Expectations, Intelligence, and Yogic Tradition in Cognitive Science
The project explores whether intelligence can be understood more broadly than as the ability to process information, reason, and predict future events. Drawing on cognitive science and yogic/contemplative traditions, we investigate people’s capacity to notice and regulate how past experiences, expectations, and habitual interpretations shape attention, perception, and decision-making.
The project is based on an interdisciplinary dialogue between cognitive science and contemplative practice. First, cognitive scientists and experts in yogic tradition will collaborate to develop a precise and empirically testable understanding of the cognitive processes in question. These processes will then be examined in a randomised controlled study using behavioural tasks, self-report measures, and physiological measurements.
The aim is to generate new knowledge about the relationships between attention, expectations, perception, and flexible thinking. The project will result in scientific publications, conference presentations, and an evidence-informed training programme for further research.
We are seeking funding for a PhD position within the project. The project is led by Ida Solhaug, Associate Professor and specialist in psychotherapy, and Sam Verschooren, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Psychology, UiT The Arctic University of Norway.
Collaborators
The project is conducted at UiT The Arctic University of Norway in collaboration with researchers and students with expertise in cognitive science, psychology, and contemplative/yogic traditions.
Collaborators include Marina Borovaya, Master’s student in Psychology; Sanjeev Bhanot and Traute Pott at Yogalife International; and researchers and students affiliated with the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, the University of Tübingen, and Humboldt University of Berlin.
Other collaborators include Antonin Fourcade, Dr Aleksandra Piejka, Niket Agrawal, Stefan Weinhardt, and Tomaso Zanardi.
Members:
Financial/grant information:
Funding has been applied for.