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NL-KR Digest Volume 14 No. 66
NL-KR Digest Wed Oct 11 08:17:13 PDT 1995 Volume 14 No. 66
Today's Topics:
Announcement: Dept. Cognitive & Neural Systems, Boston University
Announcement: CL Spec. Issue Empirical Discourse (Dec 1st extended)
Announcement: Search for Mind Seminars, Oct/Nov 95, Sheffield
* * *
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Editors:
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Chris Welty (weltyc@sigart.acm.org).
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Date: Thu, 05 Oct 1995 13:01:56 -0400
From: cas-cns@PARK.BU.EDU (BU CNS)
To: cas-cns@PARK.BU.EDU
Subject: Announcement: Dept. Cognitive & Neural Systems, Boston University
Reply-To: cas-cns@PARK.BU.EDU
DEPARTMENT OF
COGNITIVE AND NEURAL SYSTEMS (CNS)
AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Ennio Mingolla, Acting Chairman, 1995-96 Stephen Grossberg,
Chairman Gail A. Carpenter, Director of Graduate Studies
The Boston University Department of Cognitive and Neural Systems
offers comprehensive graduate training in the neural and
computational principles, mechanisms, and architectures that
underlie human and animal behavior, and the application of
neural network architectures to the solution of technological
problems.
Applications for Fall, 1996, admission and financial aid are now
being accepted for both the MA and PhD degree programs.
To obtain a brochure describing the CNS Program and a set of
application materials, write, telephone, or fax:
DEPARTMENT OF COGNITIVE & NEURAL SYSTEMS
Boston University
111 Cummington Street, 2nd Floor (ON OR AFTER 10/30/95, PLEASE ADDRESS
Boston, MA 02215 MAIL TO 677 BEACON STREET)
617/353-9481 (phone)
617/353-7755 (fax)
or send via email your full name and mailing address to:
rll@cns.bu.edu
Applications for admission and financial aid should be received
by the Graduate School Admissions Office no later than January
15. Late applications will be considered until May 1; after
that date applications will be considered only as special cases.
Applicants are required to submit undergraduate (and, if
applicable, graduate) transcripts, three letters of
recommendation, and Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores.
The Advanced Test should be in the candidate's area of
departmental specialization. GRE scores may be waived for MA
candidates and, in exceptional cases, for PhD candidates, but
absence of these scores may decrease an applicant's chances for
admission and financial aid.
Non-degree students may also enroll in CNS courses on a
part-time basis.
Description of the CNS Department:
The Department of Cognitive and Neural Systems (CNS) provides
advanced training and research experience for graduate students
interested in the neural and computational principles,
mechanisms, and architectures that underlie human and animal
behavior, and the application of neural network architectures to
the solution of technological problems. Students are trained in
a broad range of areas concerning cognitive and neural systems,
including vision and image processing; speech and language
understanding; adaptive pattern recognition; cognitive
information processing; self-organization; associative learning
and long-term memory; computational neuroscience; nerve cell
biophysics; cooperative and competitive network dynamics and
short-term memory; reinforcement, motivation, and attention;
adaptive sensory-motor control and robotics; active vision; and
biological rhythms; as well as the mathematical and
computational methods needed to support advanced modeling
research and applications. The CNS Department awards MA, PhD,
and BA/MA degrees.
The CNS Department embodies a number of unique offerings. It has
developed a curriculum that features 15 interdisciplinary graduate
courses each of which integrates the psychological,
neurobiological, mathematical, and computational information
needed to theoretically investigate fundamental issues
concerning mind and brain processes and the applications of
neural networks to technology. Each course is typically taught
once a week in the evening to make the program available to
qualified students, including working professionals, throughout
the Boston area. Nine additional research course are also
offered. In these courses, one or two students meet regularly
with one or two professors to pursue advanced reading and
collaborative research. Students develop a coherent area of
expertise by designing a program that includes courses in areas
such as Biology, Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, and
Psychology, in addition to courses in the CNS Department.
