2021 CogFest Film and Television Event
Cognitive Science and The Good Place
Thursday April 8th at 7pm EDT
Guests joined us virtually to engage in a wide-ranging panel discussion on the cognitive science themes raised by the popular television series, The Good Place (NBC, 2016-2020). We brought together four experts in various cognitive science disciplines who are passionate about the series. They were excited to engage in questions from the audience. The event was free and open to everyone!
Missed out? View the recorded discussion here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX7-AmUPdJw
Expert Panel:
Pamela Hieronymi, Ph.D. (Professor of Philosophy, UCLA)
Dr. Hieronymi’s research focuses on ethics, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of action. She served as a Philosophy Consultant for The Good Place, working with creator/producer Michael Schur, as he was writing the original scripts for the show. She is currently writing a book, Minds that Matter, addressing the problem of free will and moral responsibility.
Richard Samuels, Ph.D. (Professor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University)
Dr. Samuels works at the intersection between philosophy and related disciplines of cognitive science, with interests including cognitive development, reasoning, and numerical cognition. He co-edited The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Cognitive Science and is currently co-authoring Number Concepts: The Nature and Content of Numerical Thought.
Damien Williams, M.S. (Doctoral Candidate in Science, Technology & Society, Virginia Tech)
Mr. Williams’ research interests span philosophy of mind, artificial intelligence, disability studies, and the representations of nonhuman consciousness in pop culture. He is especially interested in The Good Place’s character Janet. He recently published an article titled, Consciousness and Conscious Machines: What’s at Stake?
Robin Zebrowski, Ph.D. (Associate Professor of Cognitive Science, Beloit College)
Dr. Zebrowski studies human embodiment and how it relates artificial intelligence, robotics, and cyborg theory. She has published multiple scholarly papers on The Good Place, including a piece titled, From Clickwheel Through Busty Alexa: The Embodied Case for Janet and Artificial Consciousness. She also teaches a popular course, The Good Place and Philosophy.
Co-sponsored by CCBS, The Wexner Center for the Arts, and the Cognitive Science Club.
2021 CogFest Undergraduate Poster Session
Ohio State undergraduates involved in research in the cognitive sciences were invited to participate in the fourth annual CogFest Undergraduate Poster Session on March 29-31.
The CogFest Poster Session provides an opportunity for undergraduate students to share research with the Cognitive Science community at Ohio State, who also are working on questions related to human cognition, including learning, memory, perception, language, and decision making, from behavioral, applied, computational modeling, and cognitive neuroscience perspectives.
The 2021 Undergraduate Poster Session was virtual due to ongoing public health concerns. Thank you to everyone who made this year a success!
Congratulations to our 2021 Poster Session Winners!
1ST PLACE VAIBHAV KHANDELWAL
Poster: Exploring the Effect of Instruction on the Generalizability of Strategy Choice in Visual Search Tasks
2ND PLACE HANNA KIM & KYLE HARRIS
Poster: AAC Outcomes Scoping Review
All Presenters
ELSA ALVARADO
- Replication of "Eyes of the Prize": Do People Selectively Ignore Decision Outcomes That Would Make Them Experience Regret?
- Additional Co-Authors: Nathaniel Haines and Theodore Beauchaine
- Faculty Advisor: Theodore Beauchaine
- Presenter’s Email: alvarado.104@osu.edu
HANNA KIM & KYLE HARRIS
- ACC Outcomes Scoping Review
- Additional Co-Authors: Carmen DiGiovine, Amy Sonntag, and Allison Bean
- Faculty Advisor: Allison Bean
- Presenter’s Email: kim.6825@osu.edu and harris.2891@osu.edu
SKYLAR THOMPSON
- Use of Animation in Speech Generating Devices: State of the Field and Clinician Implications
- Additional Co-Authors: Bethany Frick, Jamie Boster, and Allison Bean
- Faculty Advisor: Allison Bean
- Presenter’s Email: thompson.3702@buckeyemail.osu.edu
JACQUELINE BAO
- Saccades Disrupt Attentional Filtering for Visual Working Memory
- Additional Co-Authors: Blaire Dube and Julie Golomb
- Faculty Advisor: Julie Golomb
- Presenter’s Email: bao.224@osu.edu
NICK BEDNAR
- Lingustics Outreach for Improving Science Attitudes: DIY Citizen Science
- Additional Co-Authors: Laura Wagner (OSU) & Sudha Arunachalam (NYU)
- Faculty Advisor: Laura Wagner
- Presenter’s Email: bednar.48@osu.edu
VAIBHAV KHANDELWAL
- Exploring the Effect of Instruction on the Generalizability of Strategy Choice in Visual Search Tasks
- Additional Co-Authors: Molly R. McKinney, Walden Y. Li, Jessica L. Irons, and Andrew B. Leber
- Faculty Advisor: Andrew Leber
- Presenter’s Email: khandelwal.34@osu.edu
Questions can be directed to CCBS (ccbs@osu.edu) or Rachael Frush Holt (holt.339@osu.edu).