Two concepts have proven central in the attempt to characterize the influence of extra-bodily factors on cognitive and affective phenomena: scaffolding and niche construction. The workshop addresses three central issues surrounding these concepts. First, although the phenomena of scaffolding and niche construction are widely discussed, there is no agreement on their conceptualization and their ontological status. Second, while both concepts originate in the field of biological evolution, they are also increasingly applied to socio-political, socio-technological, and ontogentic phenomena. What makes the notions of scaffolding and niche construction apt for such diverse areas of application? Third, most of the early research on scaffolding and niche construction highlighted their positive aspects while recent research includes applications in which potentially negative aspects take center stage (e.g. in political radicalization or the development of psychopathologies). To what extent is the debate enriched or watered down by this expansion of focus?
Link to schedule and full abstract: https://situated-cognition.com/gap11/
The fourth conference of the second cohort of PhD students of our RTG focuses on empirical aspects and studies that evolve around and support the idea of situated cognition. The event brings a mix of talks from our PhD students and invited keynote speakers from abroad. It is therefore our special honor to host Agnieszka Wykowska (IIT), Aaron Blaisdell (UCLA), and Simon Blackwell (RUB). For registration, please get in contact with Louis Loock (lloock{at}uos.de).
10:00 | Opening | |
10:10 – 11:25 | Keynote | Agnieszka Wykowska (IIT): Using interactive protocols with physically embodied robots to study human cognition |
11:30 – 12:15 | PhD | Shadi Derakhshan (UOS): Exploring anticipatory gaze behavior while driving and being driven by an autonomous vehicle |
12:15 – 13:30 | Lunch break | |
13:30 – 14:45 | Keynote | Aaron Blaisdell (UCLA): The active rat: How rats reason about causal interventions |
14:50 – 15:35 | PhD | Guillermo Hidalgo Gadea (RUB): Investigating embodied memory in pigeons with machine learning during a delayed matching to sample task |
15:35 – 15:55 | Coffee break | |
15:55 – 16:40 | PhD | Felix Schreiber (RUB): A lifespan approach using an Affective Episodic Future Thinking intervention to increase subjective and psychological well-being |
16:45 – 18:00 | Keynote | Simon Blackwell (RUB): Positive mental imagery: basic mechanisms and clinical applications |
18:00 | Closing |
Our spring school brings together leading researchers in the field of the situated mind. We aim to exchange the latest advancements and ideas on situated cognition and show how these concepts also apply in the real world to tackle diverse problems. For this goal, interdisciplinary researchers from all ends of the spectrum are invited, like philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, animal research, or artificial systems. Highly promising doctoral students and early postdoctoral researchers from European or international universities and research institutions are cordially invited to apply for a talk or poster presentation. We will ensure an open and constructive setting to foster networking, intensive discussion, and exciting exchange with leading experts and fellow students of this research area.
Detailed information can be found here: https://situated-cognition.com/scss-2022/
Day | Time | Speaker | Title |
---|---|---|---|
Monday 28.03. | 11:00 – 12:15 | Kristin Andrews | Norm Cognition in Nonhuman Animals |
Monday 28.03. | 14:30 – 15:45 | Robert Rupert | Stretching Cognition Beyond Its Causal-Explanatory Limits |
Tuesday 29.03. | 09:00 – 10:15 | Henrik Walter | Strange Beliefs and Situated Cognition |
Tuesday 29.03. | 11:30 – 12:45 | Leon de Bruin | Situating the Self in Psychiatry |
Wednesday 30.03. | 09:00 – 10:15 | Gudrun Schwarzer | Infants’ Situated Visual Cognition |
Wednesday 30.03. | 11:30 – 12:45 | Anne Speckhard | Trajectories into and back out of Terrorism and Violent Extremism – the Radicalization, Disengagement and Deradicalization Process |
Thursday 31.03. | 09:00 – 10:15 | Stefan Kopp | Cognitive Systems for Dynamic Situated Communication |
Thursday 31.03. | 16:30 – 17:45 | Ferdinand C. Binkofski | Words as Social Tools: An Embodied Perspective |
9:00 | Welcome | Event is going to be online only (use Zoom link below)! |
09:05 – 10:20 | Keynote | Dr. Lewis Chuang (LMU Munich) Humans & Technology: Mind the Gap |
10 minutes | Discussion Break | |
10:30 – 11:10 | PhD Presentation | Shadi Derakhshan (University of Osnabrück) Head Position as a Robust Prediction for the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in Self-Driving Vehicles – A Large Scale Virtual Reality Study |
5 minutes | Coffee Break | |
11:15 – 11:55 | PhD Presentation | Felix Schreiber (Ruhr University Bochum) The Role of Guided Affective Episodic Foresight for Proactive Behavior in 5-Year Olds |
1 hour | Lunch Break | |
13:00 – 14:15 | Keynote | Dr. Daniel Dukes (University of Fribourg & Swiss Center for the Affective Sciences) Two illustrations of the explanatory power of emotions |
10 minutes | Discussion Break | |
14:25 – 15:05 | PhD Presentation | Maja Griem (Ruhr University Bochum) Profiles of Animal Empathy |
5 minutes | Tea Break | |
15:10 – 15:50 | Postdoc Presentation | Dr. Julia Wolf (Ruhr University Bochum) Pretend Play and the Paradox of False Belief Understanding |
10 minutes | Snack Break | |
16:00 – 17:15 | Keynote | Prof. Simone Shamay-Tsoory (University of Haifa) The Empathic Brain: The Neural Underpinning of Human Empathy |
17:15 – 18:15 | Informal Breakout Sessions |
First Conference Day: July 2nd 2021
13:00 – 13:15 | Introduction & Welcome | |
13:15 – 14:45 | Keynote | Judith Martens (University of Vienna): Situated Agency: A Threat or Opportunity for Autonomous Agency? |
14:45 – 15:15 | Break | |
15:15 – 16:30 | Keynote | Albert Newen (Ruhr-University Bochum): Agency, Intentionality and Moral Responsibility |
16:30 – 17:00 | Break | |
17:00 – 18:30 | Keynote | Christine Webb (Harvard University): Agency: Bridging Science and Ethics |
19:30 | Conference Dinner |
Second Conference Day: July 3rd 2021
10:00 – 11:30 | Keynote | Joanna Raczaszek-Leonardi (University of Warsaw): Felt movement and agency from the point of view of ecological psychology |
11:30 – 11:45 | Break | |
11:45 – 13:15 | Keynote | Annemarie Kalis (Utrecht University): Conceptualizing agency for situated cognition |
13:15 – 13:30 | Closing |