Connectionists: Seminar Series: Thinking About Thinking (May 7th)

[Ruairidh Battleday]

We are pleased to announce the inaugural session of the Thinking About
Thinking Fellowship Seminar Series, bringing together researchers working
at the forefront of computational research into intelligence across AI,
neuroscience, and cognitive science.

Seminar title: Automated Scientific Discovery of Mind and Behavior
Date: 7 May 2026
Time: 6pm BST
Link: https://luma.com/ej1jk7bo

For our first session, Dr Sebastian Musslick will present a framework for
automated scientific discovery in cognitive science, exploring how AI
systems can support the generation and testing of theories of mind and
behaviour.

We’ll do these every two weeks! Please come along (link in individual talk
below).

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Seminar title: Automated Scientific Discovery of Mind and Behavior
Speaker: Dr Sebastian Musslick
Date: Thursday 7 May 2026
Time: 6pm BST
Link: https://luma.com/ej1jk7bo

Abstract:
Artificial intelligence is transforming scientific discovery across
disciplines, from predicting protein structures in biology to identifying
novel quantum states in physics. In the natural sciences, automated
discovery systems now enable researchers to navigate vast experimental and
hypothesis spaces, moving beyond the limits of human intuition.

In this talk, Sebastian will explore how these methods can be adapted to
the study of mind and behavior, introducing automated scientific discovery
as a paradigm for cognitive science. He will present AutoRA, an open-source
framework for automating key stages of empirical research, including
experimental design, data collection and model inference.

Through case studies in psychophysics, learning, decision-making and
cognitive control, Sebastian will show how closed-loop discovery systems
can support more integrative and scalable approaches to understanding human
cognition. The session will also address the unique challenges that
automated scientific discovery faces in cognitive science, including
experimental fragmentation and the need for multi-level explanations,
before outlining future directions for the field.


-- 
Dr Ruairidh McLennan Battleday BMBCh (Oxon) PhD

President
Thinking About Thinking <https://that.build>
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