Unraveling Task Sequencing: How OCD and anxiety disorders affect cognitive control

Carrying out a sequence of actions is something we do every day without thinking much about it—like when we cook. We first gather ingredients, then clean, chop, and arrange them so they are ready for cooking. Each step follows the previous one, requiring cognitive control to stay on track. But for people with mental health […]

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Where have I been – not so lately? A rat’s view of long-term memory

For the last week and a half, I have traveled by plane, by car, by ferry, by kayak, by boat, and by foot, visiting many beautiful locations within the Pacific Northwest in the United States. Whether it is due to my middle-aged brain or the fact that there have just been so many places, I […]

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The mind’s Spotify: The remarkable pitch of earworms

In this All Things Cognition podcast, I interview Matt Evans and Nicolas Davidenko about their recent paper on the pitch of earworms. Let’s get right into it! Interview Transcript Lai: You’re listening to All Things Cognition, a Psychonomic Society podcast. Now here’s your host, Laura Mickes. Mickes: Having a song stuck in your head is […]

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A case study on the challenges of theory testing in psychology

“But when does lack of ‘simplicity’ in the protective belt of theoretical adjustments reach the point at which the theory must be abandoned?” – Lakatos, 1976 What does it take to falsify a psychological theory? This question sounds straightforward: if you find data that are inconsistent with the theory, you reject the theory. But in […]

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Visual impairments in Alzheimer’s are more common than you might think. A new test can help diagnose them.

We’ll start this one off with a bit of a test. Have a look at the images below – can you guess what they are? You might find a judgment like this a bit difficult, and tasks like this reveal that visual perception is much more than simply registering an image. To do this accurately, […]

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Perceptual symbols to the rescue

A harsh review can sometimes feel like a wrecking ball to one’s work, and, as academic lore has it, it’s often ‘Reviewer 2’ who wields the ball. However, a critical review I received in the late 1990s became a turning point in my research, thanks to Larry Barsalou’s (1999) groundbreaking article on perceptual symbol systems. […]

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Great scientist and even greater person

Writing tributes isn’t my strongest suit, but when it comes to Larry, I’ll just tell it like it is (and no, this isn’t an endorsement of Donald Trump). I’ve spent most of my academic career immersed in Psycholinguistics and Cognitive Science. My primary focus has always been on what some might consider the more mundane […]

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