Hacker News with Generative AI: Cognitive Science

How the Brain Distinguishes Memories from Perceptions (quantamagazine.org)
The neural representations of a perceived image and the memory of it are almost the same. New work shows how and why they are different.
Neuroscience, Memory, Perception, Cognitive Science
5 points by Anon84 5 days ago | 0 comments
AI Tools: Impacts on Cognitive Offloading and the Future of Critical Thinking (mdpi.com)
The proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) tools has transformed numerous aspects of daily life, yet its impact on critical thinking remains underexplored.
Artificial Intelligence, Critical Thinking, Cognitive Science
33 points by camillomiller 5 days ago | 14 comments
Maybe ChatGPT has some pre-frontal cortex problems (solresol.substack.com)
People have been complaining that ChatGPT has been degrading with each new version. This sounds like cognitive decline! Let’s administer some tests that might detect incipent dementia.
Generative AI, Artificial Intelligence, Language Models, Technology, Cognitive Science
19 points by solresol 6 days ago | 8 comments
The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint (2006) [pdf] (ed.ac.uk)
Cognitive Science, Software, User Interface, Microsoft
132 points by raviisoccupied 19 days ago | 75 comments
Is It Possible to Improve Memory or Are We Doomed to Forget as We Age? (2023) (nzherald.co.nz)
Memory is a fickle beast at the best of times, but it’s easy to think we’re sliding into a pandemic of forgetfulness, a collective midlife side-effect of living a life so fast-paced, we can’t possibly be expected to remember where we put the keys.
Memory, Aging, Health, Cognitive Science
16 points by peutetre 20 days ago | 6 comments
The new science of controlling lucid dreams (scientificamerican.com)
Dreams, Neuroscience, Sleep, Cognitive Science
185 points by cainxinth 22 days ago | 113 comments
Cognitive load is what matters (minds.md)
There are so many buzzwords and best practices out there, but let's focus on something more fundamental. What matters is the amount of confusion developers feel when going through the code.
Software Development, Cognitive Science, User Experience
1766 points by zdw 26 days ago | 718 comments
Attention as the management of electromagnetic field lines (qualiacomputing.com)
Try to focus your attention on the exact center of your visual field right now. Notice how the seemingly straightforward task reveals systematic instabilities: wavering, drifting, and transforming in characteristic ways. These effects aren’t random noise; they suggest an underlying physical mechanism that shapes how attention behaves more broadly.
Attention, Neuroscience, Physics, Cognitive Science
52 points by stoniejohnson 35 days ago | 23 comments
Global Workspace Theory of Consciousness (wikipedia.org)
Global workspace theory (GWT) is a framework for thinking about consciousness proposed by cognitive scientists Bernard Baars and Stan Franklin in the late 1980s.
Consciousness, Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, Theory
6 points by yamrzou 38 days ago | 0 comments
Effects of Stress on Memory (wikipedia.org)
The effects of stress on memory include interference with a person's capacity to encode memory and the ability to retrieve information.
Memory, Stress, Psychology, Cognitive Science
19 points by yamrzou 39 days ago | 5 comments
How to get better at remembering (psyche.co)
Frustrated by elusive names and misplaced phones? The science of memory reveals ways to improve your powers of recall
Memory, Science, Cognitive Science, Psychology
5 points by lr0 46 days ago | 0 comments
Handwriting but not typewriting leads to widespread connectivity in brain (openread.academy)
Neuroscience, Brain, Handwriting, Cognitive Science
214 points by cryptozeus 48 days ago | 125 comments
The number of exceptional people: Fewer than 85 per 1M across key traits (sciencedirect.com)
Cognitive biases can lead to overestimating the expected prevalence of exceptional multi-talented candidates, leading to potential dissatisfaction in recruitment contexts.
Cognitive Science, Talent Acquisition, Human Resources, Statistics, Psychology
11 points by baxtr 60 days ago | 4 comments
Ticker Tape Synesthesia (thesynesthesiatree.com)
"Ticker taping" consists of automatically visualising written words in the form of subtitles when hearing other people speak. It can also occur with one’s own speech and/or with internal dialogue, i.e. verbal thinking.
Synesthesia, Perception, Language, Neuroscience, Cognitive Science
47 points by daverol 70 days ago | 22 comments
Shfla: Shoegaze Hierarchical Fractal Language Architecture (github.com/Tetraslam)
SHFLA (Shoegaze Hierarchical Fractal Language Architecture) is an interdisciplinary project that integrates Cognitive Musicology, Linguistics, Music Theory, and Computer Science.
