generate expectations about upcoming information. Taken together, these findings suggest that prediction is a universal mechanism of human language processing (and behavior more generally), and that L1 and L2 speakers make adaptive use of this mechanism depending on its utility given their knowledge and processing goals.

May 24, 2018

no Colloquium

May 31, 2018

no Colloquium

June 7, 2018

Speaker: Dr. Joseph Brooks, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Keele University - invited by Prof. Tandra Ghose

Topic: More than mere association: Relationships between perceptual grouping and figure-ground organisation

Abstract: Figure-ground organization and perceptual grouping are classic topics in Gestalt and perceptual psychology. They often appear alongside one another in introductory textbook chapters on perception and have a long history of investigation. However, they are typically discussed as separate processes of perceptual organization with their own distinct phenomena and mechanisms. Here, I will propose that perceptual grouping and figure-ground organisation are mechanistically linked and that grouping provides a basis for explaining a wide range of figure-ground principles. In particular, I will demonstrate a new class of figure-ground principles based on perceptual grouping between edges and demonstrate that this inter-edge grouping (IEG) is a powerful influence on figure-ground organization. Other results will show that grouping between edges and regions (i.e., edge-region grouping) can affect figure-ground organisation and that contextual influences in figure-ground organisation are gated by perceptual grouping between edges. In addition to these new phenomena, we can also describe some classic figure-ground principles (e.g., symmetry, convexity, etc.) using perceptual grouping mechanisms. Our results suggest that figure-ground organization and perceptual grouping have more than a mere association within Gestalt psychology. Instead, perceptual grouping may provide a mechanism underlying a broad class of new and extant figure-ground principles.

Please note: This week´s meeting will be on 
Wednesday, June 13
10:30 to 12:00 in 57/215!

Speaker: Prof. Dr. Anja Arnhold (University of Alberta - invited by Prof. Shanley Allen)

Topic:

Abstract:

June 21, 2018

Speaker: Prof. Dr. Alexander Schütz (Uni Marburg - invited by Prof. Thomas Schmidt)

Topic: Modulation of eye movements by value and decisions

Abstract: