News

Check out this new article in Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Imagining and Building Wise Machines: the Centrality of AI Metacognition, which features research from the WaC Lab! This article explores how AI decision-making can be further improved upon to be more effective in thinking outside a pure analytical standpoint, using the basis of human wisdom to fill in the gaps. 

The Wise Judgment Consortium (WJC) invites researchers in psychology and other cognitive and decision sciences to pitch their favourite research idea for upcoming Pathways to Wisdom project. 

The Rational Altruism Lab invites applications for a Postdoc-Employee position on developing computational models of moral decision-making in social dilemmas. The intended start date is Fall 2026. 

We are proud to announce that the WaC Lab has published a new article in Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences. Titled “Decision-making preferences for intuition, deliberation, friends or crowds in independent and interdependent societies,” the study represents one of the broadest cross-cultural investigations into decision-making strategies to date.

Check out this recent article in Haaretz on new cross-cultural research revealing that, across both traditional and collectivist societies as well as modern and individualistic ones, people tend to prefer trusting their own judgment over following others’ advice.

Check out this recent article in Süddeutsche Zeitung on international research showing that, from villages in Ecuador to government offices in Berlin, people facing tough decisions prefer to trust their own inner voice—challenging the notion that this tendency is unique to the West.

Our research on "How do we define wisdom?" and "What tells us a person is wise?" were featured in Hindustan Times. Check out the featured research.

The Wisdom and Culture Lab at the University of Waterloo is now featured on Google Arts & Culture! Discover how our exhibition explores the psychological roots of wisdom and the dynamics of cultural change.