Netherlands

The ability to manipulate and recognize abstract representations seems to be a fundamental aspect of human nature, existing since the dawn of our species and transcending cultural barriers. In contrast, non-human primates exhibit very limited proficiency in recognizing abstract representations. This research delves into this human singularity for visual abstraction, through neuroimaging experiments conducted in both humans and non-human primates. Stimuli presenting the same concept (e.g. a house or a face) but varying in abstraction levels (photos, drawings, symbols, and words) were initially presented to a monkey, while intracranial recording of his brain were obtained (16 Utah arrays distributed in V1, V4 and IT). Preliminary results indicate that monkey display early signs of abstraction, particularly for evolutionarily ancient categories such as faces. MEG and fMRI recordings of human subjects are also currently underway, striving to unveil the neuronal mechanisms that set our species apart in the domain of visual abstraction.

**Authors:**

Théo Morfoisse: Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, INSERM, CEA, Université Paris Saclay, NeuroSpin Center France.; Maxence Pajot: Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, INSERM, CEA, Université Paris Saclay, NeuroSpin Center France.; Paolo Papale: Department of Vision &amp; Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (KNAW); Pieter Roelfsema: Department of Vision &amp; Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (KNAW); Minye Zhan: Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, INSERM, CEA, Université Paris Saclay, NeuroSpin Center France.; Stanislas Dehaene: NeuroSpin Center, CEA DRF/I2BM, INSERM, Unicersité Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay

CogSci 2024

Comparative study of abstract representations in humans and non-human primates

The 46th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society was an in-person meeting held in Rotterdam, The Netherlands at the Postillion Hotel & Conference Centre.

**ON-DEMAND PROGRAM ACCESS AFTER THE CONFERENCE** 
Recordings of the invited program are now available. You can access them by clicking on the 'Schedule' icon on the left. Select view by week and navigate to the day and time slot of the recording you wish to view. Click on the time slot to access the recording.

Recordings available (click on each recording to view):

**Thursday, July 25** 
0900: [Keynote Speaker Morgan Barense on Enhancing real-world event memory](https://underline.io/events/465/sessions/17997/lecture/99084-dynamics-between-minds-and-the-environment) 
1000: [Gleitman Award Winner Isabelle Dautriche on Language Foundations: Insights from acquisition, communication, cognition, and more](https://underline.io/events/465/sessions/18000/lecture/99085-gleitman-talk) 
1415: [Invited Symposium: Dynamics between minds and the environment](https://underline.io/events/465/sessions?eventSessionId=18016&searchGroup=lecture) 
1700: [Rumelhart Prize Presentation Speaker Alison Gopnik on Exploit, explore, empower: Three ages and three intelligences](https://underline.io/events/465/sessions/18028/lecture/99161-rp1-rumelhart-prize-presentation) 

**Friday, July 26** 
0900: [C.L. de Carvalho-Heineken Prize Keynote Speaker Kia Nobre on Focusing in memory](https://underline.io/events/465/sessions/18035/lecture/99162-hp1-c-l-de-carvalho-heineken-prize-keynote-address) 
1030: [Rumelhart Symposium: Childhood as exploration](https://underline.io/events/465/sessions/18038/lecture/100346-childhood-as-exploration) 
1415: [Elman Prize Symposium](https://underline.io/events/465/sessions?eventSessionId=18053&searchGroup=lecture) 
1600: [Invited Symposium: Dynamics between minds](https://underline.io/events/465/sessions?eventSessionId=18065&searchGroup=lecture) 
1745: [Keynote Speaker Andrea E. Martin on Neural dynamics encode the structure and statistics of language](https://underline.io/events/465/sessions/18077/lecture/99271-neural-dynamics-encode-the-structure-and-statistics-of-language) 

**Saturday, July 27** 
0900: [Keynote Speaker Gregor Schöner on How higher cognition emerges from the dynamics of strongly interacting neural populations](https://underline.io/events/465/sessions/18083/lecture/99273-dynamics-within-the-mind) 
1000: [Glushko Talks](https://underline.io/events/465/sessions?eventSessionId=18086&searchGroup=lecture) 
1500: [Invited Symposium: Dynamics within minds](https://underline.io/events/465/sessions?eventSessionId=18100&searchGroup=lecture) 


#### **CogSci 2024 Program Book**
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**The Program Book can be downloaded [here](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yRVp1cBqRnAbdYi4GXWV_pZeyWNsRquv/view?usp=sharing).**

#### **Letter from the President**

Welcome to the 2024 Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society in Rotterdam! CogSci 2024 brings together a large community of cognitive scientists who have traveled here from around the world, as well as a smaller group of remote presenters. I would like to extend an especially warm welcome to our first-time CogSci meeting attendees, and hope that 
their experience inspires them to join our future meetings for many years to come.

