{"title":"Unveiling the Aha! moment: A computational account of insight in active inference.","authors":"Youssef Doulfoukar, Giovanni Pezzulo, Hans Stuyck","doi":"10.3758/s13423-026-02983-8","DOIUrl":"10.3758/s13423-026-02983-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Insight, also referred to as the \"Aha!\" moment, is a distinctive cognitive phenomenon in which an idea or solution to a problem suddenly emerges into consciousness. Although the literature describes it extensively, the nature of its distinctive cognitive and affective mechanisms remains poorly understood. In this paper, we formalize a computational approach to insight grounded in the active inference framework. By modeling insight as Bayesian model reduction in a modified Wisconsin Card Sorting Task, we show that the model can reproduce a broader computational profile associated with insight, including discontinuous transitions in behavior and confidence, a transient peak in Bayesian surprise, and a phasic increase in expected precision. In light of those simulations, we interpret restructuring as Bayesian model reduction within the present modeling framework and impasse as a transient state of heightened uncertainty over possible actions. Finally, we propose that, during problem-solving, one regularly engages in phases of (generative) replay to generate and evaluate alternative models for subsequent model reduction.</p>","PeriodicalId":20763,"journal":{"name":"Psychonomic Bulletin & Review","volume":"33 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13585804/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148991195","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Language proficiency drives listening-related fatigue in those who communicate in English as their second language.","authors":"Ronan McGarrigle, Jelena Havelka, Angela de Bruin","doi":"10.3758/s13423-026-03005-3","DOIUrl":"10.3758/s13423-026-03005-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Individuals who listen to speech in their second language ('L2 listeners') are disproportionately impacted by adverse acoustic conditions; a phenomenon coined the 'non-native speech-in-noise disadvantage'. Evidence also suggests that L2 listening taxes cognitive resources to a greater extent than in L1 listeners. Very little, however, is known about the longer-term consequences of this sustained cognitive engagement. Listening-related fatigue refers to the daily life subjective experience of extreme tiredness from effortful listening. The current study recruited a large sample of L2-English listeners (N = 256) to explore factors that predict listening-related fatigue. Approximately half of this sample (n = 126) reported an Indo-European (IE) language (e.g., Italian) as their first language, whereas the other half (n = 130) reported a non-Indo-European (non-IE) language (e.g., Vietnamese) as their first language. Non-IE L2 listeners reported higher overall listening-related fatigue than both IE L2 listeners and a group of monolingual English-speakers (L1-English). Self-rated proficiency and objective vocabulary scores were significant predictors of L2 listening-related fatigue and they moderated the effect of L2 use on listening-related fatigue; individuals who reported increased L2 use were more likely to experience increased fatigue, but only if their self-rated proficiency was low or moderate or their vocabulary score was low. Exploratory mediation analysis suggested that the effect of the L2 listener group (IE vs. non-IE) on listening-related fatigue was attributable to lower self-rated proficiency and objective vocabulary in the non-IE L2 group. To conclude, language proficiency appears to be a strong determinant of listening-related fatigue in L2-English listeners. When L2-English proficiency is low, increased L2-English usage is associated with heightened listening-related fatigue.</p>","PeriodicalId":20763,"journal":{"name":"Psychonomic Bulletin & Review","volume":"33 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13585771/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148991229","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Topological structure and the creation of visual complexity.","authors":"Ashna M Shah, Sami R Yousif","doi":"10.3758/s13423-026-03008-0","DOIUrl":"10.3758/s13423-026-03008-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>What does it mean for something to be complex? Fundamentally, complexity is a cue that something is less easily represented by our minds. With this fact in view, complexity becomes a tool: By understanding the factors that lead to various impressions of complexity of a given object, we can effectively \"reverse engineer\" the underlying form of the mental representation of that object. Here, we use this tool to explore the ways that topological structure relates to perceived complexity - and, thus, whether, or in what way, topological structure may be part of the representation of objects. In two experiments, we give participants the opportunity to modify simple block-like objects in order to evaluate the topological features that are implicated in their sense of complexity. In a final experiment, using insights gleaned from the previous two, we test specific predictions about topological structure and visual complexity. Altogether, we show that topological structure is clearly implicated in judgments of complexity, including in some key ways that expand existing theories of visual complexity.