Structural priming – a change in processing after repeated exposure to a syntactic structure – has been put forward as evidence for the psychological reality of constituent structures derived from grammar. However, converging evidence from memory research, large language models (LLMs), and structural priming itself challenges the validity of mapping structural representations onto grammatical constituents

Difficulties are a common part of life, ranging from daily challenges to chronic adversity. While difficulties can undermine well-being, they can also promote growth and resilience. What determines whether difficulty harms or helps? A growing body of research points to the role of difficulty beliefs, that is, general beliefs about whether dealing with difficulty is harmful or beneficial. Prior work

Metacognition improves significantly over childhood, but the mechanisms underlying this development are poorly understood. We first review recent research demonstrating that disagreement prompts competent responses by young children across several metacognitive domains (confidence monitoring, information search, and source monitoring). We then propose a mechanistic model of how disagreement facilitates

Our sensory inputs are never identical across time and contain temporal structure. Cognitive scientists have recently been fascinated by how these sensory rhythms interact with neural oscillatory rhythms to dictate perception. However, there are parallel lines of enquiry that propose clear, but apparently incompatible, answers to this question. One largely suggests that neural oscillations are flexible

The statistical learning view of word reading and spelling is based on the ideas that writing systems have a rich statistical structure and that people implicitly pick up this structure as they learn to read and write. Whereas laboratory studies stress the speed and power of statistical learning, the evidence we review shows that adults with years of reading and writing experience do not always mirror

Despite considerable research efforts, mechanisms of autism remain incompletely understood. Key challenges in conceptualizing and managing autism include its diverse behavioral and cognitive phenotypes, a lack of reliable biomarkers, and the absence of a framework for integration. This review proposes that alterations in sensory-transmodal brain hierarchy are a system-level mechanism of atypical information

It has been argued that social processes are relevant to belief formation and maintenance and thence to persecutory delusions – the fixed false beliefs that others intend harm. We call this the social turn in delusions research. It suggests that paranoia is the purview of a specialized mechanism for coalitional cognition – thinking about group membership and reputation management. Here, we suggest

Human musicality is supported by two distinct systems of representation: one for tonal perception, which contextualizes pitch input in reference to a hierarchy of tones; and one for metrical perception, which contextualizes temporal input in reference to a hierarchy of rhythmic groupings. Growing evidence suggests that the two systems are universal, automatic, encapsulated, and relatively early-developing

Rewards play a crucial role in sculpting all motivated behavior. Traditionally, research on reinforcement learning has centered on how rewards guide learning and decision-making. Here, we examine the origins of rewards themselves. Specifically, we discuss that the critical signal sustaining reinforcement for food is generated internally and subliminally during the process of digestion. As such, a shift

Maternal odor has recently emerged as an important but ill-understood factor in sociocognitive learning in early human development. We propose that social odor plays its unique role in the first year of life through dissociable affective and perceptual mechanisms. These mechanisms yield distinct predictions for future studies of social odor.

Transgressive leaders enjoy growing popularity. Synthesizing recent evidence, I propose that (i) such leaders are appealing not despite their transgressive behavior, but because of it, and (ii) this appeal hinges on perceived benefits emanating from their transgressions. This analysis points to new strategies for curtailing transgressive leaders.

Concepts of exact number are often thought to originate from counting and the successor function, or from a refinement of the approximate number system (ANS). We argue here for a third origin: a shared language-of-thought (LoT) for geometry and arithmetic that involves primitives of repetition, concatenation, and recursive embedding. Applied to sets, those primitives engender concepts of exact integers

The classical view of visual cortex organization as a collection of specialized modules processing distinct features like color and motion has profoundly influenced neuroscience for decades. This framework, rooted in historical philosophical distinctions between qualities, gave rise to the ‘binding problem’: how the brain integrates these separately processed features into coherent percepts. We present

The ethical frontier of artificial intelligence (AI) is expanding as humans form romantic relationships with AIs. Addressing ethical issues of AIs as invasive suitors, malicious advisers, and tools of exploitation requires new psychological research on why and how humans love machines.

How does the mind represent the structure of human relationships? In a recent article, Cheng et al. address this with an interdisciplinary approach combining principal component analysis (PCA), large-scale data collection of human ratings from diverse cultures, and Large Language Model (LLM)-based analyses of historical texts. They reveal a robust 5D framework and three core categories of relationships

Cognitive neuroscience research has begun to use natural language processing (NLP) to examine memory narratives with the hopes of gaining a nuanced understanding of the mechanisms underlying differences in memory recall, both across groups and tasks. However, the diversity of NLP approaches can make it challenging for researchers to know which techniques to use and when to apply them. We outline how

Panichello et al. recently demonstrated that working memory (WM) information can be maintained without active neural firing. Instead, it is stored in rapidly modulating neural connectivity patterns. This validates the activity-silent model of WM, and unifies the mechanisms of long-term memory (LTM) and WM. Here, we highlight the ramifications of these findings.

People in many Western countries hold a dim view of their collective future, a negativity bias not universally shared but related to societal factors, such as country well-being, nationalism, and news coverage. An optimistic outlook should be cultivated to promote civic engagement and constructive policymaking at this time of geopolitical tension.