I want to thank this year’s conference co-chairs, Larissa K Samuelson, Stefan Frank, Mariya Toneva, Allyson Mackey, and Eliot Hazeltine, for putting together an amazing series of invited talks and symposia around the theme of Dynamics of Cognition. The co-chairs also deserve credit for handling a record-breaking number of submissions and producing a truly exciting conference program 

Beyond the invited talks and symposia dedicated to this year’s conference theme, I would like to highlight the presentations and events honoring the 
Rumelhart, Elman, Gleitman and C .L . de Carvalho Heineken prize winners, including the Rumelhart reception on Thursday. As you may know, we are recording all of the invited talks and symposia, and all prize-winners’ talks, and will be making this content available after the conference. 

The Cognitive Science Society relies on the volunteer efforts of our Governing Board members who work on matters related to our membership; conference policies; diversity and inclusion, international, and outreach initiatives; prizes and much more. We welcome interest from Society members who would like to become more involved in what we do. The 
Society is deeply grateful to Rick Dale and Andrea Bender, who serve as editors of the two Society journals, Cognitive Science and Topics in Cognitive Science respectively. We especially acknowledge our editors’ generosity in donating their stipends each year to D&I and outreach efforts. 

This year’s Annual Meeting depends critically on the support of Marischal De Armond and his team at Podium Conference Specialists: Sharon Zwack, Cendrine De Vis, Sarah-Kate Burke, and Rachel Waller worked tirelessly to secure the venue and handled a multitude of logistical and organizational issues, from arranging coffee breaks and receptions to making sure that a huge number of posters fits comfortably into the available space. Finally, and importantly, I would like to acknowledge the Cognitive Science Society Executive Officer, Erica Wojcik, for managing the complex and ever expanding sphere of our Society’s activities.

I hope you enjoy this year’s meeting and the many different opportunities to engage with the vibrant community of cognitive scientists gathered here. I also hope you get a chance to explore the great city of Rotterdam with its many attractions, museums, restaurants and scenic views. If you’d like to talk more about our Society, or simply want to say hello, please stop by!

![](https://assets.underline.io/markdown_image/1/image/3c66d0e21fff30e204df1138ffd15173.jpeg)

**Anna Papafragou** 
President, Cognitive Science 
Society 2023-2024

**CODE OF CONDUCT** 
By attending the CogSci 2024 Conference, you are required to adhere to the society’s [Code of Conduct](https://drive.google.com/file/d/16-6KkptF0Gn3ZYGJDlpqpwTdImw45Ng0/view?usp=drive_link).

**ABOUT THE COGNITIVE SCIENCE SOCIETY** 
The Cognitive Science Society brings together researchers from around the world who hold a common goal: understanding the nature of the human mind. The mission of the Society is to promote Cognitive Science as a discipline, and to foster scientific interchange among researchers in various areas of study, including Artificial Intelligence, Linguistics, Anthropology, Psychology, Neuroscience, Philosophy, and Education.

The Society is a non-profit professional organization and its activities include sponsoring an annual conference and publishing the journals Cognitive Science and TopiCS.

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The 46th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society presents the latest research across cognitive science and highlights the theme of Cognition in Context.

The ability to manipulate and recognize abstract representations seems to be a fundamental aspect of human nature, existing since the dawn of our species and transcending cultural barriers. In contrast, non-human primates exhibit very limited proficiency in recognizing abstract representations. This research delves into this human singularity for visual abstraction, through neuroimaging experiments conducted in both humans and non-human primates. Stimuli presenting the same concept (e.g. a house or a face) but varying in abstraction levels (photos, drawings, symbols, and words) were initially presented to a monkey, while intracranial recording of his brain were obtained (16 Utah arrays distributed in V1, V4 and IT). Preliminary results indicate that monkey display early signs of abstraction, particularly for evolutionarily ancient categories such as faces. MEG and fMRI recordings of human subjects are also currently underway, striving to unveil the neuronal mechanisms that set our species apart in the domain of visual abstraction.

**Authors:**

Théo Morfoisse: Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, INSERM, CEA, Université Paris Saclay, NeuroSpin Center France.; Maxence Pajot: Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, INSERM, CEA, Université Paris Saclay, NeuroSpin Center France.; Paolo Papale: Department of Vision & Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (KNAW); Pieter Roelfsema: Department of Vision & Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (KNAW); Minye Zhan: Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, INSERM, CEA, Université Paris Saclay, NeuroSpin Center France.; Stanislas Dehaene: NeuroSpin Center, CEA DRF/I2BM, INSERM, Unicersité Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay

poster

The lack of orientation for the term cognitive in the cognitive sciences may be inhibiting progress. Because cognitive includes mind, intelligence, and mental, this can focus attention on constant redefining of those terms. There was once a similar situation regarding ‘life’—one narrowing itself in an urgency to find life’s vital essence. As tools progressed, orienting life as its patterns and processes helped scientists pull away from the siren call for essence and do better research. Likewise, we can turn attention from defining mind’s ‘vital essence’ (solving ‘hard problems’, finding ‘the mark of the mental’, etc.) and towards studying its manifestations across scales and species, accepting patterns that are mostly present in most of what is studied. This paper offers those patterns as embodied navigabilities—orienting ‘cognitive’ as a body’s ongoing interactive patterns. This orientation is already present across the sciences but till now, has not been brought out explicitly.

