We investigated how predictions regarding the outcome of sports competitions are affected by concurrent predictions which were believed to originate from either a human sports expert or an AI system. Participants were asked to estimate the probability of a certain team to win a group match against the respective opponent in various matches of the 2024 Olympic Games and to report their confidence in that estimate. Moreover, they received numerical estimates for that probability which were either high or low, and which were believed to originate from a human expert or an AI system. Participants' estimates were biased towards these supplementary estimates, thus reflecting an anchoring effect. Yet, this effect's size was independent of the believed source of the anchor and even non-significantly higher for AI support. Confidence in provided judgments was even significantly higher when the believed origin of supplementary estimates was AI rather than human. Altogether, the results suggest no bias against AI-generated sports outcome predictions, highlighting the task-dependency of reliance on AI.

Diacritical marks across Latin-based orthographies serve different linguistic functions, ranging from suprasegmental stress marking (e.g., Spanish) to phonemic contrast (e.g., German, Finnish), and this distinction shapes how readers process diacritic mismatches during visual word recognition. Turkish is particularly well suited to examine this question because it includes an equal number of diacritical vowels (e.g., o /o/ vs. ö /ø/) and diacritical consonants (e.g., s /s/ vs. ş /ʃ/), with diacritical and non-diacritical forms functioning as distinct letters. This balanced distribution makes Turkish ideal for examining whether consonant-vowel status modulates the processing cost of diacritic mismatches relative to intact words. We conducted two semantic categorization experiments (is the word an animal name?) in which native Turkish readers responded to words with a diacritical mark either omitted (Experiment 1) or added (Experiment 2) relative to intact words, with vowel and consonant diacritics included in the same experiment. Bayesian mixed-effects models showed a processing cost for both diacritic omission and addition relative to intact words, and the cost was greater for addition than for omission. Critically, we found no evidence that the response-time cost was modulated by consonant-vowel status. These findings are consistent with an account in which a substantial component of diacritic mismatch effects arises during visual feature-to-letter identity mapping, before consonant-vowel differences in lexical constraint exert a measurable influence.

Understanding how the brain differentiates self from others through language represents an important topic in psychology, linguistics, and social cognition. Within an embodied cognition framework, the present EEG study investigated early neural responses to isolated German pronouns varying in self-relatedness (self-, other-, and self/other-related) and grammatical type (personal vs. possessive). Forty right-handed native German speakers silently read visually presented pronouns while EEG activity was recorded. Two task contexts were employed, involving voluntary and involuntary keypress responses following stimulus presentation. Event-related potential (ERP) analyses revealed significant modulations of the N170 and Early Posterior Negativity (EPN) components. N170 amplitudes varied as a function of pronoun type and self-relatedness, with self-related and other-related pronouns eliciting different responses from ambiguous second-person forms. EPN amplitudes differed across self-reference categories, with additional interactions involving hemisphere and pronoun type. Together, these findings suggest that even minimal linguistic stimuli such as pronouns engage early neural processes sensitive to self-relatedness and linguistic context. Task conditions also differed in early ERP amplitudes; because responses in the immediate-response condition overlapped the ERP measurement intervals, these differences are reported without functional attribution.

Memory in immersive virtual reality (VR) may depend on the encoding context and on users' control over virtual exploration. We examined memory for a single immersive episode in 234 young adults using a 2 × 3 between-subjects design crossing navigation control (self-directed vs. automated movement) with affective audiovisual context (pleasant, unpleasant, neutral). Memory was assessed through free recall, visual-feature memory, spatial-location memory, and complementary error indices. One effect held up under Holm correction across the three non-derived memory-performance outcomes. Free recall differed across affective contexts, F(2, 228) = 4.75, p = .010, ω[2] = 0.031, Holm-adjusted p = .030, with lower recall in the unpleasant than in the neutral condition, and the difference remained evident after adjustment for age, gender, and prior VR experience. Navigation control showed no robust general association with the principal memory-performance outcomes. A localized navigation-control × affective-context pattern emerged for spatial false object reports (raw p = .032), but the interaction did not survive correction across the corresponding family of memory-error tests (Holm-adjusted p = .192) and is treated as exploratory. The unpleasant-neutral contrast cannot be attributed uniquely to emotional valence, because the neutral condition lacked the concurrent audiovisual stream present in the affective conditions and may therefore differ in attentional or other stimulus properties. The results yield one multiplicity-robust performance effect and a set of exploratory error patterns; together they argue for tighter control of audiovisual and attentional features in immersive-memory research.

