NTCS-97 Call For Participation
Alex Riegler
riegler at ifi.unizh.ch
Fri Apr 4 08:51:10 EST 1997
CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
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International Workshop
N E W T R E N D S I N C O G N I T I V E S C I E N C E
NTCS '97
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"Does Representation need Reality?"
Perspectives from Cognitive Science, Neuroscience,
Epistemology, and Artificial Life
Vienna, Austria, May 14 - 16, 1997
with plenary talks by:
Larry Cauller, Georg Dorffner, Ernst von Glasersfeld,
Stevan Harnad, Wolf Singer, and Sverre Sjoelander
organized by the Austrian Society of Cognitive Science (ASoCS)
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Latest information can be retrieved from the conference WWW-page
<http://www.univie.ac.at/cognition/ntcs97.htm>
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P u r p o s e
___________________________________________________________________________
The goal of this single-track conference is to investigate and discuss new
approaches and movements in cognitive science in a workshop-like
atmosphere. Among the topics which seem to have emerged in the last years
are: embodiment of knowledge, system theoretic and computational
neuroscience approaches to cognition, dynamics in recurrent neural
architectures, evolutionary and artificial life approaches to cognition,
and (epistemological) implications for perception and representation,
constructivist concepts and the problem of knowledge representation,
autopoiesis, implications for epistemology and philosophy (of science).
Evidence for a failure of the traditional understanding of neural
representation converges from several fields. Neuroscientific results in
the last decade have shown that single cell representations with
hierarchical processing towards representing units seems not the way the
cortex represents environmental entities. Instead, distributed cell
ensemble coding has become a popular concept for representation, both in
computational and in empirical neuroscience. However, new problems arise
from the new concepts. The problem of binding the distributed parts into a
uniform percept can be "solved" by introducing synchronization of the
member neurons. A deeper (epistemological) problem, however, is created by
recurrent architectures within ensembles generating an internal dynamics in
the network. The cortical response to an environmental stimulus is no
longer dominated by stimulus properties themselves, but to a considerable
degree by the internal state of the network. Thus, a clear and stable
reference between a representational state (e.g. in a neuron, a Hebbian
ensemble, an activation state, etc.) and the environmental state becomes
questionable. Already learned experiences and expectancies might have an
impact on the neural activity which is as strong as the stimulus itself.
Since these internally stored experiences are constantly changing, the
notion of (fixed) representations is challenged. At this point, system
theory and constructivism, both investigating the interaction between
environment and organism at an abstract level, come into the scene and turn
out to provide helpful epistemological concepts. The goal of this
conference is to discuss these phenomena and their implications for the
understanding of representation, semantics, language, cognitive science,
and artificial life.
Contrary to many conferences in this field, the focus is on
interdisciplinary cooperation and on conceptual and epistemological
questions, rather than on technical details. We are trying to achieve this
by giving more room to discussion and interaction between the participants
(e.g., invited comments on papers, distribution of papers to the
participants before the conference, etc.). According to the
interdisciplinary character of cognitive science, we welcome papers/talks
from the fields of artificial life, empirical, cognitive, and computational
neuroscience, philosophy (of science), epistemology, anthropology, computer
science, psychology, and linguistics.
T a l k s
___________________________________________________________________________
NOTE: Names with * are invited speakers.
Constructivism
Ernst von Glasersfeld* Piaget's legacy: Cognition as adaptive activity
Sverre Sjoelander* How animals handle reality: the adaptive aspect
of representation
Annika Wallin Is there a way to distinguish representation from
Perception...
Tom Routen Habitus and Animats
General Epistemology and Methodology
W.F.G. Haselager Is cognitive science advancing towards
behaviorism?
Michael Pauen Reality and representation
William Robinson Representation and cognitive explanation
Matthias Scheutz The ontological status of representations
Anthony Chemero Two types of anti-representationism: a taxonomy
Georg Schwarz Can representation get reality?
