Marianne de Heer Kloots
@mdhk.net
Linguist in AI & CogSci π§ π©βπ»π€ PhD student @ ILLC, University of Amsterdam
π https://mdhk.net/
π https://scholar.social/@mdhk
π¦ https://twitter.com/mariannedhk
π https://mdhk.net/
π https://scholar.social/@mdhk
π¦ https://twitter.com/mariannedhk
Pinned
Marianne de Heer Kloots
@mdhk.net
Β· Jul 8
β¨ Do current neural speech models show human-like linguistic biases in speech perception?
We took inspiration from classic phonetic categorization experiments to explore where sensitivity to phonotactic context emerges in Wav2Vec2 models π
(w/ @wzuidema.bsky.social)
π arxiv.org/abs/2407.03005
β¬οΈ
We took inspiration from classic phonetic categorization experiments to explore where sensitivity to phonotactic context emerges in Wav2Vec2 models π
(w/ @wzuidema.bsky.social)
π arxiv.org/abs/2407.03005
β¬οΈ
Reposted by Marianne de Heer Kloots
If you're in the Netherlands or nearby, check out the Fourth Dutch Speech Tech Day. I'll be there.
www.eventbrite.com/e/4th-dutch-...
www.eventbrite.com/e/4th-dutch-...
4th Dutch Speech Tech Day
We are thrilled to announce that the 4th Dutch Speech Tech Day will take place on Monday, February 2, 2026, at Beeld & Geluid in Hilversum!
www.eventbrite.com
January 13, 2026 at 9:58 AM
If you're in the Netherlands or nearby, check out the Fourth Dutch Speech Tech Day. I'll be there.
www.eventbrite.com/e/4th-dutch-...
www.eventbrite.com/e/4th-dutch-...
Reposted by Marianne de Heer Kloots
'Tis the season to preprint BBS commentaries; I'm happy to share ours too! πβ¨
The textual basis of current LLMs causes trouble, but linguistically relevant insights *can* be found in systems modelling the more natural form of human spoken language: the speech signal itself. arxiv.org/abs/2512.14506
The textual basis of current LLMs causes trouble, but linguistically relevant insights *can* be found in systems modelling the more natural form of human spoken language: the speech signal itself. arxiv.org/abs/2512.14506
December 17, 2025 at 3:22 PM
'Tis the season to preprint BBS commentaries; I'm happy to share ours too! πβ¨
The textual basis of current LLMs causes trouble, but linguistically relevant insights *can* be found in systems modelling the more natural form of human spoken language: the speech signal itself. arxiv.org/abs/2512.14506
The textual basis of current LLMs causes trouble, but linguistically relevant insights *can* be found in systems modelling the more natural form of human spoken language: the speech signal itself. arxiv.org/abs/2512.14506
Reposted by Marianne de Heer Kloots
New book! I have written a book, called Syntax: A cognitive approach, published by MIT Press.
This is open access; MIT Press will post a link soon, but until then, the book is available on my website:
tedlab.mit.edu/tedlab_websi...
This is open access; MIT Press will post a link soon, but until then, the book is available on my website:
tedlab.mit.edu/tedlab_websi...
tedlab.mit.edu
December 24, 2025 at 7:55 PM
New book! I have written a book, called Syntax: A cognitive approach, published by MIT Press.
This is open access; MIT Press will post a link soon, but until then, the book is available on my website:
tedlab.mit.edu/tedlab_websi...
This is open access; MIT Press will post a link soon, but until then, the book is available on my website:
tedlab.mit.edu/tedlab_websi...
Reposted by Marianne de Heer Kloots
New post! Last week I shared why I thought cognitive (neuro)science hasnβt contributed as much as one might hope to the design of AI systems; this week I'm sharing my thoughts on how methods and principles from these fields *have* been useful in my work. infinitefaculty.substack.com/p/how-cognit...
How cognitive science can contribute to AI: methods for understanding
#2 in a series on cognitive science and AI
infinitefaculty.substack.com
December 23, 2025 at 5:10 PM
New post! Last week I shared why I thought cognitive (neuro)science hasnβt contributed as much as one might hope to the design of AI systems; this week I'm sharing my thoughts on how methods and principles from these fields *have* been useful in my work. infinitefaculty.substack.com/p/how-cognit...
Cool posters from day 2!
@sashakenjeeva.bsky.social openreview.net/forum?id=Vtd...
github.com/markvandenho... openreview.net/forum?id=rX3...
@nina-nusbaumer.bsky.social openreview.net/forum?id=GRz...
www.ru.nl/personen/sui... openreview.net/forum?id=NcJ...
