Speaker: Prof. Frank J?kel (Center for Cognitive Science, TU Darmstadt)

Date: Sept. 25th (Tue) 15:10-18:00

Room: 二教519 (Teaching Building 2, Room 519)

Abstract:  Cognitive science is the transdisciplinary science of the mind. It was founded in the belief that psychologists, neuroscientists, linguists, and philosophers could be united in their endeavor of trying to understand the human mind by embracing computation as their common foundation. They were all galvanized by early computers and the accompanying theoretical developments. In the early days of computer science, artificial intelligence and cognitive science were seen as two sides of the same coin. Today, there is a lot of skepticism as to whether computers can teach us anything about the human mind and many researchers look to neuroscience instead of computer science for a foundation of cognition. I will trace the history (and the early excitement) about computation in cognitive science and will try to argue that even today it is the idea of computation that ties cognitive science together across disciplines.



Bio: Prof. Frank J?kel is a professor at the Center for Cognitive Science, which he helped to build at TU Darmstadt, Germany. His research interests range from visual perception to problem-solving. However, most of the time he studies category learning in humans and machines. Before joining the Centre for Cognitive Science at TU Darmstadt, Prof. J?kel was an assistant professor at the Institute of Cognitive Science at the University of Osnabrück. He was a postdoctoral fellow at MIT and did his doctoral work at the MPI for Biological Cybernetics. He studied Cognitive Science, Neural & Behavioural Sciences, and Artificial Intelligence in Osnabrück, Tübingen, and Edinburgh. Homepage: https://www.psychologie.tu-darmstadt.de/models-of-higher-cognition/mod/mem/frank/index.en.jsp