Topics in Cognitive Science最新文献

{"title":"Establishing Human Observer Criterion in Evaluating Artificial Social Intelligence Agents in a Search and Rescue Task.","authors":"Lixiao Huang, Jared Freeman, Nancy J Cooke, Myke C Cohen, Xiaoyun Yin, Jeska Clark, Matt Wood, Verica Buchanan, Christopher Corral, Federico Scholcover, Anagha Mudigonda, Lovein Thomas, Aaron Teo, John Colonna-Romano","doi":"10.1111/tops.12648","DOIUrl":"10.1111/tops.12648","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Artificial social intelligence (ASI) agents have great potential to aid the success of individuals, human-human teams, and human-artificial intelligence teams. To develop helpful ASI agents, we created an urban search and rescue task environment in Minecraft to evaluate ASI agents' ability to infer participants' knowledge training conditions and predict participants' next victim type to be rescued. We evaluated ASI agents' capabilities in three ways: (a) comparison to ground truth-the actual knowledge training condition and participant actions; (b) comparison among different ASI agents; and (c) comparison to a human observer criterion, whose accuracy served as a reference point. The human observers and the ASI agents used video data and timestamped event messages from the testbed, respectively, to make inferences about the same participants and topic (knowledge training condition) and the same instances of participant actions (rescue of victims). Overall, ASI agents performed better than human observers in inferring knowledge training conditions and predicting actions. Refining the human criterion can guide the design and evaluation of ASI agents for complex task environments and team composition.</p>","PeriodicalId":47822,"journal":{"name":"Topics in Cognitive Science","volume":" ","pages":"349-373"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9659226","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Diagnosis at a Distance: The Challenges Involved in Mushroom Identification.","authors":"Bill Bakaitis","doi":"10.1111/tops.70000","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.70000","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article discusses the intricacies of species identification, using a real-life case of mushroom poisoning as a focal point. Two individuals had fallen seriously ill after having consumed mushrooms presumed to belong to the Leccinum group and the Boletus edulis complex. An interdisciplinary team of experts including the author attempted to diagnose the cause and to develop effective treatment. Leveraging expertise in psychology and mycology, the article highlights cognitive factors, such as the suggestibility of eyewitness memory, alongside biological factors, such as complexities of fungal taxonomy, that jointly hamper species identification. The case also sparked discussions among mycologists on the potential toxicity of ostensibly safe mushrooms. The article stresses the imperative for continual updates in mycological knowledge and emphasizes broader implications of cultural conceptions and the dynamic nature of species boundaries in the context of mushroom identification, with the tragic outcome of the incident underscoring the urgency of addressing these issues across both cognitive science and mycology.</p>","PeriodicalId":47822,"journal":{"name":"Topics in Cognitive Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143517084","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Where Mathematical Symbols Come From.","authors":"Dirk Schlimm","doi":"10.1111/tops.12786","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12786","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>There is a sense in which the symbols used in mathematical expressions and formulas are arbitrary. After all, arithmetic would be no different if we would replace the symbols ' <math><semantics><mo>+</mo> <annotation>$+$</annotation></semantics> </math> ' or '8' by different symbols. Nevertheless, the shape of many mathematical symbols is in fact well motivated in practice. In the case of symbols that were introduced a long time ago, the original motivations remain mostly inaccessible to us. Accordingly, motivations that are discussed in the literature are only ascribed retrospectively and should be considered as post-hoc rationalizations. For more recent introductions of new symbols (e.g., in symbolic logic), however, we sometimes do have first-hand accounts by the authors that inform us of the reasons behind their notational choices. In this paper, I present a systematic overview of possible motivations for the design of mathematical symbols, which include practical (such as ease of writing and reuse of previously used symbols) as well as cognitive aspects (such as indicating relations to other symbols or to their intended meanings).