The hippocampus is essential for episodic memory, yet its coding mechanism remains debated. In humans, two main theories have been proposed: one suggests that concept neurons represent specific elements of an episode, while another posits a conjunctive code, where index neurons code the entire episode. Here, we integrate new findings of index neurons in humans and other animals with the concept-specific

Recent insights from cognitive science have reshaped our understanding of the reliability of eyewitness memory. Many believe that eyewitness memory is unreliable, but a better way of thinking is that eyewitness memory, like other types of forensic evidence, can be contaminated. Because contaminated evidence yields unreliable results, the focus should be placed on testing uncontaminated memory evidence

Over recent decades, temporal difference reinforcement learning (TDRL) models have successfully explained much dopamine (DA) activity. This success has invited heightened scrutiny of late, with many studies challenging the validity of TDRL models of DA function. Yet, when evaluating the validity of these models, the devil is truly in the details. TDRL is a broad class of algorithms sharing core ideas

The perceived naturalness of a voice is a prominent property emerging from vocal sounds, which affects our interaction with both human and artificial agents. Despite its importance, a systematic understanding of voice naturalness is elusive. This is due to (i) conceptual underspecification, (ii) heterogeneous operationalization, (iii) lack of exchange between research on human and synthetic voices

Grouping sensory events into chunks is an efficient strategy to integrate information across long sequences such as speech, music, and complex movements. Although chunks can be constructed based on diverse cues (e.g., sensory features, statistical patterns, internal knowledge) recent studies have consistently demonstrated that the chunks constructed by different cues are all tracked by low-frequency

Continuous target-tracking psychophysics is an innovative experimental paradigm that has emerged as a powerful tool for studying perception, cognition, and visually guided behavior. This review outlines how continuous psychophysics complements traditional forced-choice methods by facilitating rapid data collection, providing insights into the real-time dynamics of perception and action, and enabling

Episodic memory must accomplish two adversarial goals: encoding and storing a multitude of experiences without exceeding the finite neuronal structure of the brain, and recalling memories in vivid detail. Dimensionality reduction and expansion (‘dimensionality transformation’) enable the brain to meet these demands. Reduction compresses sensory input into simplified, storable codes, while expansion

Traditionally considered a motor structure, the cerebellum has been shown to play a key role in several cognitive functions. However, for decades, the cerebellum has been largely overlooked and even deliberately excluded from ‘whole-brain’ neuroimaging studies. Here, we propose that the continued exclusion of the cerebellum has limited our understanding of whole-brain function. We describe reasons

The role of behaviour – choices, actions, and habits – in shaping neurodivergent development remains unclear. In this forum article we introduce computational rationality as a framework for understanding dynamic feedback between brain and behavioural development, and neurodevelopmental variation.

'If your mouth is burned by milk, you blow before you eat yogurt' ('Sütten ağzı yanan yoğurdu üfleyerek yer'). This Turkish proverb advises caution based on past experiences when similar situations are encountered. However, although we may infer similarities across experiences, each situation is a complex combination of many features, and generalizing across situations based on perceived similarities

Animals routinely make decisions with important consequences for their survival and reproduction, but they frequently make suboptimal decisions. Here, we explore choice overload as one reason why animals may make suboptimal decisions, arguing that choice overload may have important ecological and evolutionary consequences, and propose future directions.

Creative problem solving and memory are inherently intertwined: memory accesses existing knowledge while creativity enhances it. Recent studies show that insights often accompanying creative solutions enhance long-term memory. This insight memory advantage (IMA) is explained by the 'insight as prediction error (PE)' hypothesis which states that insights arise from PEs updating predictive solution models

We highlight a fundamental psychological function that is central to many of our interactions in the environment – when to rely on memories versus sampling sensory information anew to guide behavior. By operationalizing sensorimnemonic decisions we aim to encourage and advance research into this pivotal process for understanding how memories serve adaptive cognition.

Cognition and behavior are emergent properties of brain systems that seek to maximize complex and adaptive behaviors while minimizing energy utilization. Different species reconcile this trade-off in different ways, but in humans the outcome is biased towards complex behaviors and hence relatively high energy use. However, even in energy-intensive brains, numerous parsimonious processes operate to

People worldwide tend to believe that their societies are more meritocratic than they actually are. We propose the belief in meritocracy is widespread because it is rooted in simple, seemingly obvious causal–explanatory intuitions. Our proposal suggests solutions for debunking the myth of meritocracy and increasing support for equity-oriented policies.

Cognitive neuroscience has converged on a definition of working memory (WM) as a capacity-limited system that maintains highly accessible representations via stimulus-specific neural patterns. We argue that this standard definition may be incomplete. We highlight the fundamental need to recognize specific instances or tokens and to bind those tokens to the surrounding context. We propose that contextual

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) reshapes and challenges psychological ownership of created content. This article examines how GenAI disrupts original content creators’ and GenAI users’ sense of ownership and control and illustrates how both can perceive the illusion, dilution, and potential loss of control and ownership of content in the GenAI era.