</p>","PeriodicalId":20763,"journal":{"name":"Psychonomic Bulletin & Review","volume":"33 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13578090/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148977789","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The specific nature of the statistical learning deficit in developmental dyslexia: Impaired temporal and spared spatial learning abilities.","authors":"Areen Mazzawi Shukri, Bethany Growns, Noam Siegelman, Yafit Gabay","doi":"10.3758/s13423-026-02980-x","DOIUrl":"10.3758/s13423-026-02980-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>While extensive research highlights the importance of statistical learning in language acquisition and processing, its relationship to developmental dyslexia, a common developmental language disorder, remains unclear. Studies of statistical learning in dyslexia often rely on specific tasks that most likely do not cover the scope of statistical learning as a multi-componential construct, making it difficult to discover what aspects of learning are affected in dyslexia. The present study provides the first systematic examination of two major facets of statistical learning in dyslexia. We investigated statistical learning performance among individuals with and without dyslexia using a 2 × 2 factorial design that systematically manipulated both the type of statistical relation between elements (non-spatial vs. spatial) and the structure of statistical input (conditional vs. distributional). Neurotypical participants demonstrated learning across all tasks, whereas individuals with dyslexia showed significantly reduced performance when statistical regularities involved non-spatial relations, though not when they involved spatial relations. This deficit was apparent regardless of whether tasks involved conditional or distributional statistics. The findings suggest that rather than being generally weak in statistical learning, individuals with dyslexia face challenges in learning environments involving non-spatial statistical regularities that require integration of statistical computations across multiple exposures. Given the involvement of non-spatial aspects in printed and spoken language, these deficits can add to the challenges faced by individuals with dyslexia in acquiring linguistic representations. Additionally, the dissociation observed in dyslexia supports the notion that statistical learning comprises distinct sub-processes rather than a single unitary process.</p>","PeriodicalId":20763,"journal":{"name":"Psychonomic Bulletin & Review","volume":"33 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13577998/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148977764","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Retrieval practice promotes semantic integration of real-world memories without compromising episodic integrity.","authors":"Lauren A Homann, Mursal Jahed, Morgan D Barense","doi":"10.3758/s13423-026-03003-5","DOIUrl":"10.3758/s13423-026-03003-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Actively recalling information is a well-established memory strengthening technique that reliably outperforms passive review. Termed \"the testing effect,\" retrieval practice may promote semantic transformation and reshape related, unreviewed episodic information, beyond merely strengthening reviewed content. These broader effects of retrieval practice are difficult to capture with simplified laboratory materials but can be examined using rich, real-world events that evolve across multiple episodic and semantic dimensions. However, retrieval practice's impact on such real-world memories remains poorly understood. We therefore investigated how actively retrieving event details (retrieval practice) versus passively reviewing the same details (restudy) influenced memory for an episodically rich staged event after two weeks (n = 26 per group). Retrieval increased the incorporation of preexisting semantic information into recall narratives, with greater semantic integration after retrieval practice predicting more episodically rich narratives. These findings suggest that retrieval practice enhanced integration of event details with semantic knowledge, perhaps via co-activation of semantically related content during retrieval. We found tentative evidence of a testing effect for real-world events: Retrieval improved retention of tour details (so long as they were successfully retrieved during retrieval practice) but did not otherwise affect broader episodic memory for unreviewed content, narrative accuracy, narrative temporal and semantic organization, or subjective phenomenology. Together, these findings suggest that retrieval reshapes memories by integrating recalled content into semantic knowledge networks, while preserving the overall integrity of episodic representations. Our work reveals that the testing effect may be underpinned by distinct transformations of episodic and semantic memory, with semantic transformation enhancing rather than compromising episodic richness.