Humans often have an intuitive sense of whether they made the right decision or not -- our sense of confidence. In studies on metacognitive faculties, confidence is most often assessed explicitly, by asking participants how confident they are in their response being correct. While we can explicitly report our confidence, implicit methods of…

Successful recognition is generally thought to be based on both recollection and familiarity of studied information. Recent studies found that making judgments of learning (JOLs) can reactively facilitate recognition performance, a form of reactivity effect on memory. The current study aimed to explore the roles of recollection and familiarity in…

Research shows that bilingual learners move naturally between their languages to learn; however, this practice is not welcomed in many second/foreign language classrooms given the belief that first language (L1) use negatively affects second language (L2) development, despite much empirical evidence to the contrary. Moreover, translanguaging…

In order processing, consecutive sequences (e.g., 1-2-3) are generally processed faster than nonconsecutive sequences (e.g., 1-3-5) (also referred to as the reverse distance effect). A common explanation for this effect is that order processing operates via a memory-based associative mechanism whereby consecutive sequences are processed faster…

It is well established that performing multiple tasks simultaneously (dual-tasking) or sequentially (task-switching) degrades performance on one or both tasks. However, it is unknown whether task-switching adds to the effects of dual-tasking in a single setup. We investigated this in a simulated everyday-like car driving scenario. We expected an…

Metacognition is important for successful goal-directed behavior. It consists of two main elements: metacognitive knowledge and online awareness. Online awareness consists of monitoring and self-regulation. Metacognitive sensitivity is the extent to which someone can accurately distinguish their own correct from incorrect responses and is an…

We empirically examined the effectiveness of how the Analysis of Competing Hypotheses (ACH) technique structures task information to help reduce confirmation bias (Study 1) and the portrayal of intelligence analysts as suffering from such bias (Study 2). Study 1 (N = 161) showed that individuals presented with hypotheses in rows and evidence items…

In two experiments, we examine how features of an imperfect automated decision aid influence compliance with the aid in a simplified, simulated nautical collision avoidance task. Experiment 1 examined the impact of providing transparency in the pre-task instructions regarding which attributes of the task that the aid uses to provide its…

The use of partially-automated systems require drivers to supervise the system functioning and resume manual control whenever necessary. Yet literature on vehicle automation show that drivers may spend more time looking away from the road when the partially-automated system is operational. In this study we answer the question of whether this…

Three-year-olds often respond to lies as if they were true or with no clear rationale. Individual differences influence children's processing of misinformation. Here, we explore how two contextual cues (children's conflicting first-hand knowledge and different information sources) affect their ability to correctly interpret and respond to…

This dissertation features a relative clause island, whose status has been known to differ significantly across languages and extraction types. By conducting a series of acceptability judgment experiments with human participants, as well as measuring token-by-token surprisal values among large language models, I demonstrate the following: First,…

Creative problem-solving skills are essential for navigating complex, non-routine challenges, enabling individuals to create unique goals, execute innovative procedures and generate original outcomes. While the link between metacognitive skills and the creativity of outcomes was established only recently, further exploration is required to…

In classic visual search, observers typically search for the presence of a target in a scene or display. In foraging tasks, there may be multiple targets in the same display (or "patch"). Observers typically search for and collect these target items in one patch until they decide to leave that patch and move to the next one. This is a…

When memories of past rewarding experiences are distorted, are relevant decision-making preferences impacted? Although recent research has demonstrated the important role of episodic memory in value-based decision making, very few have examined the role of false memory in guiding novel decision making. The current study combined the pictorial…

In recent years, an increasing number of studies have examined the association between mathematical abilities and executive functions (EFs). However, it remains unknown via which mechanisms' mathematical performance is associated with EFs. The current study examined the associations of overall task proficiency, strategy selection, and strategy…