iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

#XPRAG2026 kicking off in Genoa, old harbour. Wonderful venue, along the water. First invited keynote by Julia Udden, on the identification of a functional brain network for pragmatics. Xpragit2026.weebly.com @abstractionerc.bsky.social talk tomorrow

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Yesterday, I took part in the Race for the Cure initiative in Bologna. Great event 💪, great solidarity.

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

@lauraocchipinti.bsky.social presenting "Beyond Concreteness: the Role of Semantic Specificity in Predicting Lexical Complexity in Italian" at CLiC-it 2026 in Palermo, Italy. Another piece of the rich @abstractionerc.bsky.social mosaic @ailc-nlp.bsky.social

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Giovanni presenting collab work at CLiC-it 2026, Palermo. "Brownie IS-A cake, but sugar is not: Can encoders annotate and clean children's (mis)built semantic hierarchies?" A collaboration with @adeleloia.bsky.social @gpucce.bsky.social & A.Esuli @ailc-nlp.bsky.social

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

#ClicIT2026 the annual conference of AILC @ailc-nlp.bsky.social is kicking off at Palazzo dei Normanni in Palermo, Sicily (Italy). 104 papers, 15 research communications, 338 participants from 16 countries. @abstractionerc.bsky.social: 🙋‍♀️ Long life to computational linguistics in Italy!! #nlp #ai

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Go @tomlamarra.bsky.social Presenting his phd project at the national conference SLI2026 in Bologna. @abstractionerc.bsky.social

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

#SLI2026 in Bologna kicking off, and tis morning 2 @abstractionerc.bsky.social members are helping at the registration desk :-) eventi.unibo.it/sli-2026 Two intense days on the role of data in language sciences.

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

🍂 A busy September ahead for the ERC ABSTRACTION group — and a great way to get back into full research mode after the summer! Our work will be presented at 4 conferences across Italy, spanning cognitive science, linguistics, computational linguistics & experimental pragmatics. 🧵👇

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Hardest moment of my talk: pronouncing "The elelemphant in the room". So I am happy I didn't stuttered! Try to say it! From #ESLP that's all :-) @abstractionerc.bsky.social

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Dermot Lynott @dermotlynott.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

And here is @tomlamarra.bsky.social presenting his work on looking at difference between concreteness and specificity in a range of language processing contexts #ESLP2026

A man speaking in front of a big screen presenting scientific work

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

@caterinavillani.bsky.social presenting at #ESLP2026 also our study on the development of language-mediated abstraction in children and #LLMs And this includes work in collab with @gpucce.bsky.social and Andrea Esuli ESLP2026.SCIENCESCONF.ORG @abstractionerc.bsky.social

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Go @tomlamarra.bsky.social ! Presenting his Phd project at #ESLP: experimental evidence on the processing of words varying in concreteness and specificity in isolated words, constructed dialogues and real conversations. @abstractionerc.bsky.social ESLP2026.SCIENCESCONF.ORG

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Tommaso Lamarra @tomlamarra.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Our PI @mariannabolog.bsky.social as keynote speaker of #ESLP2026 conference presenting the @abstractionerc.bsky.social research and findings on how lexical specificity shapes the study of conceptual knowledge and language use in both the human mind and LLMs 🧠🗣️🤖

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AbstractionERC @abstractionerc.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

@caterinavillani.bsky.social presenting a collaborative project in which we explore the content of conceptual categories at different levels of granularity, by humans and #LLMs ESLP2026.SCIENCESCONF.ORG #ABSTRACTION #ESLP

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

#ESLP kicked off this morning with a brilliant session on multimodality in language processing. Opening keynote by Sotaro Kita, followed by Manuela Macedonia and @gregwoodin.bsky.social ESLP2026.SCIENCESCONF.ORG

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Late lunch for an @abstractionerc.bsky.social delegation at ESLP2026.SCIENCESCONF.ORG in Lancaster today :-) And the conference starts tomorrow! @tomlamarra.bsky.social @grambelli.bsky.social @caterinavillani.bsky.social

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AbstractionERC @abstractionerc.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

🇧🇷 ABSTRACTION goes to Rio! 🧠🌎 @lauraocchipinti.bsky.social is presenting our research at #CogSci2026, exploring how word concreteness and specificity (two dimensions of Abstraction) differently shape children’s perceptions of clarity and informativeness in written texts. ☀️ #CognitiveScience

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

A small group having drinks before another SALC10 late gathering. Then, tomorrow it will be time to fly home.

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

SALC10 is coming to an end. Long live SALC, and the thriving study of language and cognition in Scandinavia! 🇸🇪🧠💬 Looking forward to SALC11.

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Day 1 of #SALC10 is wrapping up in Umeå. @abstractionerc.bsky.social presentation done. Great talks, inspiring discussions, and plenty of exciting science. So far, all good news from Umeå. Looking forward to Day 2!

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Tommaso Lamarra @tomlamarra.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

OurPI, @mariannabolog.bsky.social, presented at @raammetaphor.bsky.social specialised seminar preliminary findings on how word specificity influences the comprehensibility of predicative metaphors. The talk sparked engaging discussions and insightful feedback 🗣️🎤

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

@tomlamarra.bsky.social presenting at RaAM specialized seminar his insight on how specificity (beyond concreteness) may impact conceptual metaphor comprehension. @abstractionerc.bsky.social

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

RaAM 2026 in Pavia! After lunch chats in the shade with colleagues Jeannette Littlemore, David Ritchie, Elena Semino, Alice Deignan, and Ray Gibbs. 🍀

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

@tomlamarra.bsky.social discussing his #phd thesis on Language-mediated abstraction. Conceptual concreteness and categorical specificity in language processing. It is happening now at the University of Bologna

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Two papers from @abstractionerc.bsky.social accepted at #ESLP2026 in Lancaster 🎉 One on whether AI categorises the world like humans. The other on how children and LLMs learn to climb lexical hierarchies (electric bicycle→ bicycle→ vehicle). Takeaway? Abstraction is hard. For humans and AI alike.