@sashakenjeeva.bsky.social openreview.net/forum?id=Vtd...
github.com/markvandenho... openreview.net/forum?id=rX3...
@nina-nusbaumer.bsky.social openreview.net/forum?id=GRz...
www.ru.nl/personen/sui... openreview.net/forum?id=NcJ...
December 19, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Today we are time-travelling with @stefanfrank.bsky.social π
December 19, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Today we are time-travelling with @stefanfrank.bsky.social π
Iβm really enjoying the Computational Psycholinguistics Meeting in Utrecht! cpl2025.sites.uu.nl π§
Yesterday MSc student Sven Terpstra (co-supervised w/ @wzuidema.bsky.social) presented his project on predicting the N400 with GPT-derived metrics beyond surprisal openreview.net/forum?id=MAl...
Yesterday MSc student Sven Terpstra (co-supervised w/ @wzuidema.bsky.social) presented his project on predicting the N400 with GPT-derived metrics beyond surprisal openreview.net/forum?id=MAl...
Beyond surprisal: GPT-derived attention metrics offer additional...
The N400 component of the EEG signal is a well-established neural correlate of real-time language comprehension, sensitive to a range of lexical and contextual variables. While earlier studies have...
openreview.net
December 19, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Iβm really enjoying the Computational Psycholinguistics Meeting in Utrecht! cpl2025.sites.uu.nl π§
Yesterday MSc student Sven Terpstra (co-supervised w/ @wzuidema.bsky.social) presented his project on predicting the N400 with GPT-derived metrics beyond surprisal openreview.net/forum?id=MAl...
Yesterday MSc student Sven Terpstra (co-supervised w/ @wzuidema.bsky.social) presented his project on predicting the N400 with GPT-derived metrics beyond surprisal openreview.net/forum?id=MAl...
This is in response to the recent target article by @futrell.bsky.social & @kmahowald.bsky.social, a wonderful read! Thanks to the authors for writing such a clear and inspiring piece to start this discussion. doi.org/10.1017/S014...
December 17, 2025 at 3:22 PM
This is in response to the recent target article by @futrell.bsky.social & @kmahowald.bsky.social, a wonderful read! Thanks to the authors for writing such a clear and inspiring piece to start this discussion. doi.org/10.1017/S014...
'Tis the season to preprint BBS commentaries; I'm happy to share ours too! πβ¨
The textual basis of current LLMs causes trouble, but linguistically relevant insights *can* be found in systems modelling the more natural form of human spoken language: the speech signal itself. arxiv.org/abs/2512.14506
The textual basis of current LLMs causes trouble, but linguistically relevant insights *can* be found in systems modelling the more natural form of human spoken language: the speech signal itself. arxiv.org/abs/2512.14506
December 17, 2025 at 3:22 PM
'Tis the season to preprint BBS commentaries; I'm happy to share ours too! πβ¨
The textual basis of current LLMs causes trouble, but linguistically relevant insights *can* be found in systems modelling the more natural form of human spoken language: the speech signal itself. arxiv.org/abs/2512.14506
The textual basis of current LLMs causes trouble, but linguistically relevant insights *can* be found in systems modelling the more natural form of human spoken language: the speech signal itself. arxiv.org/abs/2512.14506
Reposted by Marianne de Heer Kloots
Why do humans have linguistic intuition? And why should you care?
A short thread about my new paper in @cadlin.bsky.social
This work has the most original insight I've ever had, a genuinely new idea about the nature of language
cadernos.abralin.org/index.php/ca...
1/20
A short thread about my new paper in @cadlin.bsky.social
This work has the most original insight I've ever had, a genuinely new idea about the nature of language
cadernos.abralin.org/index.php/ca...
1/20
Why Do Humans Have Linguistic Intuition?
| Cadernos de LinguΓstica
cadernos.abralin.org
December 15, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Why do humans have linguistic intuition? And why should you care?
A short thread about my new paper in @cadlin.bsky.social
This work has the most original insight I've ever had, a genuinely new idea about the nature of language
cadernos.abralin.org/index.php/ca...
1/20
A short thread about my new paper in @cadlin.bsky.social
This work has the most original insight I've ever had, a genuinely new idea about the nature of language
cadernos.abralin.org/index.php/ca...
1/20
Reposted by Marianne de Heer Kloots
Many studies of naturalistic comprehension report that surprisal (often LLM derived) explains more of the variance in data than other predictors. Why is this? And why can it be problematic for our conclusions?
