How people think, learn, and decide. And how AI is changing all of it.

Cognitive science in high-stakes settings. The science of insight. Whether AI tutors can actually teach. We work with forensic examiners, police, paramedics, and over half a million students worldwide.

DIRECTED BY  /  Prof. Jason Tangen
BASED AT  /  UQ School of Psychology
FOUNDED  /  2006   ·   ST LUCIA, AUSTRALIA
2027Honours Four projects · Four seats · School of Psychology

Can AI mark students' thinking?

Four honours projects put an AI marking system to the test before a real course relies on it.

From 2028, a new UQ course will ask hundreds of students to write by hand, in class, about the reasoning behind their own work, with an AI-based system helping to mark it. First we need to know how well that system works, where it goes wrong, and what safeguards are needed. In 2027, four honours students will each take one part of the question: validity, moderation, gaming, and fairness. One corpus, one ethics approval, one weekly table.

Meet the four projects → How the year runs

Data in Semester 1 · Thesis in October · Expressions of interest open

A seminar table set for four, with four stacks of handwritten exam scripts and a single orange pen The table, set for fourOpen →
Validity: two handwritten pages under a loupe, immaculate script beside a hurried scrawl Moderation: one orange tab flagging a single sheet inside a tall stack of marked scripts Gaming: an orange-backed playing card tucked under a handwritten exam script Fairness: a balance scale weighing a handwritten script against a machine-printed slip All four →
02 Research

The questions we keep coming back to.

All research →
01 / AI

AI-assisted learning

Whether personalised AI feedback can correct misconceptions, deepen understanding, and actually change how people learn.

Lead Corbett, Hall, Gibson
Papers 06
02 / FORENSIC

Cognitive science in forensic practice

How forensic experts learn to read a trace, and how we test, teach, and keep that expertise honest.

Partners FBI, QPS, NIFS
Papers 19
03 / INSIGHT

Insight & belief formation

"Aha!" moments, and how a sudden realisation can anchor a belief, from conspiracy theories to scientific discovery.

Lead Grimmer, Laukkonen
Papers 11
04 / RESILIENCE

Resilience under stakes

How forensic investigators and first responders hold onto their wellbeing and performance under pressure.

Partners QAS, Qld Health
Papers 04
03 Recent papers

What we've been writing.

All publications →
  1. 2026
    AI tutors vs. tenacious myths: evidence from personalised dialogue interventions in educationCorbett · Tangen
    Computers in Human Behavior, 175
    PDF ↓
  2. 2025
    Systematic review and meta-analysis of educational approaches to reduce cognitive biases among studentsSwaryandini, Graham, Griffith, Tangen et al.
    Nature Human Behaviour, 9(12)
    PDF ↓
  3. 2025
    Beyond minutiae: inferring missing details from global structure in fingerprintsSearston · Thompson · Robson · Tangen
    Cognitive Research, 10(3)
    PDF ↓
  4. 2023
    Insight and the selection of ideasLaukkonen · Webb · Salvi · Tangen · Slagter · Schooler
    Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 153
    PDF ↓
  5. 2011
    Identifying fingerprint expertiseTangen · Thompson · McCarthy
    Psychological Science, 22(8)
    PDF ↓