Unlike other animals, humans have the unique ability to share and use verbal instructions to prepare for upcoming tasks. Recent research showed that instructions are sufficient for the automatic, reflex-like activation of responses. However, systematic studies into the limits of these automatic effects of task instructions remain relatively…

Cognitive theories on consciousness propose a strong link between consciousness and working memory (WM). This link is also present at the neural level: Both consciousness and WM have been implicated in a prefrontal parietal network. However, the link remains empirically unexplored. The present study investigates the relation between consciousness…

Proportion congruency effects represent hallmark phenomena in current theorizing about cognitive control. This is based on the notion that proportion congruency determines the relative levels of attention to relevant and irrelevant information in conflict tasks. However, little empirical evidence exists that uniquely supports such an attention…

The ability to mentally simulate possible futures ("episodic future thinking") is of fundamental importance for various aspects of human cognition and behavior, but precisely how humans construct mental representations of future events is still essentially unknown. We suggest that episodic future thoughts consist of transitory patterns…

Personal relations constitute an important life domain and satisfaction therein affects happiness in people. In an experimental approach with a 3x3x3 vignettes study in which 103 first year psychology students participated, the contribution of the quality of relationships with parents, friends, and a partner are studied. It is found that the…

To study the dynamic interplay between different component processes involved in the identification of fragmented object outlines, the authors used a discrete-identification paradigm in which the masked presentation duration of fragmented object outlines was repeatedly increased until correct naming occurred. Survival analysis was used to…