**Authors:**

Andrea Hiott: Universität Heidelberg

Navigability: a common orientation for the cognitive in cognitive science

Reinforcement learning is a powerful model of animal learning in short, controlled experimental conditions. In this paper, we describe a framework by which reinforcement learning could be used to study the development of behavior across an animal's lifetime. We introduce the single-life reinforcement learning setting to cognitive science and build an agent with two learning systems that recapitulates qualitative features of development in a meta-reinforcement learning system providing intrinsic motivation. We show that this model outperforms heuristic benchmarks and recapitulates a transition from exploratory to habit-driven behavior. We formulate a precise definition of intrinsic motivation and discuss the philosophical implications of using reinforcement learning as a model of behavior in the real world.

**Authors:**

Kai J Sandbrink: University of Oxford; Brian Christian: University of Oxford; Linas M. Nasvytis: Harvard University; Christian Schroeder de Witt: University of Oxford; Patrick Butlin: University of Oxford

Can reinforcement learning model learning across development? Online lifelong learning through adaptive intrinsic motivation

The sense of agency (SoA) refers to the experience of controlling one’s actions and their effects, while representational momentum (RM) denotes a bias in the perceived trajectory of a moving object induced by one’s anticipation of movement. Research in cognitive science suggests that control over action modulates anticipative mechanisms. In the present study, we question the influence of SoA on RM. Participants viewed two dots, one of which moved horizontally on the screen. Its movement was either triggered by the computer or by participants. In the former case, participants either could freely choose or were commanded on which dot to trigger. Additionally, given the role of affordances in motor control and movement perception, we tested the effect of adding a tunnel through which the dot could pass. The results showed that agency and affordances influenced movement anticipation with no interaction between the two. Freedom of choice yielded no difference.

**Authors:**

Pierre-Adams Ouattara Oulé: Université Paris-Saclay; Alexis Le Besnerais: Université Paris-Saclay; Elise Prigent: Universuté Paris-Saclay; Ouriel Grynszpan: Université Paris-Saclay

The influence of agency and affordances on visual anticipation: Insights from the representational momentum paradigm

American adults exhibit cognitive biases that favor processing relational information (e.g., comparative heights) over concrete metrics (e.g., surface area), but the bias's origin—cultural, developmental, or evolutionary—is debated. We explored this question by comparing American adults and children, Tsimane adults (with and without formal-education), and rhesus macaques. Findings indicate that relational biases emerge with increased exposure to formal-education. That is, educated Tsimane and Americans show a relational bias, unlike the concrete bias seen in uneducated Tsimane and macaques. Furthermore, young American children show less relational bias than older children and adults, indicating a progressive increase in relational bias. These findings suggest that while common ancestors of humans and macaques may have evolved to favor simpler concrete processing, this bias can be overridden by environmental influences (e.g., abstract language and symbols) that promote relational processing. Further investigations on early-life biases could help educators tailor teaching methods to cognitive predispositions.

**Authors:**

Teoman Ozaydin: Carnegie Mellon; Jessica Cantlon: Carnegie Mellon

A Test of Relational and Concrete Cognitive Biases Across Cultures and Species

We introduce the concept of high-performance cognition as a domain-general function of acquiring and performing cognitively demanding skills to a high level. We conduct a survey among academic experts to identify key attention categories of high-performance cognition: by independent consensus they highlight the importance of goal-directed attention. Selective, focused, and sustained attention are strongly associated at slightly less complete consensus. They qualify their ratings with free-text reflections. Our findings offer new insights into skilled performance and the underlying cognitive processes.

**Authors:**

Benjamin Cowley: University of Helsinki; Aila Kirjanen: University of Helsinki

Attention in high-performance cognition is goal-directed, selective, focused, and sustained

Many infant experiences are both visual and auditory in nature, but what is the role of auditory cues in visual attention? Using a Dynamic Field model of infant visual attention, we generated simulations of infant looking behaviour in both a tone and no tone version of the Infant Orienting With Attention (IOWA) task. The DF model predicted a significant difference in reaction times and accuracy between the tone and no tone groups with the tone group faster and less accurate. To test this, we ran the IOWA task with 70 infants between 4 and 10 months of age randomly assigned to either a tone or no tone condition. There were no significant between-group differences. We explore these empirical findings using the dynamic field model, extending the model in two directions. First, we utilise Tensorflow tools to optimise the model parameters, and second, we fit the model parameters to individuals.