The CNS Department prepares students for PhD thesis research
with scientists in one of several Boston University research
centers or groups, and with Boston-area scientists collaborating
with these centers. The unit most closely linked to the
department is the Center for Adaptive Systems (CAS). Students
interested in neural network hardware work with researchers in
CNS, the College of Engineering, and at MIT Lincoln Laboratory.
Other research resources include distinguished research groups
in neurophysiology, neuroanatomy, and neuropharmacology at the
Medical School and the Charles River campus; in sensory
robotics, biomedical engineering, computer and systems
engineering, and neuromuscular research within the Engineering
School; in dynamical systems within the Mathematics Department;
in theoretical computer science within the Computer Science
Department; and in biophysics and computational physics within
the Physics Department.
In addition to its basic research and training program, the
Department offers a colloquium series, seminars, conferences,
and special interest groups which bring many additional
scientists from both experimental and theoretical disciplines
into contact with the students.
The CNS Department is moving in October, 1995 into its own new
four-story building, which features a full range of offices,
laboratories, classrooms, library, lounge, and related facilities
for exclusive CNS use.
1995-96 CAS MEMBERS and CNS FACULTY:
Jelle Atema
Professor of Biology
Director, Boston University Marine Program (BUMP)
PhD, University of Michigan
Sensory physiology and behavior
Aijaz Baloch
Research Associate of Cognitive and Neural Systems
PhD, Electrical Engineering, Boston University
Neural modeling of role of visual attention of
recognition, learning and motor control, computational
vision, adaptive control systems, reinforcement learning
Helen Barbas
Associate Professor, Department of Health Sciences, Boston University
PhD, Physiology/Neurophysiology, McGill University
Organization of the prefrontal cortex, evolution of the neocortex
Jacob Beck
Research Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems
PhD, Psychology, Cornell University
Visual Perception, Psychophysics, Computational Models
Daniel H. Bullock
Associate Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems and Psychology
PhD, Psychology, Stanford University
Real-time neural systems, sensory-motor learning and control,
evolution of intelligence, cognitive development
Gail A. Carpenter
Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems and Mathematics
Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Cognitive and Neural Systems
PhD, Mathematics, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Pattern recognition, categorization, machine learning, differential equations
Laird Cermak
Professor of Neuropsychology, School of Medicine
Professor of Occupational Therapy, Sargent College
Director, Memory Disorders Research Center, Boston Veterans Affairs
Medical Center
PhD, Ohio State University
Michael A. Cohen
Associate Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems and Computer Science
Director, CAS/CNS Computation Labs
PhD, Psychology, Harvard University
Speech and language processing, measurement theory, neural modeling, dynamical
systems
H. Steven Colburn
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
PhD, Electrical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Audition, binaural interaction, signal processing models of hearing
William D. Eldred III
Associate Professor of Biology
BS, University of Colorado; PhD, University of Colorado, Health Science Center
Visual neural biology
Paolo Gaudiano
Assistant Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems
PhD, Cognitive and Neural Systems, Boston University
Computational and neural models of vision and adaptive sensory-motor control
Jean Berko Gleason
Professor of Psychology AB, Radcliffe College; AM, PhD, Harvard University
Psycholinguistics
Douglas Greve
Research Associate of Cognitive and Neural Systems
PhD, Cognitive and Neural Systems, Boston University
Stephen Grossberg
Wang Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems
Professor of Mathematics, Psychology, and Biomedical Engineering
Director, Center for Adaptive Systems
Chairman, Department of Cognitive and Neural Systems
PhD, Mathematics, Rockefeller University
Theoretical biology, theoretical psychology, dynamical systems, applied
mathematics
Frank Guenther
Assistant Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems
PhD, Cognitive and Neural Systems, Boston University
Biological sensory-motor control, spatial representation, speech production
Thomas G. Kincaid
Chairman and Professor of Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering,
College of Engineering
PhD, Electrical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Signal and image processing, neural networks, non-destructive testing
Nancy Kopell
Professor of Mathematics
PhD, Mathematics, University of California at Berkeley
Dynamical systems, mathematical physiology, pattern formation in
biological/physical systems
Ennio Mingolla
Associate Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems and Psychology
