Dr. Jakub Dotlacil

Assistant Professor

j.dotlacil@uu.nl

My research focuses on psycholinguistics and computational cognitive modeling, but I also have a background in formal semantics and syntax.

When doing computational cognitive modeling, my goal is to develop models that would enhance our understanding of cognitive processes which make language comprehension possible. The models are labeled as computational because they are precise enough to be implementable and testable in a computer program, and they are called cognitive because they try to take constraints about cognition into account, i.e., they strive to be cognitively-realistic and informed by cognitive science. In my recent project, I am in particular interested in combining computational models of memory with formal models of language.

In psycholinguistics, I test cognitive models with real human data. Data could be, for example, reading measures like reaction times or eye movements that we collect while people read texts.

Here are some questions I try to understand better with my research:

– Can we build a model that can be good at language production and comprehension, yet be subject to cognitive limits like humans are?
– How are systems like large language models informative for cognitive science?
– How can we model tasks in which language comprehension interfaces with other skills, like reading?