Formal Models of (Dis-)ordered Cognition

Computational modeling and simulation of human cognition is a new and exciting multidisciplinary field of research with great promise for basic research and application.  However, the multidisciplinary nature of the field and the breadth of skills and knowledge required to successfully implement this approach to studying the human mind brings with it its own set of challenges and potential pitfalls. In this challenge workshop, we aim to bring together experts from application domains (e.g., psychiatry, psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience), methods domains (e.g., mathematics, informatics, statistics) and scientists already working with quantitative cognitive process models in order to facilitate the exchange about research questions in application domains that may be addressed using process modeling, discuss the methodological approaches and tools that are available and where their limitations lie and explore the potential for effective future collaborations.
 

In terms of application domains, the focus of this workshop will particularly be on higher cognition and its disorders, including process models of the underlying neural activity. Many psychiatric and neurological disorders involve characteristic cognitive deficits (e.g. schizophrenia, traumatic brain injury, dementia) that are as yet often poorly understood on a process level. Quantitative cognitive process models promise to contribute towards filling the explanatory gap that currently exists between models of basic neural mechanisms and high-level cognitive abilities as measured by clinical and psychometric assessment, such as planning, problem solving, decision making, conscious attention, working memory and others. Additionally, the workshop will also emphasize the mathematical methods and computational tools that can be applied in successful process modeling, e.g., effective parameter estimation methods, model validation procedures or model-based optimum experimental design, and how these can be applied to pertinent research questions.

Contact:

Tel.: +49 (0) 6221 547301                                                                          

E-Mail: daniel.holt@psychologie.uni-heidelberg.de