The Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC) at the University of Trento will host the event MAPS - Metacognition, Aging and Perception Symposium. This conference aims to explore and discuss how metacognitive skills interact with perceptual and cognitive experiences, with a particular focus on the impact of healthy aging.
The event will span over two days, featuring seven in-depth long talks by invited speakers, as well as extended poster sessions for contributors.
The conference is organized thanks to the financial support of the Velux Foundation.
Confirmed keynotes speakers
- Stephen Fleming, Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing, London, UK
- Evan F. Risko, University of Waterloo, Canada
- Ophelia Deroy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany
- Erika Borella, University of Padova, Italy
- Daniel Yon, Birkbeck - University of London, UK
- Ingrid Johnsrude, Western University, Canada
- Jonas Obleser, University of Lübeck, Germany
Conference Chair
The event will be organized and hosted by CAtS Lab and CIMeC with the support of the organizing committee composed by:
- Francesco Pavani - CIMeC, University of Trento
- Chiara Valzolgher - CIMeC, University of Trento
- Elena Giovanelli - CIMeC, University of Trento
- Elena Gessa - CIMeC, University of Trento
- Giuseppe Rabini - CIMeC, University of Trento
- Matilde Barucci - CIMeC, University of Trento
Provisional program of conference
September 23, 2025 - Day 1
08:30-9:00 Registration and Welcome
9.00-9.30 Opening Remarks by Conference Chair Francesco Pavani
09:30-10:45 Talk "Post-decisional processing as a window onto self-reflective computation", Prof. Stephen Fleming (Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing, London, UK)
10.45-11.45 Poster session 1 + Coffee Break
11.45-13:00 Talk “Metacognition across senses and social contexts: Implications for aging”, Ophelia Deroy (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany)
13.00-14:30: Lunch Break
14.30-15:45 Talk “What is effortful listening?”, Ingrid Johnsrude (Western University, London, Canada)
15.45-16.45 Poster session 2 + Coffee Break
16:45-18:00 Talk "Cognitive Offloading: Adventures in Distributing Cognition", Evan F. Risko (University of Waterloo, Canada)
20.30 Social Dinner
September 24, 2025 - Day 2
09:00-10:15 Talk "Meta-listening - Signatures of objective and subjective performance in the listening brain", Jonas Obleser (University of Lübeck, Germany)
10.15-11.15 Poster session 3 + Coffee Break
11:15-12:30 Talk “Main Findings from the Project Never stop listening! Promoting healthy ageing potentiating metacognitive and self-regulating abilities when listening in noisy places“, CAtS lab: Francesco Pavani, Chiara Valzolgher, Elena Giovanelli and Elena Gessa (University of Trento, CIMeC Rovereto, Italy)
12.30-14:00: Lunch Break
14:00-15:15 Talk “Understanding uncertainty in the human mind”, Daniel Yon (Birkbeck - University of London, United Kingdom)
15.15-16.15 Poster session 4 + Coffee Break
16:15-17:30 Talk “Re-unveiling the link between metacognition and memory in older adults”, Erika Borella (University of Padua, Italy)
17.30 Conference closing remarks
List of keynote speakers’ talks and abstracts
Stephen Fleming, Post-decisional processing as a window onto self-reflective computation
Abstract: Determining the psychological, computational, and neural bases of confidence and uncertainty holds promise for understanding foundational aspects of human metacognition. While a neuroscience of confidence has focused on the mechanisms underpinning subpersonal phenomena such as representations of uncertainty in the visual or motor system, metacognition research has been concerned with personal-level beliefs and knowledge about self-performance. In my talk I'll describe one approach to bridging this divide by focusing on a particular class of confidence computation: propositional confidence in one's own (hypothetical) decisions or actions. I'll describe how we can use manipulations of post-decisional processing to isolate the neural basis of propositional confidence, and show how computational models of post-decisional dynamics provide a new window onto individual differences in metacognition.
Ophelia Deroy, Metacognition across senses and social contexts: Implications for aging
Abstract: How do we assess our own certainty when we stand to be corrected by others? Do we express it differently if we know that our judgment matters to others? More generally, how does our self-assessment shift depending on the perceived social stakes and contexts? These are the questions I will address in this talk. I will present recent research from our lab on perceptual metacognition within diverse social contexts, not only in vision but also in less studied senses. These insights also offer us a glimpse into how aging might reshape metacognitive processes across sensory domains, suggesting that social dynamics play a critical role in our self-awareness as it evolves.
Ingrid Johnsrude, What is effortful listening?
Abstract: When speech is masked or degraded in some way, demands are placed on cognitive processes beyond those needed for comprehension of clear speech. Such recruitment is probably why listening in noise “feels” effortful, even when intelligibility is high. Increased effort is aversive and tiring, and the goal of making listening less effortful is increasingly recognized as important. In this talk, I will critically discuss what it might mean to “listen effortfully”, cognitively and neuropsychologically. I will describe how I think about listening effort, and how a reframing of the construct, focusing on individual differences in cognition, may enable research progress.
Evan Risko, Cognitive Offloading: Adventures in Distributing Cognition
Abstract: There seems little doubt that advances in technology are changing our day-to-day cognitive lives. As each advance drives deeper into the cognitive milieu a renewed appreciation of the fundamentally distributed nature of cognition is emerging. Our ability to flexibly deploy mixtures of internal and external resources in pursuit of our cognitive goals represents a defining feature of what it means to be a successful cognitive agent in a complex environment. My laboratory’s research has tried to provide some insight into these interactions. In particular, one important class of behaviour that these internal-external ensembles afford is cognitive offloading: we can use external resources to do some of the cognitive work for us. Despite the ubiquity of this type of behaviour, it has only recently become the target of systematic investigation in and of itself. I will review research from our laboratory and others that focuses on offloading in the context of memory and metamemory and explore the future of research in distributed cognition more broadly.
