{"688225":{"#nid":"688225","#data":{"type":"event","title":"PhD Proposal by Huadong Xiong","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EName:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EHuadong Xiong\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPh.D. Dissertation Proposal Meeting\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETime:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;Wednesday, February 18, 2026, 12:00 PM \u2013 1:00 PM\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELocation:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;Zoom \u2013 \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gatech.zoom.us\/my\/huadong.xiong?pwd=u8JPjJbQwVLXhhf9RPItRJS7dcFEw4.1\u0022 title=\u0022https:\/\/gatech.zoom.us\/my\/huadong.xiong?pwd=u8JPjJbQwVLXhhf9RPItRJS7dcFEw4.1\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/gatech.zoom.us\/my\/huadong.xiong?pwd=u8JPjJbQwVLXhhf9RPItRJS7dcFEw4.1\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAdvisor:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EDr. Robert Wilson (Georgia Institute of Technology)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDissertation Committee Members:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EDr. Dobromir Rahnev (Georgia Institute of Technology)\u003Cbr\u003EDr. Apurva Ratan Murty (Georgia Institute of Technology)\u003Cbr\u003EDr. Audrey Sederberg (Georgia Institute of Technology)\u003Cbr\u003EDr. Marcelo Mattar (New York University)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETitle: \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAn Online Learning Perspective on Cognition\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbstract:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBoth biological and artificial intelligence systems possess the capacity to adapt to novel task demands without structural retraining. In Large Language Models (LLMs), this capability manifests as in-context learning (ICL), where behavior is modified solely through inference on recent examples. Similarly, humans and animals exhibit \u0022learning to learn,\u0022 dynamically adjusting their integration and exploration strategies in response to environmental feedback. Despite these parallels, a unified computational framework governing how such strategies are updated online remains elusive.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn this PhD project, I propose an online learning framework to bridge the gap between human cognitive adaptation and LLM in-context learning. I hypothesize that cognition can be modeled as a continuous optimization process over an internal strategy space. By synthesizing behavioral modeling, gradient-based meta-learning, and geometric representational analysis, I will characterize strategy adaptation as an error-driven, resource-constrained process.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis research aims to provide a mechanistic account of adaptive intelligence, explicitly connecting the temporal dynamics of human perceptual and reinforcement learning with the representational reorganization observed in LLMs.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAn Online Learning Perspective on Cognition\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"An Online Learning Perspective on Cognition"}],"uid":"27707","created_gmt":"2026-02-12 17:14:00","changed_gmt":"2026-02-12 17:14:38","author":"Tatianna Richardson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2026-02-18T12:00:00-05:00","event_time_end":"2026-02-18T13:00:00-05:00","event_time_end_last":"2026-02-18T13:00:00-05:00","gmt_time_start":"2026-02-18 17:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2026-02-18 18:00:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2026-02-18 18:00:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"location":"Zoom ","extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"221981","name":"Graduate Studies"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"102851","name":"Phd proposal"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"1788","name":"Other\/Miscellaneous"}],"invited_audience":[{"id":"78771","name":"Public"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}