Save the date: Simon Kirby April 22nd

Simon Kirby of the University of Edinburgh will be visiting UMass Friday April 22nd to give a talk co-sponsored by the Initiative in Cognitive Science and the 5 Colleges Cognitive Science Seminar, with the co-operation of the Computational Social Sciences Institute. He describes his research as follows:

My work concerns the origin and evolution of language, and the unique ways that culture and biology interact in our species. I have pioneered a new approach to understanding cultural evolution of behaviours such as language which we call Iterated Learning. A number of research groups around the world – in addition to my own – are now studying Iterated Learning using techniques as diverse as mathematical modelling, computational simulation, and psychological experiments. My view is that a complete understanding of human nature requires an account of the complex interactions between individual learning, cultural transmission and biological evolution in human populations.