arXiv:2603.20988cs.AIq-bio.NC2026-03被引 4

用大模型自动发现认知科学新理论,全流程无需人工干预。

Can we automatize scientific discovery in the cognitive sciences?

  • 用大模型直接生成实验范式和认知算法假设
  • 通过模拟行为数据实现高通量理论筛选
  • 自动生成有趣实验,适合快速探索新机制

认知科学旨在通过计算模型形式化智能的内在机制。传统研究依赖人工设计范式、收集数据并测试预设模型类,但这一流程受限于人力速度和研究者背景,难以高效探索复杂认知空间。本文提出一种全自动化、基于仿真环境的认知科学研究范式,利用大语言模型(LLM)实现发现循环的每个阶段:从LLM中直接采样具有概念意义的任务结构作为实验范式;使用认知基础模型生成高保真行为数据;以LLM驱动的程序合成替代手工构建认知模型,在庞大的算法假设空间中进行高通量搜索;最后由LLM评判‘概念产出量’作为‘有趣性’指标,闭环优化发现过程。该自动化流程形成高速可扩展的虚拟发现引擎,可快速提出可验证的实验与机制,供真实人类群体进一步验证。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

The cognitive sciences aim to understand intelligence by formalizing underlying operations as computational models. Traditionally, this follows a cycle of discovery where researchers develop paradigms, collect data, and test predefined model classes. However, this manual pipeline is fundamentally constrained by the slow pace of human intervention and a search space limited by researchers' background and intuition. Here, we propose a paradigm shift toward a fully automated, in silico science of the mind that implements every stage of the discovery cycle using Large Language Models (LLMs). In this framework, experimental paradigms exploring conceptually meaningful task structures are directly sampled from an LLM. High-fidelity behavioral data are then simulated using foundation models of cognition. The tedious step of handcrafting cognitive models is replaced by LLM-based program synthesis, which performs a high-throughput search over a vast landscape of algorithmic hypotheses. Finally, the discovery loop is closed by optimizing for ''interestingness'', a metric of conceptual yield evaluated by an LLM-critic. By enabling a fast and scalable approach to theory development, this automated loop functions as a high-throughput in-silico discovery engine, surfacing informative experiments and mechanisms for subsequent validation in real human populations.

认知科学大模型自动发现仿真

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