April 22

12pm

Carnegie 113

The Stochastic Bridge: Diffusion in Timing and Time Awareness

When we try to time something exactly—like throwing a ball after five seconds—we are almost never perfect. Our internal clock is a bit fuzzy, so we usually end up being a little too early or a little too late. I have previously shown that organisms can adaptively bias their decisions based on the level of stochasticity in their internal clock, raising the question of whether they can monitor the direction and magnitude of their timing errors. We recently showed that both humans and animals aren't just guessing; they indeed know when they've messed up, by how much, and in what direction. This "awareness" of timing deviations is called temporal error monitoring (TEM). I will first share data from various tests that showcase the ability to track timing errors across different species. I will address these findings within the drift-diffusion modelling framework (e.g., based on our earlier time-adaptive opponent Poisson drift-diffusion model) and present two alternative computational models that differentially account for TEM as retrospective error detection and real-time readout. I will discuss the differential adaptive affordances of these two modelling approaches. These modelling approaches will introduce a new theoretical foundation for error monitoring.

Short Bio:
Fuat Balcı is a Full Professor at the University of Manitoba and an internationally recognized expert in cognitive neuroscience. With a Ph.D. from Rutgers and postdoctoral training at Princeton, he has worked with world-renowned cognitive, neuro, and computational scientists (including Dr. Randy Gallistel, Dr. Jonathan D. Cohen, and Dr. Phil Holmes) to explore how humans and animals perceive time and make decisions. His research bridges interval timing, numerical cognition, and decision-making, focusing on mathematical modelling, the impacts of aging and neuropathology, and real-time error monitoring. Previously, an Associate Dean and founding Vice Director at Koç University, Dr. Balcı also has experience leading pharmaceutical R&D in NY. A former editor of the International Journal of Comparative Psychology and the current Editor-in-Chief of Timing & Time Perception, his work has earned prestigious honours, including the World Economic Forum Young Scientist Award and presidential-level awards. Above all, he remains a dedicated mentor who considers himself a student of his students. He is an alumnus of the Global Young Academy and a member of Sigma Xi.