Tim Ricker
@timricker.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of South Dakota | PI of the Memory & Attention Laboratory | Fan of chess, cards, video games, & hiking.
Pinned
3 Presentations from my lab at Psychonomics this week!
Friday (Nov.21), 3:30-5:30 Working Memory I
Does Reward-Based Prioritization Function
through the Same Mechanisms in Verbal and
Visual Working Memory?
TIMOTHY J. RICKER, University of South Dakota,
JOSHUA SANDRY, Montclair State University
Friday (Nov.21), 3:30-5:30 Working Memory I
Does Reward-Based Prioritization Function
through the Same Mechanisms in Verbal and
Visual Working Memory?
TIMOTHY J. RICKER, University of South Dakota,
JOSHUA SANDRY, Montclair State University
Reposted by Tim Ricker
New content: Souza, A. S. (2025). Refreshing Multi-Feature Objects in Visual Working Memory. Journal of Cognition, 8(1): 49, pp. 1–19. DOI: doi.org/10.5334/joc....
#psychscisky
#psychscisky
Refreshing Multi-Feature Objects in Visual Working Memory | Journal of Cognition
doi.org
November 25, 2025 at 7:45 AM
New content: Souza, A. S. (2025). Refreshing Multi-Feature Objects in Visual Working Memory. Journal of Cognition, 8(1): 49, pp. 1–19. DOI: doi.org/10.5334/joc....
#psychscisky
#psychscisky
Reposted by Tim Ricker
PS is excited to announce the launch of "Individual Differences in Cognition” (IDIC), an open-access journal on research in cognitive psychology, science, and neuroscience. Co-Editors-in-Chief are Andrew R.A. Conway & Michael J. Kane. Manuscripts accepted this spring. More information coming soon!
November 22, 2025 at 10:09 PM
PS is excited to announce the launch of "Individual Differences in Cognition” (IDIC), an open-access journal on research in cognitive psychology, science, and neuroscience. Co-Editors-in-Chief are Andrew R.A. Conway & Michael J. Kane. Manuscripts accepted this spring. More information coming soon!
Reposted by Tim Ricker
More information about next EWoMS in Lyon - France 🥳 ewoms11.sciencesconf.org
November 24, 2025 at 4:52 PM
More information about next EWoMS in Lyon - France 🥳 ewoms11.sciencesconf.org
Reposted by Tim Ricker
🚀 New preprint alert 🚀
How easily can working memory create interference in long-term memories? Our new preprint, Interference Across Memory Systems: Disrupting Long-Term Memories Through Working Memory examines this
osf.io/preprints/ps...
w/ @sahcan.bsky.social Anna Lena Mantei, Daniel Schneider
How easily can working memory create interference in long-term memories? Our new preprint, Interference Across Memory Systems: Disrupting Long-Term Memories Through Working Memory examines this
osf.io/preprints/ps...
w/ @sahcan.bsky.social Anna Lena Mantei, Daniel Schneider
OSF
osf.io
November 16, 2025 at 7:22 PM
🚀 New preprint alert 🚀
How easily can working memory create interference in long-term memories? Our new preprint, Interference Across Memory Systems: Disrupting Long-Term Memories Through Working Memory examines this
osf.io/preprints/ps...
w/ @sahcan.bsky.social Anna Lena Mantei, Daniel Schneider
How easily can working memory create interference in long-term memories? Our new preprint, Interference Across Memory Systems: Disrupting Long-Term Memories Through Working Memory examines this
osf.io/preprints/ps...
w/ @sahcan.bsky.social Anna Lena Mantei, Daniel Schneider
Reposted by Tim Ricker
Our new paper tests Bayesian and Demixing Model's ideas about the role of noise in serial dependence by manipulating prioritization in VWM via cueing and extra maintenance instruction, and finds mixed support for the models. 1/n bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
#visualworkingmemory #vwm
#visualworkingmemory #vwm
Visual working memory prioritization modulates serial dependence beyond simple attentional effects - BMC Biology
Background Serial dependence (SD) is a contextual bias in visual processing, where current perception is influenced by past stimuli. This study explores how prioritization in visual working memory (VW...
bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com
November 15, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Our new paper tests Bayesian and Demixing Model's ideas about the role of noise in serial dependence by manipulating prioritization in VWM via cueing and extra maintenance instruction, and finds mixed support for the models. 1/n bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
#visualworkingmemory #vwm
#visualworkingmemory #vwm
3 Presentations from my lab at Psychonomics this week!
Friday (Nov.21), 3:30-5:30 Working Memory I
Does Reward-Based Prioritization Function
through the Same Mechanisms in Verbal and
Visual Working Memory?
