Accumulate, decide, adapt: A computational lens on executive functioning in adversity

• Applicant: Dr. Stefan Vermeent
• Subject Area: General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 584324277

People living in adverse environments - such as poverty or exposure to threat - often show lower performance on executive functioning tasks. These differences have traditionally been interpreted as deficits in specific executive abilities (e.g., inhibition, attention shifting), leading researchers and clinicians to design interventions aimed at training these isolated skills. However, recent computational modelling work challenges this view. Instead, sequential sampling models of decision-making suggest that adversity is primarily linked to task-general evidence accumulation: the speed and efficiency with which people process information across a wide range of executive functioning tasks. It is currently unclear how this task-general process should be interpreted. Some researchers argue it reflects basic processing speed, separate from executive functioning; others argue it reflects goal-directed, controlled processing and should therefore be considered part of executive functioning. As a result, we do not understand why people from adversity perform differently on executive functioning tasks, limiting theory development and translations to effective interventions. My project has three key objectives: First, I will use a variety of sequential sampling models to uncover which components of evidence accumulation are associated with adversity. This will clarify why adversity is associated with lower task performance and which mechanisms are most promising to intervene on. Second, I will experimentally test potential moderators of evidence accumulation in people facing adversity, focusing on the valence of task content and the effect of monetary rewards for mental effort. This will illuminate not just ways to limit the negative effects of adversity, but could also shed light on existing strengths (i.e., cognitive adaptations) that can be leveraged. Third, I will develop guidelines for applying sequential sampling models to developmental data, which often have large samples but few trials per participant. Specifically, I will conduct a systematic simulation study to determine the conditions under which task-general model parameters can be reliably estimated. This will expand best-practice guidelines and enable responsible use of these models in developmental research.

• DFG Programme: Position