Acting Chairman 1995-96, Department of Cognitive and Neural Systems
PhD, Psychology, University of Connecticut
Visual perception, mathematical modeling of visual processes
Alan Peters
Chairman and Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology, School of Medicine
PhD, Zoology, Bristol University, United Kingdom
Organization of neurons in the cerebral cortex, effects of aging on
the primate brain, fine structure of the nervous system
Andrzej Przybyszewski
Senior Research Associate of Cognitive and Neural Systems
MSc, Technical Warsaw University; MA, University of Warsaw;
PhD, Warsaw Medical Academy
Adam Reeves
Adjunct Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems
Professor of Psychology, Northeastern University
PhD, Psychology, City University of New York
Psychophysics, cognitive psychology, vision
William Ross
Research Associate of Cognitive and Neural Systems
BSc, Cornell University; MA, PhD, Boston University
Mark Rubin
Research Assistant Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems
Research Physicist, Naval Air Warfare Center, China Lake, CA (on leave)
PhD, Physics, University of Chicago
Neural networks for vision, pattern recognition, and motor control
Robert Savoy
Adjunct Associate Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems
Scientist, Rowland Institute for Science
PhD, Experimental Psychology, Harvard University
Computational neuroscience; visual psychophysics of color, form, and motion
perception
Eric Schwartz
Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems; Electrical, Computer and Systems
Engineering; and Anatomy and Neurobiology
PhD, High Energy Physics, Columbia University
Computational neuroscience, machine vision, neuroanatomy, neural modeling
Robert Sekuler
Adjunct Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems
Research Professor of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering,
BioMolecular Engineering Research Center
Jesse and Louis Salvage Professor of Psychology, Brandeis University
AB,MA, Brandeis University; Sc.M., PhD, Brown University
Allen Waxman
Adjunct Associate Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems
Senior Staff Scientist, MIT Lincoln Laboratory
PhD, Astrophysics, University of Chicago
Visual system modeling, mobile robotic systems, parallel computing,
optoelectronic
hybrid architectures
James Williamson
Research Associate of Cognitive and Neural Systems
PhD, Cognitive and Neural Systems, Boston University
Image processing and object recognition. Particular interests are:
dynamic binding,
self-organization, shape representation, and classification
Jeremy Wolfe
Adjunct Associate Professor of Cognitive and Neural Systems
Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School
Psychophysicist, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Surgery Dept.
Director of Psychophysical Studies, Center for Clinical Cataract Research
PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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To: CMP-LG@XXX.LANL.GOV, SCHOLAR%CUNYVM.BITNET@alf.uib.no, colibri@let.ruu.nl,
Subject: Announcement: CL Spec. Issue Empirical Discourse (Dec 1st extended)
Date: Fri, 06 Oct 95 16:28:04 -0400
From: walker <walker@merl.com>
*** Deadline Extended to December 1st***
Call for Submissions
Special Issue of Computational Linguistics
Empirical Studies in Discourse Interpretation and Generation
Guest Editors: Johanna D. Moore and Marilyn A. Walker
Computational theories of discourse interpretation and generation are an
important basis for the design and implementation of many natural language
applications. However, much work in computational theories of discourse to
date has focused on specifying the mechanisms underlying a particular
discourse phenomenon. It is often difficult to tell how prevalent that
phenomenon is, whether it is related to other observed and studied phenomena,
and what percentage of the cases a particular theory covers. Developing
robust, broad coverage, theories of discourse requires an empirical basis,
but there has been little effort to develop shared methods, tools or
resources for the discourse community. However, recently there has been a
groundswell of interest in developing both manual and automatic methods for
analyzing discourse in order to inform computational models, e.g the AAAI
Spring Symposium in March 1995 on Empirical Methods in Discourse
Interpretation and Generation.
The goal of the special issue of Computational Linguistics on Empirical
Studies in Discourse Interpretation and Generation is to bring together a
collection of papers representing recent work illustrating different
techniques in this area such as: discourse coding schemes and methods for
assessing their reliability; automatic analysis techniques, their accuracy,
and use for discourse processing; learning of discourse processing strategies
from coded corpora; schemes for evaluation of discourse processing systems;
and use of simulated discourse agents for discourse modeling. We seek papers
that go beyond purely methodological issues; papers should exhibit different
techniques with major emphasis on the results obtained.
