Cognitive and affective psychology

How a person perceives and processes the world around them - this has long been one of the central themes in our institute's research. Keep reading about the questions our researchers are trying to answer in this field.

Visual perception 

The main mechanisms of vision: recognition of objects, differentiation of visual features, visual search, crowding, attention. Evaluation of the statistical properties of the image (number of objects, average size, etc.). Vision models (psychophysical, computational and neural networks).  

Researchers: Jüri Allik, Aire Raidvee, Kairi Kreegipuu, Nele Põldver, Kristiina Averin, Iiris Tuvi, Talis Bachmann, Endel Põder 

A selection of publications:

• Allik, J., Toom, M., Raidvee, A., Averin, K., & Kreegipuu, K. (2013). An almost general theory of mean size perception. Vision research, 83, 25-39.
• Põder; E. (2020). Crowding and attention in a framework of neural network model. Journal of Vision, 20(13):19. 
• Bachmann, T., & Francis, G. (2014). Visual masking: studying perception, attention, and consciousness. Elsevier / Academic Press. ISBN: 978-0-12-800250-6 

Auditory and language perception 

Projects:  

• We try to identify automatic language-specific indexes of the processing in the brain that were applicable to the assessment of acquisition of the mother and foreign language  
• Effect of linguistic and musical experience on the processing of language in the brain 
• Neurocognitive mechanisms of receptive language deficit in Estonian preschool age children 
• Language and auditory brain: studies on central sound representation in auditory cortex (BerTa-LAB) 

Researchers: Kairi Kreegipuu, Nele Põldver, Liis Kask, Siqi Lyu, Liis Themas

A selection of publications: 

• Näätänen, R., Lehtokoski, A., Lennes, M., Cheour, M., Huotilainen, M., Iivonen, A.,Vainio, M., Alku, P., Ilmoniemi, R. J., Luuk, A., Allik, J., Sinkkonen, J., & Alho, K. (1997). Language-specific phoneme representations revealed by electric and magnetic brain responses. Nature, 385(6615), 432-434.
• Westerhausen, R., Põldver, N., Naar, R., Radziun, D., Kaarep, M. S., Kreegipuu, K., Hugdahl, K., Lippus, P., & Kompus, K. (2018). Effect of voicing on perceptual auditory laterality in Estonian and Norwegian native speakers. Applied Psycholinguistics 39(2), 259-273.
• Kask, L., Põldver, N., Lippus, P., & Kreegipuu, K. (2021). Perceptual asymmetries and auditory processing of Estonian quantities. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 15.

Attention and cognitive control 

A lot of information possibly influencing behaviour is processed pre-attentively, but can be accessed by modern cognitive neuroscience, for example by registering the brain’s automatic responses to deviance (mismatch negativity, MMN). MMN deteriorates in many clinical conditions but it is unknown whether the decrease is general or construct-specific. We ask how the automatic information processing is related to trait and state variables, and whether the relationship is general or specific.

Researchers: Kairi Kreegipuu, Nele Põldver, Jüri Allik, Aire Raidvee, Annika Kask, Liis Kask, Liina Juuse, Mai-Liis Liiser, Iiris Tuvi, Talis Bachmann, Richard Naar, Andero Uusberg, Uku Vainik

A selection of publications:

• Havik, M., Jakobson, A., Tamm, M., Paaver, M., Konstabel, K., Uusberg, A., ... & Kreegipuu, K. (2012). Links between self‐reported and laboratory behavioral impulsivity. Scandinavian journal of psychology, 53(3), 216-223. 
• Kremláček, J., Kreegipuu, K., Tales, A., Astikainen, P., Põldver, N., Näätänen, R., & Stephanics, G. (2016). Visual Mismatch Negativity (vMMN): A review and meta-analysis of studies in psychiatric and neurological disorders. Cortex, 80, 76-112.
• Kuldkepp, N., Kreegipuu, K., Raidvee, A., Näätänen, R., & Allik, J. (2013). Unattended and attended visual change detection of motion as indexed by event-related potentials and its behavioral correlates. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7:476.

Autobiographical memory and knowledge accumulation

Autobiographical memory development and outcomes are related to personal, socio-cultural, and situational factors. We focus on all three aspects to provide a better understanding of autobiographical memory, about its development and place in everyday knowledge accumulation. In particular, we try to understand: (1) how are values related to first memories throughout the timespan (socio-cultural level; (2) how are other cognitive abilities and genes related to autobiographical memory in middle childhood (personal level); (3) how can the context (e.g., the informal learning environment) best support memory for the experience and knowledge accumulation (situational level). 

Researchers: Pirko Tõugu, Tiia Tulviste 

A selection of publications:

• Tõugu, Pirko; Tulviste, Tiia; Veidebaum, Toomas; Harro, Jaanus (2021). Schoolchildren’s autobiographical memory: COMT gene Val158Met polymorphism effects on emotional content and quality of first memories. Cognitive Processing.
• Tõugu, Pirko (2021). Motivation for the family visit and on-the-spot activities shape children’s learning experience in a science center. Frontiers in Psychology, 1−8.