Hippocampal place cells that encode the spatial location of an individual during navigation are widely reported in rodents. However, studies in primates have instead reported hippocampal cells that encode views of the environment. Evolutionary adaptations for navigating during night and day may explain the divergence of hippocampal representations between species.

Various neuroscientific theories maintain that brain oscillations are important for neuronal computation, but opposing views claim that these macroscale dynamics are ‘exhaust fumes’ of more relevant processes. Here, we approach the question of whether oscillations are functional or epiphenomenal by distinguishing between measurements and processes, and by reviewing whether causal or inferentially useful

Chronic pain (CP) not only causes physical discomfort but also significantly affects cognition. This review first summarizes emerging findings that reveal complex associations between CP and cognitive impairments, and then presents neuroimaging evidence showing aging-related brain alterations in CP and proposes a framework where accelerated brain aging links CP to cognitive impairments. This framework

Work on the psychology of justice has largely focused on punishment. However, punishment is not our only strategy for dealing with conflict. Rather, emerging work suggests that people often respond to transgressions by compensating victims, involving third-party mediators, and engaging in forgiveness. These responses are linked in that they are involved in more restorative than retributive justice

Recent human intracerebral recordings reveal that frontoparietal circuits linked by the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) have critical, hemisphere-asymmetric contributions to conscious perception. Right-hemisphere networks are crucial for attention-based prioritization of information; left-hemisphere regions contribute to perceptual decisions and model building. These asymmetries confirm and

Environments are dynamic and complex. Some children experience more predictable early life environments than others. Here, we consider how moment-by-moment complexity and predictability in our early environments influence development. New studies using wearable sensors are quantifying this environmental variability at a fine temporal resolution across hierarchically structured physical and social features

How does social cognition help us communicate through language? At what levels does this interaction occur? In classical views, social cognition is independent of language, and integrating the two can be slow, effortful, and error-prone. But new research into word level processes reveals that communication is brimming with social micro-processes that happen in real time, guiding even the simplest choices

As we navigate through the day, our attentional control processes are constantly challenged by changing sensory information, goals, expectations, and motivations. At the same time, our bodies and brains are impacted by changes in global physiological state that can influence attentional processes. Based on converging lines of evidence from brain recordings in physically active humans and nonhumans

From an anatomical perspective, the concept that the anterior and posterior hippocampus fulfill distinct cognitive roles may seem unsurprising. When compared with the posterior hippocampus, the anterior region is proportionally larger, with visible expansion of the CA1 subfield and intimate continuity with adjacent medial temporal lobe (MTL) structures such as the uncus and amygdala. However, the functional

The role of alpha oscillations (8–13 Hz) in suppressing distractors is extensively debated. One debate concerns whether alpha oscillations suppress anticipated visual distractors through increased power. Whereas some studies suggest that alpha oscillations support distractor suppression, others do not. We identify methodological differences that may explain these discrepancies. A second debate concerns

People form memories of specific events and use those memories to make predictions about similar new experiences. Living in a dynamic environment presents a challenge: How does one represent valid prior events in memory while encoding new experiences when things change? There is evidence for two seemingly contradictory classes of mechanism: One differentiates outdated event features by making them

Ambient noise disrupts vocal communication amongst animals. Recent studies show that some species, such as marmosets, can rapidly adjust the patterns of ongoing calls according to noisy environments. This substantial vocal flexibility reveals that non-human primates have more advanced cognitive control over when and what to vocalize than previously thought.

From rising disparities in income to limited socio-political representation for minority groups, inequality is a topic of perennial interest for contemporary society. Research in the evolutionary sciences has started to investigate how social structure allows inequality to evolve, but is developing in silo from existing work in the social and cognitive sciences. I synthesise these literatures to present

The 4-day working week is gaining interest, with international trials reporting enhanced staff wellbeing and performance, despite spending less time on the job. Here, we argue that improved performance on a 4-day working week arises through two psychological mechanisms of recovery and motivation: because better rested, better motivated brains, create better work.

Clinicians have suggested but not shown how anxiety involves altered planning. Here, I synthesize and extend computational models of planning in a framework that can be used to explain planning biases in anxiety. To spur its development, I spotlight two of its promising areas: task construal and meta-control.

Lateralization is a defining characteristic of the human brain, often studied through localized approaches that focus on interhemispheric differences between homologous pairs of regions. It is also important to emphasize an integrative perspective of global brain asymmetry, in which hemispheric differences are understood through global patterns across the entire brain.

Structured internal representations (‘cognitive maps’) shape cognition, from imagining the future and counterfactual past, to transferring knowledge to new settings. Our understanding of how such representations are formed and maintained in biological and artificial neural networks has grown enormously. The cognitive mapping hypothesis of schizophrenia extends this enquiry to psychiatry, proposing

In complex tasks requiring cognitive control, humans show trial-by-trial alterations in response time (RT), which are evident even when sensory-motor or other contextual aspects of the task remain stable. Exaggerated intra-individual RT variability is associated with brain injuries and frequently seen in aging and neuropsychological disorders. In this opinion, we discuss recent electrophysiology and