Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Jenny Wang 👶 🧮

Chaz Firestone @chazfirestone.bsky.social · 2d

This is a big one! A 4-year writing project over many timezones, arguing for a reimagining of the influential "core knowledge" thesis.

Led by @daweibai.bsky.social, we argue that much of our innate knowledge of the world is not "conceptual" in nature, but rather wired into perceptual processing. 👇

Screenshot of a paper abstract:

“Core knowledge” refers to a set of cognitive systems that underwrite early representations of the physical and social world, appear universally across cultures, and likely result from our genetic endowment. Although this framework is canonically considered as a hypothesis about early emerging conception — how we think and reason about the world — here we present an alternative view: that many such representations are inherently perceptual in nature. This “core perception” view explains an intriguing (and otherwise mysterious) aspect of core-knowledge processes and representations: that they also operate in adults, where they display key empirical signatures of perceptual processing. We first illustrate this overlap using recent work on “core physics”, the domain of core knowledge concerned with physical objects, representing properties such as persistence through time, cohesion, solidity, and causal interactions. We review evidence that adult vision incorporates exactly these representations of core physics, while also displaying empirical signatures of genuinely perceptual mechanisms, such as rapid and automatic operation on the basis of specific sensory inputs, informational encapsulation, and interaction with other perceptual processes. We further argue that the same pattern holds for other areas of core knowledge, including geometrical, numerical, and social domains. In light of this evidence, we conclude that many infant results appealing to precocious reasoning abilities are better explained by sophisticated perceptual mechanisms shared by infants and adults. Our core-perception view elevates the status of perception in accounting for the origins of conceptual knowledge, and generates a range of ready-to-test hypotheses in developmental psychology, vision science, and more.

6 46 110

Jenny Wang 👶 🧮 @jinjingjenny1.bsky.social · 2d

Help! Do you know some great resources for teaching (grad or UG thesis) students how to manage their projects?

1 1

Jenny Wang 👶 🧮 @jinjingjenny1.bsky.social · 16d

as an introvert with severe social anxiety, my deep enjoyment of teaching seems kind of odd...?

2

Reposted by Jenny Wang 👶 🧮

Dan Hyde @dchyde.bsky.social · 17d

Apply to work as an interdisciplinary Beckman Institute postdoc at Illinois. beckman.illinois.edu/opportunitie...

Postdoctoral Fellows Program

The Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign offers three postdoctoral fellow programs to support outstanding scientists: Beckman Institute Postdoctoral Fellows Program, Car...

beckman.illinois.edu

1 1

Jenny Wang 👶 🧮 @jinjingjenny1.bsky.social · 17d

🪧Registration closing in a week!

Melissa Kibbe @levelsof.bsky.social · Aug 28

This is going to be an incredible event celebrating Alan Leslie's amazing career. Speakers include Susan Carey, Lisa Feigenson, Randy Gallistel, Ori Friedman, Zsuzsa Káldy, Ágnes Kovács, Sydney Levine, Sandeep Prasada, Brian Scholl, Luca Surian (and me!) Join in person at Rutgers or livestream

Jenny Wang 👶 🧮 @jinjingjenny1.bsky.social · Aug 12

📢 Come join us on Sunday, November 9th for the Rutgers Symposium of Learning with an amazing list of speakers and great company! More details: sites.rutgers.edu/symposium-le...

1

Jenny Wang 👶 🧮 @jinjingjenny1.bsky.social · Sep 4

Shocking but also I first assumed that you did this research and thought hmm maybe researchers are assumed to produce same-domain research and here Steve is shifting from this norm too...

Reposted by Jenny Wang 👶 🧮

Melissa Kibbe @levelsof.bsky.social · Aug 28

This is going to be an incredible event celebrating Alan Leslie's amazing career. Speakers include Susan Carey, Lisa Feigenson, Randy Gallistel, Ori Friedman, Zsuzsa Káldy, Ágnes Kovács, Sydney Levine, Sandeep Prasada, Brian Scholl, Luca Surian (and me!) Join in person at Rutgers or livestream

Jenny Wang 👶 🧮 @jinjingjenny1.bsky.social · Aug 12

📢 Come join us on Sunday, November 9th for the Rutgers Symposium of Learning with an amazing list of speakers and great company! More details: sites.rutgers.edu/symposium-le...