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Presidente della commissione dottorale di oggi allo IUSS PAVIA. Due bellissimi progetti di dottorato, uno poi linguistico computazionale (Veronica Mangiaterra) e l'altro più clinico (Jacopo Sapienza). Palazzo Broletto, Pavia.

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Paola Vernillo presenting experimental @abstractionerc.bsky.social data on the perception of metaphor quality when the specificity of the metaphorical terms is manipulated. At Messina, "Forms of embodiment 2026"

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Granita caffè+mandorla @ Messina. Top!

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Shaun Gallagher opens Day 2 of "Forms of embodiment" with a talk on Robodiment: building an artificial enactive body. At Messina University. @abstractionerc.bsky.social is here.

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

At the University of Messina, Sicily, Italy. 🍋

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AbstractionERC @abstractionerc.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Forms of embodiment. Valentina Cuccio opens the conference at Messina University. 18-20 May 2026. @mariannabolog.bsky.social and Paola Vernillo representating Abstraction_ERC

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

@lauraocchipinti.bsky.social presents our study on text complexity elaborate on 5 levels, and its relation with lexical concreteness and specificity. At PiF2026, Pavia.

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

@tomlamarra.bsky.social presents @abstractionerc.bsky.social results at PiF2026 on the role of concreteness and specificity on language processing, considering Word processing in isolation, in simulated dialogues and in naturalistic conversations.

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Paola Vernillo presenting @abstractionerc.bsky.social work at PiF2026: "Specificity, concreteness, and frequency in metaphor evaluation. Behavioral evidence from Italian predicate metaphors

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Con Maria Montefinese ed Eleonora Catricalà a PiF, Pavia, talking about semantic norms @mariamontefinese.bsky.social

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Dinner with Louisa Bogaerts and Simona Amenta (and 80 more people that are not in the picture) at PiF2026 in Pavia, Italy sites.google.com/view/pifpavi...

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Feels like an Escher drawing, but it is the ceiling of the Aula Magna in @unipv.bsky.social Great venue for Psycholinguistics in Flanders 2026 sites.google.com/view/pifpavia

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Poster session at Psycholinguistics in Flanders at Pavia. @lauraocchipinti.bsky.social presents @abstractionerc.bsky.social results on how lexical concreteness and specificity affect children's text evaluation. 🤩 sites.google.com/view/pifpavia

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Tommaso Lamarra @tomlamarra.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Ready for Psycholinguistics in Flanders Conference PiF (2026) at @University of Pavia! 🗣️⛪ Looking forward to meaningful discussions and new connections! @abstractionerc.bsky.social @mariannabolog.bsky.social @paover.bsky.social @lauraocchipinti.bsky.social

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Yesterday in Reggio Emilia: invited talk on visual abstraction @abstractionerc.bsky.social at University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (study day on visual & multimodal metaphor, MANIS/CIRM). Great discussions and wonderful colleagues, thanks to the organizers! Group pic by Annamaria 👇

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Sono aperte le domande di ammissione al corso di #Laurea #magistrale DIPI, a #Bologna, Dipartimento di Lingue Letterature e Culture Moderne LILEC! Come fare domanda (consulta l'avviso di ammissione): corsi.unibo.it/magistrale/I... I due curricula di DIPI: corsi.unibo.it/magistrale/I...

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AbstractionERC @abstractionerc.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Our paper "Cognitive Efficiency and Perceived Text Quality in Children: how Concreteness and Specificity shape Clarity and Informativeness" has been accepted at #CogSci 2026 in Rio de Janeiro! cognitivesciencesociety.org/cogsci-2026/

cognitivesciencesociety.org

CogSci 2026 - Cognitive Science Society

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

There are good laughs and then there are slightly creepy ones. I mean the actual sound of the laugh. My favorite is Ricky Gervais, it’s so uncontrolled and real that it feels contagious. One of my least favorites is Jon Bon Jovi, there’s just something creepy about it.

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Studiando epica oggi con figlio preadolescente: "Scilla e Cariddi sono i Demagorgon dell'Odissea". Il potere delle analogie.

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

Open Day della magistrale DIPI – Didattica dell’Italiano L2, Plurilinguismo e Interculturalità 📅 30 marzo 🔗 Iscriviti open.unibo.it/eventi/prese... 🔗 Info corso corsi.unibo.it/magistrale/I...

open.unibo.it

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

#wordladders player feels philosophical, ending their abstraction ladder with the inevitable truth "everything is a thing" 😍 Download Word Ladders and play now: Android 👉 shorturl.at/kqAOS Apple 👉 shorturl.at/buIS2

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

Despite its popularity and Emmy-winning status, Hulu has decided to cancel The Great after three seasons. Was it too much for nowadays standards, to show a very powerful woman successfully in charge of a powerful country?

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MariannaBolog @mariannabolog.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

Give me a couple of days to recover from surgery and ... solve the rebus to finish the sentence. Looking forward to new exciting projects! Btw can #LLMs solve rebuses like this? Let aside appreciate the ability to solve them and giggle internally like I just did :-)

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