Within each of us, we possess one of the most efficient information processors in existence – our mind, powered by our brain. Our mind is capable of many processes from selecting goal-related information from irrelevant surrounding information, to representing and manipulating the selected material, and even storing and retrieving the information for use later in time.
However, we know from personal experience that we are not a flawless system. Our mind is far from perfect. Sometimes, we find ourselves attracted to and dwelling on irrelevant information even in the face of important, actually relevant tasks and material. Other times, we have difficulty remembering information no matter how hard we try!
Why is this the case? Why does our mind perform sub-optimally at times, and how can we improve it to optimize our processing capabilities? Through our ongoing research, our lab continually seeks to ground every study in two guiding principles. Firstly, to read the mind by understanding the cognitive and neural mechanisms behind our information processing abilities, and secondly to lead the mind by optimizing our performance using techniques derived from the knowledge of these underlying mechanisms.
Techniques
Research in our lab primarily relies on complementary neurophysiological (EEG & ERP) and behavioural (e.g., individual differences) approaches.
Visual Working Memory (VWM)
Visual working memory allows us to selectively process a subset of the large amounts of visual information that we encounter from moment-to-moment.
Long-term Memory
Memories can be modified, updated, and even forgotten after they have been encoded into latent long-term stores. How does our behavior impact these outcomes?
Metacognition
The way we ‘feel’ about the accuracy of our memories can affect how we choose to use and rely on them. However, these assessments of our own memories can sometimes belie memory’s true fidelity.
Selective Attention
We are constantly bombarded with visual information that we must selectively enhance and suppress to make efficient use of our cognitive resources. To what extent can we control the allocation of these resources?
Learning
The strategies that are best for knowledge acquisition are often more painstaking than less effective strategies–‘desirable difficulties’. Can we identify short-cuts to learning that allow us to rely less on strategies that tax our cognitive resources?
Current Projects
If you are interested in volunteer research assistant positions please find the project you are interested in first and then reach out to the project leader directly.
The Influence of Predictions on Memory and Perception
Our world is dynamic but highly predictable. This allows our brain to pick up on statistical regularities and use that knowledge to better prepare for its future state. How does this feature of our brain influence memory and perception? In this line of projects, we use behavioural and neurophysiological (EEG, ERP) techniques to investigate this question.
Factors Influencing Metacognition in Visual Working Memory
Despite holding a limited number of memory representations at the forefront of our minds, we still endorse wrong memories with high confidence. What factors make us more likely to feel confident when we shouldn’t be? To answer some of these questions, we will employ behavioural and neuroimaging methods.
Similarity-Induced Working Memory Bias
Visual working memory (VWM) allows people to hold a few items in mind for a short period, though it is not without its imperfections. When people maintain an item in VWM and encounter a similar one in their environment, often their memory of the original item becomes biased towards the new, similar input. Our research focuses on investigating how the certainty of the remembered item and the novel visual input modulates this bias. We use psychophysics and electroencephalography (EEG) to study these memory dynamics.
THE FUKUDA LAB 