Cognitive Science

The latest breakthroughs, innovations, and cool happenings at the cutting edge of the world of cognitive science. Updated daily.

Research Culture and Reproducibility

There is ongoing debate regarding the robustness and credibility of published scientific research. We argue that these issues stem from two broad causal mechanisms: the cognitive biases of researchers and the incentive structures within which researchers operate. The UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN) is working with researchers, institutions, funders, publishers, and other stakeholders to address these […]

Published on December 29, 2019

Learning to Be Conscious

Consciousness remains a formidable challenge. Different theories of consciousness have proposed vastly different mechanisms to account for phenomenal experience. Here, appealing to aspects of global workspace theory, higher-order theories, social theories, and predictive processing, we introduce a novel framework: the self-organizing metarerpresentational account (SOMA), in which consciousness is viewed as something that the brain learns […]

Published on December 29, 2019

Is Preregistration Worthwhile?

Proponents of preregistration argue that, among other benefits, it improves the diagnosticity of statistical tests [1]. In the strong version of this argument, preregistration does this by solving statistical problems, such as family-wise error rates. In the weak version, it nudges people to think more deeply about their theories, methods, and analyses. We argue against […]

Published on December 29, 2019