Distinguished Lecture Series: Lawrence W. Barsalou (Emory)
Please note: For Mind and Brain doctoral students there will be a "Meet the Speaker" session with Professor Barsalou on 29 October, 10.00-11.00, the day after his talk. Location: Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Campus Nord, Haus 6, Philippstraße 13, Lecture Hall (across courtyard). “Grounding Knowledge in the Brain’s Modal Systems” Abstract: The human conceptual system contains categorical knowledge that supports online processing (perception, categorization, inference, action) and offline processing (memory, language, thought). Semantic memory, the dominant theory of the conceptual system, typically portrays it as modular and amodal. According to this approach, amodal symbols represent category knowledge in a modular system, separate from the brain’s modal systems for perception, action, and internal states (e.g., interoception, introspection, emotion). Alternatively, the conceptual system can be viewed as non-modular and modal, sharing representational mechanisms with the brain’s modal systems. On a given occasion, multimodal information about a category's members is reenacted (simulated) across relevant modalities to represent it conceptually. Additionally, the conceptual system can be viewed as emergent, situated, and dynamical. Misperceptions of this approach include viewing it as non-nativist, non-symbolic, and completely dependent on sensory-motor experience. These theoretical issues and related empirical evidence, both behavioral and neural, will be reviewed, while also addressing the representation of abstract concepts and the implementation of symbolic operations. Lawrence W. Barsalou, Department of Psychology, Emory University
