LINGUIST List 17.2354
Fri Aug 18 2006
Confs: Cognitive Science;Computational Ling/Italy
Editor for this issue: Jeremy Taylor
<jeremylinguistlist.org>
Directory
1. Paul
Vogt,
Emergence and Evolution of Linguistic Communication
Message 1: Emergence and Evolution of Linguistic Communication
Date: 16-Aug-2006
From: Paul Vogt <p.a.vogtuvt.nl>
Subject: Emergence and Evolution of Linguistic Communication
Emergence and Evolution of Linguistic Communication Short Title: EELC
Date: 30-Sep-2006 - 01-Oct-2006 Location: Rome, Italy Contact: Paul Vogt Contact Email: p.a.vogtuvt.nl Meeting URL: http://bdc.brain.riken.go.jp/eelc2006/
Linguistic Field(s): Cognitive Science; Computational Linguistics; Language Acquisition
Meeting Description:
Third Intl. Symposium on the Emergence and Evolution of Linguistic Communication (EELC III). http://bdc.brain.riken.go.jp/eelc2006/
Rome, Italy, 30 Sept. - 1 Oct. 2006.
As part of the Simulation of Adaptive Behavior (SAB) conference http://www.sab06.org/
Invited Speakers: Peter Gardenfors (Lund University, Sweden), Naoto Iwahashi (ATR, Japan), Elena Lieven (Max Planck Institute, Germany), Eörs Szathmáry (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)
Scope of the Workshop Language is generally considered as the hallmark of human intelligence. One important way to study why this is the case, is to investigate how linguistic communication has evolved. In the past decade, this research area has received a lot of attention from the scientific community and could be considered as one of the main areas of Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science. The EELC III workshop will focus on empirical and modelling research on the emergence of symbol grounding and other aspects of linguistic communication in language evolution and language acquisition. The key questions relate to how symbolic communication can emerge from interactions of individuals with their environment, including other individuals, and how such communication can become meaningful to the individual or population. Research methods that are used to study these issues include experimental and observational studies on child language acquisition and animal communication; theoretical and computational modelling; and (robotic) simulations of adaptive behaviour. The workshop aims to provide leading scientists in the interdisciplinary area of language evolution and language acquisition a platform to present their latest results and discuss areas of further research.
Until about 15 years ago, there was very little productive research in the study of language evolution. However, with the increased advancements of computational techniques and other empirical methods, the field of language evolution has grown to become one of the major research areas in cognitive science. While the field is largely interdisciplinary with contributions from linguistics, psychology, neuroscience, biology, anthropology, philosophy and computer science, the latter has proven to be among the most influential disciplines. A reason for this is that empirical evidence on language evolution is scarce and computer simulations offer a good testbed for investigating hypotheses. One of the major driving forces for language evolution is often considered to be language acquisition. Language can be transmitted over subsequent generations if individuals can learn language.
Moreover, it has been claimed that the stages of children's language acquisition mirrors the stages of language evolution. So, the current EELC will not only look at studies on the evolution of language, but also at studies on language acquisition.
Although many computer simulations take the emergence of symbol grounding for granted, recently there has been an increase in studies that focus on issues relating to the emergence of grounded communication systems. The EELC III will therefore have 'adaptive approaches to symbol grounding and beyond' as its central theme, though contributions are not limited to this theme.
Submissions are invited covering all aspects of the emergence and evolution of language. All accepted papers will be published in a Springer LNCS/LNAI Series. For more information and details on submission, consult the workshop's homepage, http://bdc.brain.riken.go.jp/eelc2006/.
Extended deadline: 7 May 2006 Notification of acceptance: 2 June 2006 Camera ready submissions: 30 June 2006 Workshop date: 30 Sept. - 1 Oct. 2006
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