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Seminar✓ Recording AvailableNeuroscience

Beyond the binding problem: From basic affordances to symbolic thought

John E. Hummel

Prof

University of Illinois

Schedule
Thursday, September 30, 2021

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Schedule

Thursday, September 30, 2021

5:00 PM Europe/London

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Host: Analogical Minds

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Event Information

Domain

Neuroscience

Original Event

View source

Host

Analogical Minds

Duration

90 minutes

Abstract

Human cognitive abilities seem qualitatively different from the cognitive abilities of other primates, a difference Penn, Holyoak, and Povinelli (2008) attribute to role-based relational reasoning—inferences and generalizations based on the relational roles to which objects (and other relations) are bound, rather than just the features of the objects themselves. Role-based relational reasoning depends on the ability to dynamically bind arguments to relational roles. But dynamic binding cannot be sufficient for relational thinking: Some non-human animals solve the dynamic binding problem, at least in some domains; and many non-human species generalize affordances to completely novel objects and scenes, a kind of universal generalization that likely depends on dynamic binding. If they can solve the dynamic binding problem, then why can they not reason about relations? What are they missing? I will present simulations with the LISA model of analogical reasoning (Hummel & Holyoak, 1997, 2003) suggesting that the missing pieces are multi-role integration (the capacity to combine multiple role bindings into complete relations) and structure mapping (the capacity to map different systems of role bindings onto one another). When LISA is deprived of either of these capacities, it can still generalize affordances universally, but it cannot reason symbolically; granted both abilities, LISA enjoys the full power of relational (symbolic) thought. I speculate that one reason it may have taken relational reasoning so long to evolve is that it required evolution to solve both problems simultaneously, since neither multi-role integration nor structure mapping appears to confer any adaptive advantage over simple role binding on its own.

Topics

LISA modelaffordancesanalogical reasoningbinding problemcognitiondynamic bindingmulti-role integrationrelational reasoningrepresentationstructure mappingsymbolic cognitionsymbolic thought

About the Speaker

John E. Hummel

Prof

University of Illinois

Contact & Resources

Personal Website

psychology.illinois.edu/directory/profile/jehummel

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