Cognition Laboratory explores mechanisms of everyday cognition, human information processing in real-life situations. Cognition is dialectic between individuals acting and ‘the setting’ in which they are situated: relationships with other people, feelings, motivation, values, and tools. Cognition is, in essence, active and dynamic. Our studies focus on such active and dynamic aspects of human information processing. We are now investigating various topics of human cognition, such as perception, attention, memory, language, and thinking in everyday situations. We have listed some examples below.
Right movies on the right seat
We have shown that right-handers have a preference for sitting to the right of the cinema screen, but only when they are motivated to watch the film. This seating asymmetry is explained by the tendency to adopt the most effective manner in which their hemispheric functions can be utilized.
- Okubo, M. (2010). Right movies on the right seat: Laterality and seat choice, Applied Cognitive Psychology. 24, 90-99.
A big warm smile of cheaters
Cheaters in social exchange can avoid being detected by wearing a fake smile. This result explains why cheater detection fails in everyday situations.
- Okubo, M., Kobayashi, A., & Ishikawa, K. (2012). A fake smile thwarts cheater detection. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 36, 217-22.