Neuroscience
Larry Cauller* NeuroInteractivism: Explaining emergence without
representation
Wolf Singer* The observer in the brain
Steven Bressler The dynamic manifestation of cognitive structures
in the cerebral cortex
Erich Harth Sketchpads in and beyond the brain
Marius Usher Active Neural representations: neurophysiological
data and its implications
Symbol Grounding and Communication
Georg Dorffner* The connectionist route to embodiment
and dynamicism
Stevan Harnad* Keeping a grip on the real/virtual distinction
in this representationalist age
Mark Wexler Must mental representation be internal?
Tom Ziemke Rethinking Grounding
Christian Balkenius Explorations in synthetic pragmatics
Horst Hendriks-Jansen Does natural cognition need internal knowledge
structures?
Nathan Chandler On the importance of reality in representations
Peter Gaerdenfors Does semantics need reality?
P o s t e r s
___________________________________________________________________________
Chris Browne Iconic Learning and Epistemology
Mark Claessen RabbitWorld: the concept of space can be learned
Valentin Constantinescu Interaction between perception & expectancy...
Andrew Coward Unguided categorization, direct and symbolic
representation, and evolution of cognition...
David Davenport PAL: A constructivist model of cognitive activity
Karl Diller Representation and reality: where are the rules of
grammar
Richard Eiser Representation and the social reality
Robert French When coffe cups are like old elephants
Maurita Harney Representation and its metaphysics
Daniel Hutto Cognition without representation?
Amy Ione Symbolic creation and re-representation of reality
Sydney Lamb Top-Down Modeling, Bottom-up Learning
Michael Luntley Real Representations
Ralf Moeller Perception through anticipation
Ken Mogi Response selectivity, neuron doctrine,
and Mach's principle in perception
Alfredo Pereira The term "representation" in cognitive
neuroscience
Michael Ramscar Judgement of association: problems with cognitive
theories of analogy
Hanna Risku Constructivist Consequences: does tramslation
need reality?
Sabine Weiss Cooperation of different neural networks during
single word and sentence processing
R e g i s t r a t i o n
___________________________________________________________________________
To register please fill out the registration form at the bottom of this CFP
and send it by...
o Email to franz-markus.peschl at univie.ac.at, or by
o Fax to +43-1-408-8838 (attn. M.Peschl), or by
o Mail to Markus Peschl, Dept.for Philosophy of Science (address below)
Registration Fee (includes admission to talks, presentations, and
proceedings):
Member * 1300 ATS (about 118 US$)
Non-Member 1800 ATS (about 163 US$)
Student Member ** 500 ATS (about 45 US$)
Student Non-Member 1300 ATS (about 118 US$)
*) Members of the Austrian Society of Cognitive Science
**) Requires proof of valid student ID
C o n f e r e n c e S i t e a n d A c c o m o d a t i o n
___________________________________________________________________________
The conference takes place in a small beautiful baroque castle in the
suburbs of Vienna; the address is:
Schloss Neuwaldegg
Waldegghofg. 5
A-1170 Wien
Austria
Tel: +43 1 485 3605
Fax: +43 1 485 3605-112
It is surrounded by a beautiful forest and a good (international and
Viennese gastronomic) infrastructure. On the tram it takes only 20 minutes
to the center of Vienna (see
overview).
(Limited) Accommodation is provided by the castle
(about 41 US$ per night (single), 30 US$ per night, per person (double)
including breakfast). Please contact the telephone number above. You can
find more information about Vienna and accommodation at the
Vienna Tourist Board
or at the Intropa Travel agent Tel: +43-1-5151-242.
Note:
In case you want to stay over the weekend we refer you to the following
hotel which is near the conference site (single about 75 US$ / 850 ATS
per night):
Hotel Jaeger
Hernalser Hauptstrasse 187
A-1170 Wien
Austria
Tel: +43 1 486 6620
Fax: +43 1 486 6620 8
D e s t i n a t i o n V i e n n a ?
