§ 01 Research

Four threads. One question: how do we think?

We study how people think, learn, and decide, and increasingly we use AI as both a tool to probe human cognition and a way to support it.

↓ Publications · Scholar profile ↗

A Research threads

What we actually study.

01 / AI

AI-assisted learning & cognition

Lead Corbett, Hall, Gibson, Tangen

Working with ARC, UQ TEL

Recent Corbett & Tangen, CHB 2026

Large language models and adaptive tutoring systems promise to reshape how people learn. We're testing whether personalised AI feedback can correct misconceptions, deepen understanding, and leave a lasting mark on what learners know and believe.

We look at what AI-driven dialogue does to learning, and to critical thinking, when so much of it now runs through a machine. The central question: can an AI tutor undo a tenacious misconception, or does it come back next week?

02 / FORENSIC

Cognitive science in forensic practice

Lead Tangen, Searston, Thompson

Partners FBI, NIFS, QPS

Recent Searston et al., Cog Res 2025

Our work sits where cognitive science meets forensic practice. For close to twenty years we've studied how forensic experts (fingerprint examiners, crime-scene analysts, ballistics specialists) learn to read meaning into a trace the rest of us would miss, and how to measure and teach that perceptual skill.

We take the reliability of that evidence just as seriously. Because context and expectation can bias judgement, we build genuine proficiency testing, sharper training, and AI tools, from cross-examination simulators to validated course material, that get good practice to the people who need it.

03 / INSIGHT

Insight experiences & belief formation

Lead Grimmer, Laukkonen, Tangen

Working with UCSB, Bond Uni

Recent Laukkonen et al., NSBR 2023

We're building a framework for the "Aha!" moment, the sudden realisation that reorders what you understand and hardens what you believe. Building on the Eureka heuristic, we ask why insight so often arrives feeling deep, "mystical" and impossible to put into words.

We want to know how those flashes of revelation feed beliefs in conspiracy theories and the paranormal, and whether understanding the mechanism can sharpen critical thinking.

04 / RESILIENCE

Resilience in high-stakes professions

Lead Butterworth, Tangen

Partners QPS, Qld Ambulance

Methods Qual + cognitive + physio

Forensic investigators and first responders meet trauma as a matter of routine. Working with the Queensland Police Service and Queensland Ambulance Service, we study how they hold onto their well-being when the job keeps putting it at risk.

We pair qualitative interviews with cognitive tasks and physiological measures to pin down which traits and strategies actually build resilience, and to inform how these high-stress fields recruit, train, and support their people.

B Publications

Peer-reviewed, dated, ordered.

Full list on Scholar ↗

2026

Building AI companions that prioritise learning over performanceKhosravi · Gašević · Sadiq · Yan · Lodge · Tangen · Denny · DiCerbo · Buckingham Shum · Baker

arXiv preprint, 2605.04816

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2026

Developing a welfare module for the Australian forensic-registerButterworth · Hover · McCarthy · Tangen

Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences

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2026

Bounded rationality in career choices: How cognitive biases appear in adolescent career explorationSwaryandini · Basarkod · Ng · Parker · Tangen · Noetel

Journal of Career Development

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2026

AI tutors vs. tenacious myths: Evidence from personalised dialogue interventions in educationCorbett · Tangen

Computers in Human Behavior, 175, 108828

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2025

Systematic review and meta-analysis of educational approaches to reduce cognitive biases among studentsSwaryandini · Graham · Griffith · Grilo · Ruzzante · Zhang · Yeung · Mangiarulo · Basarkod · Ng · Parker · Tangen et al.

Nature Human Behaviour, 9(12), 2510–2538

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2025

Beyond minutiae: Inferring missing details from global structure in fingerprintsSearston · Thompson · Robson · Tangen

Cognitive Research: Principles & Implications, 10(3)

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2024

Capturing fingerprint expertise with protocol analysisCorbett · Tangen

Applied Cognitive Psychology, 38, e70010

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2024

The effect of fingerprint expertise on visual short-term memoryCorbett · Tangen · Searston · Thompson

Cognitive Research: Principles & Implications, 9(1), 14

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2024

Modelling the impact of single vs. dual presentation on visual discrimination across resolutionsFrench · Tangen · Sewell

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

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2024

Understanding 'error' in the forensic sciences: A primerMartire · Chin · Davis · Edmond · Growns · Tangen et al.