A 𧡠of takeaways from our paper doi.org/10.1007/s421... with @andreaeyleen.bsky.social
A 𧡠of takeaways from our paper doi.org/10.1007/s421... with @andreaeyleen.bsky.social
Whatβs Surprising About Surprisal - Computational Brain & Behavior
In the computational and experimental psycholinguistic literature, the mechanisms behind syntactic structure building (e.g., combining words into phrases and sentences) are the subject of considerable...
doi.org
November 17, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Many studies of naturalistic comprehension report that surprisal (often LLM derived) explains more of the variance in data than other predictors. Why is this? And why can it be problematic for our conclusions?
A 𧡠of takeaways from our paper doi.org/10.1007/s421... with @andreaeyleen.bsky.social
A 𧡠of takeaways from our paper doi.org/10.1007/s421... with @andreaeyleen.bsky.social
Reposted by Marianne de Heer Kloots
Why isnβt modern AI built around principles from cognitive science or neuroscience? Starting a substack (infinitefaculty.substack.com/p/why-isnt-m...) by writing down my thoughts on that question: as part of a first series of posts giving my current thoughts on the relation between these fields. 1/3
Why isnβt modern AI built around principles from cognitive science?
First post in a series on cognitive science and AI
infinitefaculty.substack.com
December 16, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Why isnβt modern AI built around principles from cognitive science or neuroscience? Starting a substack (infinitefaculty.substack.com/p/why-isnt-m...) by writing down my thoughts on that question: as part of a first series of posts giving my current thoughts on the relation between these fields. 1/3
I had a wonderful time getting to know @gronlp.bsky.social last week while discussing linguistic structure and learning trajectories in speech models! β¨ Many thanks for the invite @frap98.bsky.social, already looking forward to catching up again soon :)
Last week I had the pleasure of hosting a fantastic friend and researcher, @mdhk.net , who came to visit us in Groningen for a couple of days from Amsterdam! π
December 1, 2025 at 5:13 PM
I had a wonderful time getting to know @gronlp.bsky.social last week while discussing linguistic structure and learning trajectories in speech models! β¨ Many thanks for the invite @frap98.bsky.social, already looking forward to catching up again soon :)
Reposted by Marianne de Heer Kloots
π¨NEW PUBLICATION ALERT!π¨
The 'Design Features' of Language Revisited (w/ @mperlman.bsky.social @glupyan.bsky.social Koen de Reus & @limorraviv.bsky.social)
Feature Review out now in #OpenAccess in @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social! #language #linguistics
Paper: doi.org/10.1016/j.ti...
The 'Design Features' of Language Revisited (w/ @mperlman.bsky.social @glupyan.bsky.social Koen de Reus & @limorraviv.bsky.social)
Feature Review out now in #OpenAccess in @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social! #language #linguistics
Paper: doi.org/10.1016/j.ti...
November 25, 2025 at 7:49 PM
π¨NEW PUBLICATION ALERT!π¨
The 'Design Features' of Language Revisited (w/ @mperlman.bsky.social @glupyan.bsky.social Koen de Reus & @limorraviv.bsky.social)
Feature Review out now in #OpenAccess in @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social! #language #linguistics
Paper: doi.org/10.1016/j.ti...
The 'Design Features' of Language Revisited (w/ @mperlman.bsky.social @glupyan.bsky.social Koen de Reus & @limorraviv.bsky.social)
Feature Review out now in #OpenAccess in @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social! #language #linguistics
Paper: doi.org/10.1016/j.ti...