Cognitive control is characterized by severe capacity limitations, yet it remains unclear whether performance constraints across different cognitive control processes reflect independent limitations or shared capacity-related constraints. To investigate this question, we adopted an individual-differences approach and multimethod analyses to examine how cognitive control capacity (CCC), defined as the maximum rate at which the cognitive control system can successfully process task-relevant information, is associated with performance across multiple cognitive-control processes. A sample of 197 healthy adults completed a modified backward-masking majority function task (MFTM-A) that adaptively estimated each participant's exposure-time threshold at a fixed information load, from which CCC was derived (bits per second). These participants also completed a multi-component battery assessing domain-specific functions including working memory (N-back), inhibition (Go/No-Go, Stop-Signal), flexibility (task switching), proactive/reactive control (AX-CPT) and attentional functions (alerting, orienting and conflict). Results showed that CCC was significantly associated with several cognitive-control measures: higher CCC was associated with greater N-back accuracy, better AX-CPT discriminability, higher No-Go accuracy, and reduced switch costs. Network analysis indicated that proactive control and response inhibition occupied the most central positions in the network, whereas CCC showed selective connections with high-load control measures. A least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression identified 3-back accuracy as the most robust unique predictor of CCC. These findings suggest that CCC reflects a selective throughput-related constraint that is closely tied to high-load working memory updating and extends to selected control processes requiring sustained and flexible information processing. Methodologically, this study illustrates how network analysis and sparsity-based modelling can be combined to clarify both the organization of cognitive-control measures and the behavioral predictors of CCC.

Effects of proactive control on response inhibition have previously been studied using tasks such as the stop signal task in which participants are required to inhibit a single, isolated motor response. However, skilled, coordinated behavior often involves the execution of learned sequences of motor actions in which each action triggers the next with a degree of automaticity. Across three experiments, we investigated the effects of proactive control and reward incentives on the frequency of errors in a motor sequence learning task that requires inhibition of sequentially triggered motor actions. We observed graded effects of proactive control on inhibition success. Although cues indicating an upcoming stop trial led to a marked reduction in the frequency of slips-of-action, errors continued to occur despite significant cue-induced proactive slowing. When cues were combined with incentives for successful stopping, proactive control increased further, with an additional reduction in frequency of slips-of-action. These findings show that the effectiveness of proactive control in suppressing automatically triggered actions within learned sequences is jointly determined by the depth of proactive slowing and the motivational context.

Grip force provides a behavioral index of motor engagement during action-language processing, but prior studies have relied on auditory presentation and fixed analysis windows. We adapted grip force methodology to Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) and used a Time-Resolved Bayesian Evidence Display (TBED) to characterize language-induced motor resonance as a temporally evolving signal rather than as an effect confined to a predefined window. To evaluate this pipeline, we used two theoretically motivated test cases: grammatical aspect (present vs. inceptive constructions) and conscious imagery ability (typical imagery vs. aphantasia). In participants with typical imagery, present-tense action sentences produced greater grip-force modulation than non-action sentences in the conventional 600-900 ms window, showing a directional pattern consistent with previous findings. TBED showed that this effect was temporally restricted and modest in magnitude. Inceptive constructions showed no reliable action-related modulation and yielded Bayesian evidence favoring the absence of an Action/Non-Action difference. Participants with aphantasia showed no reliable motor-resonance pattern, but these results remain difficult to interpret because of sample size and signal variability. Overall, the study demonstrates that RSVP can be combined with grip-force recording, while also highlighting the increased variability that may accompany visual serial presentation. TBED provides a statistically grounded way to move beyond exclusive reliance on conventional window-based analyses by making visible when evidence favors a condition difference, when it favors no difference, and when it remains inconclusive. We argue that time-resolved evidence displays should become a standard component of grip-force analyses, especially when the timing, duration, or absence of motor-resonance effects is theoretically relevant.

Cognitive aging is often associated with increased Stroop interference, but it remains unclear whether this reflects a broad decline in inhibitory control or selective impairments in specific conflict-resolution mechanisms. The present study examined age-related differences in task conflict, semantic conflict, and response conflict using a low-cognitive-control Stroop paradigm designed to amplify conflict effects. Younger and older adults completed a manual color-identification task including neutral shapes, neutral words, color-associated words, non-response-set incongruent color words, and response-set incongruent color words. This design allowed us to dissociate response conflict, two components of semantic conflict, and task conflict within a single paradigm. Older adults showed larger response conflict than younger adults, along with modest age-related increases in both semantic relevance and semantic relatedness. In contrast, task conflict did not differ between age groups. These results suggest that age-related increases in Stroop interference are not best explained by a single global inhibitory deficit. Rather, under the present manual-response, reduced-control conditions, older adults showed greater semantic and response-level conflict, whereas task conflict remained comparable across age groups. This dissociation is consistent with a more fine-grained account of cognitive control in aging.

