Cognition
@cognitionjournal.bsky.social
EiC team: Johan Wagemans, Ian Dobbins, Ori Friedman, and Katrien Segaert
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A new paper by shirilevari.bsky.social shows that sound symbolism highlights the properties that distinguish referents from their competitors: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A🧵
A new paper by shirilevari.bsky.social shows that sound symbolism highlights the properties that distinguish referents from their competitors: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A🧵
Sound symbolism highlights relative distinctiveness: Evidence from English vocabulary
There is robust evidence that people associate certain sounds with meanings, yet the prevalence and importance of sound symbolism in natural language …
www.sciencedirect.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:45 PM
1/10
A new paper by shirilevari.bsky.social shows that sound symbolism highlights the properties that distinguish referents from their competitors: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A🧵
A new paper by shirilevari.bsky.social shows that sound symbolism highlights the properties that distinguish referents from their competitors: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A🧵
Reposted by Cognition
Aligning eye tracking and free recall time series, we found that increased saccades predict episodic (vs. non-episodic) by 0.5 s.
Just out in @cognitionjournal.bsky.social, led by Ryan Barker with the inimitable @drjenryan.bsky.social.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Just out in @cognitionjournal.bsky.social, led by Ryan Barker with the inimitable @drjenryan.bsky.social.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
November 24, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Aligning eye tracking and free recall time series, we found that increased saccades predict episodic (vs. non-episodic) by 0.5 s.
Just out in @cognitionjournal.bsky.social, led by Ryan Barker with the inimitable @drjenryan.bsky.social.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Just out in @cognitionjournal.bsky.social, led by Ryan Barker with the inimitable @drjenryan.bsky.social.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
We are remarkably good at recognizing natural auditory “textures”, such as the soothing sound of a running brook or fire crackling in a chimney. But do you think you could remember the exact rain texture that opens “Riders on the Storm”?
November 24, 2025 at 2:42 PM
We are remarkably good at recognizing natural auditory “textures”, such as the soothing sound of a running brook or fire crackling in a chimney. But do you think you could remember the exact rain texture that opens “Riders on the Storm”?
How do general cognitive abilities shape our language skills?
Our new study in Cognition examines how perceptual speed, working memory, and cognitive control mediate the link between statistical learning and language abilities.
Our new study in Cognition examines how perceptual speed, working memory, and cognitive control mediate the link between statistical learning and language abilities.
November 22, 2025 at 12:16 AM
How do general cognitive abilities shape our language skills?
Our new study in Cognition examines how perceptual speed, working memory, and cognitive control mediate the link between statistical learning and language abilities.
Our new study in Cognition examines how perceptual speed, working memory, and cognitive control mediate the link between statistical learning and language abilities.
Reposted by Cognition
New paper in @cognitionjournal.bsky.social, where we show how attention impacts political choices. With an eye-tracking study, we find that people's votes aren't set in stone - they take longer to vote on divisive issues and can be swayed by gaze manipulations. authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...
ScienceDirect.com | Science, health and medical journals, full text articles and books.
authors.elsevier.com
November 21, 2025 at 6:21 PM
New paper in @cognitionjournal.bsky.social, where we show how attention impacts political choices. With an eye-tracking study, we find that people's votes aren't set in stone - they take longer to vote on divisive issues and can be swayed by gaze manipulations. authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...
New in Cognition: In politics, people are not always truth seekers. Often, we reach conclusions because they fit with preferred narratives: we are biased by ideological motivations. Are some people better equipped to overcome such bias than others?
November 21, 2025 at 2:47 PM
New in Cognition: In politics, people are not always truth seekers. Often, we reach conclusions because they fit with preferred narratives: we are biased by ideological motivations. Are some people better equipped to overcome such bias than others?
How early do children grasp mathematical patterns? In a new Cognition paper, Ciccione et al. show that 5–6-year-olds can intuitively extend lines, curves and oscillating patterns, revealing rich proto-mathematical intuitions before schooling.
November 20, 2025 at 1:55 PM
How early do children grasp mathematical patterns? In a new Cognition paper, Ciccione et al. show that 5–6-year-olds can intuitively extend lines, curves and oscillating patterns, revealing rich proto-mathematical intuitions before schooling.
How do people decide whether to stay with a good thing or leave in search of something better? In her new paper, @theazalabak.bsky.social explores how model-based planning guides foraging decisions in structured environments.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Model-based planning in structured foraging environments
In order to maximize reward, humans need to balance engaging with currently available sources of reward and searching for better ones. Optimal foragin…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:04 PM
How do people decide whether to stay with a good thing or leave in search of something better? In her new paper, @theazalabak.bsky.social explores how model-based planning guides foraging decisions in structured environments.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Cognition
⚠️ New paper! Why do words sound so similar? In an agent-based model + communication game, we show that production/comprehension pressures trade off to shape lexicon structure.
