Neural responses and perception of visual inputs strongly depend on the spatial context, i.e., what surrounds a given object or feature. I will discuss our work on developing a visual cortical model based on the hypothesis that neurons represent inputs in a coordinate system that is matched to the statistical structure of images in the natural environment. The model generalizes a nonlinear computation known as normalization, that is ubiquitous in neural processing, and can capture some spatial context effects in cortical neurons.

This is an exciting time for scientists who are interested in cognitive development: there is now a wealth of easily-accessible data that can be used to ask interesting questions about how psychological, neural, and genetic factors affect changes in cognitive functions across the lifespan - and how they differ between individuals. In this talk, I'll describe several studies that apply individual-differences methods to large-scale, sometimes longitudinal datasets that include cognitive and biological information.

Jury

Alex Cristia - École Normale Supérieure
Nicolas Claidière - CNRS Aix Marseille University
Alberto Acerbi - Brunel University
Coralie Chevallier - École Normale Supérieure

Abstract

Because early language delays can negatively impact children's literacy, behavior, social interactions, and educational outcomes into adulthood, early interventions have been described as a better societal investment than late interventions. But how can we quickly and accurately determine which children are in need of these interventions ?

De l’étude du traitement du signal à l’étude du développement et l’acquisition du langage

En alliant leurs expertises, le BabyLab de l'Ecole normale supérieure et Babilou souhaitent faire progresser la recherche sur l’acquisition du langage chez les tous petits.

Ce nouveau partenariat de recherche porte sur les travaux conduits par Cécile Crimon, doctorante au Laboratoire de Sciences Cognitives et Psycholinguistique. La scientifique questionnera spécifiquement le rôle et l’impact de l’environnement social et linguistique dans le développement du langage chez l’enfant.

Abstract: Most language use takes place in situated environments where visual perception goes hand in hand with language processing. I will discuss some recent projects by my research group related to modelling language generation in visually grounded contexts using state-of-the-art AI techniques. I will first focus on individual cognitive processes and present a model of image description generation that exploits information from human gaze patterns recorded during language production. In the second part of the talk, I will move on to two-person dialogue setups.

The EMOTIVA project

What are the links between our emotions and our actions? How can we adapt our behaviour to the socio-emotional signals given by other individuals?

The "Experience effects in early language acquisition" project, a worldwide study