TIMOTHY J. RICKER, University of South Dakota,
JOSHUA SANDRY, Montclair State University
Friday (Nov.21), 3:30-5:30 Working Memory I
Does Reward-Based Prioritization Function
through the Same Mechanisms in Verbal and
Visual Working Memory?
TIMOTHY J. RICKER, University of South Dakota,
JOSHUA SANDRY, Montclair State University
November 17, 2025 at 10:11 PM
3 Presentations from my lab at Psychonomics this week!
Friday (Nov.21), 3:30-5:30 Working Memory I
Does Reward-Based Prioritization Function
through the Same Mechanisms in Verbal and
Visual Working Memory?
TIMOTHY J. RICKER, University of South Dakota,
JOSHUA SANDRY, Montclair State University
Friday (Nov.21), 3:30-5:30 Working Memory I
Does Reward-Based Prioritization Function
through the Same Mechanisms in Verbal and
Visual Working Memory?
TIMOTHY J. RICKER, University of South Dakota,
JOSHUA SANDRY, Montclair State University
Reposted by Tim Ricker
I’m also on the job market! If you’re working on predictive processing, event cognition, or computational modeling — or know of exciting postdoc opportunities —please DM!
📄 Paper: psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-...
🙏 With: Matt Bezdek, Tan Nguyen, Chris Hall and @jzacks.bsky.social
📄 Paper: psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-...
🙏 With: Matt Bezdek, Tan Nguyen, Chris Hall and @jzacks.bsky.social
APA PsycNet
psycnet.apa.org
November 12, 2025 at 9:31 PM
I’m also on the job market! If you’re working on predictive processing, event cognition, or computational modeling — or know of exciting postdoc opportunities —please DM!
📄 Paper: psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-...
🙏 With: Matt Bezdek, Tan Nguyen, Chris Hall and @jzacks.bsky.social
📄 Paper: psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-...
🙏 With: Matt Bezdek, Tan Nguyen, Chris Hall and @jzacks.bsky.social
Reposted by Tim Ricker
Last year a bunch of us wrote about the issue of incentives and possible alternatives. I’m not in love with any of the options we reviewed but I *am* happy we were able to highlight major aspects of the problem in a highly visible space www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
The misalignment of incentives in academic publishing and implications for journal reform | PNAS
For most researchers, academic publishing serves two goals that are often misaligned—knowledge
dissemination and establishing scientific credential...
www.pnas.org
November 12, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Last year a bunch of us wrote about the issue of incentives and possible alternatives. I’m not in love with any of the options we reviewed but I *am* happy we were able to highlight major aspects of the problem in a highly visible space www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Tim Ricker
The Ponizsa illusion - Kanizsa triangle produces Ponzo illusion, but oddly it inverts apparent depth: the longer line looks closer! Also has an inversion effect like we studied in Altan et al 2025 Proc Roy Soc (doi.org/10.1098/rspb...) but it's also in reverse! 🤔
#visionscience #psychscisky
#visionscience #psychscisky
November 12, 2025 at 2:58 AM
The Ponizsa illusion - Kanizsa triangle produces Ponzo illusion, but oddly it inverts apparent depth: the longer line looks closer! Also has an inversion effect like we studied in Altan et al 2025 Proc Roy Soc (doi.org/10.1098/rspb...) but it's also in reverse! 🤔
#visionscience #psychscisky
#visionscience #psychscisky
Reposted by Tim Ricker
A recent redesign of OSF by @cos.io led to widespread access failures. What began as a few broken download links became for me a total disappearance of eight years of DOI-registered work. What happened, how was it resolved, and what it reveals about trust and infrastructure in open science
Open Science needs reliable infrastructure – Ven Popov
After OSF’s October 2025 redesign, I discovered that eight years of DOI-linked preprints and materials were silently hidden by an automated spam flag. What happened, how it was resolved, and what it r...