</p>","PeriodicalId":20763,"journal":{"name":"Psychonomic Bulletin & Review","volume":"33 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148977745","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The paddle effect on speed perception: A multilevel Bayesian meta-analysis.","authors":"Wenbo Luo, Lunbo Zhang, Yuki Yamada","doi":"10.3758/s13423-026-03011-5","DOIUrl":"10.3758/s13423-026-03011-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The paddle effect is considered one of the most robust phenomena in action-specific perception. In computer game-based Pong tasks, participants perceive targets as moving more slowly when using a larger paddle compared to a smaller one. We employed multilevel Bayesian modeling to conduct the first meta-analysis of this literature. A systematic search identified 26 independent studies from 13 articles, with a total sample size of N = 542. Results provided extreme evidence for the existence of an overall paddle effect, Hedges' g = 0.80, 95% CrI [0.71, 0.88]. Furthermore, Bayesian meta-regression analyses indicated that the effect was not moderated by experimental paradigms or measures, supporting its methodological robustness. The present meta-analysis provides the first quantitative synthesis of evidence for the paddle effect and establishes a foundation for its continued characterization in future research. In accordance with open science practices, the data, R code, and Supplementary Materials are available at the Open Science Framework ( https://osf.io/fxvbh/overview?view_only=a636518ac0f747eab10780f0e70f1e2d ).</p>","PeriodicalId":20763,"journal":{"name":"Psychonomic Bulletin & Review","volume":"33 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13562215/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148930948","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Dissociating the hierarchical processing of perceptual and food category information under different task demands.","authors":"Rui Zhang, Gelin Cui, Jinhong Ding","doi":"10.3758/s13423-026-02996-3","DOIUrl":"10.3758/s13423-026-02996-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>To clarify whether food category selectivity in the ventral visual pathway arises from genuine category-specific processing or low-level perceptual differences-a core premise of the diagnostic feature encoding hypothesis-and how it is modulated by task demands, this study assigned participants to perform either a perceptual (color-matching) or categorical (food/nonfood) one-back task. Using multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) and cross-task representational similarity analysis (RSA) of EEG data, we found that perceptual features dominated early processing (100-200 ms), whereas food category information emerged around 120 ms and gradually became dominant after 200 ms, with the categorical task selectively enhancing the strength of category information during late time windows. Searchlight analysis revealed a spatiotemporal dissociation between perceptual and categorical processing, consistent with hierarchical visual processing theories. For ERP correlates, high perceptual similarity amplified P3 amplitude and low perceptual similarity enhanced N2 amplitude in the perceptual task, with a parallel neural pattern observed under the categorical task. Cross-task comparisons further demonstrated a task-specific modulation pattern: The N2 conflict effect for perceptual similarity was exclusive to the perceptual task, while P3 amplitude was selectively boosted for task-relevant stimulus dimensions. These findings confirm that food category representations are independent and not merely secondary byproducts of low-level perceptual features, thus challenging a core premise of the diagnostic feature encoding hypothesis. This work further underscores the critical regulatory roles of visual attention and task goals in sculpting object representations within the ventral visual pathway.</p>","PeriodicalId":20763,"journal":{"name":"Psychonomic Bulletin & Review","volume":"33 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148930994","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Attention to memory: Asymmetric enhancement of mnemonic features in auditory working memory.","authors":"David Peita, Sung-Joo Lim","doi":"10.3758/s13423-026-02991-8","DOIUrl":"10.3758/s13423-026-02991-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Models of auditory attention propose that multiple sound features are integrated into a perceptual object and that selective attention enhances the fidelity of these object-based representations. Similar attentional mechanisms appear to operate on representations held in auditory working memory, yet evidence has largely focused on a single feature. Thus, it remains unknown whether redirecting attention to an auditory memory object enhances multiple, distinct features bound to that object, or whether such enhancement varies across features depending on modality-specific biases or prior knowledge of the to-be-probed feature. Here, we investigated whether retrospective attention improves the mnemonic fidelity of two features-pitch and spatial location-associated with speech objects using psychophysical modeling. Participants encoded two syllables varying in both pitch and location and received valid (vs. neutral) retroactive cues during retention. They then judged a change in one of the two features of the cued syllable. Two groups performed the same task but differed in whether they knew which feature would be probed. Across groups, valid retro-cues facilitated faster judgments of both features, with larger benefits when the to-be-probed feature was known. However, cue-related improvements in accuracy and perceptual precision emerged only for pitch, not spatial location, regardless of feature awareness. This asymmetry suggests that retrospective attention does not uniformly enhance all features of auditory memory objects, but favors auditory identity-related features, such as pitch, over spatial information. These findings demonstrate that attention and memory interact differently across feature dimensions, revealing limits on how object-based attention operates over auditory working memory.</p>","PeriodicalId":20763,"journal":{"name":"Psychonomic Bulletin & Review","volume":"33 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13562329/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148930928","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Leon O H Kroczek, Michael Roidl, Angelika Lingnau, Marius Zimmermann
