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joshua abbott joshua.abbott@berkeley.edu Computational Cognitive Science Lab Department of Psychology Tolman Hall, #5432B University of California, Berkeley |
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Research
I am currently a third-year PhD student at UC Berkeley under the advising of Tom Griffiths in the Computational
Cognitive Science lab.
My research interests lie at the intersection of machine learning and computational models of cognition.
From one direction, I explore how models of human inductive inference can be
used to solve challenging machine learning problems. In particular, I've been examining models of how people pick
good examples of a concept from a set of items and how people learn the
extension of a novel word given a few positive examples of it.
From the other direction, I'm exploring recent machine learning techniques for approximating Bayesian inference with the aim of
developing computational models of cognition with closer links to plausible psychological process models.
In particular, I've been investigating how sequential Monte Carlo methods like particle filters
can produce order effects consistent with human behavior, and how random walks in semantic networks might explain why people search in
memory similar to how animals forage for food in patchy environments.
Papers
J.T. Abbott, J.B. Hamrick, and T.L. Griffiths. Approximating Bayesian inference with a sparse distributed
memory system. Proceedings of the 35th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, 2013.
[pdf]
[bibtex]
J.T. Abbott, J.L. Austerweil, and T.L. Griffiths. Human memory search as a random walk in a semantic
network. Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 25, 2012.
[pdf]
[bibtex]
Y. Jia, J.T. Abbott, J.L. Austerweil, T.L. Griffiths and T. Darrell. Visually-grounded Bayesian word learning.
Technical Report UCB/EECS-2012-202. EECS Department, University of California, Berkeley. 2012.
[pdf]
[bibtex]
J.T. Abbott, T. Regier, and T.L. Griffiths. Predicting focal colors with a
rational model of representativeness. Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of the Cognitive
Science Society, 2012. [pdf]
[bibtex]
J.T. Abbott, J.L. Austerweil, and T.L. Griffiths. Constructing a hypothesis space
from the Web for large-scale Bayesian word learning. Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of the Cognitive
Science Society, 2012. [pdf]
[bibtex]
J.T. Abbott, K.A. Heller, Z. Ghahramani, and T.L. Griffiths. Testing a Bayesian measure
of representativeness using a large image database. Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 24, 2011.
[pdf][bibtex]
J.T. Abbott and T.L. Griffiths. Exploring the influence of particle filter parameters
on order effects in causal learning. Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Conference of the Cognitive
Science Society, 2011. [pdf]
[bibtex]
J.T. Abbott. Relevance feedback and novelty detection under the Bayesian sets framework.
Master's Thesis. University of Cambridge, 2010. [pdf]
J.T. Abbott. Some generalizations on counting binary strings. Congressus Numerantium,
Vol. 198, 2009. [pdf]
J.T. Abbott. Temporal sequence analysis of bottlenose dolphin vocalizations.
Undergraduate Thesis. New College of Florida, 2009. [pdf]
J.T. Abbott and T. McGuire. Using graphs and games to generate cap set bounds.
Congressus Numerantium, Vol. 189, 2008. [pdf]
J.T. Abbott, P.Z. Chinn, T.J. Evans, and A.J. Stewart. Graph adjacency matrix automata.
Congressus Numerantium Vol. 188, 2007. [pdf]
Presentations
J.T. Abbott, J.B. Hamrick, and T.L. Griffiths. Approximating Bayesian inference with a sparse distributed
memory system. 35th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Berlin,
Germany. August, 2013.
A.B. Carstensen, J.T. Abbott, R.B. Ivry, and T.L. Griffiths. Using Bayesian models to
discriminate theories of magnitude and metaphor. Sixth Annual Conference on Embodied
and Situated Language Processing. Potsdam, Germany. July, 2013.
J.T. Abbott, J.L. Austerweil, and T.L. Griffiths. Human Memory Search as a Random Walk
in a Semantic Network. 26th Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems.
Lake Tahoe, Nevada. December, 2012.
Y. Jia, J.T. Abbott, J.L. Austerweil, T.L. Griffiths and T. Darrell. Visually-Grounded
Bayesian Word Learning. First International Workshop on Large Scale Visual Recognition
and Retrieval. Twenty-Sixth Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems.
Lake Tahoe, Nevada. December, 2012.
J.T. Abbott, T. Regier, and T.L. Griffiths. Predicting Focal Colors with a Rational Model
of Representativeness. 34th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Sapporo,
Japan. August, 2012.
J.T. Abbott, J.L. Austerweil, and T.L. Griffiths. Constructing a Hypothesis Space From
the Web for Large-scale Bayesian Word Learning. 34th Annual Conference of the Cognitive
Science Society. Sapporo, Japan. August, 2012.
J.T. Abbott, K.A. Heller, Z. Ghahramani, and T.L. Griffiths. Testing a Bayesian Measure
of Representativeness Using a Large Image Database. 25th Annual Conference on
Neural Information Processing Systems. Granada, Spain. December, 2011.
W. Fellner, J.L. Clark, J.T. Abbott, and H.E. Harley. Fine-scale Analysis of Bottlenose
Dolphin Vocalizations Reveal Differential Use of Sub-units. 19th Biennial Conference on
the Biology of Marine Mammals. Tampa, Florida. November, 2011.
J.T. Abbott and T.L. Griffiths. Exploring the Influence of Particle Filter Parameters on
Order Effects in Causal Learning. 33rd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society.
Boston, Massachusetts. July, 2011.
J.T. Abbott, K.A. Heller, Z. Ghahramani, and T.L. Griffiths. Applying a Bayesian Measure
of Representativeness to Sets of Images. 44th Annual Meeting of the Society for
Mathematical Psychology. Boston, Massachusetts. July, 2011.
J.T. Abbott, H.E. Harley, J.L. Clark, and W. Fellner. Patterns in Sequences of Dolphin
Vocalizations. 17th International Conference On Comparative Cognition. Melbourne, Florida.
March, 2010.
W. Fellner, J.L. Clark, J.T. Abbott, and H.E. Harley. Micro-whistles: An Overlooked
Category of Vocalizations in Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). 17th International
Conference On Comparative Cognition. Melbourne, Florida. March, 2010.
J.T. Abbott, J.L. Clark, H.E. Harley, and W. Fellner. Frequencies and Syntax in Sequences
of Dolphin Vocalizations. 18th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals.
Quebec City, Canada. October, 2009.
J.T. Abbott. Some Generalizations on Counting Binary Strings. 40th Southeastern International
Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory, and Computing. Florida Atlantic
University, March, 2009.
J.T. Abbott and T. McGuire. Using Graphs and Games to Generate Cap Set Bounds. 39th
Southeastern International Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory, and Computing.
Florida Atlantic University, March, 2008.
J.T. Abbott. Variations on Conway's Game of Life. Northern California Undergraduate
Mathematics Conference. Sonoma State University, April, 2007.
J.T. Abbott. Variations on Conway's Game of Life. 38th Southeastern International
Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory, and Computing. Florida Atlantic University,
March, 2007.