venpopov.com
November 6, 2025 at 6:13 PM
A recent redesign of OSF by @cos.io led to widespread access failures. What began as a few broken download links became for me a total disappearance of eight years of DOI-registered work. What happened, how was it resolved, and what it reveals about trust and infrastructure in open science
Reposted by Tim Ricker
The Cognition Lab @ University of Zurich is on Bluesky! Follow us for updates on new papers & preprints, conferences that lab members attend & other news around research on #workingmemory, #attention, and #longtermmemory.
November 5, 2025 at 4:54 PM
The Cognition Lab @ University of Zurich is on Bluesky! Follow us for updates on new papers & preprints, conferences that lab members attend & other news around research on #workingmemory, #attention, and #longtermmemory.
Reposted by Tim Ricker
5% is quite a lot if you think about it. Huge N gives you the luxury to reduce alpha by a lot and still keep very high power. E.g., alpha = 0.5% (0.005) would give you 98.8% power for the same effect (in a t-test). The best balance depends on the cost of each error type, see tinyurl.com/yut35b3u >
Justify Your Alpha by Minimizing or Balancing Error Rates
A preprint ("Justify Your Alpha: A Primer on Two Practical Approaches") that extends the ideas in this blog post is available at: https://ps...
tinyurl.com
October 31, 2025 at 8:13 AM
5% is quite a lot if you think about it. Huge N gives you the luxury to reduce alpha by a lot and still keep very high power. E.g., alpha = 0.5% (0.005) would give you 98.8% power for the same effect (in a t-test). The best balance depends on the cost of each error type, see tinyurl.com/yut35b3u >
Reposted by Tim Ricker
📢New preprint w/ ayaecanb.bsky.social! Noisy visual representations strengthen repulsive serial biases but inducer uncertainty doesn’t. Working memory adapts to reduce error in ways that exceed simple Bayesian explanations.
#workingmemory #VisualWorkingMemory
🔗 www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7...
#workingmemory #VisualWorkingMemory
🔗 www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7...
Target Fidelity, but not Inducer Fidelity, Modulates Repulsive Serial Dependence of Visual Working Memory Representations
Visual representations are open to systematic functional biases. In visual working memory, representations of serially presented stimuli can either attract or repel each other. Such serial dependence ...
www.researchsquare.com
October 30, 2025 at 1:47 PM
📢New preprint w/ ayaecanb.bsky.social! Noisy visual representations strengthen repulsive serial biases but inducer uncertainty doesn’t. Working memory adapts to reduce error in ways that exceed simple Bayesian explanations.
#workingmemory #VisualWorkingMemory
🔗 www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7...
#workingmemory #VisualWorkingMemory
🔗 www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7...
Reposted by Tim Ricker
Preprint alert🚨Excited to share my first first-author paper!
Does playing first-person shooters relate to better multitasking skills? Not in our study, but we found experienced #Counter-Strike players are generally much faster in their reactions!
👉 osf.io/preprints/ps...
@cvonbastian.bsky.social
Does playing first-person shooters relate to better multitasking skills? Not in our study, but we found experienced #Counter-Strike players are generally much faster in their reactions!
👉 osf.io/preprints/ps...
@cvonbastian.bsky.social
OSF
osf.io
October 27, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Preprint alert🚨Excited to share my first first-author paper!
Does playing first-person shooters relate to better multitasking skills? Not in our study, but we found experienced #Counter-Strike players are generally much faster in their reactions!
👉 osf.io/preprints/ps...
@cvonbastian.bsky.social
Does playing first-person shooters relate to better multitasking skills? Not in our study, but we found experienced #Counter-Strike players are generally much faster in their reactions!
👉 osf.io/preprints/ps...
