[alife] CFP: Emergence and Evolution of Linguistic Communication
Chrystopher Nehaniv
C.L.Nehaniv at herts.ac.uk
Thu Sep 2 13:00:17 PDT 2004
Call for Papers:
Second International Symposium on the Emergence and Evolution of
Linguistic Communication
(EELC'05)
at the AISB'05 Convention 12-15 April 2005, Hatfield UK
Programme Chairs:
Angelo Cangelosi, University of Plymouth, UK (Chair)
Chrystopher L. Nehaniv, University of Herfordshire, UK (Co-Chair)
Invited Speakers:
Luc Steels (AI Lab Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium)
Alison Wray* (Cardiff University, Wales)
W. Tecumseh Fitch* (University of St. Andrews, Scotland)
(* pending confirmation)
Scope of the Symposium
The renewed scientific interest in the emergence and evolution of
linguistic communication has become one of the most important
research issues in Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science.
The EELC'05 Symposium will focus on the latest empirical and
modelling research on the evolutionary factors that affect the
acquisition, self-organization and origins of linguistic
communication systems and their precursors. This considers both
language-specific abilities (e.g. speech, semantics and syntax)
and other cognitive, sensorimotor and social abilities (e.g.
category learning, action and embodiment, social networks). Key
questions relate to the the emergence of: symbol grounding;
deixis, gesture, and reference; predication; negation; syntactic
categories; and compositionality; among other issues in the
context of embodied, social interaction and evolution. This is a
field characterized by a highly interdisciplinary and
multi-methodological approach. It benefits from the contribution
of researchers from wide ranging disciplines such as linguistics,
psychology, neuroscience, anthropology and computer science. The
methodologies adopted cover a wide range of approaches, from
animal and human experiments, to brain studies and to
computational and robotic modelling of linguistic behaviour. For
example, computational models of language evolution and emergence
involve artificial intelligence methods (e.g. artificial neural
networks, evolutionary computation, rule-based systems) and
techniques for the simulation of behaviour (artificial life,
multi-agent systems, adaptive behaviour and robotics). The
symposium will create the opportunity for the many of most
influential in the field to present their latest research and to
discuss the agenda for future studies.
The use of computational models for simulating the evolution of
language has been one of the main contributors to the renewed
interest in language evolution research. In fact, up to 10 years
ago, very few researchers were directly interested in the origins
and evolution of language and publications on new language
evolution studies were uncommon. This was partly the result of
the famous ban in the 19th century by the Soci=E9t=E9 Linguistique de
Paris on research and publication on language origins to quell
rampant, unfounded speculation on the topic. The development of
the first language evolution models in the early 90s permitted to
deal with some of the main difficulties in such a scientific
field. Theories of language origins and evolution not only were
difficult to test empirically but they tended to be stated in
vague and general terms and were unable to generate detailed
empirical predictions. This has been partially due to the problem
of the objective scarcity of empirical evidence. It is this very
problematic aspect of the study of language evolution which
computer simulations can help us to overcome. Computer
simulations are theories of the empirical phenomena that are
simulated (Cangelosi & Parisi 2002). Simulations are a novel way
to express theories in science. They are scientific theories
expressed as computer programs. The program incorporates a set of
hypotheses on the causes, mechanisms, and processes underlying
the simulated phenomena and, when the program runs in the
computer, the results of the simulations are the empirical
predictions derived from the theory incorporated in the
simulation. All this contributes to the development of a new
approach to the study of the origins and evolution of language.
The EELC Symposium Series
Following on from the success of the First International Workshop
on the Emergence and Evolution of Linguistic Communication in
Japan 2004, and the Evolution of Language conferences. This
symposium will be held 14-15 April 2005 at the University of
Hertfordshire, de Havilland Campus, Hatfield, just outside
London. It will be part of the AISB-2005 convention 12-15 April
2005, whose overall theme is "Social Intelligence and Interaction
in Animals, Robots and Agents". EELC'04 was the First
International Workshop on the Emergence and Evolution of
Linguistic Communication (EELC), held in Kanazawa (Japan) in
May/June 2004 under the auspices of the Japanese Society for
Artificial Intelligence (JSAI), the Japanese counterpart of AISB,
at their 2004 Convention. The 2nd EELC Symposium at AISB05 in the
U.K. aims to continue the philosophy of this meeting and its
international tradition. This is particularly relevant because
both British and Japanese scientists have played a major role on
the development of computational models of language evolution. In
addition, the location of the workshop within the AISB annual
meeting will permit a better exchange with other researchers
working in the field of artificial intelligence and simulation of
behaviour, both those working in Britain and those will come from
abroad to attend the meeting.
Aims of the Symposium
* To provide an common interdisciplinary forum for researchers
of the emergence and evolution of language
* To discuss and disseminate the latest research on
theoretical, empirical and modeling investigations of the
evolution of linguistic communication and its precursors
* To set the agenda for future research and identify the most
promising theoretical and methodological issues in the area
Symposium Structure
The symposium is expected to last for 2 days, 14-15 April but may
be extended depending on number and quality of submissions. It
will include several keynote speakers presentations for a total
of about 20 talks, with time for discussion of each paper, panel
and open discussions. The actual number of presentations and
duration will depend on the number and quality of submissions.
