Two time scales of adaptation in human learning rates doi.org/10.7554/eLif...

Two time scales of adaptation in human learning rates

Humans adapt learning rates on both a fast and a slow time scale, and the central orbitofrontal cortex may represent the slow time scale.

doi.org

A new research Article in the journal by Mengting Xu and colleagues: www.nature.com/articles/s44... (in Press)

Online Now: The Reward Positivity signals a goal prediction error

The Reward Positivity signals a goal prediction error

The Reward Positivity (RewP) is an electroencephalogram (EEG) feature that emerges following performance feedback and is commonly understood to index both positive and negative reward-prediction error (RPE+ and RPE−, respectively) signals. In contrast to this dominant perspective, we argue that the RewP is an independent EEG feature that selectively responds to positive RPE and is superimposed on a common background signal. We further propose that the RewP signals a goal prediction error: it is elicited by abstract signals instead of by hedonic 'rewards'. This goal prediction error appears to be produced by a critic-like architecture that is associated with the actor–critic framework in reinforcement learning. This perspective emphasizes the role of the RewP in goal attainment and cognitive control as opposed to being a simple indicator of reward receipt.

dlvr.it

Why is testing good for you(r memory)? Because it forces you(r brain) to predict. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Neural and computational evidence for a predictive learning account of the testing effect | PNAS

Testing enhances memory more than studying. Although numerous studies have demonstrated the robustness of this classic effect, its neural and compu...

pnas.org

We moved our symposium to a bigger room so we have a few more extra seats available now! Join us September 10th for our symosium on "Flexible Definitions of Cognitive Flexibility" shengjiexu.ugent.be/CoCoFlex_Sem.... Poster or talk submission deadline is in two weeks: July 31st!

Senne Braem@sebraem.bsky.social · last yr.

We're organizing a symposium in Ghent on "Flexible Definitions of Cognitive Flexibility" on Wednesday, September 10th, with six exciting speakers: shengjiexu.ugent.be/CoCoFlex_Sem.... Registration is free, but seats are limited. You can also submit poster or talk abstracts by July 31st!

The study suggests a few metacognitive states correlate with rational behavioural adjustments; this might help steering behaviour towards optimality. @lucvermeylen.bsky.social @sebraem.bsky.social @kobedesender.bsky.social @gonzalezgarcia.bsky.social @mruz.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s44...

The temporal dynamics of metacognitive experiences track rational adaptations in task performance - Communications Psychology

Using computational modeling and EEG, the study suggests several metacognitive states correlate with rational adjustments in behavior; this might benefit steering behavior towards optimality

nature.com

The Learning and Cognitive Control Laboratory at Ghent University (Belgium), led by Clay Holroyd, is recruiting two highly motivated postdoctoral fellows to apply a control-theoretic approach to investigate the neurocognitive mechanisms of cognitive effort ( doi.org/10.1037/rev0... )

The Learning and Cognitive Control Laboratory at Ghent University (Belgium), led by Clay Holroyd, is recruiting two highly motivated postdoctoral fellows to apply a control-theoretic approach to investigate the neurocognitive mechanisms of cognitive effort ( doi.org/10.1037/rev0... )

NEUROCOG 2025 is taking place in Brussels Nov 17–18! The theme: AI and the Human Brain 🤖 🧠 We’re thrilled to welcome 6 amazing invited speakers: @evfedorenko.bsky.social, @nicoschuck.bsky.social, @summerfieldlab.bsky.social, @jeffreybowers.bsky.social, @irisgroen.bsky.social & @mtoneva.bsky.social

New publication in Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (SCAN) with @guillaumepech.bsky.social ! We investigated the influence of conformity and obedience on intentions to help a child whose relative had caused harm to the participant’s family. academic.oup.com/scan/article...

A cross-cultural EEG study of how obedience and conformity influence reconciliation intentions

Abstract. The study investigated the influence of conformity and obedience on intentions to help a child whose relative had caused harm to the participant’

academic.oup.com

Hear hear! 👇 @ghentccn.bsky.social @frosas.bsky.social @massimost.bsky.social

Psychonomic Society@psychonomicsociety.bsky.social · last yr.

The more the merrier! Traditional psychometric networks focus on pairs of variables, but what happens when we look at three or more at once? #psynomBRM paper on #hypergraphs by Marinazzo and colleagues; post by Alyssa Asmar buff.ly/tS2PrhL

We're organizing a symposium in Ghent on "Flexible Definitions of Cognitive Flexibility" on Wednesday, September 10th, with six exciting speakers: shengjiexu.ugent.be/CoCoFlex_Sem.... Registration is free, but seats are limited. You can also submit poster or talk abstracts by July 31st!

PhD fellowship to work with me and Benedetta Franceschiello on the analysis and modelling of fast sampled fMRI data! www.ugent.be/en/work/scie...

Doctoral fellow

ugent.be

We are hoping for a rewarding afternoon with a talk of Nellia Bellaert (University of Mons) on the mechanisms of irritability and their association with anhedonia during @ghentccn.bsky.social meeting, this Thursday at 3pm!