In @cognitionjournal.bsky.social w/ @simonkirby.bsky.social & Jenny Culbertson.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
In @cognitionjournal.bsky.social w/ @simonkirby.bsky.social & Jenny Culbertson.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
The lexicon adapts to competing communicative pressures: Explaining patterns of word similarity
Cross-linguistically, lexicons tend to be more phonetically clustered than required by the phonotactics of the language; that is, words within a langu…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:59 AM
⚠️ New paper! Why do words sound so similar? In an agent-based model + communication game, we show that production/comprehension pressures trade off to shape lexicon structure.
In @cognitionjournal.bsky.social w/ @simonkirby.bsky.social & Jenny Culbertson.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
In @cognitionjournal.bsky.social w/ @simonkirby.bsky.social & Jenny Culbertson.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
New evidence for linguistic relativity: Across English and Dutch, we find that English grammar obliges speakers to use more low-certainty modals (may, might) and, in turn, discount future rewards more steeply.
November 10, 2025 at 6:29 PM
New evidence for linguistic relativity: Across English and Dutch, we find that English grammar obliges speakers to use more low-certainty modals (may, might) and, in turn, discount future rewards more steeply.
New in Cognition: Episodic Recall after VR navigation with naturalistic leg/head movement (immersive) vs handheld joystick (restricted). Sabharwal-Siddiqi et al. (sameerss.bsky.social adekstreme.bsky.social) tests the dependence of episodic memory on body movement and spatiotemporal encoding.
November 7, 2025 at 6:06 PM
New in Cognition: Episodic Recall after VR navigation with naturalistic leg/head movement (immersive) vs handheld joystick (restricted). Sabharwal-Siddiqi et al. (sameerss.bsky.social adekstreme.bsky.social) tests the dependence of episodic memory on body movement and spatiotemporal encoding.
When we detect a behaviorally relevant target, our memory for concurrent information improves—a phenomenon known as the Attentional Boost Effect (ABE).
October 31, 2025 at 6:18 PM
When we detect a behaviorally relevant target, our memory for concurrent information improves—a phenomenon known as the Attentional Boost Effect (ABE).
Reposted by Cognition
Just in: @drbarner.bsky.social & I find that blind adults and children who have symbols for large numbers, and use 1:1 correspondence to count, do not extend a similar 1:1 strategy to a set-matching task, which assesses their knowledge of Hume’s principle. A 🧵:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Exact numerical reasoning in blind children and adults
What is the origin of exact numerical reasoning in humans? Previous studies report that innumerate humans are unable to recognize that two sets placed…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 26, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Just in: @drbarner.bsky.social & I find that blind adults and children who have symbols for large numbers, and use 1:1 correspondence to count, do not extend a similar 1:1 strategy to a set-matching task, which assesses their knowledge of Hume’s principle. A 🧵:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
In a new paper in Cognition, @marshallgreen.bsky.social and Michael Pratte examine how perceptual confidence is derived from our internal representations. #CognitiveScience #Perception #Metacognition
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
October 30, 2025 at 1:30 PM
In a new paper in Cognition, @marshallgreen.bsky.social and Michael Pratte examine how perceptual confidence is derived from our internal representations. #CognitiveScience #Perception #Metacognition
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Cognition
Our experience of time is powerfully shaped by boundaries between events (i.e., going from one meeting to the next). But what about time *within an event*? In new work, we find reliable distortions of time based on internal event structure (e.g., beginnings, middles, and ends)! tinyurl.com/n8mn2sn7
Unfolding event structure distorts subjective time
Our experience of time is often distorted in striking ways. Although prior work has shown that boundaries between events can shape temporal perception…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 29, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Our experience of time is powerfully shaped by boundaries between events (i.e., going from one meeting to the next). But what about time *within an event*? In new work, we find reliable distortions of time based on internal event structure (e.g., beginnings, middles, and ends)! tinyurl.com/n8mn2sn7
Even when emotions aren’t relevant to a task, they still guide our focus. Using a Posner cueing task for exogenous attention orientation —a paradigm designed to isolate reflexive attention— we discovered the TEASC effect:
October 20, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Even when emotions aren’t relevant to a task, they still guide our focus. Using a Posner cueing task for exogenous attention orientation —a paradigm designed to isolate reflexive attention— we discovered the TEASC effect:
We think about others’ thoughts about our thoughts to navigate romance, sarcasm, gossip, and nuclear standoffs. But recursive mentalizing is hard. In a model contest, I show that under pressure our inner vision goes blurry, not blind. #TheoryOfMind
October 11, 2025 at 4:23 PM
We think about others’ thoughts about our thoughts to navigate romance, sarcasm, gossip, and nuclear standoffs. But recursive mentalizing is hard. In a model contest, I show that under pressure our inner vision goes blurry, not blind. #TheoryOfMind
In our study, we investigated how people evaluate everyday socio-political arguments in the context of their prior beliefs about the topics being discussed.
