Cognitive Perspectives on Language Models

To clarify my expectations regarding reading summaries:
You should plan write two two-page summaries, each covering the three papers presented on the day that you do not present.
The basic format is roughly one half page (1-2 paragraphs) summarizing key points of each paper, and a final paragraph analyzing how they connect.
You should upload the reading summary on the CMS before the start of class (1 pm) on the respective day that it is due.

If you have any further questions, you can email me.

Looking forward to the seminar next week!

Looking forward to next week's seminar! Please find more detailed presentation instructions below, and feel free to email me with any questions.

Presenters are assigned on the course page, in the same order as the papers: https://lacoco-lab.github.io/courses/cognitive-perspectives-2026/
You should prepare an individual presentation on you assigned paper, with a target length of 30-40 minutes. There is no particular need to coordinate with other presenters on the same day --- if you want to mention the other papers and how they relate to your paper at a high level, that would be a nice aspect of the presentation, but not more important than the other points mentioned under 'Presentation Guidance' on the course page.
Regarding discussion, there can be a short period (no more than 5 minutes) after the presentation for clarifying questions (or you can take them during the talk if you prefer), but the main discussion will take place after all presentations are finished and span all the papers presented on that day

The course page has been updated with paper assignments, based on current registration: https://lacoco-lab.github.io/courses/cognitive-perspectives-2026/

Note that an extra reading has been added on Wednesday to accommodate increased enrollment.

If you see any issue with your assignment, please email and let me know. Otherwise, I look forward to our seminar discussions!

Thanks to those of you who attended the introduction session! If you missed it, you can find the slides here. The session mostly centered on reading and discussion of this framework for evaluating AI progress, which informs our seminar topics. The course page has also been updated to include all the research papers mentioned in the intro session; there may still be minor changes to the syllabus, but most of the readings are now there. Email me if you have any further questions, and I look forward to our seminar discussions in August!