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Logogin Lab | Cognitive Psychology Research

10 September 2024

Explore ground-breaking studies in visual selective attention, bilingualism, and cognitive inhibition. Discover the science behind how we focus, remember, and process languages. Logogin’s research delves into the complexities of how our minds manage attention, memory, and language. Our work offers fresh perspectives on the mechanisms that allow us to navigate a world full of distractions and multilingual contexts

HOW TO APPLY

About our Research
 

“Logogin” Concept:

The concept of "logogin" is related to how our brains manage information. It is a counterpart to the established "logogen" theory. Logogens describe how the brain makes certain words or concepts easier to access after they've been encountered, by lowering their threshold of activation. In contrast, “Logogins”, created by lead researcher, Ewald Neumann and Kristin S. McLennan, involve a subliminal inhibitory control process. When you come across irrelevant or distracting information, your brain first activates it but then inhibits it, raising its threshold and making it harder to access subsequently. This helps you focus on what is important by downregulating or suppressing distractions.

Visual Selective Attention:

 Selective visual attention is the process by which the brain focuses on a specific visual target while ignoring other distracting information. In experiments, participants identify or respond to target stimuli amidst distractors to see how this affects subsequent processing. Typically, people respond faster to repeated targets but slower to previously ignored distractors. This research aims to understand the mental control processes and representations involved in selective attention.

Cognitive Inhibition:

Research into cognitive inhibitory control reveals how we suppress distractions and unwanted memories. This mechanism is essential for maintaining focus and achieving goals. Our coinage of the term “logogins” encompasses a broad-based perspective exemplifying inhibitory phenomena in attention, memory, and bilingual language processing.

Bilingual Research:

This research explores how bilingual brains manage multiple languages. Experiments show that when a person ignores a word in one language, it becomes harder to recognize the translation of the same word in another language. This suggests that the mental representations of both languages are closely linked. The difficulty arises from a suppression process that helps the brain focus by temporarily inhibiting the ignored word. This research sheds light on how proficient bilinguals efficiently switch between languages and modulate their languages selectively.

Our People

Ewald Neumann | Lead Researcher
Kristin McLennan | PhD candidate
Kendal Johnson |  PhD candidate
Alexandra Seren-Grace | Masters student
Usman Afzali | Lecturer Psychology
Richard Jones | Professor and Director Christchurch Neurotechnology Research Programme
Robin Palmer | Professor Law

Publications

Explore our latest research publications and articles that offer in-depth analysis and findings on cognitive psychology topics.

Recent Publications:

"Positive and negative priming differences between short-term and long-term identity coding of word-specific attentional priorities.” - Kristin S. McLennan & Ewald Neumann & Paul N. Russell

“Cross-language negative priming remains intact, while positive priming disappears: Evidence for two sources of selective inhibition.” - Ivy K. Nkrumah & Ewald Neumann

 “Classification accuracy of the event-related potentials-based Brain Fingerprinting and its robustness to direct-suppression and thought-substitution countermeasures.” - M. Usman Afzali, Richard D. Jones, Alex P. Seren-Grace, Robin W. Palmer, Dena Makarious & Ewald Neumann

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