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Domesticated animals and modern humans show a set of behavioral and molecular changes that converge on shared genetic targets. There is evidence that these changes disproportionately target neurotransmission, in particular the glutamatergic signaling system. This has led to proposals that attenuation of glutamatergic signaling may be crucial for the downregulation of the stress response in both modern humans and domesticates and the potentiation of exploratory motor output in our species. Here, we use a deep learning method (ExPecto) to predict gene expression in silico of H. sapiens-specific (relative to the closest extinct human species, Neanderthals and Denisovans) variants of genes involved in glutamatergic signaling. This approach allows us to hone hypotheses about the functional implications of genetic changes in our species&#39; recent evolution, including proposals as to the neurobiological substrates of H. sapiens so called &#39;self-domestication hypothesis&#39;.

CogSci 2021

Gene expression under human self-domestication: an in silico exploration of modern human high-frequency variants

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**Dear Colleagues,**

Welcome to the 43rd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society! 

This year’s conference brings together the latest research from all Cognitive Science and also highlights this year’s theme **Comparative Cognition: Animal Minds.** 

The program features four plenary speakers: Friederike Range (University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna), Onur Güntürkün (Ruhr University Bochum), Julia Fischer (University of Göttingen), and Erich Jarvis (The Rockefeller University). The keynotes and invited symposia showcase the broad spectrum of ideas that encompass the conference theme of comparative cognition. 

Further, the program includes the Rumelhart Prize keynote presentation by Susan Goldin-Meadow (University of Chicago), and symposia to celebrate the winner of the Elman Prize: Wei Ji Ma (New York University), the Heineken Award winner Robert Zatorre (McGill University), and the Robert J. Glushko Dissertation Prizes session.

The program committee for CogSci 2021 received 1,025 submissions, including 710 full papers, 275 member abstracts, 8 publication-based talks, as well as 15 proposals for symposia, and 17 for workshops and tutorials. After a rigorous review process, the committee selected 152 papers for oral presentation and inclusion in the conference proceedings (14.8%), 332 papers for poster presentation and inclusion in the proceedings (32.4%), and 175 papers for poster presentation with inclusion of abstracts in the proceedings (17.1%) We also selected 275 submitted member abstracts. In addition, we accepted 6 publication-based talks, 12 symposia, and 9 workshops and tutorials to make for an exciting and inclusive program.

We hope that you enjoy the conference this year!<br><br>

**Your Program Chairs,**
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**Learn more about the Vienna Cognitive Science Hub at the University of Vienna, hosts of CogSci 2021**

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To review the proceedings for the conference or review the searchable program, please visit the [website](https://cognitivesciencesociety.org/program/).


The Cognitive Science Society brings together researchers from around the world who hold a common goal: understanding the nature of the human mind. The mission of the Society is to promote Cognitive Science as a discipline, and to foster scientific interchange among researchers in various areas of study, including Artificial Intelligence, Linguistics, Anthropology, Psychology, Neuroscience, Philosophy, and Education. The Society is a non-profit professional organization and its activities include sponsoring an annual conference and publishing the journals Cognitive Science and TopiCS.

Domesticated animals and modern humans show a set of behavioral and molecular changes that converge on shared genetic targets. There is evidence that these changes disproportionately target neurotransmission, in particular the glutamatergic signaling system. This has led to proposals that attenuation of glutamatergic signaling may be crucial for the downregulation of the stress response in both modern humans and domesticates and the potentiation of exploratory motor output in our species. Here, we use a deep learning method (ExPecto) to predict gene expression in silico of H. sapiens-specific (relative to the closest extinct human species, Neanderthals and Denisovans) variants of genes involved in glutamatergic signaling. This approach allows us to hone hypotheses about the functional implications of genetic changes in our species' recent evolution, including proposals as to the neurobiological substrates of H. sapiens so called 'self-domestication hypothesis'.

poster

In signed languages, space can be used to build linguistic analogs for mental images and linguistically support conceptual domains such as time. This research aimed to (i) describe the spatial patterns of the Uruguayan Sign Language (LSU) time lexicon, (ii) test whether variables such as time construal, reference type, and iconicity labeling produce a clear-cut spatial pattern in the LSU time lexicon, and (iii) determine whether the LSU time lexicon might prime the mental timeline for LSU signers. We discuss how we selected a corpus, labeled space according to certain parameters, and characterized signs within unidimensional spaces. We applied a Chi-square goodness of fit test to compare multiple observed proportions among variables. The results confirmed a bias toward the Sagittal space for deictic time and biases for sequential and span time for Hand number and Reference type. We suggest considering these biases in time discrimination with deaf population.