Reposted by Marianne de Heer Kloots
Interested in the evolution of human language? Check out our new paper in @science.org where we synthesize latest findings and outline a multifaceted, bio-cultural approach for studying how language evolved. Super proud of this work, and hoping it leads to exciting new research! tinyurl.com/ykacvanp
November 21, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Interested in the evolution of human language? Check out our new paper in @science.org where we synthesize latest findings and outline a multifaceted, bio-cultural approach for studying how language evolved. Super proud of this work, and hoping it leads to exciting new research! tinyurl.com/ykacvanp
Reposted by Marianne de Heer Kloots
The Multilingual Minds & Machines Meetings call for abstracts is now open! Everything you need to know is here -> mmmm2026.github.io
November 18, 2025 at 10:05 AM
The Multilingual Minds & Machines Meetings call for abstracts is now open! Everything you need to know is here -> mmmm2026.github.io
Reposted by Marianne de Heer Kloots
happy to share our new paper, out now in Neuron! led by the incredible Yizhen Zhang, we explore how the brain segments continuous speech into word-forms and uses adaptive dynamics to code for relative time - www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Human cortical dynamics of auditory word form encoding
We perceive continuous speech as a series of discrete words, despite the lack of clear acoustic boundaries. The superior temporal gyrus (STG) encodes β¦
www.sciencedirect.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:16 PM
happy to share our new paper, out now in Neuron! led by the incredible Yizhen Zhang, we explore how the brain segments continuous speech into word-forms and uses adaptive dynamics to code for relative time - www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Marianne de Heer Kloots
Delighted to share our new paper, now out in PNAS! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
"Hierarchical dynamic coding coordinates speech comprehension in the brain"
with dream team @alecmarantz.bsky.social, @davidpoeppel.bsky.social, @jeanremiking.bsky.social
Summary π
1/8
"Hierarchical dynamic coding coordinates speech comprehension in the brain"
with dream team @alecmarantz.bsky.social, @davidpoeppel.bsky.social, @jeanremiking.bsky.social
Summary π
1/8
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
October 22, 2025 at 5:21 AM
Delighted to share our new paper, now out in PNAS! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
"Hierarchical dynamic coding coordinates speech comprehension in the brain"
with dream team @alecmarantz.bsky.social, @davidpoeppel.bsky.social, @jeanremiking.bsky.social
Summary π
1/8
"Hierarchical dynamic coding coordinates speech comprehension in the brain"
with dream team @alecmarantz.bsky.social, @davidpoeppel.bsky.social, @jeanremiking.bsky.social
Summary π
1/8
Reposted by Marianne de Heer Kloots
πIntroducing BabyBabelLM: A Multilingual Benchmark of Developmentally Plausible Training Data!
LLMs learn from vastly more data than humans ever experience. BabyLM challenges this paradigm by focusing on developmentally plausible data
We extend this effort to 45 new languages!
LLMs learn from vastly more data than humans ever experience. BabyLM challenges this paradigm by focusing on developmentally plausible data
We extend this effort to 45 new languages!
October 15, 2025 at 10:53 AM
πIntroducing BabyBabelLM: A Multilingual Benchmark of Developmentally Plausible Training Data!
LLMs learn from vastly more data than humans ever experience. BabyLM challenges this paradigm by focusing on developmentally plausible data
We extend this effort to 45 new languages!
LLMs learn from vastly more data than humans ever experience. BabyLM challenges this paradigm by focusing on developmentally plausible data
We extend this effort to 45 new languages!
Reposted by Marianne de Heer Kloots
Interesting paper suggesting a mechanism for why in-context learning happens in LLMs.
They show that LLMs implicitly apply an internal low-rank weight update adjusted by the context. Itβs cheap (due to the low-rank) but effective for adapting the modelβs behavior.
#MLSky
arxiv.org/abs/2507.16003
They show that LLMs implicitly apply an internal low-rank weight update adjusted by the context. Itβs cheap (due to the low-rank) but effective for adapting the modelβs behavior.
#MLSky
arxiv.org/abs/2507.16003
Learning without training: The implicit dynamics of in-context learning
One of the most striking features of Large Language Models (LLM) is their ability to learn in context. Namely at inference time an LLM is able to learn new patterns without any additional weight updat...
arxiv.org
October 6, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Interesting paper suggesting a mechanism for why in-context learning happens in LLMs.
They show that LLMs implicitly apply an internal low-rank weight update adjusted by the context. Itβs cheap (due to the low-rank) but effective for adapting the modelβs behavior.
#MLSky
arxiv.org/abs/2507.16003
They show that LLMs implicitly apply an internal low-rank weight update adjusted by the context. Itβs cheap (due to the low-rank) but effective for adapting the modelβs behavior.
#MLSky
arxiv.org/abs/2507.16003
Reposted by Marianne de Heer Kloots
PhD Position: Accented Speech Processing - Apply now!
Come work with Mirjam Broersma, @davidpeeters.bsky.social, and me at the Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University in the Netherlands.
Application deadline: 19 October 2025
For more information, see
www.ru.nl/en/working-a...
Come work with Mirjam Broersma, @davidpeeters.bsky.social, and me at the Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University in the Netherlands.
Application deadline: 19 October 2025
For more information, see
www.ru.nl/en/working-a...
PhD Position: Accented Speech Processing | Radboud University
Do you want to work as a PhD: Accented Speech Processing at the Faculty of Arts? Check our vacancy!
www.ru.nl
October 2, 2025 at 2:35 PM
PhD Position: Accented Speech Processing - Apply now!
Come work with Mirjam Broersma, @davidpeeters.bsky.social, and me at the Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University in the Netherlands.
Application deadline: 19 October 2025
For more information, see
www.ru.nl/en/working-a...
