Colloques du Collège de France - Collège de France

Stanislas DehaeneChaire Psychologie cognitive expérimentaleAnnée 2025-2026Collège de FranceColloque : Seeing the Mind, Educating the BrainTheme: Human SingularityScaling Intelligence the Human Way Colloque - Josh Tenenbaum : Scaling Intelligence the Human Way Josh Tenenbaum

Stanislas DehaeneChaire Psychologie cognitive expérimentaleAnnée 2025-2026Collège de FranceColloque : Seeing the Mind, Educating the BrainTheme: Human SingularityThe What?, How? And Why? Of Behavior: Using Cognitive Computational Models to Answer Distinct Questions about Human CognitionColloque - Valentin Wyart : The What?, How? And Why? Of Behavior: Using Cognitive Computational Models to Answer Distinct Questions about Human CognitionValentin WyartRésuméQuantitative modeling approaches are routinely used in cognitive science to make sense of behavior. Statistical models are designed to test *what* specific patterns are present in behavior, whereas cognitive computational models are developed to describe *how* specific behavioral patterns may emerge from latent cognitive processes. These two types of modeling approaches have successfully identified characteristic (and sometimes suboptimal) features of human learning and decision-making under uncertainty. In this talk, I will argue that cognitive computational models can be used to answer the distinct question of *why* these characteristic features are there. I will use recent studies that rely on different classes of models (low-dimensional algorithmic models, high-dimensional neural networks) to explain characteristic features of human cognition in terms of latent objectives and constraints.

Stanislas DehaeneChaire Psychologie cognitive expérimentaleAnnée 2025-2026Collège de FranceColloque : Seeing the Mind, Educating the BrainTheme: Human SingularityDissecting the Language of Thought Hypothesis across Marr's LevelsColloque - Mathias Sablé-Meyer : Dissecting the Language of Thought Hypothesis across Marr's LevelsMathias Sablé-MeyerRésuméThe Language of Thought (LoT) hypothesis posits that mental representations are best understood as programme-like objects; indeed, "thoughts" share properties such as productivity and systematicity with programming languages. I tackle questions that arise from taking this hypothesis at face value and unfolding its predictions, from computational accounts to mechanistic implementation. First, zooming on humans' cognition of geometric shapes, I show that in all human groups tested (adults, children, congenitally blind), the perception of shapes is heavily influenced by geometric features. Then, I show using MEG and fMRI that the neural signature of these exact geometric properties is separate both in timing and localisation from typical visual processes. To generalise beyond quadrilaterals, I commit to a proposition for a generative language of shapes to account for the complexity of geometric shapes in humans, while implementing an algorithm for perception-as-program-inference. Finally, building on recent results in rodent neuroscience, I sketch a research programme and give preliminary results on a mechanistic understanding of how program-like representations might be implemented by populations of neurons.

Stanislas DehaeneChaire Psychologie cognitive expérimentaleAnnée 2025-2026Collège de FranceColloque : Seeing the Mind, Educating the BrainTheme: Human SingularityUniquely Human Prediction?Colloque - Floris de Lange : Uniquely Human Prediction?Floris de LangeRésuméThe brain is fundamentally a predictive organ that uses internal models to extrapolate future events from current inputs. While this predictive capacity exists across species, what may be uniquely human are the specific internal models we employ. Using AI tools to quantify predictability in naturalistic environments, we can examine prediction at multiple levels of abstraction. In my talk I will highlight recent work from the domain of language, music and visual perception, elucidating how uniquely human experiences and capabilities shape our predictive models of the world.

Stanislas DehaeneChaire Psychologie cognitive expérimentaleAnnée 2025-2026Collège de FranceColloque : Seeing the Mind, Educating the BrainTheme: Space, Time, and NumberHow Humans Compress Information in Memory: The Language of Thought Hypothesis Colloque - Fosca Al Roumi : How Humans Compress Information in Memory: The Language of Thought Hypothesis Fosca Al Roumi

Stanislas DehaeneChaire Psychologie cognitive expérimentaleAnnée 2025-2026Collège de FranceColloque : Seeing the Mind, Educating the BrainTheme: Neural Codes in Monkeys and HumansDo Monkeys See the Way We Do?Colloque - Arun SP : Do Monkeys See the Way We Do?Arun SPRésuméMonkeys are widely used as model organisms for vision and cognition. While their anatomy and physiology have strong correspondences with humans, it is unclear whether they truly see the way we do. In most studies, monkeys are extensively trained on specific tasks, leaving us without a more general answer to this question, along with the nagging doubt that the extensive training might have altered their perception. So how do we then test whether monkeys see the way we do? 

Stanislas DehaeneChaire Psychologie cognitive expérimentaleAnnée 2025-2026Collège de FranceColloque : Seeing the Mind, Educating the BrainTheme: Space, Time, and NumberThe Perception and Understanding of Patterns and GraphicsColloque - Lorenzo Ciccione : The Perception and Understanding of Patterns and GraphicsLorenzo CiccioneRésuméGraphics are a cultural product, meaning that they are a human invention with defined rules and syntax. In this respect, they are very similar to written words and numbers, probably the two most famous cultural inventions. However, unlike them, graphics have been invented much more recently and they became widespread only in the last two centuries. Furthermore, graphicacy—the ability to read and understand graphics—has received little attention from cognitive psychology. In this talk, I will present some findings about the human ability to intuitively extract statistics and mathematical relations from graphical representations. Specifically, I will show that: graphics' intuitions are available early on in development, independently from formal education, and correlate with statistical and mathematical knowledge; judging the trends of noisy graphical displays recycles brain areas usually devoted to the detection of objects' orientation (in agreement with the neuronal recycling hypothesis) and also activates the brain network for mathematics; both children and adults can extrapolate non-linear mathematical patterns, with the notable exception of quadratic and exponential functions.

Stanislas DehaeneChaire Psychologie cognitive expérimentaleAnnée 2025-2026Collège de FranceColloque : Seeing the Mind, Educating the BrainTheme: Neural Codes in Monkeys and HumansSingle-Neuron Correlates of Perception and Memory in the Human Medial Temporal LobeColloque - Florian Mormann : Single-Neuron Correlates of Perception and Memory in the Human Medial Temporal LobeFlorian Mormann

Stanislas DehaeneChaire Psychologie cognitive expérimentaleAnnée 2025-2026Collège de FranceColloque : Seeing the Mind, Educating the BrainTheme: Space, Time, and NumberSpace as the Fabric of ThoughtColloque - Manuela Piazza : Space as the Fabric of ThoughtManuela Piazza

Stanislas DehaeneChaire Psychologie cognitive expérimentaleAnnée 2025-2026Collège de FranceColloque : Seeing the Mind, Educating the BrainTheme: Space, Time, and NumberNetwork Coding in Grid Cells and Place Cells: From Space to MemoryColloque - Edvard Moser : Network Coding in Grid Cells and Place Cells: From Space to MemoryEdvard Moser