Title: The development of language as a social category

Faculty Host: Robert Kurzban

URL for more information:

https://www.dsclabcornell.com/

Title: TBA

URL for more information: https://psych.la.psu.edu/directory/yo-jackson-professor-of-psychology

Title: Learning from "failures" when behavioral research crosses cultures

Faculty Host: Coren Apicella

URL for more information: 

http://hruschka.faculty.asu.edu/

Title:"Communicating Behavior: Bottom-Up Processes of Social Influence" 
 

Abstract: This talk will begin with an analysis of interindividual processes of person perception and communication that unfold in brief verbal messages such as those on social media. I will describe experiments designed to establish whether merely alluding to behaviors can influence others to perform those behaviors. After discussing the processes underlying the effects of interindividual messages, I will present big data research by which effective interindividual messages can be elevated to authorities within communities. I will conclude with an analysis of the challenges of mobilizing authorities and describe field and experimental research on the bottom-up, social action mechanisms that inspire them to work toward solving problems in their communities.

URL for more information: https://www.nursing.upenn.edu/details/profiles.php?id=17310

Title: From Sensation to Conception

Faculty Host: David Brainard

URL for more information:

http://www.sas.rochester.edu/bcs/people/faculty/jacobs_robert/index.html

Title: The role of empathy in morality: A force that can bind or blind us    

 Abstract: Empathy can be a strong motivation for moral behavior, but its influence can also have the opposite effect. People who are concerned for the well-being of others are more likely to help, care for them, and respect them. Empathy provides information for moral decision-making, which can supplement information based on reasoning, rational belief, and inference. However, empathy is limited and fragile, thus not always a reliable source of information in moral decision-making. We are more likely to empathize with those from similar social, racial and political circles. We respond more readily and with greater intensity to the suffering of individuals rather than groups. I will integrate knowledge from evolutionary theory, neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral economics to demonstrate that various social and situational factors unconsciously and rapidly modulate empathy. Decision-making guided by empathy alone is not optimal when dealing with large groups, people from our tribe, or anonymous persons. However, when combined with reasoning and deliberation, empathy can promote valuing the welfare of others.

 
Key-words: Empathy – Emotion – Evolution – Caring – Cognitive biases – Decision-making – Morality – Social psychology – Social neuroscience

Title: Acquiring and predicting structure via statistical learning.

Faculty Host: Elizabeth Brannon

URL for more information: 

https://infantlearning.waisman.wisc.edu/

Title: "Memory consolidation during sleep and implications for mental health". 

Title: Duck! How your brain works out 3D motion from 2D(retinal)signals.

Faculty Host: Johannes Burge

URL for more information: 

https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/psychology/faculty/lkc3

Title: Asking the Right Questions About Human Inquiry

Faculty Host: Sudeep Bhatia

URL for more information: 

http://gureckislab.org/

Title: Reward Processing in the Social Brain

From winning a raffle to receiving praise from a colleague, the experience of reward elicits positive emotions, shapes our behavior and influences our emotional well-being.  Central to processing rewards is the role of the striatum - the input unit of the basal ganglia and a key node in a putative human reward circuit.  This talk will first describe early efforts aimed at characterizing a reward-related signal in the human striatum, its association with other brain regions and the impact on decision making.  We will then highlight how the surrounding social context (i.e., the level of closeness between individuals) can change reward-related responses and the inherent experience of a reward.  Finally, we will focus on the beneficial effects that positive emotions experienced by our social brain can have on our well-being, such as helping cope with negative affect elicited by acute stress.

Title: Matriliny in China: using the toolkit from behavioural ecology to study kinship

Faculty Host: Coren Apicella

URL for more information: 

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/anthropology/people/academic-teaching-staff/ruce-m…

Title: Cognitive neuroscience of learning and memory in human infants 

URL for more information: https://ntblab.yale.edu/