Shenhav Lab@ShenhavLab

Neuroscience of motivation, decision making, and cognitive control

 Berkeley, CA
shenhavlab.org
Joined June 2016
21 Photos and videos
Shenhav Lab retweeted
Amitai Shenhav@amitaishenhav
Oct 2
In this new paper I argue that the way we currently study motivation is broken: osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/6x… I also explain how we can fix it, and how this will fundamentally change how we understand cognition, action, and affect/emotion.

The three biggest obstacles to solving motivated behavior, and how to overcome them

Humans and other animals have a wide repertoire of actions they can engage in at any given moment, ranging from moving their limbs to generating utterances to controlling the flow of information from...

osf.io
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Come see our work @affectScience! 😁P2.S.207: How Anticipated Feelings Guide Goal Prioritization Insights from an Inventory of Daily Goals- Skylar Brooks 😁P3.A.243: Decision Goals Shape the Integration of Affective and Perceptual Information about our Options- Ana Hernandez
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Our latest paper, spearheaded by Harrison Ritz and Romy Frömer, is now out in Communications Psychology!! 🎉🎉 ​​nature.com/articles/s44271-0… See Harrison's excellent 🧵 below to learn more about what we found: bsky.app/profile/hritz.bsky.…

Misspecified models create the appearance of adaptive control during value-based choice

Communications Psychology - In a new computational analysis of previous work, this study shows that a control-free mechanism better accounts for value-based decisions than an account that assumes...

nature.com
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Come see our lab’s presentations at #SFN2025! 🧠 1️⃣ NANO018.12: “Neural dynamics underlying divergent influences of reward and punishment on control allocation” (11/16, 3:45 PM) by @JasonLeng5
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2️⃣PSTR293.21: “Distinct neurocomputational signatures of mental effort when motivated by success versus failure” by @ziweicheng_zc (11/18, 8:00 AM)
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Check out our new preprint, led by @froemero1 and in collaboration with @ChihChungTing2 @SebastianGluth: “Goals shape dynamics of attention and selection for value-based decision-making” 🔗osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/zv…

Goals shape dynamics of attention and selection for value-based decision-making

Humans can flexibly adjust how they make decisions to arbitrary goals. However, most theories in decision-making focus on predicting one specific choice type (i.e., choosing the best option). Here,...

osf.io
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New preprint led by @debyeeneuro: "Neurocomputational mechanisms underlying the distinct motivational influences of reward and punishment on cognitive control". 🔗biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/…

Neurocomputational mechanisms underlying the distinct motivational influences of reward and...

Human motivation is fundamentally shaped by one’s expectations of the reward they could earn for good performance or the penalty they would avoid for poor performance. However, the extent to which...

biorxiv.org
Debbie Yee@debyeeneuro
20 Oct 2025
I'm thrilled to share our new preprint highlighting distinct neurocomputational mechanisms underlying how reward and punishment determine adaptive cognitive control - a massive fMRI study and collaborative team effort with the @ShenhavLab 🧠 Link here: biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/…
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Shenhav Lab retweeted
Raka Ray@rakaberkeley
8 Oct 2025
What happens when you switch goals too quickly? A new study from @BerkeleyPsych Prof. @ShenhavLab + Researchers @GrahekIvan + Xiamin Leng finds doing so can hurt performance — even when the task stays the same. Learn more: bit.ly/3WisG9X
Ivan Grahek