The deadline for submission of manuscripts is December 1st, 1995. For hard
copy submission: Six double-spaced hard copies should be submitted, clearly
marked as submissions to the Special Issue on Empirical Studies in Discourse
Interpretation and Generation, to arrive on or before the deadline, to the
following address:
Julia Hirschberg, Editor
Computational Linguistics
2C-409
AT&T Bell Laboratories
600 Mountain Avenue
Murray Hill NJ 07974
USA
email: acl@research.att.com
tel: 908-582-7496
fax: 908-582-7550
Manuscripts may be submitted electronically; instructions are currently
available by anonymous ftp from ftp.research.att.com:/dist/cl/elec.sub.
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Date: Mon, 9 Oct 95 11:53:12 BST
From: Paul Mc Kevitt <P.McKevitt@dcs.shef.ac.uk>
To: info@aaai.org, nick@zermatt.lcs.mit.edu, psy-ney@dcs.shef.ac.uk,
Subject: Announcement: Search for Mind Seminars, Oct/Nov 95, Sheffield
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ****
THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD
NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING GROUP
IN COOPERATION WITH:
COMPUTER SCIENCE DEPARTMENT
INSTITUTE FOR LANGUAGE, SPEECH AND HEARING (ILASH)
AND THE EUROPEAN UNION (HCM)
IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE A SERIES OF SEMINARS:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ****
"THE SEARCH FOR MIND:
A new foundation for Cognitive Science"
by
Dr. Se/an /O Nuall/ain
from
Dublin City University (DCU)
Ireland, EU
and the
National Research Council (NRC)
Ottawa, Canada
THURSDAY, October 19th, 1995
3.00 P.M.
NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING LAB. (ROOM 141)
FIRST FLOOR (1)
REGENT COURT
MAPPIN STREET
Abstract
It is a measure of the maturity of Cognitive Science that, considered
as the Science of Mind, it has developed sufficiently to be in
crisis. In this talk, the nature of this crisis is explored and a new
foundation for the discipline is proposed. The new foundation
comprises a set of new fundamental tenets with specific empirical
consequences as well as a new basic orientation in approaching the
search for mind.
The talk begins by noting the current state of Cognitive Science
i.e. its ruling paradigm and the attacks on it, both on empirical and
theoretical grounds. It proceeds to outline the main substantive
tenets of the new foundation and the evidence for them across the
disciplines which comprise Cognitive Science. Several current
controversies yield immediately to the new analysis. For example, the
tension between situated cognition and the standard
representationalist account of symbolic cognition is resolved with
appeal to two of the tenets. The first is that "egocentric" and
"intersubjective" cognition are wholly different; in general, those
who like Brooks and Gibson have been taking an anti-
representationalist line have gleaned their empirical data only 1fixed
in their hierarchical structure in real cognition; for example, the
layers of language are not stratified in the way normally proposed in
a real task. The ecological approach to Cognition with its insistence
on adaptation is assented to, with the caveat that a special set of
categories have to be introduced for symbolic behavior.
Finally, it is suggested that the interdisciplinary nature of
Cognitive Science necessitates that, in Darwinian fashion, one or
other discipline will come to the fore for a time. If the regnant
discipline is now to become neuroscience , this does not spell the end
of Cognitive Science; rather, it re-emphasizes its robust health. It
is therefore unwise for Cognitive Science to commit itself to the
methodology of one or other of its constituent disciplines. The danger
is that the mantle of "The Science of Mind" may be passed on to
another, less well-formed conceptual and administrative research
structure.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * ***
It is intended to retire to O, GRADY's pub on WEST STREET/FITZWILLIAM
ST. from 5.00 PM ('till the WEE hours).
