APS
2026 APS Annual Convention · 2026
Cognitive Jams from Voids: When Unknown Irrelevant Information Slows Decisions
- Hodaya Levy-Schulman
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Anat Maril
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Tali Kleiman
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Abstract
Across three experiments, unknown task-irrelevant symbols (“voids”) slowed decisions relative to familiar symbols, even when object identity was unnecessary or contextually irrelevant. This effect suggests that missing information still elicits futile predictive processing and costly cognitive control even if it is task irrelevant.
