S2 E5: Your Mind on Motivation, Perception & Biases with Dr. Yuan Chang Leong

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Do we see things the way they really are or do our biases and motivations influence our perception? Dr Yuan Chang Leong discusses his research on how our motivations influence how we see the world. If we are biassed to see the world differently to others, can we ever really understand someone with different political beliefs? We discuss why we have these biases at all and how they may help us live better lives.

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Dr. Yuan Chang Leong

Research discussed

Find Dr. Leong on his Twitter

Motivation and Cognition Neuroscience Lab

Motivation and perception:

Leong, Y.C., Hughes, B.L., Wang, Y. et al. Neurocomputational mechanisms underlying motivated seeing. Nat Hum Behav 3, 962–973 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-019-0637-z

Leong, Y., Chen, J., Willer, R., & Zaki, J. (2020). Conservative and liberal attitudes drive polarized neural responses to political content. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences, 117(44), 27731-27739. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2008530117

Attention and Learning:

Leong, Y., Radulescu, A., Daniel, R., DeWoskin, V., & Niv, Y. (2017). Dynamic Interaction between Reinforcement Learning and Attention in Multidimensional Environments. Neuron, 93(2), 451-463. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2016.12.040

Optimism bias:

Leong, Y. C., & Zaki, J. (2018). Unrealistic optimism in advice taking: A computational account. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 147(2), 170–189. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000382

S2 E5: Your Mind on Motivation, Perception & Biases with Dr. Yuan Chang Leong

Listen now

Learn More

Dr. Yuan Chang Leong

Research discussed

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