{"title":"Counterfactual simulation in causal cognition.","authors":"Tobias Gerstenberg","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2024.04.012","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tics.2024.04.012","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>How do people make causal judgments and assign responsibility? In this review article, I argue that counterfactual simulations are key. To simulate counterfactuals, we need three ingredients: a generative mental model of the world, the ability to perform interventions on that model, and the capacity to simulate the consequences of these interventions. The counterfactual simulation model (CSM) uses these ingredients to capture people's intuitive understanding of the physical and social world. In the physical domain, the CSM predicts people's causal judgments about dynamic collision events, complex situations that involve multiple causes, omissions as causes, and causes that sustain physical stability. In the social domain, the CSM predicts responsibility judgments in helping and hindering scenarios.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":"924-936"},"PeriodicalIF":16.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141082814","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Developing language in a digital world.","authors":"Sarah C Kucker","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2024.08.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tics.2024.08.001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Young children's screen time is increasing, raising concerns about its negative impact on language development, particularly vocabulary. However, digital media is used in a variety of ways, which likely differentially impact language development. Instead of asking 'how much' screen time, the focus should be on how digital media is used.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":"871-873"},"PeriodicalIF":16.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11446642/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142057073","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Andrew D Vigotsky, Gian Domenico Iannetti, A Vania Apkarian
{"title":"Mental state decoders: game-changers or wishful thinking?","authors":"Andrew D Vigotsky, Gian Domenico Iannetti, A Vania Apkarian","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2024.06.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tics.2024.06.004","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Decoding mental and perceptual states using fMRI has become increasingly popular over the past two decades, with numerous highly-cited studies published in high-profile journals. Nevertheless, what have we learned from these decoders? In this opinion, we argue that fMRI-based decoders are not neurophysiologically informative and are not, and likely cannot be, applicable to real-world decision-making. The former point stems from the fact that decoding models cannot disentangle neural mechanisms from their epiphenomena. The latter point stems from both logical and ethical constraints. Constructing decoders requires precious time and resources that should instead be directed toward scientific endeavors more likely to yield meaningful scientific progress.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":"884-895"},"PeriodicalIF":16.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141591850","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tanya L Procyshyn, Juliette Dupertuys, Jennifer A Bartz
{"title":"Neuroimaging and behavioral evidence of sex-specific effects of oxytocin on human sociality.","authors":"Tanya L Procyshyn, Juliette Dupertuys, Jennifer A Bartz","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2024.06.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tics.2024.06.010","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Although the social role of oxytocin came to light due to sex-specific interactions such as mother-offspring bonding, current understanding of sex differences in the effects of oxytocin on human sociality is limited because of the predominance of all-male samples. With the increasing inclusion of females in intranasal oxytocin research, it is now possible to explore such patterns. Neuroimaging studies reveal relatively consistent sex-differential effects of oxytocin on the activation of brain regions associated with processing social stimuli - particularly the amygdala. Findings from behavioral research are varied but suggest that oxytocin more often facilitates social cognition and positive social interactions in males, with context-dependent effects in each sex. We discuss potential biological and psychological mechanisms underlying the reported sex differences, and conclude with considerations for future research and clinical applications of oxytocin.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":"948-961"},"PeriodicalIF":16.7,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141762017","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The affective gradient hypothesis: an affect-centered account of motivated behavior","authors":"Amitai Shenhav","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2024.08.003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2024.08.003","url":null,"abstract":"Everyone agrees that feelings and actions are intertwined, but cannot agree how. According to dominant models, actions are directed by estimates of value and these values shape or are shaped by affect. I propose instead that affect is the only form of value that drives actions. Our mind constantly represents potential future states and how they would make us feel. These states collectively form a gradient reflecting feelings we could experience depending on actions we take. Motivated behavior reflects the process of traversing this affective gradient, towards desirable states and away from undesirable ones. This affective gradient hypothesis solves the puzzle of where values and goals come from, and offers a parsimonious account of apparent conflicts between emotion and cognition.","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":19.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142329682","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Swati Pandita, Ketika Garg, Jiajin Zhang, Dean Mobbs