@cvonbastian.bsky.social
Reposted by Tim Ricker
Check our new Psych Science paper w/Daniil Azarov & Daniil Grigorev. Although an ability to recognize a familiar object among new ones clearly depends on how many and which objects there are, we show a remarkable stability of underlying "representational spaces"
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
October 24, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Check our new Psych Science paper w/Daniil Azarov & Daniil Grigorev. Although an ability to recognize a familiar object among new ones clearly depends on how many and which objects there are, we show a remarkable stability of underlying "representational spaces"
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Reposted by Tim Ricker
New paper from Hatice Cinar's PhD, in Memory & Cognition....
Prioritising feature bindings across space and modality in working memory
rdcu.be/eLz40
Prioritising feature bindings across space and modality in working memory
rdcu.be/eLz40
Prioritizing feature bindings across space and modality in working memory
rdcu.be
October 19, 2025 at 8:16 AM
New paper from Hatice Cinar's PhD, in Memory & Cognition....
Prioritising feature bindings across space and modality in working memory
rdcu.be/eLz40
Prioritising feature bindings across space and modality in working memory
rdcu.be/eLz40
Reposted by Tim Ricker
Job announcement! UN Reno Psychology (Cognitive & Brain Sciences division) is hiring for a tenure-track position. Come join us! We have a great group! Deadline December 1. Please share!
nshe.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/UNR-external...
#neuroskyence #neuroscience
nshe.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/UNR-external...
#neuroskyence #neuroscience
Assistant Professor, Cognitive and Brain Sciences
The University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) appreciates your interest in employment at our growing institution. We want your application process to go smoothly and quickly. Final applications must be submitt...
nshe.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
October 21, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Job announcement! UN Reno Psychology (Cognitive & Brain Sciences division) is hiring for a tenure-track position. Come join us! We have a great group! Deadline December 1. Please share!
nshe.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/UNR-external...
#neuroskyence #neuroscience
nshe.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/UNR-external...
#neuroskyence #neuroscience
Reposted by Tim Ricker
New preprint!
Working memory contents can be decoded from alpha band power. But does working memory maintenance really depend on these oscillations?
We say no, because we found that alpha power decoding only works for prioritized items, not deprioritized ones. 1/3
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Working memory contents can be decoded from alpha band power. But does working memory maintenance really depend on these oscillations?
We say no, because we found that alpha power decoding only works for prioritized items, not deprioritized ones. 1/3
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Sustained alpha oscillations serve attentional prioritization in working memory, not maintenance
Recent theory on the neural basis of working memory (WM) has attributed an important role to "activity-silent" mechanisms, suggesting that sustained neural activity might not be essential in the reten...
www.biorxiv.org
October 17, 2025 at 11:27 AM
New preprint!
Working memory contents can be decoded from alpha band power. But does working memory maintenance really depend on these oscillations?
We say no, because we found that alpha power decoding only works for prioritized items, not deprioritized ones. 1/3
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Working memory contents can be decoded from alpha band power. But does working memory maintenance really depend on these oscillations?
We say no, because we found that alpha power decoding only works for prioritized items, not deprioritized ones. 1/3
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Tim Ricker
🌟 We’re hiring! 🌟 Are you interested in memory, cognitive training, & healthy ageing? We’re looking for a Research Assistant to join our lab! www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOZ814/r...
👉 0.5 FTE (2.5 days/week), 4 months (likely from 01/26)
👉 Annual salary £32,080 to £33,002 (pro-rata)
👉 Based in Sheffield, UK
👉 0.5 FTE (2.5 days/week), 4 months (likely from 01/26)
👉 Annual salary £32,080 to £33,002 (pro-rata)
👉 Based in Sheffield, UK
Research Assistant - Cognitive Ability & Plasticity Lab at University of Sheffield
Searching for an academic job? Explore this Research Assistant - Cognitive Ability & Plasticity Lab opening on jobs.ac.uk! Click to view more details and browse other academic jobs.
www.jobs.ac.uk
October 17, 2025 at 8:08 AM
🌟 We’re hiring! 🌟 Are you interested in memory, cognitive training, & healthy ageing? We’re looking for a Research Assistant to join our lab! www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOZ814/r...
