[ACT-R-users] Seventh Groningen Spring School on Cognitive Modeling

[Spring School, FA]

– ACT-R, Nengo, PRIMs –

Date: 8-12 April 2024
Location: Groningen, the Netherlands
Fee: € 305 *(late fee after March 7 will be € 355)*
More information and registration: http://www.ai.rug.nl/springschool/

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Dear colleagues and students,

We are excited to announce the *seventh Spring School on Cognitive Modeling
in Groningen, from 8-12 April 2024*!

The Spring School will cover three different modeling paradigms: ACT-R,
Nengo, and PRIMs. Each of these topics consists of a series of lectures, as
well as a number of hands-on exercises (tutorials).

Past years have shown that students get most out of the spring school if
they really immerse themselves into one modeling paradigm. We therefore
recommend you choose one topic for which you will attend both the lectures
as well as the tutorials. In addition, you can select a second paradigm,
for which you attend the lectures only.

To give students a broader picture, there will be multiple guest lectures
throughout the week. These lectures will give an introduction to other
modeling paradigms, as well as practical research examples to show you what
can be done with the modeling paradigms presented! Everyone is encouraged
to attend those lectures.

To round off the program, there will be a poster session, where students
present themselves and their research, as well as a city tour, and our
(in)famous spring school dinner.

Registration is now open.

Please feel free to forward the information to anyone who might be
interested in the Spring School, and let us know if you have any questions!


We are looking forward to welcoming you (again) in Groningen,

The Spring School team
springschool at rug.nl

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ACT-R
Teachers: Jelmer Borst & Stephen Jones (University of Groningen)
Website: http://act-r.psy.cmu.edu

ACT-R is a high-level cognitive theory and simulation system for developing
cognitive models for tasks that vary from simple reaction time experiments
to driving a car, learning algebra, and air traffic control. ACT-R can be
used to develop process models of a task at a symbolic level. Participants
will follow a compressed five-day version of the traditional summer school
curriculum. We will also cover the connection between ACT-R and fMRI.

Nengo
Teacher: Terry Stewart (University of Waterloo)
Website: http://www.nengo.ca

Nengo is a toolkit for converting high-level cognitive theories into
low-level spiking neuron implementations. In this way, aspects of model
performance such as response accuracy and reaction times emerge as a
consequence of neural parameters such as the neurotransmitter time
constants. It has been used to model adaptive motor control, visual
attention, serial list memory, reinforcement learning, Tower of Hanoi, and
fluid intelligence. Participants will learn to construct these kinds of
models, starting with generic tasks like representing values and positions,
and ending with full production-like systems. There will also be special
emphasis on extracting various forms of data out of a model, such that it
can be compared to experimental data.

PRIMs
Teacher: Niels Taatgen (University of Groningen)
Website: https://www.ai.rug.nl/~niels/prims/index.html

How do people handle and prioritize multiple tasks? How can we learn
something in the context of one task, and partially benefit from it in
another task? The goal of PRIMs is to cross the artificial boundary that
most cognitive architectures have imposed on themselves by studying single
tasks. It has mechanisms to model transfer of cognitive skills, and the
competition between multiple goals. In the tutorial we will look at how
PRIMs can model phenomena of cognitive transfer and cognitive training, and
how multiple goals compete for priority in models of distraction.

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