Music, Programming, Cognitive Science, Computer Science
52 points by Tetraslam 72 days ago | 15 comments
The Effects of Generative AI on Design Fixation and Divergent Thinking (dl.acm.org)
Generative AI systems have been heralded as tools for augmenting human creativity and inspiring divergent thinking, though with little empirical evidence for these claims.
Generative AI, Design, Creativity, Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive Science
6 points by adrianhoward 85 days ago | 0 comments
Ask HN: How to Learn 'To Think'? (ycombinator.com)
I am writing this desperate to find out what to do. Most of my life, I have been 'listening' passively, without thinking. I don't have an internal monologue. I had a neuropsych evaluation which commented on my poor memory and inability to think.
Cognitive Science, Learning, Self Improvement, Mental Health
61 points by cannnot_think 88 days ago | 53 comments
How Your Brain Processes Zero (It's Not 'Nothing') (scientificamerican.com)
What we think about when we think about “zilch” is surprisingly complex, neuroscientists find
Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, Psychology
5 points by athousandsteps 88 days ago | 1 comments
Brain endurance training improves older adults' cognitive, physical performance (sciencedirect.com)
Cognitive and physical performance is impaired by aging and fatigue.
Cognitive Science, Aging, Health, Exercise
109 points by gnabgib 89 days ago | 33 comments
Mind Wandering: More than a Bad Habit (2018) [pdf] (psych.ucsb.edu)
Psychology, Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, Research
143 points by yamrzou 90 days ago | 94 comments
How the Human Brain Contends with the Strangeness of Zero (quantamagazine.org)
Around 2,500 years ago, Babylonian traders in Mesopotamia impressed two slanted wedges into clay tablets. The shapes represented a placeholder digit, squeezed between others, to distinguish numbers such as 50, 505 and 5,005. An elementary version of the concept of zero was born.
Mathematics, History, Science, Cognitive Science
9 points by EA-3167 91 days ago | 2 comments
Study Reveals the Brain Divides the Day into Chapters Like a Book (sciencealert.com)
Life can feel like a novel some days, full of romance and mystery, and perhaps a touch of horror or even a little fantasy. So perhaps it comes as little surprise that the human brain keeps track of narratives in discrete chunks not unlike the chapters of a book.
Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, Psychology, Human Brain
9 points by isaacfrond 92 days ago | 0 comments
Arithmetic is an underrated world-modeling technology (dynomight.substack.com)
Of all the cognitive tools our ancestors left us, what’s best? Society seems to think pretty highly of arithmetic. It’s one of the first things we learn as children. So I think it’s weird that only a tiny percentage of people seem to know how to actually use arithmetic. Or maybe even understand what arithmetic is for. Why?
Mathematics, Technology, Cognitive Science, Education
48 points by crescit_eundo 93 days ago | 18 comments
Cognitive Load (minds.md)
It is a living document, last update: October 2024. Your contributions are welcome!
Cognitive Science, Learning, Memory, Information Processing, Human Factors
10 points by thunderbong 93 days ago | 0 comments
What do you visualize while programming? (dillonshook.com)
I’ve been thinking a bit about thinking while programming lately. A bit confusing I know, but hear me out.
Programming, Software Development, Cognitive Science
116 points by dillonshook 93 days ago | 167 comments
Language is not essential for the cognitive processes that underlie thought (scientificamerican.com)
Scholars have long contemplated the connection between language and thought—and to what degree the two are intertwined—by asking whether language is somehow an essential prerequisite for thinking.
Cognitive Science, Linguistics, Philosophy
562 points by orcul 93 days ago | 408 comments
Cognitive Load is what matters (github.com/zakirullin)
🧠 Cognitive Load is what matters
Cognitive Science, Psychology, User Experience
16 points by irrationaljared 101 days ago | 3 comments
Illusions of Competence in Monitoring One's Knowledge During Study [pdf] (2005) (haifa.ac.il)
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submission.
Cognitive Science, Education, Research, Human Factors, Psychology
50 points by JustinSkycak 112 days ago | 3 comments
How We Sort the World (mitpress.mit.edu)
Despite the vast diversity and individuality in every life, we seek patterns, organization, and control. Or, as cognitive psychologist Gregory Murphy puts it: “We put an awful lot of effort into trying to figure out and convince others of just what kind of person someone is, what kind of action something was, and even what kind of object something is.”
Psychology, Cognitive Science, Categorization, Social Psychology, Human Behavior
43 points by r721 118 days ago | 19 comments
Dissociating language and thought in large language models (arxiv.org)
Large Language Models (LLMs) have come closest among all models to date to mastering human language, yet opinions about their linguistic and cognitive capabilities remain split.
Generative AI, Linguistics, Cognitive Science
42 points by rntn 118 days ago | 4 comments