Affective representations 

Two types of interrelated representational representations are central to behaviour: goals and appraisals. We are interested in how these representations arise and how they affect emotions, motivation, and cognition. We approach these questions assuming that the mind is a cybernetic predictive system. In our empirical work we use behavioural web experiments, psychophysiological laboratory experiments as well as computational modelling of their results.  

Researchers: Andero Uusberg, Alan Voodla, Richard Naar, Martin Kolnes 

A selection of publications: 

• Uusberg, A., Suri, G., Dweck, C., & Gross, J. J. (2019). Motivation: A Valuation Systems Perspective. In M. Neta & I. J. Haas (Eds.), Emotion in the Mind and Body (pp. 161–192). Springer International Publishing.
• Everaert, J., Gross, J. J., & Uusberg, A. (2021). Appraisal Dynamics: A Predictive Mind Process Model Perspective. In C. E. Waugh & P. Kuppens (Eds.), Affect Dynamics (pp. 19–32). Springer International Publishing.
• Kolnes, M., Naar, R., Allik, J., & Uusberg, A. (2019). Does goal congruence dilate the pupil over and above goal relevance? Neuropsychologia, 134, 107217.

Affective influence on cognition 

Thoughts and feelings are not separate phenomena but integrated parts of the mind. We use behavioural and psychophysiological experiments to understand how affective states such as emotions and mood shape various aspects of cognition from attention to decisions. Among other questions, we are interested in which components of affective states cause cognitive changes and how different cognitive changes driven by affect relate to each other. 

Researchers: Kairi Kreegipuu, Nele Põldver, Annika Kask, Liina Juuse, Andero Uusberg, Martin Kolnes, Richard Naar 

A selection of publications: 

• Uusberg, A., Naar, R., Tamm, M., Kreegipuu, K., & Gross, J. J. (2018). Bending time: The role of affective appraisal in time perception. Emotion, 18(8), 1174–1188.
• Uusberg, A., Uibo, H., Kreegipuu, K., & Allik, J. (2013). EEG alpha and cortical inhibition in affective attention. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 89(1), 26–36.
• Kreegipuu, K., Kuldkepp, N., Sibolt, O., Toom, M., Allik, J., & Näätänen, R. (2013). vMMN for schematic faces: automatic detection of change in emotional expression. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7:714.

Consciousness 

According to the prevailing scientific view, consciousness is a function or a corollary effect of the living brain. However, up to the present day it is unclear precisely how the brain brings about our conscious experience. The main methodological approach in respective research capitalizes on combining experimental paradigms of psychology (including specific experimental phenomena of consciousness) with methods and knowledge from brain research. We continue our experimental and theoretical studies in this domain. 

Researchers: Talis Bachmann 

A selection of publications: 

• Bachmann, T. (2000) Microgenetic approach to the conscious mind. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 
• Aru, J., Bachmann, T., Singer, W., & Melloni, L. (2012). Distilling the neural correlates of consciousness. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 36(2), 737-746. 
• Aru, J., Suzuki, M., Rutiku, R., Larkum, M. E., & Bachmann, T. (2019). Coupling the State and Contents of Consciousness. Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience, 13:43. (1-9) 
• Bachmann, T. (2021). Representational ‘touch’ and modulatory ‘retouch’ – two necessary neurobiological processes in thalamocortical interaction for conscious experience. Neuroscience of Consciousness, Volume 2021, Issue 2, 2021, niab045, 1-18. 

Additional reading: Journal "Consciousness and Cognition"

Cognition in jurisprudence

Research of cognitive processes of deception using behavioural experiment method and neurobiological markers method. Research of deception indicators, what aspects influence deceptive behaviour so that deception identification becomes more precise. Eyewitness identification in police investigations. Investigative interviewing of witnesses (also underage witnesses) and suspects in police investigation and in courts. 

Researchers: Annegrete Palu, Iiris Tuvi, Talis Bachmann

A selection of publications:

• Pompedda, F., Palu, A., Kask, K., Schiff, K., Soveri, A., Antfolk, J., & Santtila, P. (2020). Transfer of simulated interview training effects into interviews with children exposed to a mock event. Nordic Psychology. Advance online publication.
• Karton, I., & Bachmann, T. (2017). Disrupting dorsolateral prefrontal cortex by rTMS reduces the P300 based marker of deception. Brain and Behavior, 7(4), 1-8.
• Palu, A., Soo, A. (2023). From Tradition to Evidence: Rethinking the Law on Eyewitness Identification in Estonia. Juridica International, 32(87-106).
• Palu, A., Raidvee, A., Murnikov, V., Kask, K. (2023). The effect of surgical masks on identification decisions from masked and unmasked lineups. Psychiatry Psychology and Law, 1-31.

See all of our employees' publications here!