{"title":"Three roots of online toxicity: disembodiment, accountability, and disinhibition.","authors":"Swati Pandita, Ketika Garg, Jiajin Zhang, Dean Mobbs","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2024.06.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tics.2024.06.001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Online communication is central to modern social life, yet it is often linked to toxic manifestations and reduced well-being. How and why online communication enables these toxic social effects remains unanswered. In this opinion, we propose three roots of online toxicity: disembodiment, limited accountability, and disinhibition. We suggest that virtual disembodiment results in a chain of psychological states primed for deleterious social interaction. Drawing from differences between face-to-face and online interactions, the framework highlights and addresses the fundamental problems that result in impaired communication between individuals and explicates its effects on social toxicity online.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":"814-828"},"PeriodicalIF":16.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141564945","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Level of decision confidence shapes motor memory.","authors":"Daichi Nozaki","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2024.07.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tics.2024.07.010","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Decision making is often necessary before performing an action. Traditionally, it has been assumed that decision making and motor control are independent, sequential processes. Ogasa et al. challenge this view, and demonstrate that the decision-making process significantly impacts on the formation and retrieval of motor memory by tagging it with the level of confidence.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":"786-788"},"PeriodicalIF":16.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141989336","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Taylor W Webb, Steven M Frankland, Awni Altabaa, Simon Segert, Kamesh Krishnamurthy, Declan Campbell, Jacob Russin, Tyler Giallanza, Randall O'Reilly, John Lafferty, Jonathan D Cohen
{"title":"The relational bottleneck as an inductive bias for efficient abstraction.","authors":"Taylor W Webb, Steven M Frankland, Awni Altabaa, Simon Segert, Kamesh Krishnamurthy, Declan Campbell, Jacob Russin, Tyler Giallanza, Randall O'Reilly, John Lafferty, Jonathan D Cohen","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2024.04.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tics.2024.04.001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A central challenge for cognitive science is to explain how abstract concepts are acquired from limited experience. This has often been framed in terms of a dichotomy between connectionist and symbolic cognitive models. Here, we highlight a recently emerging line of work that suggests a novel reconciliation of these approaches, by exploiting an inductive bias that we term the relational bottleneck. In that approach, neural networks are constrained via their architecture to focus on relations between perceptual inputs, rather than the attributes of individual inputs. We review a family of models that employ this approach to induce abstractions in a data-efficient manner, emphasizing their potential as candidate models for the acquisition of abstract concepts in the human mind and brain.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":"829-843"},"PeriodicalIF":16.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140905175","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shaocong Ma, Ayse Payir, Niamh McLoughlin, Paul L Harris
{"title":"Scientific and religious beliefs are primarily shaped by testimony.","authors":"Shaocong Ma, Ayse Payir, Niamh McLoughlin, Paul L Harris","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2024.04.014","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tics.2024.04.014","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Understanding why individuals are more confident of the existence of invisible scientific phenomena (e.g., oxygen) than invisible religious phenomena (e.g., God) remains a puzzle. Departing from conventional explanations linking ontological beliefs to direct experience, we introduce a model positing that testimony predominantly shapes beliefs in both scientific and religious domains. Distinguishing direct experience (personal observation) from cultural input (testimony-based evidence), we argue that even apparently direct experiences often stem from others' testimony. Our analysis indicates that variability in direct experience cannot explain belief disparities between science and religion, within each domain, or across cultures. Instead, variability in testimony is the primary driver of ontological beliefs. We present developmental evidence for testimony-based beliefs and elucidate the mechanisms underlying their impact.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":"792-803"},"PeriodicalIF":16.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141162419","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Steven T Piantadosi, Dyana C Y Muller, Joshua S Rule, Karthikeya Kaushik, Mark Gorenstein, Elena R Leib, Emily Sanford
{"title":"Why concepts are (probably) vectors.","authors":"Steven T Piantadosi, Dyana C Y Muller, Joshua S Rule, Karthikeya Kaushik, Mark Gorenstein, Elena R Leib, Emily Sanford","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2024.06.011","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tics.2024.06.011","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>For decades, cognitive scientists have debated what kind of representation might characterize human concepts. Whatever the format of the representation, it must allow for the computation of varied properties, including similarities, features, categories, definitions, and relations. It must also support the development of theories, ad hoc categories, and knowledge of procedures. Here, we discuss why vector-based representations provide a compelling account that can meet all these needs while being plausibly encoded into neural architectures. This view has become especially promising with recent advances in both large language models and vector symbolic architectures. These innovations show how vectors can handle many properties traditionally thought to be out of reach for neural models, including compositionality, definitions, structures, and symbolic computational processes.</p>","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":" ","pages":"844-856"},"PeriodicalIF":16.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141903363","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}