SSP Forum: Robbie Fraser, Chuqi Hu, and Puyin Li (M.S. Candidates)

The
Symbolic Systems Forum
(community sessions of SYMSYS 280 - Symbolic Systems Research Seminar)
presents

Neural networks underlying cognitive control: analysis using task based fMRI
Robbie Fraser(M.S. Candidate)
Symbolic Systems Program

How Awareness and Influence Shape Responsibility Attribution
Chuqi Hu(M.S. Candidate)
Symbolic Systems Program

Critique on Causal Teams. My primary advisor is Prof. Thomas Icard
Puyin Li(M.S. Candidate)
Symbolic Systems Program

Monday, May 19, 2025
12:30-1:45 pm PT [Note - extended ending time]
Margaret Jacks Hall (Bldg. 460), Room 126
In-person event, not recorded(see below for entry instructions if you are not an active Stanford affiliate)

Note: Lunch is provided, if pre-ordered, only for members of SYMSYS 280, but others are welcome to bring a lunch and eat during the presentation.

Abstracts:

Robbie Fraser, "Neural networks underlying cognitive control: analysis using task based fMRI" (Primary Advisor: Patrick Bissett, Psychology)
     Cognitive control is a multi-faceted construct underlying goal based planning and flexibility. It is theorised to consist of multiple sub-processes, and central within these is working memory. This project aims to build on previous findings to explain performance in certain 'dual task' paradigms (undertaking two cognitive control tasks concurrently) with reference explicitly to working memory demands which are explored using fMRI neuroimaging.

Chuqi Hu, "How Awareness and Influence Shape Responsibility Attribution" (Tobias Gerstenberg, Psychology)
     How do people attribute responsibility in group decision-making settings where people may influence each other? This project investigates how individuals can be held responsible not only for their own actions, but also for how they affect others’ actions. Participants made responsibility judgments in fictional group voting scenarios where one person’s vote is sometimes visible to other voters. We examine whether participants consider two key factors when attributing responsibility: (1) whether a person’s vote was visible (and thus potentially influential) to others, and (2) whether the person was aware that their vote could influence others. Using Bayesian regression models, we test our hypotheses and examine whether people’s judgments can be accounted for by a combination of quantitative measures of influence: pivotality and criticality. This study contributes to our understanding of how people attribute individual responsibility in groups.

Puyin Li, "Critique on Causal Teams" (Primary Advisor: Thomas Icard, Philosophy)
     In my thesis, I critically examine the framework of causal teams, which integrates team semantics with structural causal models to distinguish essential (causal) from accidental (non-causal) functional dependence. While the framework aims to refine our understanding of causation by augmenting logical languages with causal structure, it faces several theoretical challenges. First, causal teams lack parsimony and add complexity without offering substantial advantages over existing counterfactual and dependence logics. Second, they fail to provide a clear and accurate criterion for differentiating causal from non-causal dependencies, and their treatment of key philosophical examples―such as conditional excluded middle and McGee’s counterfactuals―remains unsatisfactory. Third, the reliance on team semantics obscures rather than clarifies causal reasoning, especially in cases involving local dependence or actual causation. This critique highlights the need for more streamlined and philosophically grounded approaches to modeling functional dependence and causation.

Notes on entry to the meeting room:

Entry to the building is open to anyone with an active Stanford ID via the card readers next to each door. If you do not have a Stanford ID, you can gain entry between 12:15 and 12:30pm ONLY by knocking on the exterior windows of room 126. These windows are to the left of the west side exterior door on the first floor of Margaret Jacks Hall, which faces the back east side of Building 420. Please do not knock on these windows after 12:30pm when the talk has started. We will not be able to come out and open the door for you at that point.