Postdoctoral Position in Modeling Cognitive Fluctuations

We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher to join our project entitled “Next-Generation Cognitive Testing: A Theory-Driven Approach to Multi-Scale Dynamics in Cognition”, funded by an ERC Consolidator grant awarded to Dora Matzke.

Few aspects of human performance are as salient and consequential as its variability. Fluctuations are evident in essentially all areas of cognition. For example, attention fluctuates with alertness modulated by circadian timing, while cognitive abilities change over longer time scales due to skill acquisition and forgetting. Given the critical role of cognition in nearly all aspects of human functioning, including safety-critical situations, these fluctuations have profound implications.

Yet, the causes and temporal scales of cognitive fluctuations remain poorly understood. The project will develop a unified theoretical framework, for the first time synthetizing the dynamics of the diverse factors underlying fluctuations in cognitive abilities across multiple temporal scales. This interdisciplinary approach will create new opportunities for the emerging field of ecological momentary assessment (EMA) in cognitive testing, enhancing reliability and predictive power, and advancing understanding of cognitive dynamics in real-world contexts.

The project includes two synergistic strands: (1) Theoretical work to create a dynamic quantitative modeling framework, linking accounts of short-term variability to longer-term adaptations in performance; (2) Empirical work using EMA to investigate how and why performance on a wide range of cognitive tasks fluctuates across time scales from sub-seconds to several weeks.

This postdoctoral project has three main objectives:

The postdoctoral researcher will be embedded in the Amsterdam Mathematical Psychology Laboratory (), within the Psychological Methods program group. Teaching is limited to 5% of the contracted hours, and consists of assisting in courses and supervising (bachelor) thesis students.

A strong candidate will have a clear affinity with mathematical psychology and Bayesian cognitive modeling. Given that the project sits at the intersection of psychology, cognitive science, and mathematics, we are looking for someone who is motivated to work in a multidisciplinary team and able to collaborate across fields.

Your experience and profile:

• PhD in mathematical psychology, computational cognitive modeling, psychological methods or a related discipline
• Demonstrable experience with response time modeling, particularly evidence-accumulation models
• Demonstrable experience with Bayesian hierarchical methods
• Strong programming skills in R and experience developing reproducible research software
• A strong research track record, demonstrated through peer-reviewed publications and/or other relevant research outputs
• The ability to work independently and contribute creatively to the development of new models and methods
• Strong collaborative skills
• Excellent written and spoken English

The position concerns temporary employment of 38 hours per week. The…