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * ***
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ****
"THE SPOKEN IMAGE SYSTEM"
by
Dr. Se/an /O Nuall/ain
from
Dublin City University (DCU)
Ireland, EU
and the
National Research Council (NRC)
Ottawa, Canada
THURSDAY, October 26th, 1995
3.00 P.M.
NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING LAB. (ROOM 141)
FIRST FLOOR (1)
REGENT COURT
MAPPIN STREET
Abstract
This talk describes a project currently being undertaken at the
National Research Council, Canada, which focusses on the visual
interpretation of scene descriptions. This system accepts verbal scene
descriptions and re-constructs a three-dimensional display of the
virtual model of the world that it builds up in the process of
interpreting the input. The obvious grounding issues are discussed
with respect to the interaction of language and vision in humans.
The project also addresses itself, inter alia, to two much-discussed
topics:
** The relation between the semantics of language and vision
** The notion of symbol-grounding.
I will discuss some of the parallels and differences between the
linguistic and visual channels of perception. However, one of the
main conclusions is that the interaction of these channels for
human-computer interaction is, and should be, very different.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ****
"AN INTEGRATED THEORY OF
CONSCIOUSNESS AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT"
by
Dr. Se/an /O Nuall/ain
from
Dublin City University (DCU)
Ireland, EU
and the
National Research Council (NRC)
Ottawa, Canada
THURSDAY, November 9th, 1995
3.00 P.M.
NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING LAB. (ROOM 141)
FIRST FLOOR (1)
REGENT COURT
MAPPIN STREET
Abstract
For a variety of reasons,Consciousness and Selfhood are beginning once
again intensively to be studied in a scientific frame of reference.
The notions of each which are emerging are extremely varied; in the
case of selfhood,the lack of an adequate vocabulary to capture various
aspects of subjectivity has led to deep confusion. The task of the
first part of this talk is to clear up this terminological confusion,
while salvaging whatever is valuable from the contemporary
discussion. The discussion in this part will inevitably range from
neuroscience to quantum mechanics to experientialism.
With this end in view, the theories of consciousness (and,where
applicable,of selfhood) offered by Baars, Jackendoff,
Minsky,Johnson-Laird, Flanagan and Penrose are looked at.Some,like the
"mental models" view,are found inadequate for formal reasons.The
others are investigated on philosophical grounds,and in the context of
the historically-conditioned nature of the related concept of
selfhood.It is found that in several cases they involve prescriptions
for the description of selfhood which are unproved and perhaps
destructive.The talk then switches to the task of giving an integrated
account of consciousness with respect to cognitive development.The
premise is that a theory of consciousness requires development.The
distinctions available to consciousness are primarily cognitive
achievements One important such distinction is that between the
subject and his world,as he conceives it.It is argued that the
cognitive function of self,as distinct from the felt experience of
self,lies in the preservation of this distinction. The more important
task of the second part is to introduce the moral issues inevitably
involved in any treatment, scientific or otherwise, of the modern
identity.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * ***
Se/an /O Nuall/ain holds an M.Sc. in Psychology from University
College, Dublin, Ireland and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Trinity
College, Dublin, Ireland. He is currently on sabbatical leave at the
National Research Council (NRC), Canada from his lecturing post at
Dublin City University, Ireland where he initiated and directed the
B.Sc. in Applied Computational Linguistics. He is the author of a
book on the foundations of Cognitive Science: "The Search for Mind"
(Ablex, 1995). He has run the first international workshop on
REACHING FOR MIND with Paul Mc Kevitt at Sheffield in April, 1995.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * ***
These seminars have been enabled through a European Union (EU) Human
Capital and Mobility (HCM) project on "Dialogue and Discourse"
(re: Sheila Williams).
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * ***
For more information on this contact:
Paul Mc Kevitt
Associate Professor (Lecturer) &
British EPSRC Advanced Fellow in Information Technology
[1994-2000]
Department of Computer Science
Regent Court
211 Portobello Street
University of Sheffield
GB- S1 4DP, Sheffield
England, UK, EU.
E-mail: p.mckevitt@dcs.shef.ac.uk
WWW: http://www.dcs.shef.ac.uk/ [Computer Science]
WWW: http://www.shef.ac.uk/ [Computing Services]
Ftp: ftp.dcs.shef.ac.uk [Computer Science]
Phone: +44 (0) 114-282-5572 (Office)
282-5596 (Lab.)
282-5590 (Secretary)
Fax: +44 (0) 114-278-0972
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ****
End of NL-KR Digest
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