Distribution of unidimensional space in the LSU time lexicon

The concept of accessibility has often been evoked to explain reference resolution. According to the Givenness Hierarchy theory, a referent’s accessibility in the mental state of a comprehender is encoded in the form of the referent as part of its lexical semantic representation. However, the current literature has not reached a consensus on what accessibility exactly means and how to best quantify it. The factors that modulate accessibility show a great extent of overlap with another independently motivated concept of predictability, raising the possibility of a “Predictability Hierarchy” that mirrors Givenness Hierarchy. In a self-paced reading study, the current study examines whether there is such “Predictability Hierarchy” by manipulating the predictability and the form of a referent presented to the participants. Our results indicate that although there is no strong evidence for approximating the Givenness Hierarchy with a “Predictability Hierarchy,” there is some preliminary evidence for a partial correlation between the form and the predictability of a referent.

Is there a predictability hierarchy in reference resolution?

Language has been characterized as a “unique” facet of human cognition with complex syntactic features like anaphora and distance dependencies. However, visual narratives, like comics, have been argued to use similar sequencing mechanisms. These narrative structures include “refiner” panels that “zoom in” on the contents of another panel. Similar to linguistic anaphora, refiners co-referentially connect inexplicit information in one unit (refiner/pronoun) to a more informative “antecedent.” Also, refiners can follow their antecedents (anaphoric) or precede them (cataphoric) with either proximal or distant connections. We explored these constraints of order and distance on visual narrative refiners by measuring event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to wordless comic strips. Anaphoric refiners evoked late sustained negativities (Nref) while distant anaphoric refiners attenuated N400s compared to all others, and all distance dependencies evoked leftward negativities. These responses are consistent with (neuro)cognitive responses shown to anaphora in language, suggesting domain-general constraints on the sequencing of referential dependencies.

Anaphoric distance dependencies in the sequential structure of wordless visual narratives

This study focused on associative learning for new words in the first language and haptic stimuli. In the first, healthy Japanese participants made nine subjective evaluations of haptic stimuli using five-point semantic differential scales (e.g., regarding stickiness, scored from 1 [not sticky] to 5 [sticky]). In the second and third, the participants carried out two learning tasks for associative pairs of a new word in Japanese and haptic stimulus (H), or new words only (W). In the fourth one, after each learning task, participants performed recognition and free recall tasks. The results of the recognition tasks showed that the accuracy rates of W were better than those of H, whereas the response times of W were faster than those of H. Further, preference of haptic features negatively correlated with free recall scores of H; however, there was no significant difference between the free recall scores of H and W.

Associative learning of new word forms in a first language and haptic features in a single-day experiment

A growing evidence from a sentence-picture verification paradigm suggests rapid integration of implied perceptual context during sentence processing. This evidence, however, is usually criticized for not providing a strong test of the mechanisms underlying such integration. We addressed this question in relation to the situation describing different sources of light. We hypothesized that if comprehenders simulate the perceptual state of affairs implied by the sentence, then response times should be faster only when pictures are fully (not partially) congruent with sentence content. Participants (N=200) read sentences like “The sun/the moon is shining onto a horse” followed by pictures depicting mentioned (Experiment 1) or non-mentioned (Experiment 2) objects in either a matching or a mismatching perceptual context (sunny/moony background). Verification times (analyzed with linear-mixed-models) were shorter only when the mentioned (but not non-mentioned) objects matched the perceptual context implied by the sentence. The results are discussed in support of simulation account.

