Cognitive Science and Sports Management Major David Dapaah-Afriyie ’19 is featured in UConn Today.
CogSci Colloquium: Mark S. Seidenberg
The Cognitive Science Colloquium Series is proud to present Mark S. Seidenberg, Vilas Research Professor and Donald O. Hebb Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Friday, April 26th, 4pm, Oak 117
Dr. Seidenberg will provide a talk entitled “The Science and Politics of Learning to Read”
Abstract: A remarkably high percentage of children and adults acquire only basic reading skills, causing innumerable problems for individuals and society. Low literacy has multiple causes, some of which seem intractable (e.g., poverty). I nonetheless think we could be doing much better than we are. Part of the problem is a disconnection between the cultures of science and education. Scientists know a great deal about how reading works and children learn, little of which has had any impact on teacher education or classroom practices. I’ll look at these cross-cultural differences, how they developed, and what might be done to overcome them.
If you are interested in meeting with Dr. Seidenberg, please contact Dr. Altmann: gerry.altmann@uconn.edu
Postdoc Opportunity at Princeton University
The Department of Psychology at Princeton University is seeking a postdoctoral researcher to work in the Princeton Baby Lab <http://babylab.princeton.edu/> with Dr. Casey Lew-Williams. The postdoc will be supported by an NIH grant on the complexities of language input, processing, and learning in bilingual infants and toddlers. The successful candidate will collaborate with Dr. Krista Byers-Heinlein’s lab at Concordia University in Montreal, and also benefit from interacting with many wonderful scientists at Princeton, both in the Baby Lab and in our growing cognitive science community. In addition to this project, the postdoc will build their own research program on early learning. Methods in the lab include eye tracking, pupillometry, dual-brain functional near-infrared spectroscopy, and analyses of caregiver-child speech.
Candidates for this position should have a PhD in a relevant field (e.g., developmental/cognitive psychology, linguistics, education, communication sciences & disorders). They must also have evidence of publication-quality graduate research. Knowledge of statistical and programming software (e.g., R, Matlab) is preferred. Conversational proficiency in Spanish is also preferred but not required. Please contact Casey Lew-Williams (caseylw@princeton.edu <mailto:caseylw@princeton.edu>) with any questions.
The start date will be between July 1, 2019 and January 1, 2020. The appointment is for one year with the possibility of renewal based on funding and satisfactory performance. Apply online at https://careers.princeton.edu<https://careers.princeton.edu/> using requisition #D-19-PSY-00003. Please submit a cover letter (including a description of research interests and email addresses for three references), CV, and two papers or posters of your research. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
This position is subject to the University’s background check policy. Princeton University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
CogSci Colloquium: Richard Wilson
The Cognitive Science Colloquium Series is proud to present Richard Ashby Wilson, Professor of Law and Anthropology and Gladstein Chair of Human Rights at UConn.
Friday, February 22nd, 4pm, Oak 117
The Psychology of Incitement and Hate Speech: A Dialogue Between Law and Social Science
We live in an era of nativist populism, characterized by speech that incites violence on social media, and an escalation in hate crimes. Recent social science research has identified a correlation between online incitement and offline hate crimes in the United States and Europe. What kinds of speech are the most likely to instigate acts of violence? The current research identifies revenge propaganda as the most likely type to instigate atrocities. We coded 242 speeches by a Serbian politician for references to revenge, nationalism, stereotyping, dehumanization, justice, victimization, past atrocities, political institutions and direct threats. After reading one speech or a control, participants answered questions about empathy, intentionality, and whether violence is morally justifiable. Only speeches focusing on revenge and past atrocities intensified justifications of violence. Only revenge speech increased overall negative attitudes towards the out-group. On the level of personality, those who are more politically conservative, feel the world is unjust, engage more in violent media and are male are more likely to justify violence. These findings have implications for the elusive goal of preventing atrocities. The regulatory framework established fifty years ago in the United States is showing signs of severe strain, and this research draws upon behavioral research to construct a systematic evidence-based framework for analyzing the risk that inciting speech will result in imminent lawless action.
If you are interested in meeting with Professor Wilson on 2/22, please contact Dr. Xygalatas: dimitris.xygalatas@uconn.edu
Funded summer opportunity: Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute
From Erica Cartmill, Assistant Professor at UCLA:
I am writing to share the news about an exciting funded summer opportunity for graduate students, postdocs, and early career faculty. In 2018, I launched a new summer program, the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute (DISI for short), with my colleague Jacob Foster, a computational sociologist at UCLA. You can find more details about last summer’s DISI, as well as a short video, at www.diverseintelligencessummer.com.