👉 0.5 FTE (2.5 days/week), 4 months (likely from 01/26)
👉 Annual salary £32,080 to £33,002 (pro-rata)
👉 Based in Sheffield, UK
👉 0.5 FTE (2.5 days/week), 4 months (likely from 01/26)
👉 Annual salary £32,080 to £33,002 (pro-rata)
👉 Based in Sheffield, UK
Reposted by Tim Ricker
2-year postdoc in our team, supervised by Laura Fruhen and Tirza van Noorden.
www.ru.nl/en/working-a...
www.ru.nl/en/working-a...
Postdoc Position: Workplace Communication and Employee Wellbeing | Radboud University
Do you want to work as a Postdoc: Workplace Communication and Employee Wellbeing at the Faculty of Social Sciences? Check our vacancy!
www.ru.nl
October 15, 2025 at 7:28 AM
2-year postdoc in our team, supervised by Laura Fruhen and Tirza van Noorden.
www.ru.nl/en/working-a...
www.ru.nl/en/working-a...
Reposted by Tim Ricker
Friendly reminder that the Object Perception, Attention, and Memory conference has a new "Lunch with an Expert” initiative where you can be paired with an expert and have the chance to ask them questions while enjoying a free lunch! Register (and please share!): docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
OPAM 2025 Luncheon
Students, postbacs, and postdocs attending OPAM 2025 are invited to sign-up for a free lunch with an expert on the day of the conference!
docs.google.com
October 13, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Friendly reminder that the Object Perception, Attention, and Memory conference has a new "Lunch with an Expert” initiative where you can be paired with an expert and have the chance to ask them questions while enjoying a free lunch! Register (and please share!): docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Reposted by Tim Ricker
My lab is recruiting a PhD student or Postdoc to join an exciting BSF project on working memory and prediction. Please RT, spread the word, and DM to apply
October 12, 2025 at 4:50 PM
My lab is recruiting a PhD student or Postdoc to join an exciting BSF project on working memory and prediction. Please RT, spread the word, and DM to apply
Reposted by Tim Ricker
The final part of my PhD work is now published in JEP:LMC 🤩 Special thanks to my wonderful PhD supervisors @evievergauwe.bsky.social and @nlangerock.bsky.social 🤗 psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...
October 8, 2025 at 9:25 AM
The final part of my PhD work is now published in JEP:LMC 🤩 Special thanks to my wonderful PhD supervisors @evievergauwe.bsky.social and @nlangerock.bsky.social 🤗 psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...
Reposted by Tim Ricker
As a theoretical cosmologist, I'm frequently asked "what is the benefit of the work you're doing for people's lives?" Nothing I work on makes money or cures disease.
There are a few different answers one can give, at various levels of "convincing" / "actually relevant to why the work is done."
1/🧵
There are a few different answers one can give, at various levels of "convincing" / "actually relevant to why the work is done."
1/🧵
October 3, 2025 at 7:32 PM
As a theoretical cosmologist, I'm frequently asked "what is the benefit of the work you're doing for people's lives?" Nothing I work on makes money or cures disease.
There are a few different answers one can give, at various levels of "convincing" / "actually relevant to why the work is done."
1/🧵
There are a few different answers one can give, at various levels of "convincing" / "actually relevant to why the work is done."
1/🧵
Reposted by Tim Ricker
New paper: the ‘Double Ring Illusion’!
Does the visual system integrate *intuitive physics*? This new illusion developed by Brent Strickland and I offers a straightforward demonstration – one that you can experience yourselves!
Demos in thread👇
[1/6]
Does the visual system integrate *intuitive physics*? This new illusion developed by Brent Strickland and I offers a straightforward demonstration – one that you can experience yourselves!
Demos in thread👇
[1/6]
October 3, 2025 at 2:28 PM
New paper: the ‘Double Ring Illusion’!
Does the visual system integrate *intuitive physics*? This new illusion developed by Brent Strickland and I offers a straightforward demonstration – one that you can experience yourselves!
Demos in thread👇
[1/6]
Does the visual system integrate *intuitive physics*? This new illusion developed by Brent Strickland and I offers a straightforward demonstration – one that you can experience yourselves!
Demos in thread👇
[1/6]