In natural behaviour, animals actively interrogate their environments using endogenously
generated 'question-and-answer'strategies. However, in laboratory settings participants …

Consider the range of social behaviours we engage in every day. In each case, there are a
multitude of unknowns, reflecting the many sources of uncertainty inherent to social …

Social distancing during the coronavirus-disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is crucial to
reduce the spread of the virus. However, its effectiveness hinges on adherence by …

Empathy is considered a virtue, yet it fails in many situations, leading to a basic question:
When given a choice, do people avoid empathy? And if so, why? Whereas past work has …

Mental effort is an elementary notion in our folk psychology and a familiar fixture in everyday
introspective experience. However, as an object of scientific study, mental effort has …

Depression is linked to deficits in cognitive control and a host of other cognitive impairments
arise as a consequence of these deficits. Despite of their important role in depression, there …

Highlights•Numerous neurocognitive factors contribute to sustained attention.•Attention
fluctuates alongside shifting arousal, effort, and resource allocation.•An information …

One of the most striking features of human cognition is the ability to plan. Two aspects of
human planning stand out—its efficiency and flexibility. Efficiency is especially impressive …

Distinct model-free and model-based learning processes are thought to drive both typical
and dysfunctional behaviours. Data from two-stage decision tasks have seemingly shown …

I seek an explanation for the etiology and the function of mind wandering episodes. My
proposal—which I call the cognitive control proposal—is that mind wandering is a form of …