Theoretical Modeling textbook by Mark Blokpoel and Iris van Rooij
Cognitive and/or psychological theories often start as verbal descriptions of observed regularities in human behavior and some intuitive ideas about their causal origins. Such informal verbal theories are a good place to start explanations of cognition, but are also limited. For example, it is difficult to test if an informal theory is internally consistent, if the theory explains observed phenomena, and if the processes assumed by the theory are computationally and physically realizable. To make verbal theories more precise, scientists engage in theoretical modeling.
A theoretical model describes, in a precise (formal) language, how we think that (a part of) cognition or behavior may work. In this workshop, you will learn to build such formal models. Afterwards, you can use the acquired formal modeling skills to develop your own theoretical models in your domain of interest in cognitive science or psychology.
The workshop is open to interested Master students and PhD candidates. Check out the full schedule below. Please note that all times for the contact sessions listed below are CEST.
The workshop will take place from September 2nd till October 17th. Physical presence in Nijmegen is not required in order to participate, as all of the contact sessions will be held online. These online contact sessions will take place in Gathertown: the welcome session on September 5th, two practice sessions on September 12th and 19th, and the closing session on October 17th.
Opening lecture
Workshop schedule
| Week | Date and time | Activity type | Activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 📖 | Read Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 of the Theoretical Modeling textbook, read van Rooij & Baggio (2021) and watch the video of the opening lecture (optional: Cummins (2000) 📄) | |
| Thursday, September 5, 13:30–15.30 | 👥 | Welcome meeting | |
| 2 | 📖 | Read Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 (optional: van Rooij and Blokpoel (2020) 📄) | |
| Thursday, September 12, 13:30–16.30 | 👥 📝 | Formalisation Practice I | |
| 📝 | Read feedback on the first formalisation practice exercise | ||
| 3 | Thursday, September 19, 13:30–16.30 | 👥 📝 | Formalisation Practice II |
| 4 | September 23–29 | 🏄 | Break |
| 5 | 📖 📝 | Select and read a paper for the assessment exercise (optional: Hahn et al. 2003 📄 or a different paper in your domain of interest) | |
| 📝 | Start working on the assessment exercise | ||
| 6 | 📝 | Finish working on the assessment exercise | |
| 7 | October 17, 13:30–15:30 | 👥 | Closing session with QA, reflections, discussion, feedback |
Organisers
 | Natalia Scharfenberg is a PhD candidate working on meta-theory in the Computational Cognitive Science group, and a junior lecturer at the Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence (AI) department at Radboud University. She coordinates this workshop. | |
 | Mark Blokpoel is a computer scientist and computational cognitive scientist. He is an assistant professor at the Cognitive Science and AI department and a senior researcher in the Computational Cognitive Science group. He coordinates the Radboud-Aarhus Computational Cognitive Science collaboration. | |
 | Iris van Rooij is a psychologist and computational cognitive scientist. She is a professor and PI of the Computational Cognitive Science group and Head of the Cognitive Science and AI department. She is also a guest professor at Aarhus University. | |
 | Joshua Skewes is an associate professor in Cognitive Science. He is Head of Department for Linguistics, Cognitive Science, and Semiotics, and Head of Department of Culture, Cognition, and Computation at Aarhus University, Denmark. |
License
The workshop materials are released under the CC BY 4.0 license. The workshop website is made with Hugo using the PaperMod theme released under the MIT license.
The artwork by Danielle Navarro is released under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, and used with permission.
Acknowledgements
The workshop is part of an educational collaboration between the AI programme at Radboud University, and the Cognitive Science programme at Aarhus University, Denmark, supported by funding from It-vest. This work was in part supported by a Distinguished NIAS Lorentz Fellowship awarded to Iris van Rooij. We thank Katarzyna Gugnowska and Alexander Enge who organised the Tools for Theory workshop in 2021.
Contact
For questions related to the workshop, please contact Natalia, and CC Iris and Mark.
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