October 1, 2025 at 3:14 PM
In our study, we investigated how people evaluate everyday socio-political arguments in the context of their prior beliefs about the topics being discussed.
Reposted by Cognition
"Learning to be confident: How agents learn confidence based on prediction errors"! Now out in @cognitionjournal.bsky.social led by @pierreledenmat.bsky.social
Paper: desenderlab.com/wp-content/u... Thread ↓↓↓
#AcademicSky #PsychSciSky #Neuroscience #Neuroskyence
Paper: desenderlab.com/wp-content/u... Thread ↓↓↓
#AcademicSky #PsychSciSky #Neuroscience #Neuroskyence
September 25, 2025 at 8:44 AM
"Learning to be confident: How agents learn confidence based on prediction errors"! Now out in @cognitionjournal.bsky.social led by @pierreledenmat.bsky.social
Paper: desenderlab.com/wp-content/u... Thread ↓↓↓
#AcademicSky #PsychSciSky #Neuroscience #Neuroskyence
Paper: desenderlab.com/wp-content/u... Thread ↓↓↓
#AcademicSky #PsychSciSky #Neuroscience #Neuroskyence
"How to show that a cruel prank is worse than a war crime: Shifting scales and missing benchmarks in the study of moral judgment"
📢New paper from: @vladchituc.bsky.social, @mjcrockett.bsky.social, & Brian Scholl
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
📢New paper from: @vladchituc.bsky.social, @mjcrockett.bsky.social, & Brian Scholl
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Thrilled to announce a new paper out this weekend in
@cognitionjournal.bsky.social.
Moral psychologists almost always use self-report scales to study moral judgment. But there's a problem: the meaning of these scales is inherently relative.
A 2 min demo (and a short thread):
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@cognitionjournal.bsky.social.
Moral psychologists almost always use self-report scales to study moral judgment. But there's a problem: the meaning of these scales is inherently relative.
A 2 min demo (and a short thread):
1/7
September 29, 2025 at 1:15 PM
"How to show that a cruel prank is worse than a war crime: Shifting scales and missing benchmarks in the study of moral judgment"
📢New paper from: @vladchituc.bsky.social, @mjcrockett.bsky.social, & Brian Scholl
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
📢New paper from: @vladchituc.bsky.social, @mjcrockett.bsky.social, & Brian Scholl
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
We often argue about what’s true, without ever asking what we mean by ”truth”. Different ideas of truth can derail a debate long before facts are discussed. In this work, we use conceptual scaling to explore how people understand truth.
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September 23, 2025 at 2:20 PM
We often argue about what’s true, without ever asking what we mean by ”truth”. Different ideas of truth can derail a debate long before facts are discussed. In this work, we use conceptual scaling to explore how people understand truth.
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When do people self-handicap? We model self-handicapping in terms of rational signaling, showing how it depends on assumptions about whether observers are naive or sophisticated. More in thread!
September 22, 2025 at 2:06 PM
When do people self-handicap? We model self-handicapping in terms of rational signaling, showing how it depends on assumptions about whether observers are naive or sophisticated. More in thread!
Reposted by Cognition
(1/7)📢 New paper by Vera Hoorens, felixhermans.bsky.social, and Susanne Bruckmüller in @cognitionjournal.bsky.social : “Why Boys Cry and Don’t Cry. The Contextual-Statistical (ConStat) Approach to the Perceived Validity of Generics”. A small 🧵and link to the paper below!
September 19, 2025 at 11:30 AM
(1/7)📢 New paper by Vera Hoorens, felixhermans.bsky.social, and Susanne Bruckmüller in @cognitionjournal.bsky.social : “Why Boys Cry and Don’t Cry. The Contextual-Statistical (ConStat) Approach to the Perceived Validity of Generics”. A small 🧵and link to the paper below!
How do background voices derail our thoughts? Our study shows that distracting words disrupt deliberate memory retrieval not necessarily by grabbing attention, but because they are processed incidentally, forcing us to suppress their meaning.
September 16, 2025 at 2:12 PM
How do background voices derail our thoughts? Our study shows that distracting words disrupt deliberate memory retrieval not necessarily by grabbing attention, but because they are processed incidentally, forcing us to suppress their meaning.
Highlighting “women and children” as victim is ubiquitous, but what psychological consequences does this phrase have? Across 6 experiments with over 3000 participants, we show that “women and children” amplifies moral outrage and explore why.
September 15, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Highlighting “women and children” as victim is ubiquitous, but what psychological consequences does this phrase have? Across 6 experiments with over 3000 participants, we show that “women and children” amplifies moral outrage and explore why.