Discovering the universal features of human musicality is a prerequisite for explaining the biological and cultural evolution of music. What is universal about the psychological representation of music, and what varies? In this talk I will present analyses of the Natural History of Song Discography, which includes songs recorded in 86 mostly small-scale societies, and experiments using these songs. We find that acoustical forms of songs are predictive of their primary behavioral functions across cultures.

Behaviors and disorders related to problems in self-regulation, such as substance use disorders, childhood behavior problems, and adult antisocial behavior are collectively referred to as Externalizing. In this talk, I will describe research that pooled information on multiple forms of externalizing behavior in ~1.5 million people and identified more than 500 genetic loci associated with a general liability to Externalizing.

Ce sont ses fonctions de Directeur des études sciences à l’ENS qui ont conduit Christian Lorenzi, il y a quelques années, à s’interroger sur la possibilité d’appliquer les théories et méthodes de la « psychophysique » - cette branche de la psychologie expérimentale étudiant scientifiquement les relations entre les signaux physiques (e.g., les sons) et nos sensations ains

Adolescence, defined as 10-24 years, is a period of life often characterised by behaviours that can appear, prima facie, irrational such as dangerous risk-taking and impulsivity. However, these behaviours can be interpreted as adaptive and rational given that a key developmental goal of this period of life is to mature into an independent adult while navigating a social world that is unstable and changing.

Western history of thought abounds with claims that knowledge is valued and sought. Yet people often choose not to know. We call the conscious choice not to seek or use knowledge (or information) deliberate ignorance. Using examples from a wide range of domains, we demonstrate that deliberate ignorance has important functions. We systematize types of deliberate ignorance, describe their functions, discuss their normative desirability, and consider how they can be modeled. To date, psychologists have paid relatively little attention to the study of ignorance, let alone the deliberate kind.

Axelle Calcus s’intéresse de près à la perception auditive chez l’enfant et au lien qui existe entre perception de la parole, acquisition du langage et performance scolaire. Elle travaille tout particulièrement sur le développement des habiletés de perception de la parole dans le bruit.

Les recherches de Giovanni Di Liberto au sein du LSP portent sur la compréhension des mécanismes cérébraux sous-jacents à la perception de sons complexes, tels que la parole et la musique. Le cerveau humain contient des milliards de neurones qui interagissent les uns avec les autres au moyen de signaux électriques.

Denis Lancelin est ingénieur d’étude au CNRS au Laboratoire des Systèmes Perceptifs (LSP). Les membres de cette unité cherchent à mieux comprendre les mécanismes sous-jacents à notre perception du monde, avec une emphase sur la vision et l’audition. Denis participe à ces recherches en apportant un soutien technique et administratif.

Thermal soaring is a major natural instance of animal behavior in the presence of complex orientation cues. The problem is deeply rooted in physics and biology, with the prowess by birds constituting a challenge for artificial systems built for technological applications. I will first introduce the natural phenomenology, then review the physics that controls the complexity of the orientation cues, and finally show how machine learning methods are brought to bear on identifying effective flying strategies.

Brian CJ Moore will do us the honor of presenting his scientific achievements and an overview of his magnificent scientific career.