Language and Memory Aging Lab

The idea that human cognition is, or can be understood as, a form of computation is a useful conceptual tool for cognitive science. It was a foundational assumption during the birth of cognitive science as a multidisciplinary field, with Artificial Intelligence (AI) as one of its contributing fields. One conception of Al in this context is as a provider of computational tools (frameworks, concepts, formalisms, models, proofs, simulations, etc.) that support theory building in cognitive science. The contemporary field of Al, however, has taken the theoretical possibility of explaining human cognition as a form of computation to imply the practical feasibility of realising human(-like or -level) cognition in factual computational systems; and, the field frames this realisation as a short-term inevitability. Yet, as we formally prove herein, creating systems with human(-like or -level) cognition is intrinsically computationally intractable.

🚨Our paper `Reclaiming AI as a theoretical tool for cognitive science' is now forthcoming in the journal Computational Brain & Behaviour. (Preprint: osf.io/preprints/ps...)

Below a thread summary 🧵1/n

#metatheory #AGI #AIhype #cogsci #theoreticalpsych #criticalAIliteracy

There is time to urge a change to the current #GRFP solicitation ( #NSF 25-547 ): reverse the eligibility restrictions and ensure applicants (including 2nd year PhD students) have a fair chance in the competition.

Feel free to sign and share this open petition:
laurenkuehne.github.io/grfpChanges/

🚨Pre-print alert!🚨 osf.io/preprints/ps...
The first paper from our NIDCD-funded study examining the effects of aging, acoustic challenge, and hearing loss on language-related ERPs. w/ Jack Silcox, David Strayer, Sarah Ferguson, and Karen Bennett. Check it out!

Please add me too!

Sounding the alarm on pseudoreplication: Q&A with Constantinos Eleftheriou and Peter Kind Most studies of neurological disorders in mice erroneously treat multiple samples from a single animal as independent replicates, according to a new analysis. But scientists and journals can take…

A statistical error known as pseudoreplication appears in more than half of recent mouse studies on neurological disorders, according to a new study. Peter Kind and Constantino Elfetheriou tell Lauren Schenkman why researchers should pay attention.

www.thetransmitter.org/pseudoreplic...

President Trump’s FY26 budget for #NSF will slash funding for the agency by 56.9% and funding for Social, Behavioral, and Economic sciences by 67.6%

These cuts will end US STEM leadership, weaken national security, and set-back individual prosperity and well-being.

NSF, NASA and NIH budgets per year, inflation adjusted from 2000-2025 along with the proposed cuts. NSF includes research component only. Massive cuts across all sectors, well below support spanning 25 years.

The President's Budget request as released yesterday will gut scientific research. Why should you care?
1) Science is fundamentally a jobs program. Many 100,000s are employed to do science and work for you, the US taxpayer.

Devastating...

Welcome to Save The U.S. National Science Foundation A Girl Looking at a Physics Model TAKE ACTION Save NSF is a coalition of concerned scientists and allies who are working to save funding for scientific grants through the U.S. National Science Foundation. Our mission is to support and advocate for the continuation of vital research and innovation in various scientific fields. NSF funding is critical to this work. Join us in our endeavor to ensure a sustainable future for scientific exploration and discovery.

I am so heartened to this seriously AWESOME #SaveNSF website go up today!!!!

Has a take action toolkit with:

1. Press outreach templates
2. Social media toolkit
3. Elected official outreach
4. Talking points

Check it out and share widely!!!! Likely more to come.

www.savensf.com

And here is a free link to the published paper, now in Brain and Language: authors.elsevier.com/c/1l18O,28iJ...

A meme about Chomsky's notion of universal grammar and how it is no longer as dominant in theories of language acquisition

Every year at the end of the semester, I ask the students in my Psych of Language class to create memes about what they've learned. They then vote for their favorites.
Here's the winner about how the idea of a universal grammar is no longer as compelling as it once seemed.
1/5

Out now in Brain & Language -- "Did you say brain or brave? Event-related potentials reveal the central role of phonological prediction in false hearing"

osf.io/preprints/os...

Hey academics, wondering about changes for evaluating job applicants and T&P decisions.

Downgrade importance of grants if getting grants is no longer based on scientific evaluation.

Increase the value of communication with the general public. We need to speak clearly about the value of our work.

Had a blast at #CNS2025! Proud of our LaMA labbers who gave some awesome presentations!

Eyes on Reading: What’s Next in the Science of Reading — Planet Word Museum Don’t miss this rare opportunity to hear from Dr. Mark Seidenberg and Dr. Maryellen MacDonald, two of the world’s leading scientists in reading and language research, as they join Planet…

I'm giving a talk with Mark Seidenberg at Planet Word Museum on March 1. We haven't done a joint talk in over 30 years! My part aims to bring insights from psycholinguistic research to children's reading instruction. planetwordmuseum.org/events/eyes-...

Single-trial relationships between neural and pupillometric indices of error-processing and behavior. The amplitude of the error-related negativity (ERN) is known to be correlated with attention to task and general cognitive control abilities. Yet, previous research has struggled to consistently link ...

🚨Pre-print alert! 🚨

New paper lead by Sara LoTemplio & Jack Silcox (not on bluesky)-- We examine single-trial relationships between error-related brain and pupil responses and their prediction of post-error behavior via simultaneous EEG-pupillometry.

www.authorea.com/users/869767...

“NIH produces an astounding return on investment to the American taxpayer. In Fiscal Year 2022, NIH research funding supported 568,585 jobs and generated $96.84 billion in economic activity — that’s $2.64 of economic activity for every $1 of research funding.”
www.researchamerica.org/2023-oped-us...

Please add me! Thanks!

A great time at #psynom24 seeing new science, presenting our recent work, and catching up with old friends!

Hello everyone! A brief bio: we are a cognitive neuroscience research lab in the Psychology department at University of Utah. We research the cognitive and neural bases of language comprehension across the adult lifespan using tools like EEG, eye tracking, and TMS. Account run by Brennan Payne.