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Problem solving is the mental process of analyzing a situation, learning what options are available, and then choosing the alternative that will result in the desired outcome or some other selected goal.
People experience aha-moments as they comprehend narratives. Here, the authors find cortex wide neural pattern shifts at moments of insight, preceded by the reinstatement of neural patterns representing causally related past events.
Network science methodology sheds light on the role of sleep in memory restructuring and creative problem-solving. It empirically confirms the hyperassociative properties of rapid eye movement sleep at both behavioral and neural levels.
A drawing-like task designed to study compositional generalization identifies a specific neural population in the ventral premotor cortex in primates that encodes action symbols.
Latent strategies are difficult to identify in animals because they are behaviorally unobservable. Here the authors address this by comparing the representational geometries of the prefrontal cortex to those of recurrent neural networks trained on specific task strategies.
The macaque homologue of the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex tracks the reliability of social information and determines whether this information is used to guide choices during decision making.
An in vitro biological system of cultured brain cells has learned to play Pong. This feat opens up an avenue towards the convergence of biological and machine intelligence.
Neuronal activity in the secondary motor cortex of mice engaged in a foraging task simultaneously represents multiple alternative decision-making strategies.
The technological advancements and globalization of the 21st century require a broad set of skills beyond traditional subjects such as mathematics, reading, and science. Research in psychological science should inform best practice and evidence-based recommendations for teaching these skills.