ALT Ivan Grahek

Amitai Shenhav

ALT Amitai Shenhav
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At #SNE2025? Check out our lab's presentations! ➡️O.03.02: "Competitors or Opportunities? Mutual exclusivity alters neural and attentional processing of choice alternatives" by @JasonLeng5 at 9:00 on 10/4. (1/2)
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➡️P3.I.45: "Validating predictions of a flexible decision-making model for varying decision goals and choice set properties" by Ana Hernandez at 11:15 on 10/5. (2/2)
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Check out @GrahekIvan's new preprint on cognitive flexibility and aging: biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/…
Ivan Grahek@GrahekIvan
17 Sep 2025
New preprint! Shifting demands of daily life require constant adjustments in how we allocate cognitive resources. Here we show that slower transitions between different cognitive strategies limit cognitive flexibility across the lifespan: biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/… A thread:
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In a TEDx talk just out, @amitaishenhav discusses what research from our lab teaches us about “How to choose when choosing is hardest” (the talk’s original title 😆): ➡️ youtube.com/watch?v=zeHg1rhh…

How to make a choice when the options suck | Amitai Shenhav |...

We value our choices, but making them can be overwhelming. Whether ...

youtube.com
Amitai Shenhav@amitaishenhav
8 Sep 2025
I'm happy to now be able to share a talk I gave at @TEDxNewEngland last Fall! The talk is about our lab's work on what makes decisions costly, and how to make them less so. I discuss lessons for all kinds of decisions, including getting people to vote. youtube.com/watch?v=zeHg1rhh…
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We are excited to share the final version of this work, published at Psychological Review: psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-… To learn more about it, check out Berkeley’s recent coverage here: ls.berkeley.edu/news/psychol…

Control adjustment costs limit goal flexibility: Empirical evidence and a computational account.

A cornerstone of human intelligence is the ability to flexibly adjust our cognition and behavior as our goals change. For instance, achieving some goals requires efficiency, while others require...

psycnet.apa.org
Ivan Grahek@GrahekIvan
26 Aug 2025
After scrolling Twitter, it will take you a while to get back into work mode. Why? In our new work (now out in Psych Rev) with @JasonLeng5, @smusslick, @amitaishenhav, we explore the costs of adjusting cognitive control to meet different goals: psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-… A thread:
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Come and see our work at #cogsci2025! @ziweicheng_zc will be presenting a talk “Incentive Effects Capture Variability in Task-General Control Allocation” on Fri 8/1 (4-5:30 pm, Cognition 7) 🔗Paper link: escholarship.org/content/qt7…
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Our newest preprint “A novel approach-avoidance task to study decision making under outcome uncertainty” investigates the dynamics of approach-avoid decisions! Check out biorxiv.org/cgi/content/shor…, led by @ziweicheng_zc and @NadjaGingJehli from @Franklab_LNCC.
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Our newest paper, led by @froemero1 and @callfredaway, is now out in Open Mind: “Considering What We Know and What We Don’t Know: Expectations and Confidence Guide Value Integration in Value-Based Decision-Making” 🔗direct.mit.edu/opmi/article/…

Considering What We Know and What We Don’t Know: Expectations and Confidence Guide Value Integrat...

Abstract. When making decisions, we often have more information about some options than others. Previous work has shown that people are more likely to choose options that they look at more and those...

direct.mit.edu
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👉“Leveraging Continuous Psychophysics to Study Cognitive Control Allocation in Dynamic Environments” by Yihuan Dong (A117) 👉“The Effect of Acute Stress on Mental Effort Allocation Across Motivational Contexts” by Tony El Nemer (A115) [2/2]
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Attending #CNS2025? Check out the following posters! (A98, A115, A117) 👉“Decoding Cognitive Control Dynamics: Neural Evidence of Inertia in Cognitive Control Adjustments Following Goal Changes” by @GrahekIvan (A98) [1/2]
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Also at #AffectScience2025, 📣@GrahekIvan will give the talk “Towards Emotion Regulation Dynamics: A View from Cognitive Control Optimization” for the New Perspectives on Effort in Emotion Regulation Symposium. See you there! 📅: Friday March 21st at 6pm
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Currently at #AffectScience2025? 😁 👉Come visit @ziweicheng_zc's poster “Dissociable Influences Of Positive And Negative Incentives On Challenge And Threat States During Mental Effort Allocation“ in Poster Session P1（P1.T.141)
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