The basic idea behind DISI is simple: to bring together promising graduate students, postdocs, and early career faculty interested in the study of mind, cognition, and intelligence for several weeks of transdisciplinary exploration. The first year was a great success, and we are delighted to be expanding the scope of DISI in 2019! We are increasing the number of participants, welcoming back alumni, and broadening the topics offered by faculty. We are also introducing a new “storytellers” track to host artists-in-residence at DISI. We hope that this vibrant community will work together to develop new ways of engaging with big questions about intelligence, cognition, and the mind.
We are holding the 2019 Summer Institute at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, from June 30 to July 20. As you probably know, this is a beautiful seaside location, easily accessible from Edinburgh International Airport, and a picturesque train journey North from London. We’ve already assembled an outstanding international faculty (www.diverseintelligencessummer.com/faculty), and more are yet to be added. In addition to lectures and discussions, DISI offers participants the opportunity to develop collaborative interdisciplinary research projects with support from faculty and staff.
I’ve attached a flyer advertising the Institute, and included a link to our website below. I would be grateful if you could forward this announcement to talented graduate students, postdocs, and other early career researchers who might be interested. We are also hoping to reach writers and artists of all types for our storyteller track! In both the academic and storyteller tracks, we are looking for creative, open-minded participants who want to take intellectual risks and break down disciplinary barriers in the spirit of dialogue and discovery.
The main application deadline is February 15. Storyteller and alumni applications will be rolling. Application portals can be found at www.diverseintelligencessummer.com/apply
If potential applicants have any questions, they can reach out to our wonderful Associate Director, Dr. Kensy Cooperrider, at disi@ucla.edu.
Thanks so much for helping us build an exciting new intellectual community!
ECOM Announcements
The ECOM website migration to the UConn server is almost complete. Later this month we will be introducing some updates and changes to some of our pages.
Below please see 3 announcements.
(1) ECOM members updates. DEADLINE JAN 20
All members have been asked to update their blurbs (check for broken links, provide info about ECOM-related work to include in our News page and in reports to our sponsors, etc.). Graduate students have been asked to indicate whether they wish to remain or become ECOM members, and specify which ECOM activities they expect to be involved in during the coming year.
Please send requests and updates to Dorit Bar-On AND Aliyar Ozercan.
(2) Call for abstracts for ECOM’s Spring Workshop (“Communication, Context, Conversation”). DEADLINE: FEB 1.
A 2-page pdf with an abstract prepared for blind review should be sent to Aliyar Ozercan. Please check the ECOM website for details about our invited speakers. Please email Aliyar Ozercan for full instructions about this Call.
(3) A new ECOM Summer Graduate Research Fellowship (open to ECOM members). DEADLINE: APRIL 1, with info session FEB 8:
Please see the attachment re ECOM’s new Summer Fellowship open to graduate students who are ECOM members. A Meet & Greet event (with refreshments) will be held on February 8, 2019
4-5:30 pm (at the UCHI seminar room, Babbidge Library, 4th floor), during which we will have a discussion of this fellowship opportunity. Faculty interested in introducing graduate students to their research are invited to give a 5-minute presentation – please let us know in advance (by Feb 1st).
Please let Dorit Bar-On or Teresa Allen (cc’ed here) know if you have any q’s.
Job: Assistant Psychology Professor at Eastern Illinois University
Eastern Illinois University, Department of Psychology Position Announcement, Assistant Professor (2)
Interview with Professor Harry van der Hulst
Professor Harry van der Hulst was interviewed about linguistics by the podcast in the series Tent Talks, hosted by Cody Turner, a second year graduate student in philosophy (at UConn). Find the interview here.
The Science of Hearing
Dr. Douglas Oliver from UCHC authored a TED Lesson which offers an easy to understand explanation of how the brain and ears work together to process sound.
Training offered for ResearchMatch tool
ResearchMatch is a tool that connects researchers with individuals interested in participating in research studies through an online matching tool.
There is no cost to UConn researchers to use ResearchMatch.
To learn more about using ResearchMatch for studies, register here for the free ResearchMatch Researcher Webinar Training/Live Demo on Thursday, July 12, 2018 from 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions on joining the training.