**Authors:**

John Spencer: University of East Anglia; Stacey Stuart: University of East Anglia

Testing a dynamic field model of infant visual attention

From career planning to disaster preparedness to public policy, people plan all the time in complex environments. Yet, it is not known what cognitive abilities are critical for such planning. To explore this, we conducted an online experiment in which 476 participants each completed nine cognitive tasks: Raven’s Matrices, Mental Rotation, Corsi Block Task, Change-Detection Task, Pattern Recognition Task, Wisconsin Card Sorting Task, a complex two-player game called Four-in-a-Row, and two simpler planning tasks. We found moderate correlations across most metrics, aligning with existing literature on cognitive interconnectivity. Notably, performance in the Four-in-a-Row game correlated with all other tasks, suggesting that planning ability in complex tasks (which require multiple steps ahead) is correlated with that in simpler tasks, suggesting a shared computational substrate. Moreover, we identified distinct latent factors for mental rotation and planning tasks, suggesting that tree search in planning tasks and mental rotation tasks require distinct simulation abilities. These findings enhance our understanding of the cognitive processes involved in complex planning.

**Authors:**

Xinlei (Daisy) Lin: NYU; Wei Ji Ma: New York University

The Cognitive Components of Complex Planning

Environmental stressors present negative consequences for cognitive development. However, their impact on relevant neurocognitive processes, particularly in underrepresented samples, is less clear. The current project aims to examine how adverse experiences influence efficiency of evidence accumulation and neural connectivity in adolescents. The study included 199 adolescents from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a population-based longitudinal cohort study with substantial representation of youths from disadvantaged backgrounds. Participants completed an emotional-faces, gender-identification task while undergoing functional MRI. Reaction times (RT) and responses were recorded and fitted with a drift-diffusion model. Parameters were estimated using the Dynamic Model of Choice software, which provides a better characterization of the underlying cognitive mechanisms compared with using RTs or battery tasks. Analyses investigating the impact of adverse experiences to drift rate and functional connectivity are underway. Results from this study will provide a better understanding of adversity on neurocognitive mechanisms in adolescents.

**Authors:**

Yue Zhang: University of Michigan; Felicia Hardi: University of Michigan; Alexander S. Weigard: University of Michigan; Maria K. Scavnicky: University of Michigan; Colter Mitchell: University of Michigan; Luke W. Hyde: University of Michigan; Christopher S. S. Monk: University of Michigan

Understanding the impact of early adverse experiences on computational models of neurocognitive processes in adolescents

Humans can flexibly pursue goal-oriented behavior in the face of changes in the environment. Cognitive control refers to this set of processes allowing such adjustments, and is thought to rely on neural oscillations in the theta band (4-8Hz). First, theta amplitude increases when control is needed, and second, shifts of peak frequency in the theta band have been suggested to reliably balance task representation and gating of task-relevant sensory and action information. However, it remains unknown how these two characteristics of the control signal interact and how optimal configuration for task performance is achieved. To tackle this question, we developed a computational model that relies on reinforcement learning principles to find optimal control settings for task performance. Our simulations show that these different oscillatory characteristics play distinct roles in the flexible adjustment to task demands. This work opens new avenues for research on the mechanisms allowing cognitive flexibility.

**Authors:**

Mehdi Senoussi: CNRS UMR 5263, University of Toulouse; Senne Braem: Ghent University; Tom Verguts: Ghent University

Flexible adjustment to task demands through learning of optimal oscillatory characteristics

We report a large study (n=120) investigating the effects of tDCS at Fp3 on the FIE. We used a double-blind design with subjects randomly assigned to one of the three tDCS groups and then engaged with a recognition task involving upright and inverted faces. Group 1 (control), subjects first received sham-tDCS in the study phase (learning) followed by sham-tDCS in the recognition phase; Group 2, subjects received anodal-tDCS in the study phase followed by sham-tDCS in the recognition phase; Group 3, subjects received anodal-tDCS in the study phase followed by cathodal-tDCS in the recognition phase. Group 2’s results confirmed that anodal-tDCS reduces the FIE vs. sham (Group 1) by disrupting performance for upright faces. Group 3’s results revealed that cathodal-tDCS applied after anodal, increased the FIE vs. Group 2, bringing it back to control, by enhancing performance for upright faces. These results reveal that the negative effects of anodal-tDCS on the FIE can be reversed by cathodal-tDCS.

**Authors:**

Ciro Civile: University of Exeter; Siobhan McCourt: University of Exeter; Wang Guangtong: University of Exeter

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