Submissions
Extended abstracts, three to four A4 pages in length (including
author affiliations, references etc) should be submitted
electronically (PDF, Postscript or ASCII format) to
A.Cangelosi at plymouth.ac.uk. All submissions will be acknowledged
and refereed by the international scientific programme committee.
Publication
All accepted papers will be published as an AISB proceedings
volume dedicated to the symposium with an ISBN number. [The
length of final papers will likely be about 8 pages in two-column
AISB format. We will be putting information about the common
AISB'05 publication style here as soon as it is available].
Authors of selected papers will also invited to submit expanded
versions of their articles to an edited post-proceedings
volume/journal to be published by a well-known scientific
publisher.
Important Dates
Extended abstracts of papers describing original work are now
invited in any research area within the scope of the symposium.
The schedule for submissions and revisions is as follows:
* Deadline for submissions: 31 October 2004
* Notification deadline: 22 November 2004
* Camera ready copies of full papers: 17 December 2004
* AISB Convention: 12-15 April 2004
International Scientific Programme Committee
* Takaya Arita (University of Nagoya, Japan)
* Jean Baillie (University of Hertfordshire, UK)
* Aude Billard (EPFL, Switzerland)
* Angelo Cangelosi (University of Plymouth, UK)
* Takashi Hashimoto (JAIST, Japan)
* Koiti Hasida (AIST, Japan)
* Jim Hurford (University of Edinburgh, UK)
* Takashi Ikegami (University of Tokyo, Japan)
* Simon Kirby (University of Edinburgh, UK)
* Caroline Lyon (University of Hertfordshire, UK)
* Chrystopher Nehaniv (University of Hertfordshire, UK)
* Stefano Nolfi (ISTC, National Research Council, Italy)
* Kazuo Okanoya (University of Chiba, Japan)
* Tetsuo Ono (Future University Hakodate, Japan)
* Domenico Parisi (ISTC, National Research Council, Italy)
* Akito Sakurai (Keio University, Japan)
* Luc Steels (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium)
* Satoshi Tojo (JAIST, Japan)
Organizing Committee
* Angelo Cangelosi (University of Plymouth), Symposium Chair
* Chrystopher Nehaniv (University of Hertfordshire), Symposium
Co-Chair
* Caroline Lyon (University of Hertfordshire), Local Organizing
Committee Chair
* Jean Baillie (University of Hertfordshire), Local Organizer
* Gianluca Massera (University of Plymouth), Local Organizer
Selected References:
1. Simulating the Evolution of Language, Angelo Cangelosi & D.
Parisi (Eds.), London: Springer Verlag, 2002. [ISBN:
1852334282]
2. C. L. Nehaniv, "The Making of Meaning in Societies: Semiotic
& Information-Theoretic Background to the Evolution of
Communication", Proc. AISB Symposium: Starting from Society -
the application of social analogies to computational systems,
19-20 April 2000, Society for the Study of Artificial
Intelligence and Adaptive Behaviour, pp. 73-84, 2000. [ISBN:
1 902956 13 8] First International Workshop on the Emergence
and Evolution of Linguistic Communication (EELC 2004), 31
May-1 June 2004, Kanazawa, Japan, Japanese Society for
Artificial Intelligence, 2004. [ISBN: 4-915905-14-4
C3004(JSAI)]
3. Evolution of Language, special issue of Science, 27 February
2004, Volume 303 Number 5662, 27 February 2004.
4. The Evolutionary Emergence of Language: Social Function and
the Origins of Linguistic Form, Chris Knight, Michael
Studdert-Kennedy, & James Hurford (Eds.) Cambridge University
Press, 2000. [ISBN: 0521786967]
5. Language Evolution (Studies in the Evolution of Language)
Morten H. Christiansen & Simon Kirby (Eds.) Oxford University
Press, 2003. [ISBN: 0199244847]
6. The Transition to Language : International Conference on the
Evolution of Language 2000, Alison Wray (Ed.), Oxford
University Press, 2002. [ISBN: 0199250669]
____________________________________________________________
Symposium Webpage:
http://homepages.feis.herts.ac.uk/~nehaniv/EELC05.html
-----------
Dr. Chrystopher L. Nehaniv
Professor of Mathematical & Evolutionary Computer Sciences
Adaptive Systems & Algorithms Research Groups
School of Computer Science
University of Hertfordshire
College Lane
Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL10 9AB
United Kingdom
e-mail: C.L.Nehaniv at herts.ac.uk
phone: +44-1707-284-470
fax: +44-1707-284-303
URL: http://homepages.feis.herts.ac.uk/~nehaniv/welcome.html
Director, EPSRC Network on Evolvability in Biological & Software Systems
Associate Editor, BioSystems
Associate Editor, Interaction Studies
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