Theory of Cognitive Systems
Prof. Dr. Gregor Schöner
Research interest
I would like to understand how embodied and situated nervous systems develop cognition. To do that, my colleagues and I have developed the theoretical framework of Dynamical Field Theory. In a set of close theory-experiment collaborations we validate the concept of the theory and systematically build an account of action, perception, and embodied cognition. Exemplary studies include multi-degree of freedom movements, learning of motor skills, perception of motion, working memory for action, space and visual features, sensory-motor decision making and the development of early cognition and motor behavior. In a second line of research we develop of autonomous robots inspired by these same theoretical principles. The main emphasis is on service robotics, in which autonomous robots interact with human users.
Methods
- use of attractor dynamics and their instabilities at three levels to generate movement trajectories, to generate goal-directed sequences of behaviors, and to derive task-relevant perceptual representations that support goal-directed behavior
- modeling to account for neural and behavioral data as well as our own experimental program on naturalistic object-oriented movement tasks
Master theses
Suggestions for Master projects in the department Theory of Cognitive Systems (2023)
Examples of previously supervised Master theses:
- Understanding ‘Nos’ and ‘Nots’: Modelling Negation in a DFT Architecture (2024)
- Investigating concept representation and combination with Dynamic Field Theory (2023)
- A representational structure underlying flexible action planning (2022)
Website
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