___________________________________________________________________________
Vienna, Austria, can be reached internationally by plane or train. The
Vienna Schwechat airport is located about 16 km from the city center. From
the airport, the city air-terminal can be reached by bus (ATS 60.- per
person) or taxi (about ATS 400). Rail-passengers arrive at one of the
main stations which are located almost in the city center. From the
air-terminal and the railway stations the congress site and hotels can be
reached easily by underground (U-Bahn), tramway, or bus. A detailed
description will be given to the participants.
In May the climate is mild in Vienna. It is the time when spring is at
its climax and everything is blooming. The weather is warm with occasional
(rare) showers. The temperature is about 18 to 24 degrees Celsius.
More information about Vienna and Austria on the web:
Welcome to Vienna Scene
<http://wtv.magwien.gv.at/e/index.htm>
Vienna City
<http://www.atnet.co.at/Tourism/Vienna/>
Wiener Festwochen - Vienna Festival
<http://www.infosys.tuwien.ac.at/WF/>
Public Transport in Vienna (subway)
<http://metro.jussieu.fr:10001/bin/select/english/austria/vienna>
Welcome to Austria
<http://austria-info.at/">
General information about Austria
<http://www.atnet.co.at/austria/>
Austria Annoted
<http://harvest.Austria.EU.net/Server-in-AT/categories.html>
S c i e n t i f i c C o m m i t t e e
___________________________________________________________________________
R. Born Univ. of Linz (A)
R. Born Univ. of Linz (A)
G. Dorffner Univ. of Vienna (A)
E. v. Glasersfeld Univ. of Amherst, MA (USA)
S. Harnad Univ. of Southampton (GB)
M. Peschl Univ. of Vienna (A)
A. Riegler Univ. of Zurich (CH)
H. Risku Univ. of Skovde (S)
M. Scheutz Univ. of Indiana (USA)
W. Singer Max Planck Institut, Frankfurt (D)
S. Sjoelander Linkoeping University (S)
A. v. Stein Neuroscience Institute, La Jolla (USA)
O r g a n i z i n g C o m m i t t e e
___________________________________________________________________________
M. Peschl Univ. of Vienna (A)
A. Riegler Univ. of Zurich (CH)
S p o n s o r i n g O r g a n i z a t i o n s
___________________________________________________________________________
o Christian Doppler Laboratory for Expert Systems
(Vienna University of Technology)
o Oesterreichische Forschgungsgemeinschaft
o Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Transport and the Arts
o City of Vienna
A d d i t i o n a l I n f o r m a t i o n
___________________________________________________________________________
For further information on the conference contact:
Markus Peschl
Dept. for Philosophy of Science
University of Vienna
Sensengasse 8/10
A-1090 Wien
Austria
Tel: +43-1-402-7601/41
Fax: +43-1-408-8838
Email: franz-markus.peschl at univie.ac.at
General information about the Austrian Society for Cognitive Science can be
found on the Society webpage <http://www.univie.ac.at/cognition> or by
contacting
Alexander Riegler
AILab, Dept. of Computer Science
University of Zurich
Winterthurerstr. 190
CH-8057 Zurich
Switzerland
Email: riegler at ifi.unizh.ch
R e g i s t r a t i o n f o r m
___________________________________________________________________________
I participate at the Workshop "New Trends in Cognitive Science (NTCS'97)"
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Payment in ATS (= Austrian Schillings; 1 US$ is currently about 11 ATS).
This fee includes admission to talks, presentations, and proceedings:
[ ] Member * 1300 ATS (about 118 US$)
[ ] Non-Member 1800 ATS (about 163 US$)
[ ] Student Member ** 500 ATS (about 45 US$)
[ ] Student Non-Member 1300 ATS (about 118 US$)
*) Members of the Austrian Society of Cognitive Science
**) Requires proof of valid student ID
Total: .................... ATS
[ ] Visa
[ ] Master-/Eurocard
Name of Cardholder ........................................
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Date: ................ Signature: ........................................
Please send this form by...
o Email to franz-markus.peschl at univie.ac.at, or by
o Fax to +43-1-408-8838 (attn. M.Peschl), or by
o Mail to Markus Peschl, Dept.for Philosophy of Science,
Univ. of Vienna, Sensengasse 8/10, A-1090 Wien, Austria
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