Lightness and darkness are mentally represented during language processing

This study addresses the hypothesis that the aesthetic appeal of linguistic features may influence their learnability and in turn their stability in a language. Focusing on prosodic patterns, we investigated the crucial baseline assumption that linguistic features like stress affect aesthetic appeal. Listeners’ liking, beauty and naturalness ratings of isochronous words and words with initially, medially or finally lengthened or shortened syllables revealed that, indeed, these patterns differed in their aesthetic appeal. Interestingly, the aesthetic appeal of prosodic patterns corresponded to their effectiveness for speech segmentation in other experiments, indicating a potential connection between aesthetics and language learning and opening up avenues for further research on the role of aesthetics in language acquisition and change.

Aesthetic perception of prosodic patterns as a factor in speech segmentation

Child directed language has been characterized by exaggerated prosody which can serve multiple functions including highlighting properties of meaning via iconicity. Iconic prosody may help language acquisition by bringing properties of displaced or unknown referents to the language learner’s “mind’s eye” or facilitating the acquisition of abstract features such as “direction”, or “speed”. We investigate iconic prosody in semi-naturalistic caregiver-child interactions. 50 caregivers were asked to talk to their child (2-4 years) about a set of toys either known or unknown to the child, and either present or absent from the interaction. In a first analysis, we included instances of iconic prosody as subjectively coded. In a second analysis, we looked at acoustic modulations for a set of seed words. In both analyses, we found that caregivers made use of iconic prosody more when talking about unknown or displaced objects, pointing to a neglected role for prosody in word learning.

Do you hear how BIG it is? Iconic Prosody in Child Directed Language Supports Language Acquisition

Social factors, such as partner familiarity (e.g., talking to a friend vs. stranger) may affect some conversations but not others. While researchers do not always control the partner identity when conducting interactive studies, the current empirical report of a language production experiment conducted via Zoom presents effects of partner familiarity (friends vs. strangers) on the form and content of referring expressions in the mundane task of describing everyday objects. First, speakers interacting with a friend were less disfluent than speakers interacting with a stranger, showing that more effort is invested in interactions with strangers. Second, speakers interacting with a friend showed more sensitivity to prior context. Surprisingly, these effects reveal that speakers are sensitive to the partner identity even when describing everyday objects whose labels are shared across all language users. The current findings suggest that researchers should consider social factors as part of the experimental design of interactive tasks.

The identity of the partner matters even when naming everyday objects

How related is skin to a quilt or door to worry? Here, we show that linguistic experience strongly informs people’s judgments of such word pairs. We asked Chinese-speakers, English-speakers, and Chinese-English bilinguals to rate semantic and visual similarity between pairs of Chinese words and of their English translation equivalents. Some pairs were unrelated, others were also unrelated but shared a radical (e.g., “expert” and “dolphin” share the radical meaning “pig”), others also shared a radical which invokes a metaphorical relationship. For example, a quilt covers the body like skin; understand, with a sun radical, invokes understanding as illumination. Importantly, the shared radicals are not part of the pronounced word form. Chinese speakers rated word pairs with metaphorical connections as more similar than other pairs. English speakers did not even though they were sensitive to shared radicals. Chinese-English bilinguals showed sensitivity to the metaphorical connections even when tested with English words.

Metaphors Embedded in Chinese Characters Bridge Dissimilar Concepts

Recent research has proposed that adjective form (i.e., whether adjectives typically occur before or after the nouns they modify) interacts with considerations from efficient communication to determine the rate at which we use adjectives to resolve reference to objects. According to this efficiency hypothesis, languages with pre-nominal adjectives use modifying adjectives at a higher rate in an effort to aid incremental reference resolution. We test this broad typological prediction in a large-scale corpus analysis of 74 languages, finding that languages that favor pre-nominal adjectives indeed do exhibit higher rates of adjectival modification than languages that favor post-nominal adjectives.

Gene expression under human self-domestication: an in silico exploration of modern human high-frequency variants

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Distribution of unidimensional space in the LSU time lexicon

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