REU Site: Language, Cognition and Computation

该网站由国防部与美国国家科学基金会本科生研究经验（REU）网站计划合作支持。REU项目集研究和教育于一体，具有科学和社会效益。认知科学的最新发展带来了突破性的新科学成果，并为社交计算和辅助技术等领域令人兴奋的新应用提供了基础。然而，这些发展对教育提出了挑战。即使在顶尖的研究型大学，学生也很难接受适当的训练；在不提供广泛研究培训的机构中，情况更加困难。该REU解决了这一挑战。该项目位于斯坦福大学语言与信息研究中心（CSLI），该中心是跨学科认知科学领域的顶级机构。该项目为来自不同背景的有才华的本科生提供了在顶级实验室进行指导研究的机会，并提供了包括技术培训、专业发展和学术讨论在内的支持性项目框架。推动这一REU的科学和技术创新源于认知科学核心学科的融合——心理学、语言学和计算机科学——围绕不确定性、近似和学习的主题。随着心理学和语言学的计算性越来越强，计算也在回归它的认知根源。在心理学领域发展起来的人工智能技术在机器学习领域正在复苏，句法结构的自然语言处理模型正在成为心理语言学中标准的认知建模框架。在这种新的智力环境中进行研究的先决条件包括理解思维的运作方式，熟悉人类语言和交流的本质，精通统计分析，以及高级编程技能。然而，一个经典的心理学或语言学学位几乎不提供编程或技术经验，一个标准的计算机科学教育不包括任何关于思维如何工作的内容。这个REU填补了本科生培训的空白，并有助于培养新的、更多样化的一代研究人员进入认知科学领域。

This site is supported by the Department of Defense in partnership with the NSF's Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Sites program. The REU program has both scientific and societal benefits integrating research and education. Recent developments in cognitive science have led to breakthrough new scientific results and are providing the basis for exciting new applications in areas like social computing and assistive technologies. These developments present a challenge for education, however. Even at top research universities, students are hard-pressed to receive the appropriate training; the situation is even more difficult at institutions that do not provide extensive research training. This REU addresses this challenge. Based at Stanford's Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI), a top institution for interdisciplinary cognitive science, the program provides talented undergraduates from diverse backgrounds with both an opportunity to do mentored research in a top laboratory and a supportive program framework that includes technical training, professional development, and academic discussion.The scientific and technological innovations motivating this REU derive from a convergence within the core disciplines of cognitive science -- psychology, linguistics, and computer science -- around themes of uncertainty, approximation, and learning. As psychology and linguistics are becoming more computational, computation is returning to its cognitive roots. Artificial intelligence techniques developed in psychology are undergoing a resurgence in machine learning, and natural language processing models of syntactic structure are becoming the standard cognitive modeling frameworks in psycholinguistics. The prerequisites for research in this new intellectual environment include an understanding of how the mind works, familiarity with the nature of human language and communication, proficiency in statistical analysis, and advanced programming skills. Yet a classic psychology or linguistics degree provides almost no programming or technical experience, and a standard computer science education doesn't include any content on how the mind works. This REU fills such gaps in the training of undergraduates and helps to foster a new, more diverse generation of researchers entering cognitive science.