Cognitive Science

The latest breakthroughs, innovations, and cool happenings at the cutting edge of the world of cognitive science. Updated daily.

Dropout in Neural Networks Simulates the Paradoxical Effects of Deep Brain Stimulation on Memory

Neuromodulation techniques such as deep brain stimulation (DBS) are a promising treatment for memory-related disorders including anxiety, addiction, and dementia. However, the outcomes of such treatments appear to be somewhat paradoxical, in that these techniques can both disrupt and enhance memory even when applied to the same brain target. In this article, we hypothesize that […]

Published on September 15, 2020

Syntactic Representations Are Both Abstract and Semantically Constrained: Evidence From Children’s and Adults’ Comprehension and Production/Priming of the English Passive

Abstract All accounts of language acquisition agree that, by around age 4, children’s knowledge of grammatical constructions is abstract, rather than tied solely to individual lexical items. The aim of the present research was to investigate, focusing on the passive, whether children’s and adults’ performance is additionally semantically constrained, varying according to the distance between […]

Published on September 14, 2020

Analogical Comparison Promotes Theory‐of‐Mind Development

Abstract Theory‐of‐mind (ToM) is an integral part of social cognition, but how it develops remains a critical question. There is evidence that children can gain insight into ToM through experience, including language training and explanatory interactions. But this still leaves open the question of how children gain these insights—what processes drive this learning? We propose […]

Published on September 14, 2020