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Ansgar Endress (University of Essen, Germany, 1998; Ecole Polytechnique, France, 2000; MSc, Ecole Polytechnique, France, 2001; PhD, EHESS, France, 2005) My research focuses on the psychological mechanisms involved in aspects of language acquisition and use. I am particularly interested in basic perceptual mechanisms as the basis of diverse computations in both artificial and natural grammar learning, and the role of perceptual cues in word learning. I normally employ behavioral experiments with humans, and computational modeling when I am bored. Now I will add research with non-human primates to investigate the same mechanisms in a non-human species. Ideally, this research will reveal some computational tools used by the language faculty, and indicate which of these are specific to humans and language.
Bryce Huebner My training has primarily been in the philosophy of mind; however, unlike the paradigmatic philosopher, I've always been left cold by the armchair speculation about the mind. So I've decided to engage in systematic empirical research that I hope will allow me to gain a better understanding of the ways in which simpler cognitive mechanisms are integrated in order to solve complex representational tasks. In particular, I am investigating the cognitive mechanisms that allow us to make moral judgments (much of this work takes place through the Moral Sense Test at http://moral.wjh.harvard.edu), as well as on the mechanisms that allow us to ascribe consciousness to others. Building on this empirical research, I am also constructing a theoretical and philosophical account of the conditions under which simple, often distributed, representations can be integrated into more complex representational structures.
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