Pfahl 140

at Blackwell Inn & Conference Center

Jul 25 @ 09:00 EDT - Jul 25 @ 13:00 EDT

Public session

Bringing Cognitive Modeling Up to Speed with Simulation-Based Inference, A Tutorial Approach Simulation based inference (SBI) is an emerging and transformative paradigm for statistical inference, driving model-based insight in a variety of research domains. Traditional statistics education implicitly relies on likelihood functions as the backbone of parameter inference for computational models. However, deriving analytical likelihoods is often infeasible, even for models that are simple to simulate. SBI circumvents this challenge by enabling parameter inference directly from simulation code, eliminating the need for explicit likelihood derivations. Recent advances in computational statistics, deep learning, and user-friendly software have supercharged SBI. In psychology and cognitive science, these developments have made it possible to infer parameters for a wide range of cognitive models. Many of these models were of long-standing theoretical interest but remained untestable due to the lack of efficient inference methods. As a result, our research community has now gained access to a much larger array of computational models that can be routinely tested against data. This workshop aims to guide participants from principles to practice. It will provide attendees with a comprehensive overview of the landscape of SBI techniques as well as a hands-on path from simulation to parameter estimation, using a large basket of methods and covering multiple practical use cases. Participants will gain a clear understanding of the current ecosystem of tools for SBI, the strengths and limitations of specific SBI techniques for different use cases, and the potential synergies between conceptual approaches and existing software libraries.

Jul 25 @ 13:00 EDT - Jul 25 @ 15:00 EDT

Public session

Jul 25 @ 15:00 EDT - Jul 25 @ 17:00 EDT

Public session

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the founding of Women of Math Psych (WoMP)! It is also the first year of our expansion to WoMP-PRIME (Professional Representation for Inclusivity and Minority Empowerment)! In this symposium, we celebrate the past with some of our founding members and look back on the motivations for creating WoMP, how the community was created, and the positive changes we’ve seen as a result. We also look to the future, to discuss how best to support a more diverse community. Please join us to honor the 15+ years of service and the foundational women behind WoMP, and to help us define the kind of community that we hope to grow into over the next 15 years! Panelists include (reverse alphabetical order by last name): Dr. Trish van Zandt – Professor, Department of Psychology, Ohio State University Dr. Robin Thomas – Professor, Center for Neuroscience and Behavior, Psychology, Miami (Ohio) University Dr. Pernille Hemmer – Full Professor, Rutgers University Dr. Barbara Dosher – Distinguished Professor, Cognitive Sciences, School of Social Sciences, University of California, Irvine Dr. Leslie Blaha – Deputy Chief Scientist, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, United States Air Force