Prospective memory (PM) concerns the ability to fulfil intentions in the future. Research suggested that PM is associated with spontaneous cognition. However, the role of spontaneous thoughts during intention retention remains unclear. The present study aimed to investigate prospective bias in spontaneous thoughts specifically related to pending intentions, and whether these thoughts were associated with PM performance. Healthy young adults completed the Prospective Activity Fluency Task to generate daily PM tasks, and the Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire to assess everyday PM failures. Spontaneous thoughts were collected by experience sampling, and categorized into pre-defined types, including PM-related, other future-oriented, and past-oriented thoughts. The results showed significant differences in the frequency of spontaneous thought types, with PM-related spontaneous thoughts occurring significantly more frequently than past-oriented ones. A higher proportion of PM-related spontaneous thoughts was significantly correlated with a fewer frequency of PM failures in everyday life. The current finding partially supports the hypothesis that there is a future-oriented natural reminding mechanism in the mind, constituting part of the prospective bias observed in spontaneous thoughts, which in turn is associated with better PM performance. These findings expand our understanding of the role of spontaneous cognition in PM.

While adaptive decision-making requires balancing exploration and exploitation, dominant accounts often treat this trade-off as independent of social context. Drawing on theories of self-function and motivated cognition, we tested whether deciding for oneself versus others alters exploration-exploitation dynamics. Across two experiments, participants completed a restless multi-armed bandit task for themselves or a close friend under gain (Experiment 1) and loss (Experiment 2) conditions. Results indicated that self-other differences in choice behavior emerged dynamically over time rather than reflecting a static bias. An additional computational modeling analysis revealed that self-relevance was associated with increased sensitivity to value differences (i.e., inverse temperature), consistent with more deterministic choice (i.e., exploitation). Taken together, these findings demonstrate that self-relevance does not merely influence learning but dynamically shapes decision policies over time. More broadly, the results highlight the importance of motivational context in regulating how individuals balance information gain and reward during value-based decisions.

Adaptation to unexpected tempo step changes may vary with perceptual awareness and motor expertise across the post-change time course. This study examined how trial-level Detection and motor expertise, operationalised as professional dance training, were associated with post-change adaptation. Two finger-tapping experiments used unexpected step changes from a 500-ms baseline inter-stimulus interval: near-threshold perturbations (± 10 ms) in Experiment 1 and supra-threshold perturbations (± 50, ± 100, and ± 150 ms) in Experiment 2. Forty adults completed Experiment 1 (21 dancers and 19 non-dancers), and 32 completed Experiment 2 (16 dancers and 16 non-dancers). Inter-tap interval (ITI), relative asynchrony (RA), and phase correction response (PCR) were analysed using linear mixed-effects models. In Experiment 1, Detection-related differences in continuation ITI and RA occurred primarily among non-dancers. In the + 10-ms deceleration condition (+Δt), the Detection-related PCR contrasts were opposite in direction between groups, but only non-dancers showed a reliable difference, with lower PCR in detected than in not-detected trials. In Experiment 2, both groups generally produced continuation ITIs close to the new target intervals. Expertise-related differences were selective and most consistently observed in RA in the - 100-ms acceleration condition (-ΔT), whereas PCR varied with perturbation direction and magnitude but did not differ between dancers and non-dancers. Perceptual awareness and motor expertise were associated with condition- and measure-specific patterns of adaptation to unexpected tempo step changes rather than a uniform adaptation advantage.