Rutgers Symposium of Learning

sites.rutgers.edu

5 16

Reposted by Jenny Wang 👶 🧮

Dr. David Miller 🏳️‍🌈 @davidimiller.bsky.social · Aug 27

➡️ New webinar on NSF EDU funding

Have questions about this new solicitation? Or about other NSF funding for research on STEM learning? Ask and hear from NSF program officers next Thursday.

Sept 4, 1:00-2:30 pm ET.

Register here: nsf.zoomgov.com/webinar/regi...

Dr. David Miller 🏳️‍🌈 @davidimiller.bsky.social · Aug 22

🚨 Major shake-up in NSF funding for K-12 STEM ed:

Caps proposals at $750K max for 3 years. Prior cap used to be $5M up to 5 years for some programs.

Archives several existing programs (DRK-12, AISL, CSforAll, TD, parts of ECR:Core). Combines into broad program with much lower expected # of awards.

NSF STEM K-12 (STEM K-12)

www.nsf.gov

1 14 15

Jenny Wang 👶 🧮 @jinjingjenny1.bsky.social · Aug 26

I am late to the game of reading this book but better late than never when it comes to absorbing wisdom from the Lila.

Jenny Wang 👶 🧮 @jinjingjenny1.bsky.social · Aug 26

It's innate! @theitsinnatepc.bsky.social! Especially empiricism 😆

1

Reposted by Jenny Wang 👶 🧮

steven t. piantadosi @spiantado.bsky.social · Aug 20

Preschoolers Selectively Attend to Speech That They Can Learn More From by ‪@ruthefoushee.bsky.social‬ and colleagues
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Preschoolers Selectively Attend to Speech That They Can Learn More From

We introduce a novel method to test a classic idea in developmental science that children's attention to a stimulus is driven by how much they can learn from it. Preschoolers (4–6 years, M=4.6${\it M...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

16 51

Reposted by Jenny Wang 👶 🧮

CantlonLab @cantlonlab.bsky.social · Aug 20

Children build math skills on a “cognitive bridge” between space & number. But where does it come from? Our new study finds monkeys transfer learning and abstractions across geometry & numerosity, revealing the evolutionary roots of basic math development. 🧪🧠

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Cognitive bridge between geometric and numerical learning in monkeys | PNAS

Educational research highlights strong developmental links between numerical and spatial cognition in humans, often shaped by cultural tools like t...

www.pnas.org

6 24 69

Jenny Wang 👶 🧮 @jinjingjenny1.bsky.social · Aug 19

this is really cool but sorry I can't help but hearing "no no you say, that isn't right... bunnies go sniff sniff all day and night..."

2

Reposted by Jenny Wang 👶 🧮

bergelsonlab @bergelsonlab.bsky.social · Aug 19

lil blogpost ab a cool paper led by the amazing @erinecampbell.bsky.social thnx to NSF. also features a coda ab the very active threat to science funding we’re facing (cc @standupforscience.bsky.social) & a ht to @sciencehomecoming.bsky.social’s good work. thnx @infantstudies.bsky.social!

International Congress of Infant Studies @infantstudies.bsky.social · Aug 19

New on the Baby Blog - From the mouths of babes: Saying the (im)perceptible by Elika Bergelson @bergelsonlab.bsky.social #EarlyYears #DevPsySky #PsychSciSky #science #research #infantstudies infantstudies.org/from-the-mou...

Text: Latest from the Baby Blog - From the mouths of babes: Saying the (im)perceptible by Elika Bergelson against an image background of three infants giggling together on the left corner and a toddler drawing a picture of a globe on the right

5 6

Reposted by Jenny Wang 👶 🧮

tal boger @talboger.bsky.social · Aug 19

On the left is a rabbit. On the right is an elephant. But guess what: They’re the *same image*, rotated 90°!