Jonas Obleser, Meta-listening - Signatures of objective and subjective performance in the listening brain
Abstract: Based on our research on the neurobiological and psychological processes in challenging listening situations, my lab and I have come to realise the importance of dissociating seemingly objective performance and its neurophysiological signatures in M/EEG, pupillometry, or fMRI from a listener’s subjective goals, perceptions, and beliefs. In this talk I will thus embed our recent findings in younger as well as ageing listeners into a framework of “meta-listening” aiming to incorporate trait- and state-like metacognitive differences in listening and research and its neurobiological implementations.
CAtS Laboratory, (Francesco Pavani, Chiara Valzolgher, Elena Giovanelli, Elena Gessa), Main Findings from the Project Never stop listening! Promoting healthy ageing potentiating metacognitive and self-regulating abilities when listening in noisy places
Abstract: The “Never Stop Listening” project, explored the themes of listening in noise and metacognition, with a specific focus on healthy aging. The project addressed three key questions: whether aging individuals have effective metacognitive skills for hearing in noise, whether they spontaneously implement self-regulation strategies to cope with noisy environments, and whether these skills can be trained. To investigate these questions, a series of behavioral studies were conducted, leveraging virtual and augmented reality to create interactive and ecologically valid scenarios. The findings revealed that older adults, both with and without hearing impairments, exhibit largely preserved metacognitive skills in relation to listening in noise. However, older adults with hearing impairments reported using some non-verbal strategies less frequently than those with normal hearing. Furthermore, compared to younger adults, older individuals tended to implement fewer head movement strategies in noisy virtual environments. The “Never Stop Listening” project culminated in the development of a training program aimed at improving metacognitive and self-regulation strategies for hearing in noise among older adults. This training
has the potential to support healthier aging by enhancing adaptive listening skills in everyday environments.
Daniel Yon, Understanding uncertainty in the human mind
Abstract: A common thread running through various domains in psychological science - including perception, learning, social cognition and metacognition - is the idea our minds and brains keep track of uncertainty. In recent years, thinking in these areas has been transformed by models which suggest that we form beliefs about uncertainty, and forming the wrong beliefs may be at the heart of various unusual and pathological cases. But despite the widespread appeal of this idea, we don’t really know whether or how these beliefs about uncertainty are formed. In this talk, I will describe work from my lab that provides the first steps towards answering this question. This will include describing how our minds and brains form and use expectations about perceptual uncertainty - and how we might ‘inherit’ beliefs about uncertainty by interacting and communicating with others.
Erika Borella, Re-unveiling the link between metacognition and memory in older adults
Abstract: Metacognition is a crucial aspect of our everyday cognitive functioning. While some of these metacognitive processes, such as monitoring, remain intact in aging, others decline. Salient changes affect metacognitive knowledge, such as beliefs about aging, cognitive ability, and one’s cognition functioning. It is, thus, essential to address and correct misconceptions about one's cognitive and memory functioning, as well as the age-related changes that accompany it, to help older adults manage and maintain their cognitive and memory performance. The present talk will review empirical advances and meta-analytic evidence on the efficacy of metacognitive training in aging. I'll discuss the results of metacognitive intervention approaches and cognitive training procedures developed in my lab. Finally, I will deepen the role of metacognitive processes, with their distinct but interdependent components, and the importance of targeting both metacognitive processes and strategies to “optimally” support older adults’ cognitive and metacognitive functioning.
Fees
- € 200 for faculty members and non-academic research/clinical institutions participants
- € 130 for postdocs, PhD students
- € 50 for master students
The fee includes all the coffee breaks.
Social dinner (48 € per person) is not included in the registration fee.
In the event of cancellation of participation, the fee cannot be refunded.
Abstract submission and workshop registration
The conference registration and the abstract submission dates will be available soon
Posters session
Abstracts (maximum of 250 words) should briefly state the background to the research, the methods used, the principal findings (no statistics), and the theoretical significance of the work. Please do not cite references in the abstracts. Each author can appear as first author on one poster only.
The workshop supports Open Science. If you follow(ed) any of the Open Science principles (e.g., open access, open data, open source, open materials, preregistration), please, consider including the Open Science badges in your poster. See here for more information on the badges.
Abstract submission deadline will be available soon. You can submit your abstract using the abstract submission form
In order to present the poster at the workshop, every poster session participant will be provided with a freestanding bulletin board, approximately 125 cm high and 95 cm wide, on which to display the poster. Please make sure that your poster does not exceed these dimensions.
Abstract Award Winners
Two 200,00 € awards will be granted to posters, presented by PhD students, on a competitive basis during the workshop. Only non-faculty first authored Posters are eligible for the awards. The organising committee will jointly decide the winning posters, and will call the winners at the end of the workshop. PhD students are strongly encouraged to submit their poster.
Accommodation
We would like to remind you that the conference venue is Rovereto.
We advise participants to contact the hotel directly to make a reservation. Booking details should include as reference “MAPS 2025 - University of Trento”, surname, length of your stay and credit card details. Please contact the hotel directly if there are any cancellations or changes to the reservation.
Hotels rates offered to the University of Trento
To have information about the accommodations in Rovereto, please, go to the accommodation page of the Azienda per il turismo di Rovereto e Vallagarina.
Contacts
For any scientific aspects:
elena.giovanelli@unitn.it
chiara.valzolgher@unitn.it
For any organizational aspects:
Events Office - University of Trento
eventi-rovereto@unitn.it