What is theory of mind? Implications for mind, brain and culture Rebecca Saxe McGovern Institute and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT Nearly all research on "theory of mind" has focussed on three kinds of inference: (i) explaining observed behaviour in terms of inferred mental states (given she did that, what did she want?); […]
Citizen scientific racism: White nationalist appropriations of genetic research Aaron Panofsky UCLA Institute for Society and Genetics, Public Policy, and Sociology This talk presents research from a study about white nationalists and their efforts to appropriate genetics research for their own ideological and identity projects. Using historical sources and online data and interpretive methods, I […]
The human language system in the mind and brain Evelina Fedorenko McGovern Institute for Brain Research and Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences, MIT The goal of my research program is to understand the computations and representations that enable us to share complex thoughts with one another via language, and their neural implementation. A decade […]
A metaphysical mapping problem for race theorists and human population geneticists Quayshawn Spencer Robert S. Blank Presidential Associate Professor of Philosophy and Race, Science, & Society Working Group, University of Pennsylvania In this talk, I identify and clarify a metaphysical mapping phenomenon that’s almost twenty years old. The phenomenon is that the populations at a […]
Becoming human: A theory of ontogeny Michael Tomasello Duke University and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Humans are biologically adapted for cultural life in ways that other primates are not. Humans have unique motivations and cognitive skills for sharing emotions, experience, and collaborative actions (shared intentionality). These motivations and skills first emerge in […]
The development of decision-making across diverse cultural contexts Dorsa Amir Boston College Department of Psychology The human behavioral repertoire is uniquely diverse, with an unmatched flexibility that has allowed our species to flourish in every ecology on the planet. Despite its importance, the roots of this behavioral diversity — and how it manifests across development […]
The evolution of covert signaling in diverse societies Paul Smaldino Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, Merced Identity signals are common components of communication transmissions that inform receivers of the signaler’s membership (or non-membership) in a subset of individuals. Signals can be overt, broadcast to all possible receivers, or covert, encrypted so […]
The nature and origins of religious super-attractors Manvir Singh Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse Human societies reliably develop “cultural super-attractors”, or complex practices and beliefs that exhibit striking similarities. In this talk, I will present research on the nature and origins of three religious super-attractors: shamanism, religious self-denial, and beliefs in […]
It's funny: the evolution and science of laughter Sophie Scott Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL Laughter is a nonverbal emotional expression associated with play and joyful emotions. In this talk I will explore the evolutionary roots of laughter, it's role in human development, social interactions and communication, and some evidence about the neural systems recruited […]
At Face Value: The Role of Chimpanzee Facial Expressivity in the Evolution of Gestural Communication and Social Bonding Britt Florkiewicz UCLA Department of Anthropology Primates make frequent use of visual signals when communicating with conspecifics, which includes facial expressions and gestures. These two forms of visual communication are thought to be different from one another: […]