{"title":"How are woodworking and baking represented as we walk from the workshop to the kitchen? Virtual reality environment modulates the representation of corresponding actions.","authors":"Leon O H Kroczek, Michael Roidl, Angelika Lingnau, Marius Zimmermann","doi":"10.3758/s13423-026-03001-7","DOIUrl":"10.3758/s13423-026-03001-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The recognition of actions presented as static photographs has been suggested to be modulated by the scene context-or image background -in which an action is presented, particularly for actions that are hard to recognize. This suggests scene context as an important feature when retrieving action representations, and poses the question whether scene context directly modulates the representational space of actions. Therefore, in this preregistered virtual reality (VR) study, we investigated in a group of N = 24 healthy participants how scene context by means of the (virtual) environment affects the representation of actions that do or do not correspond to the current environment. Participants performed multi-arrangement tasks on a set of kitchen and workshop actions while the virtual environment was manipulated to represent either a kitchen, workshop or neutral environment. Representational structure was estimated from the multi-arrangement tasks separately for each virtual environment and action domain (kitchen, workshop). Results showed increased consistency of the representation of kitchen actions over participants when the task was performed in a congruent (i.e., kitchen) compared with an incongruent (i.e., workshop) or neutral virtual environment, however, the same effect was not observed for workshop actions. Representational structure, however, was not affected by the environment. In accordance with previous studies on representational changes in domain-specific experts within various action and object domains the results suggest that an agent's environment may modulate the action space for corresponding actions by increasing robustness of represented familiar actions. These findings contribute to our understanding of contextual effects on mental representations within the domain of actions and beyond.</p>","PeriodicalId":20763,"journal":{"name":"Psychonomic Bulletin & Review","volume":"33 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13562166/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148930971","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The asymmetry of working memory training transfer: A systematic review and meta-analysis.","authors":"Jiayi Fu, Yuxin Zhou, Mingliang Yuan, Ying Cai","doi":"10.3758/s13423-026-02994-5","DOIUrl":"10.3758/s13423-026-02994-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Working memory (WM) training is widely used to enhance cognitive performance; however, its transfer to untrained tasks remains controversial. Traditional theories emphasize task similarity as the primary determinant of training transfer, but they cannot fully explain emerging evidence of asymmetric transfer across tasks. Two directional transfer hypotheses are proposed here to explain this asymmetry: the resource-based transfer advantage hypothesis predicts stronger transfer from more to less cognitively demanding tasks, whereas the ability-based transfer advantage hypothesis predicts stronger transfer from tasks engaging broader task-general abilities to tasks engaging task-specific narrower abilities. The contrast between span and updating paradigms provides an informative framework for distinguishing these accounts, because updating tasks are generally more cognitively demanding, whereas span tasks involve broader abilities. Accordingly, we conducted a three-level meta-analysis of 55 studies (208 effect sizes; N = 3,492). The results showed that updating training transferred reliably to span tasks (g = 0.176, p < .001), whereas span training did not reliably transfer to updating tasks (g = 0.048, p = .453), supporting the resource-based account. This advantage of updating training also extended to non-WM outcomes and was more pronounced at lower training doses, in non-adult samples, and with verbal stimuli. Together, these findings extend WM transfer theory beyond task similarity by highlighting the importance of cognitive demand and offer guidance for WM training design.</p>","PeriodicalId":20763,"journal":{"name":"Psychonomic Bulletin & Review","volume":"33 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13553679/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148913211","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}