Articles in 2020

An analysis of news shared on Twitter estimates the level of infodemic risk associated with COVID-19 across countries. Epidemic spread and infodemic risk co-evolve, with reliable information becoming more dominant as infection rates rise locally.

Infants listened to lullabies and other songs recorded in cultures and languages that were unfamiliar to them. They relaxed more in response to the lullabies. This suggests that infants may be predisposed to respond to common features of lullabies.

In their study of Chinese consumers, Salvo et al. find that demand for food delivery—and the generation of plastic waste—rises when ambient air quality is poor.

Assaneo et al. show that speech production timing can facilitate perception. Individuals differed in whether they utilized motor timing depending on the auditory–motor cortex connection strength.

People donate billions each year, yet giving is often ineffective. Five experiments tested an explanation for inefficient giving based on evolutionary game theory, ruling out alternative accounts based on cognitive or emotional limitations.

Hebart et al. developed a computational model of similarity judgements for 1,854 natural objects. The model accurately predicted similarity and revealed 49 interpretable dimensions that reflect both perceptual and conceptual object properties.

Using a US state-level Bayesian susceptible, exposed, infectious, removed (SEIR) compartmental model, the authors demonstrate that, in almost all states, doubling rates of contact tracing and testing while also rolling back reopening by 25–50% via social distancing can mitigate the resurgence of COVID-19.

Combining standardized achievement data for 58 countries and 12,000 US school districts with detailed weather and academic calendar information, Park et al. show that the rate of learning decreases as the number of hot school days goes up.

Controlled used of fire is one of the most outstanding achievements attributed to humankind. Artificial intelligence estimates the heating temperatures of flint tools fabricated by hominins over 300,000 years ago at Qesem Cave, providing insightful views into both advanced behaviours and the cognitive evolution of our species.

A genome-wide association study of 1.7 million individuals identified 41 genetic variants associated with left-handedness and 7 associated with ambidexterity. The genetic correlation between the traits was low, thereby implying different aetiologies.

In a study of Google News, Fischer et al. show that, unless users explicitly search for local terms, national outlets dominate, directing attention away from local news. This divide exacerbates existing news inequalities detrimental to civic health.

Using a cultural evolutionary model, this paper proposes that organizations producing goods and services—both ancient craft guilds and modern firms—evolved because they facilitate the accumulation of culture. Ethnographic data support the predictions.

In examining the impacts of the plain packaging tobacco law in Australia, Sun and colleagues uncover unintended negative consequences. In response to the policy, smokers switched from expensive to cheap cigarettes, and as smoking became less costly, they consumed more cigarettes.

Do human confidence judgments follow Bayesian principles? Using a task in which confidence is not reported on a scale but used to inform decisions, Lisi et al. find that behaviour is better explained by discrete confidence levels than Bayesian probability.

Cheyette and Piantadosi present a model of numerosity perception and find that core properties of number processing can be derived as optimal information processing with memory limits.

Schurgin et al. propose a model of visual memory, arguing against a distinction between how many items are represented and how precisely they are represented, and in favour of a view based on continuous representations in noisy channels.

Götz et al. find that topography is related to personality across the United States (n = 3,387,014), with people in mountainous areas being less agreeable, extraverted, neurotic and conscientious but more open. East–west comparisons suggest frontier cultural heritage and ecological demands as possible mechanisms.

Using data from multiple cognitive tests, de la Fuente et al. find evidence for a general dimension of genetic sharing across diverse cognitive traits and identify genomic regions relevant for general cognitive ability.

When a person assumes the role of advocate, can they keep their personal beliefs separate from their role? This paper suggests not: merely accepting the role of advocate shifts people’s beliefs into alignment with their cause.

Steyvers and Schafer analysed the latent structure of learning trajectories on a cognitive training platform. The results reveal covariation in cognitive performance across tasks, offering predictive tools for cognitive performance.