PhD Positions: Emergence of Linguistic Structures in Multi-agent Systems, France
Master degree or equivalent in cognitive science or computer science, France
Job Description: The origins of language and more broadly of communication have caught the attention of scientists in fields as diverse as linguistics, biology, archaeology, psychology, computer science, etc. Among these various approaches, computer modeling sheds light on the emergence of a communication system both structured and distributed in a community of speakers. Models are intrinsically reductionist and often fall short of encompassing the reality. However, they rely on plausible cognitive and social mechanisms. Their design, voluntarily kept simple and controlled, aims at unearthing the sufficient and/or necessary conditions of the emergence of a communication system.
Since the nineties, simulations have developed both in their range and complexity. From the emergence of a shared lexicon, they have shifted to the development of shared sound systems and syntactic structures. The “speakers” often consist of a purely virtual/software multi?agents system.
The emergence of regularities and structures in a communication system is a tough issue. Getting from basic rules – word order, declination systems, compositionality etc. – to more complex structures in particular raises a number of challenges.
The PhD candidate will study the relevance of a mathematical formalism, lambda?calculus, for the modeling of the cognitive operations of software agents involved in the emergence of a communication system. This formalism has received attention in the quest for a general theory of functions, and has already been put to use in the study of other emergent phenomena. Fontana, Walter and Buss have for example applied it to the origins of life, and the emergence of organized and self?reproductive forms.
Lambda?calculus may be successfully applied to the emergence of linguistic regularities too:
i)its main features echo those of human language: sequentiality and recursivity ;
ii)its strong generativity and its internal constraints are good candidates for the emergence of diverse and original structures during simulation.
Required skills and experience:
? Strong programming skills mandatory (preferably C++)
? Experience in modeling and artificial intelligence
? Ability to deal with advanced mathematical formalisms (lambda?calculus)
? Knowledge in linguistics and/or psychology preferred, or strong motivation to acquire a range of notions in these domains
Application deadline: October, 15 2010
Further scholarship information and Application
Scholarship Tags: France, Linguistic, PhD, Scholarship, Structures
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