Can alerting retro-cues improve the conscious perception of stimuli that would otherwise remain unseen? While pre-stimulus alerting is known to facilitate conscious access, the effects of retro-cues remain ambiguous due to methodological confounds in existing literature. Specifically, most studies finding retro-cue benefits have relied on spatial features (such as lateralized targets or cues), which confound alerting with spatial selection. Our design addresses this gap by employing central visual targets and non-lateralized auditory cues, thereby isolating the temporal boost of phasic alerting from spatial orienting. Across four experiments, participants reported the presence and orientation of a central Gabor patch presented at near-threshold ([Formula: see text] detection) or higher visibility ([Formula: see text] detection) levels. An auditory alerting tone was presented prior to, simultaneously with, or after the Gabor, at various short and long stimulus onset asynchronies, with both short and long temporal ranges. Results consistently showed that pre-stimulus and simultaneous cues significantly enhanced conscious perception, increasing both seen rates and (in some experiments) perceptual sensitivity. Crucially, the presence of retro-cue benefits was observed at higher stimulus visibility, but not at near-threshold, suggesting a potential influence of target visibility on retro-cue efficacy. When targets were near-threshold, retro-cues did not reliably improve conscious perception, whereas tones presented 200 ms after target offset significantly increased the proportion of seen reports when target visibility was increased. These findings indicate that non-spatial auditory retro-cues can modulate conscious report when the underlying sensory trace is sufficiently robust. More broadly, they show that the timing of conscious access can be influenced by late alerting signals even in the absence of spatial information, providing a behavioural platform to refine models of how alerting and evidence strength interact in conscious perception.

Recent evidence shows that object-based compatibility effects are sensitive to contextual and individual differences. Building on these findings, the present study investigated whether social contextual priming and personality traits modulate affordance effects during object categorization. Seventy-seven healthy adults performed a speeded categorization task in which they classified manipulable objects (e.g., hammer, cup) with handles oriented either leftward or rightward as working or personal tools. Target objects were preceded by visual primes depicting either social scenes or isolation scenarios. Personality was assessed using the Big Five Inventory-2 and the Dirty Dozen scale for Dark Triad traits. Results revealed three key findings: (1) a reversed handle-response (H-R) compatibility effect, though moderated by specific personality traits; (2) slower responses for social compared to isolation primes, suggesting that social contexts increase cognitive load; and (3) selective personality moderation, with individuals high in Machiavellianism, Psychopathy, and Narcissism experiencing significant interference from social primes. Critically, Machiavellianism and Psychopathy showed absent reversed compatibility effects, paralleling individuals low in Conscientiousness while these effects remained robust in low-trait individuals and those high in Conscientiousness. These findings demonstrate that while object-based compatibility reflects a fundamental visuomotor mechanism, its occurrence is influenced by individual differences, possibly associated with cognitive control. The results underscore the socially situated and flexible nature of affordance representations, extending contemporary embodied cognition frameworks by revealing how personality traits related to atypical social cognition profoundly modulate whether effect-based action coding occurs.

Sense of agency (SoA) is the subjective experience of controlling one's own actions and their effects. To infer SoA people rely, among other cues, on temporal cues such as temporal contiguity (i.e. the closeness in time between action and effect) and temporal expectation (i.e. the match between expected and actual timing of an effect). We investigated whether the use of temporal cues and their interplay differ between younger (18-28 years) and older (65-75 years) adults. In the experiment, participants first completed adaptation blocks to form expectations regarding the timing of an effect. In adaptation blocks, actions were followed either by immediate (immediate effect condition) or by delayed (delayed effect condition) effects. In subsequent test blocks, the action-effect delay was varied, and participants SoA over the effect was assessed. Across both age groups, SoA increased, the more the timing of the actual effect corresponded to the expected effect, indicating that temporal expectation is used as primary agency cue. However, in younger (but not in older) adults, the change in SoA as a function of delay was steeper in the immediate effect condition than in the delayed effect condition. This may indicate that temporal contiguity and temporal expectation have reinforced each other in the immediate effect condition but counteracted each other in the delayed effect condition. Thus, whereas both age groups primarily rely on temporal expectation, younger adults may additionally integrate temporal contiguity when inferring SoA.

Task switching is fundamental to everyday behavior and language use but can elicit more negative experiences than those elicited by task repetition, defined as affective costs. However, whether affective costs differ between switches to dominant and non-dominant tasks remains unclear. Examining this question can help determine whether affective costs reflect general transition demands alone or also direction-specific control processes. We addressed this issue in three progressively designed experiments. Experiments 1 and 2 combined task switching and affective priming paradigms to examine general task switching and language task switching, respectively, whereas Experiment 3 used event-related potentials (ERPs) to probe the electrophysiological underpinnings. Across all experiments, switching to non-dominant tasks produced greater affective costs than switching to dominant tasks, demonstrating affective cost asymmetry. Non-dominant switches elicited larger EPN and LPP amplitudes, suggesting that early attentional capture accompanies this asymmetry and that sustained emotional processing may contribute to its formation. Together, these findings suggest that affective costs may be jointly shaped by general transition demands and direction-specific control processes, supporting a direction-sensitive account of the affective consequences of task switching.