Philosophical accounts of memory traces are almost always tailored towards explaining episodic representations typically formed in recollection. Accomplishing such a task is usually thought to require simultaneously explaining the reference and accuracy conditions of (conscious) episodic representations. The approach has limited a thorough integration of a theory of traces with the relevant psychology. Departing from this approach, I propose a more bottom-up approach that starts with the minimal assumption that a memory trace is any data structure encoded and stored for later retrieval.

Recent insights from auditory neuroscience provide a new perspective on how the brain encodes speech. Using these recent insights, I will provide an overview of key factors underpinning individual differences in children’s development of language and phonology, providing a context for exploring atypical reading development (dyslexia). Children with dyslexia are relatively insensitive to acoustic cues related to speech rhythm patterns.

In January Dan Sperber will give a Master Class at the department, in which he will present his most recent research on social ontology (abstract below). 

In January Dan Sperber will give a Master Class at the department, in which he will present his most recent research on social ontology (abstract below). 

In January Dan Sperber will give a Master Class at the department, in which he will present his most recent research on social ontology (abstract below). 

Historically, insights about human learning, decision making, and representation have played a major role in the development of AI, from early expert systems to reinforcement learning and modern deep neural architectures. This tradition continues today.

Movies or spoken narratives elicit strong responses in the brain. These responses are similar across subjects, effectively synchronizing brain activity between individuals. The synchronization is widespread across the brain and modulated by attention, suggesting that narratives effectively engage our cognition. Recent findings show that listening to narratives also synchronizes physiological signals. This includes synchronization of heart rate and pupil size, suggesting that stories also drive the autonomic system. Quite likely, cognition and arousal dynamically interact.