Forensic Science International: Synergy, 8, 100470

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2024

A guide to measuring expert performance in forensic pattern matchingRobson · Searston · Thompson · Tangen

Behavior Research Methods, 56(6), 6223–6247

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2023

Insight and the selection of ideasLaukkonen · Webb · Salvi · Tangen · Slagter · Schooler

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 153, 105363

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2023

The invisible 800-pound gorilla: Expertise can increase inattentional blindnessRobson · Tangen

Cognitive Research: Principles & Implications, 8, 33

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2023

The illusion of insight: Detailed warnings reduce but do not prevent false "Aha!" momentsGrimmer · Tangen · Freydenzon · Laukkonen

Cognition & Emotion

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2022

Diagnostic information produces better calibrated judgements about forensic comparison evidence than likelihood ratiosRibeiro · McKimmie · Tangen

Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition

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2022

Specific versus varied practice in perceptual expertise trainingRobson · Tangen · Searston

JEP: Human Perception & Performance, 48(12), 1336–1346

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2022

Thinking style and psychosis proneness do not predict false insightsGrimmer · Laukkonen · Freydenzon · von Hippel · Tangen

Consciousness and Cognition, 104, 103384

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2022

The ring of truth: Irrelevant insights make worldviews seem trueLaukkonen · Kaveladze · Protzko · Tangen · Schooler

Scientific Reports, 12(2075)

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2022

Eliciting false insights with semantic primingGrimmer · Laukkonen · Tangen · von Hippel

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 29, 954–970

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2021

Promoting open science: A holistic approach to changing behaviourRobson · Baum · Beaudry · Beitner · Brohmer · Chin · Tangen et al.

Collabra: Psychology, 7(1), 30137

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2021

Getting a grip on insight: Real-time and embodied Aha experiences predict correct solutionsLaukkonen · Ingledew · Grimmer · Schooler · Tangen

Cognition and Emotion, 35(5), 918–935

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2021

The effect of expertise, target usefulness and image structure on visual searchRobson · Tangen · Searston

Cognitive Research: Principles & Implications, 6(16)

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2020

Does DNA evidence in the form of a likelihood ratio affect perceivers' sensitivity to the strength of a suspect's alibi?Ribeiro · Tangen · McKimmie

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 27(6), 1325–1332

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2020

Collective intelligence in fingerprint analysisTangen · Kent · Searston

Cognitive Research: Principles & Implications, 5(23)

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2020

The dark side of Eureka: Artificially induced Aha moments make facts feel trueLaukkonen · Kaveladze · Tangen · Schooler

Cognition, 196, 104122

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2019

Truth and transparency in expertise researchSearston · Thompson · Robson · Corbett · Ribeiro · Edmond · Tangen

Journal of Expertise, 2(4), 199–209

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2019

How low can you go? Detecting style in extremely low resolution imagesSearston · Thompson · Vokey · French · Tangen

JEP: Human Perception & Performance, 45(5), 573–584

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2018

How to detect insight moments in problem solving experimentsLaukkonen · Tangen

Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 282

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2017

Can observing a Necker cube make you more insightful?Laukkonen · Tangen

Consciousness and Cognition, 48, 198–211

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2014

The nature of expertise in fingerprint matching: Experts can do a lot with a littleThompson · Tangen

PLoS ONE, 9(12), e114759

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2014

Human matching performance of genuine crime scene latent fingerprintsThompson · Tangen · McCarthy

Law and Human Behavior, 38(1), 84–93

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2013

Expertise in fingerprint identificationThompson · Tangen · McCarthy

Journal of Forensic Sciences, 58(6), 1519–1530

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2013

Honeybees can discriminate between Monet and Picasso paintingsWu · Moreno · Tangen · Reinhard

Journal of Comparative Physiology A, 199(1), 45–55

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2011

Identifying fingerprint expertiseTangen · Thompson · McCarthy

Psychological Science, 22(8), 995–997

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2011

Flashed face distortion effect: Grotesque faces from relative spacesTangen · Murphy · Thompson

Perception, 40(5), 628–630

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2011

The role of interest and images in slideware presentationsTangen · Constable · Durrant · Teeter · Beston · Kim

Computers & Education, 56(3), 865–872

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2010

Unintended effects of memory on decision making: A breakdown in access controlHumphreys · Tangen · Cornwell · Quinn · Murray

Journal of Memory and Language, 63(3), 400–415

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Showing recent & selected. Full publication record on Google Scholar ↗