Understanding the Cognitive and Neurobiological Systems Involved in Categorization Behaviour

我工作的主要目标是发展一个关于如何学习类别和如何利用概念知识的全面理论。分类包括感知一个物体，激活记忆表征，评估与这些表征的相似性，并做出决定。一些理论侧重于表征的性质，有证据表明，类别被表征为相似记忆的集群或单一的抽象原型。其他理论关注的是学习者在决策过程中如何制定规则。总而言之，这些理论解释了各种各样的现有现象，但许多模型缺乏它们如何映射到大脑结构和功能上。此外，一些模型和理论用不同的假设解释了相同的现象。为了使这一领域取得进展，研究应该努力调和这些差异，并确定这些模型如何解释生物学和认知现象。提出的研究推进了我们对分类科学的理解，并为探索和发现创造了新的机会。 我提议进行几项研究，以考察人们学习类别时的基本认知机制。这些数据将被用来验证和改进现有的分类计算模型，这些模型是在我之前的NSERC拨款中开发的。这些模型将被用来产生预测，以推进分类的计算认知神经科学。我将在我的实验室最近的工作的基础上，通过收集脑电来测量大脑的电生理学，同时参与者学习新的概念。我还提议进行一项功能磁共振研究，以检查人类海马体系统的特定区域--海马区周围皮质--的作用，该区域可能在新感知与现有记忆的整合中发挥作用。这一区域在老年人中可能不那么活跃，这种活动减少可能是我们早期工作中观察到的与年龄相关的缺陷的原因。 我的研究总体上对认知科学具有重要意义，因为对范畴化的理解对于理解语言、解决问题和推理等其他能力至关重要。我的研究结果也有助于向该领域提供不同情况下最佳学习和表现环境的信息。 我的研究项目得到了大学以及联邦和省政府最近针对西部大学认知神经科学研究的投资的加强。这包括2017年建成的一座新的研究大楼，其中包括大脑和心灵研究所。我的研究室，博士生、硕士生和本科生，都住在这个新设施里。这些学生将参与拟议研究计划的所有阶段，将与他人共同撰写同行评议的出版物，并将在国内和国际会议上展示研究成果。

The primary goal of my work is to develop a comprehensive theory of how categories are learned and how conceptual knowledge is utilized. Classification involves perceiving an object, activating memory representations, assessing similarity to these representations, and making a decision. Some theories have focused on the nature of the representations and there is evidence that categories are represented as clusters of similar memories or as single, abstract prototypes. Other theories have focused on how learners formulate rules in the decision process. Collectively, these theories account for a wide variety of existing phenomena but many models are lacking in how they map onto brain structure and function. As well, some models and theories account for the same phenomena with differing assumptions. In order for the field to progress, research should strive to reconcile these differences and to identify how these models account for biological and well as cognitive phenomena. The proposed research advances our understanding of the science of categorization and creates new opportunities for exploration and discovery. I am proposing several studies to examine the fundamental cognitive mechanisms that operate when people learn categories. The data will be used to validate and refine existing computational models of categorization that were developed in my previous NSERC grants. These models will be used to generate predictions for advancing the computational cognitive neuroscience of categorization. I will build on recent work in my lab that measured electrophysiology in the brain by collecting EEG while participants learned novel concepts. I am also proposing an fMRI study to examine the role of a specific area of the human hippocampal system, the perirhinal cortex, that may play a role in the integration of new percepts with existing memory. This region may be less active in older adults and this reduced activity may be responsible for age-related deficits observed in our earlier work. My research is significant to the cognitive sciences in general because an understanding of categorization is crucial to the understanding of other abilities such as language, problem solving, and reasoning. The results of my research also help to inform the field on the optimal learning and performance environments in different scenarios. My research program has been enhanced by recent investments by the University and the Federal and Provincial governments targeting the study of cognitive neuroscience at Western University. This includes a new research building completed in 2017 that houses the Brain and Mind Institute. My research lab, doctoral students, master's students, and undergraduates, are housed in this new facility. These students will be involved in all stages of the proposed research program, will co-author peer-reviewed publications, and will present the research at national and international conferences.