In @currentbiology.bsky.social, @chazfirestone.bsky.social & I show how these images—known as “visual anagrams”—can help solve a longstanding problem in cognitive science. bit.ly/45BVnCZ

19 110 350

Reposted by Jenny Wang 👶 🧮

Sam Gershman @gershbrain.bsky.social · Aug 18

If you work on artificial or natural intelligence and are finishing your PhD, consider applying for a Kempner research fellowship at Harvard:
kempnerinstitute.harvard.edu/kempner-inst...

Kempner Research Fellowship - Kempner Institute

The Kempner brings leading, early-stage postdoctoral scientists to Harvard to work on projects that advance the fundamental understanding of intelligence.

kempnerinstitute.harvard.edu

31 48

Reposted by Jenny Wang 👶 🧮

Jenny Wang 👶 🧮 @jinjingjenny1.bsky.social · Aug 12

📢 Come join us on Sunday, November 9th for the Rutgers Symposium of Learning with an amazing list of speakers and great company! More details: sites.rutgers.edu/symposium-le...

Rutgers Symposium of Learning

sites.rutgers.edu

1 8 7

Jenny Wang 👶 🧮 @jinjingjenny1.bsky.social · Aug 15

I once thought that to prove my worth as a reviewer, the only way is to destroy the paper I review. I learned from others how wrong that was. We do not float up by pushing others down - we float up by building the boat together. If we all reject each other for working on the same topic, we all sink!

2

Reposted by Jenny Wang 👶 🧮

Jen @ladyjenpool.bsky.social · Aug 12

Hey, as a librarian I need to tell you:

Our funding depends on usage.

So go ahead and check out that book even if you don't think you'll finish it. No one will know. Check out that DVD even though you might not like it. Get ambitious in your quest for knowledge.

200 5.7K 13K

Reposted by Jenny Wang 👶 🧮

Deon T. Benton @deontbenton.bsky.social · Aug 13

excited to be chatting with a fellow CMU'er

The It's Innate! Podcast @theitsinnatepc.bsky.social · Aug 13

We're ecstatic to be talking today with Dr. Vlad Ayzenberg (‪@vayzenb.bsky.social‬) about his recent paper in Science Advances exploring the mechanisms that underpin object recognition in young children and adults. Stay tuned!

1 3

Reposted by Jenny Wang 👶 🧮

The It's Innate! Podcast @theitsinnatepc.bsky.social · Aug 13

We're ecstatic to be talking today with Dr. Vlad Ayzenberg (‪@vayzenb.bsky.social‬) about his recent paper in Science Advances exploring the mechanisms that underpin object recognition in young children and adults. Stay tuned!

1 3

Reposted by Jenny Wang 👶 🧮

Jamie Reilly 🦜 @reilly-coglab.com · Aug 13

Nooooo…. I love Google Scholar

Hannah Shelley, MLIS (Metadata, Lattes & Impostor Syndrome) @hannahshelley.bsky.social · Aug 13

Since search is dead, how soon do you think Google Scholar is headed for the Google Graveyard? I'm betting it's soon, and academia is NOT prepared

Google Scholar Is Doomed

Academia built entire careers on a free Google service with zero guarantees. What could go wrong?

hannahshelley.neocities.org

2 1 8

Jenny Wang 👶 🧮 @jinjingjenny1.bsky.social · Aug 12

Thank you for helping us spread the word!

1

Jenny Wang 👶 🧮 @jinjingjenny1.bsky.social · Aug 12

📢 Come join us on Sunday, November 9th for the Rutgers Symposium of Learning with an amazing list of speakers and great company! More details: sites.rutgers.edu/symposium-le...

Rutgers Symposium of Learning

sites.rutgers.edu

1 8 7

Reposted by Jenny Wang 👶 🧮

The It's Innate! Podcast @theitsinnatepc.bsky.social · Aug 8

🚨 New ep! We talk w/ Professor Kiley Hamlin (@jkileyhamlin.bsky.social‬) about her dev sci path, training w/ legends (Woodward, Wynn, Bloom, Santos), & her Nature Comms paper showing 5-day-olds prefer helpers over hinderers. Plus: reconciling ManyBabies & replication woes.

itsinnate.fireside.fm/31

Moral kombat (with Kiley Hamlin)

itsinnate.fireside.fm

5 12