Ellen Voorrips (KU Leuven) – Great minds think alike: The contagious nature of cognitive control.
(with Eva Van den Bussche and Gethin Hughes)

The presence of other people can have a big impact on your task performance. Easy tasks that require little cognitive effort are generally facilitated, whereas difficult tasks are hindered. In addition, watching someone else perform on a task facilitates our performance on that same task. Using behavioral and physiological techniques I investigate the role of social interaction on cognitive control.
The current project is specifically focused on whether the degree of cognitive effort exerted by another person can influence your own level of cognitive effort – in other words: is cognitive control contagious?