Come work with Mirjam Broersma, @davidpeeters.bsky.social, and me at the Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University in the Netherlands.
Application deadline: 19 October 2025
For more information, see
www.ru.nl/en/working-a...
Huge congrats to the envisionBOX team for the Open Science award nomination! π
My tutorial on speech analysis tools in Python from the Unboxing Multimodality summer school (github.com/mdhk/unboxin...) is now also available at envisionbox.org
Thanks for the invitation & this great initiative! π
My tutorial on speech analysis tools in Python from the Unboxing Multimodality summer school (github.com/mdhk/unboxin...) is now also available at envisionbox.org
Thanks for the invitation & this great initiative! π
www.envisionbox.org has been shortlisted for the Leo Waaijers Open Science price: ukb.nl/en/news/shor...
@babajideowoyele.bsky.social @jamestrujillo.bsky.social @sarkadava.bsky.social @DavideAhmar @acwiek.bsky.social
Amazing Markus KΓΌpper made an animated video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HduI...
@babajideowoyele.bsky.social @jamestrujillo.bsky.social @sarkadava.bsky.social @DavideAhmar @acwiek.bsky.social
Amazing Markus KΓΌpper made an animated video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HduI...
EnvisionBOX overview2025
YouTube video by Wim Pouw
www.youtube.com
October 2, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Huge congrats to the envisionBOX team for the Open Science award nomination! π
My tutorial on speech analysis tools in Python from the Unboxing Multimodality summer school (github.com/mdhk/unboxin...) is now also available at envisionbox.org
Thanks for the invitation & this great initiative! π
My tutorial on speech analysis tools in Python from the Unboxing Multimodality summer school (github.com/mdhk/unboxin...) is now also available at envisionbox.org
Thanks for the invitation & this great initiative! π
Reposted by Marianne de Heer Kloots
The ππππ π¦ππΊπΊπ²πΏ π¦π°π΅πΌπΌπΉ in Marseille went beyond all my expectations! π―
A week has already flown by since I had one of the most formative experiences of my PhD so far. π©βπ¨
A week has already flown by since I had one of the most formative experiences of my PhD so far. π©βπ¨
September 12, 2025 at 9:52 AM
The ππππ π¦ππΊπΊπ²πΏ π¦π°π΅πΌπΌπΉ in Marseille went beyond all my expectations! π―
A week has already flown by since I had one of the most formative experiences of my PhD so far. π©βπ¨
A week has already flown by since I had one of the most formative experiences of my PhD so far. π©βπ¨
Thanks to all co-authors in the Dutch SSL training team @hmohebbi.bsky.social @cpouw.bsky.social @gaofeishen.com @wzuidema.bsky.social + Martijn Bentum
And to @itcooperativesurf.bsky.social (EINF-8324) for granting me the resources that enabled this project π©βπ»β¨
And to @itcooperativesurf.bsky.social (EINF-8324) for granting me the resources that enabled this project π©βπ»β¨
August 27, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Thanks to all co-authors in the Dutch SSL training team @hmohebbi.bsky.social @cpouw.bsky.social @gaofeishen.com @wzuidema.bsky.social + Martijn Bentum
And to @itcooperativesurf.bsky.social (EINF-8324) for granting me the resources that enabled this project π©βπ»β¨
And to @itcooperativesurf.bsky.social (EINF-8324) for granting me the resources that enabled this project π©βπ»β¨
Check out the paper for more details:
π arxiv.org/abs/2506.00981
Or the model, dataset and code released alongside it:
π€ huggingface.co/amsterdamNLP...
ποΈ zenodo.org/records/1554...
π github.com/mdhk/SSL-NL-...
We hope these resources help further research on language-specificity in speech models!
π arxiv.org/abs/2506.00981
Or the model, dataset and code released alongside it:
π€ huggingface.co/amsterdamNLP...
ποΈ zenodo.org/records/1554...
π github.com/mdhk/SSL-NL-...
We hope these resources help further research on language-specificity in speech models!
August 27, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Check out the paper for more details:
π arxiv.org/abs/2506.00981
Or the model, dataset and code released alongside it:
π€ huggingface.co/amsterdamNLP...
ποΈ zenodo.org/records/1554...
π github.com/mdhk/SSL-NL-...
We hope these resources help further research on language-specificity in speech models!
π arxiv.org/abs/2506.00981
Or the model, dataset and code released alongside it:
π€ huggingface.co/amsterdamNLP...
ποΈ zenodo.org/records/1554...
π github.com/mdhk/SSL-NL-...
We hope these resources help further research on language-specificity in speech models!