CCN meeting | Nellia Bellaert (University of Mons, Belgium), invited by Gilles Pourtois

CCN meeting | Nellia Bellaert (University of Mons, Belgium), invited by Gilles Pourtois

ugent.be

🥳 Happy to share that another chapter from my PhD dissertation has now been published: 👉 Bouncy bands do not improve academic performance: an ecologically valid classroom study on the role of ADHD traits 👈 rdcu.be/ehUs1

We are pleased to invite you to the first edition of the Social & Moral Brain seminar: Emotions, Others, and Morality, October 16–17, 2025, at the Ghent University Museum (GUM) Forum Belgium. Call for abstracts until May 19th 🔗 Submission : thesmbseminar.sciencesconf.org/resource/pag...

Our lab finally just joined #BlueSky! --> moralsocialbrain.com Don't hesitate to follow for open positions (Ph.D. or postdoc), research internships, or new publications! #Academia #Neuroscience #Social #Moral #Cognition #DecisionMaking PI : @emiliecaspar.bsky.social In the @ghentccn.bsky.social

Save-the-date for the 2025 edition of the Neurocog conference. The topic this year is AI and the human brain: neurocog.be

Why is testing better for learning than studying? We propose because testing makes you actively predict: www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Predictive learning as the basis of the testing effect - Communications Psychology

Testing yields better memory than studying. The origin of this effect is unclear. Based on three experiments and computational modeling, this study provides evidence that predictive (error-based) lear...

nature.com

🌿 Hello, Bluesky! 🌿 We’re EcoBird—a passionate research group from Ghent University, dedicated to exploring the lives of birds and their ecosystems. 🐦✨ Our goal is to advance scientific knowledge and tackle environmental challenges impacting bird populations worldwide. ecobird.ugent.be

💬🙇🏼‍♀️💬🙇🏼‍♀️💬🙇🏼‍♀️ The advantage of spaced studying is well documented for explicit learning, but is there such an advantage for incidental #StatisticalLearning of novel #Language? Jasper de Waard from @jthee.bsky.social’s lab tested it! Find out what we found here : 🔗 doi.org/10.3758/s134...

Taking time: Auditory statistical learning benefits from distributed exposure - Psychonomic Bulletin & Review

In an auditory statistical learning paradigm, listeners learn to partition a continuous stream of syllables by discovering the repeating syllable patterns that constitute the speech stream. Here, we a...

doi.org

Is it valence, or is it expectancy? Within the #EEGManyLabs project, across 13 labs we aimed to replicate Hajcak et al. (2005) findings on FRN & P300 modulation during feedback processing. Check the outcomes of this replication just published in Cortex!!

Revisiting the electrophysiological correlates of valence and expectancy in reward processing – A Multi-lab replication

Two event-related brain potential (ERP) components, the frontocentral feedback-related negativity (FRN) and the posterior P300, are key in feedback pr…

sciencedirect.com

New year new paper! Now out in Psychophysiology: Reward and Efficacy Modulate the Rate of Anticipatory Pupil Dilation onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

<em>Psychophysiology</em> | SPR Journal | Wiley Online Library

We found pupils dilate in the final moments before a target in a Stroop task. The rate of dilation was more rapid for trials where the participant anticipated a large reward which was performance-con...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

We are organizing a meeting on Relational Reasoning on April 11 and 12 in Ghent. All info, submissions and registration here: event.ugent.be/registration....

New paper out! The title says what we found 🙃: "Intact Neural Responding to Hearing One’s Own Name in Children with Autism" (ages 7-13, ERP analysis). Read it here: link.springer.com/article/10.1... (by Rachida El Kaddouri, myself, Roeljan Wiersema and Marcel Brass)

Intact Neural Responding to Hearing One’s Own Name in Children with Autism - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

Diminished responding to one’s own name is one of the strongest and earliest predictors of autism. However, research on the neural correlates of this response in autism is scarce. Here we investigate ...

link.springer.com

Empathy can be a motivated phenomenon. But can (will?) people increase or decrease their neural empathic responses when witnessing members of an "outgroup" as well? With @guillaumepech.bsky.social, Eva Nicolay and Félix Banderembaho. 🧪 New paper out! --> www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Volition as a modulator of the intergroup empathy bias

Neural reactions to others’ pain are usually lower when the individual is of a different ethnicity than when they are of the same ethnicity. This suggests that empathy is not only an automatic phen...

tandfonline.com

This starter pack is still developing, so if you, or someone you know, looks after the social media in your school or dept of psychology, give them an early Xmas present of the opportunity of being added to a starter pack. Please share. go.bsky.app/FmgYgVj

Thanks @sebraem.bsky.social, for inviting me as part of the 'Growing up in Science' series. Sharing the often untold aspects of becoming and being a scientist (doubts, difficulties, rejections and imposter experiences) felt very meaningful.

We have a new opening for a three-year postdoc position in the Department of Experimental Psychology at Ghent University: jobs.ugent.be/job/Ghent-Do...

We have a new opening for a three-year postdoc position in the Department of Experimental Psychology at Ghent University: jobs.ugent.be/job/Ghent-Do...