Events & News
Cog Sci Brown Bag Seminar
| Category | Lecture |
| Date | Friday, February 26, 2010 |
| Time | 12:00 pm |
| Location | GS 906 |
| Speaker | Benjamin Kozuch, Dept of Philosophy & Wesley Kerr, Dept of Computer Science |
| Title | Graduate Student Presentations |
Benjamin Kozuch, Dept. of Philosophy
Title: Using Eliminative Methodology to Find the Neural Correlates of Consciousness
Abstract: The last two decades have been fruitful time for research into the neural correlates of consciousness (NCC). Many data relevant to the NCC have been produced, as have a number of bold theories. However, little has been done in the way of providing methodological foundations for NCC research. In this talk, I will provide a framework within which neuroscientific data can be assessed, arguing that this framework will produce more assured conclusions about the location of the NCC than other frameworks could.
Wesley Kerr, Dept. of Computer Science
Title: Recognizing Behaviors and the Intentional State of Participants
Abstract: Psychological research has demonstrated that subjects shown animations consisting of nothing more than simple geometric shapes perceive the shapes as being alive, having goals and intentions, and even engaging in social activities such as chasing and evading one another. While the subjects could not directly perceive affective state, motor commands, or the beliefs and intentions of the actors in the animations, they still used intentional language to describe the moving shapes. We present representations and algorithms that enable an artificial agent to correctly recognize other agents' activities by observing their behavior. In addition, we demonstrate that if the artificial agent learns about the activities through participation, where it has access to its own internal affective state, motor commands, etc., it can then infer the unobservable affective state of other agents.