KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Ruth Byrne is the Professor of Cognitive Science in the School of Psychology and Institute of Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. Her research expertise is in the cognitive science of human thinking, and her experimental work on reasoning and imaginative thought has advanced theoretical understanding of the common cognitive processes underlying rationality and creativity. Her books include, “The rational imagination: how people create alternatives to reality” (2005, MIT press), “Deduction”, co-authored with Phil Johnson-Laird (1991, Erlbaum Associates), and “Thinking, reasoning, and decision-making in autism”, co-edited with Kinga Morsanyi (2019, Routledge). In her keynote talk, she will discuss the nature of mental simulation in counterfactual thought, and its wide-ranging implications, for causal explanations, moral cognition, and understanding Artificial Intelligence.

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Ven Popov is a tenured Senior Scientist at the Department of Psychology, University of Zürich, where he leads the Computational Modeling of Behavior group. He earned his PhD in Cognitive Psychology from Carnegie Mellon University in 2020 and subsequently worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Zürich before transitioning to his current role at the begining of 2024. His research focuses on developing integrative computational models of human memory, investigating cognitive resource allocation, and advancing theory-building in psychological science through formal modeling. His contributions have been recognized with the 2021 Glushko Dissertation Prize from the Cognitive Science Society and the 2025 Bertelson Early Career Award from the European Society for Cognitive Psychology.

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TBC

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Sylvie Belleville is a professor at the University of Montreal’s Psychology Department and researcher at the Research Center of the Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal. She holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair on the Cognitive Neuroscience of Aging and Brain Plasticity. Recognized for her work in cognitive training and preventing age-related cognitive decline, she has received numerous prestigious awards including the Prix Armand-Frappier, Brenda Milner Award, Women of Distinction YWCA award, Prix du Québec Armand Frappier  and an honoris causa doctorate from Mons University. In her keynote, she will discuss cognitive training interventions in older adults, particularly those at risk for dementia. She will also present studies examining brain activation changes related to cognitive training and how this relates to cognitive reserve models.