</p>","PeriodicalId":47822,"journal":{"name":"Topics in Cognitive Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143450614","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Aging and the Division of Labor of Theory of Mind Skills in Metaphor Comprehension.","authors":"Irene Ceccato, Serena Lecce, Luca Bischetti, Veronica Mangiaterra, Chiara Barattieri di San Pietro, Elena Cavallini, Valentina Bambini","doi":"10.1111/tops.12785","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12785","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>While some aspects of pragmatic competence are known to decline with age, for metaphor skills the evidence is inconclusive, possibly due to heterogeneity in the assessment tools. Furthermore, the previous literature on age-related changes in pragmatic skills has rarely considered the role of Theory of Mind (ToM), which is described as one of the main factors affecting metaphor across theoretical and experimental studies in children and clinical populations. This study aimed at elucidating age-related differences in metaphor understanding and the interplay between metaphor skills and ToM in middle-aged and older adults with a fine-grained approach. Participants (n = 201, age range 54-93) completed tasks assessing ToM and metaphor understanding. On the one side, we used the Physical and Mental Metaphors task, to distinguish between different types of metaphor (physical, such as \"Lifeguards are lizards,\" meaning that they lie in the sun, vs. mental, such as \"Adolescents are pendulums,\" meaning that they are emotionally unstable) and different aspects of metaphor understanding, namely, accuracy in finding a link between topic and vehicle versus type of interpretation (from physical to psychological). On the other side, we analyzed two aspects of ToM skills: the accuracy in mental state understanding and the intentionality, defined as the degree of mental state attribution, assessed with the Strange Stories and the Animated Social Triangles task, respectively. Structural equation models indicated a decline in metaphor skills with advancing age. Furthermore, we found that ToM is involved in metaphor understanding in a specific fashion. While higher ToM accuracy explained better metaphor accuracy, higher ToM intentionality explained better performance in the interpretation of mental, but not physical, metaphors. These findings suggest that age-related differences in pragmatics extend to metaphor skills and that ToM plays a role in metaphor comprehension in older age, with a division of labor where the ability to understand what others think is key to spotting a metaphorical link, but the greater tendency to attribute mental states is what specifically helps when it comes to grasping the psychological nuances of a metaphor.</p>","PeriodicalId":47822,"journal":{"name":"Topics in Cognitive Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143442428","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sign Languages in Healthy Aging Population: Review of Neurobehavioral Evidence.","authors":"Evie A Malaia, Julia Krebs","doi":"10.1111/tops.12790","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12790","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This work provides an overview of research on sign language changes observed in healthy aging signers. We first consider the effects of age on cognition, and the changes to neural structures and organization during aging, as both can be viewed as the processes underlying age-related language changes in both sign and speech. We then review observational and experimental data on sign language processing in aging signers, where some of the more robust findings include reliance on the more canonic syntactic and lexical structures, as opposed to structures produced at the syntax-pragmatics or semantics-morphology interfaces. These findings are reviewed through the lens of several theories of brain aging, as we review the predictions that different frameworks make with respect to sign language, and discuss how sign language data can inform understanding of language change in healthy aging.</p>","PeriodicalId":47822,"journal":{"name":"Topics in Cognitive Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143410962","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Process and Dynamics in AI and Language Use.","authors":"Eleni Gregoromichelaki, Gregory J Mills","doi":"10.1111/tops.12789","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12789","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In this volumed, Randall Beer and Joanna Rączaszek-Leonardi have opened an important discussion of what is further needed to enhance the reach of dynamical approaches to cognition. Focusing on issues concerning the nature of language and developments in language technology, we have attempted, in this brief contribution, to place their proposals in a larger philosophical framework that suggests lines of inquiry that we believe will yield fruitful outcomes. In particular, we suggest that the adoption of a process metaphysics suggests that dynamic approaches appropriately conceived within the context of current scientific advances are at basis adequate as a framework; however, the more profound implications of its adoption have not yet been sufficiently explored.</p>","PeriodicalId":47822,"journal":{"name":"Topics in Cognitive Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143400279","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Geometry and Dynamics of Meaning.","authors":"Peter Gärdenfors","doi":"10.1111/tops.12767","DOIUrl":"10.1111/tops.12767","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>An enigma for human languages is that children learn to understand words in their mother tongue extremely fast. The cognitive sciences have not been able to fully understand the mechanisms behind this highly efficient learning process. In order to provide at least a partial answer to this problem, I have developed a cognitive model of the semantics of natural language in terms of conceptual spaces. I present a background to conceptual spaces and provide a brief summary of their main features, in particular how it handles learning of concepts. I then apply the model to give a geometric account of the semantics of different word classes. In particular, I propose a \"single-domain hypotheses\" for the semantics of all word classes except nouns. These hypotheses provide a partial answer to the enigma of how words are learned. Next, a dynamic cognitive model of events is introduced that replaces and extends the function of thematic roles. I apply it to analyze the meanings of different kinds of verbs. I argue that the model also explains some aspects of syntactic structure. In particular, I propose that a sentence typically refers to an event. Some further applications of conceptual spaces are briefly presented.</p>","PeriodicalId":47822,"journal":{"name":"Topics in Cognitive Science","volume":" ","pages":"34-56"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11792772/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142630495","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How Do Scientists Think? Contributions Toward a Cognitive Science of Science.","authors":"Nancy J Nersessian","doi":"10.1111/tops.12777","DOIUrl":"10.1111/tops.12777","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Scientific thinking is one of the most creative expressions of human cognition. This paper discusses my research contributions to the cognitive science of science. I have advanced the position that data on the cognitive practices of scientists drawn from extensive research into archival records of historical science or collected in extended ethnographic studies of contemporary science can provide valuable insight into the nature of scientific cognition and its relation to cognition in ordinary contexts. I focus on contributions of my research on analogy, model-based reasoning, and conceptual change and on how scientists enhance their natural cognitive capacities by creating modeling environments that integrate cognitive, social, material, and cultural resources. I provide an outline of my trajectory from a physicist to a philosopher of science to a hybrid cognitive scientist in my quest to understand the nature of scientific thinking.</p>","PeriodicalId":47822,"journal":{"name":"Topics in Cognitive Science","volume":" ","pages":"7-33"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11792771/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142807993","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Moral Association Graph: A Cognitive Model for Automated Moral Inference.","authors":"Aida Ramezani, Yang Xu","doi":"10.1111/tops.12774","DOIUrl":"10.1111/tops.12774","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Automated moral inference is an emerging topic of critical importance in artificial intelligence. The contemporary approach typically relies on language models to infer moral relevance or moral properties of a concept. This approach demands complex parameterization and costly computation, and it tends to disconnect with existing psychological accounts of moralization. We present a simple cognitive model for moral inference, Moral Association Graph (MAG), inspired by psychological work on moralization. Our model builds on word association network for inferring moral relevance and draws on rich psychological data. We demonstrate that MAG performs competitively to state-of-the-art language models when evaluated against a comprehensive set of data for automated inference of moral norms and moral judgment of concepts, and in-context moral inference. We also show that our model yields interpretable outputs and is applicable to informing short-term moral change.</p>","PeriodicalId":47822,"journal":{"name":"Topics in Cognitive Science","volume":" ","pages":"120-138"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11792775/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142717438","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Working Memory Model of Sentence Processing as Binding Morphemes to Syntactic Positions.","authors":"Maayan Keshev, Mandy Cartner, Aya Meltzer-Asscher, Brian Dillon","doi":"10.1111/tops.12780","DOIUrl":"10.1111/tops.12780","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>As they process complex linguistic input, language comprehenders must maintain a mapping between lexical items (e.g., morphemes) and their syntactic position in the sentence. We propose a model of how these morpheme-position bindings are encoded, maintained, and reaccessed in working memory, based on working memory models such as \"serial-order-in-a-box\" and its SOB-Complex Span version. Like those models, our model of linguistic working memory derives a range of attested memory interference effects from the process of binding items to positions in working memory. We present simulation results capturing similarity-based interference as well as item distortion effects. Our model provides a unified account of these two major classes of interference effects in sentence processing, attributing both types of effects to an associative memory architecture underpinning linguistic computation.</p>","PeriodicalId":47822,"journal":{"name":"Topics in Cognitive Science","volume":" ","pages":"88-105"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11792777/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142886298","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}