REGISTRATION FEES
Fees vary based on BAPS membership status, seniority as researcher, and the time of registration (early bird fee until April 19th 2026, regular fee from April 20th until May 12th 2026).
*If you are currently not a BAPS member, you can benefit from the reduced registration fee for BAPS members by first becoming a BAPS member (free for BA/MA students, 45 euro for PhD students, and 95 euro for others; see https://www.baps.be/membership for more information on how to become a member). That way you can also benefit from other advantages of BAPS membership such as eligibility for awards and a discounted APC for our journal Psychologica Belgica.
REGISTRATION PROCEDURE
Advance registration is possible until May 12th. Planning to join the social event? Please note that it requires a separate registration—see the ‘Social Event’ section below for details.
Please follow the next steps to register for the conference:
Fees vary based on BAPS membership status, seniority as researcher, and the time of registration (early bird fee until April 19th 2026, regular fee from April 20th until May 12th 2026).
- Bachelor/Master students (BAPS member): 40 € (early); 95 € (regular)
- Bachelor/Master students (non-BAPS member): 60 € (early)*; 115 € (regular)*
- PhD students (BAPS member): 40 € (early); 95 € (regular)
- PhD students (non-BAPS member): 90€ (early)*; 130 € (regular)*
- Postdoc, ZAP, Other (BAPS member): 40 € (early); 95 € (regular)
- Postdoc, ZAP, Other (non-BAPS member): 115 € (early)*; 155 € (regular)*
*If you are currently not a BAPS member, you can benefit from the reduced registration fee for BAPS members by first becoming a BAPS member (free for BA/MA students, 45 euro for PhD students, and 95 euro for others; see https://www.baps.be/membership for more information on how to become a member). That way you can also benefit from other advantages of BAPS membership such as eligibility for awards and a discounted APC for our journal Psychologica Belgica.
REGISTRATION PROCEDURE
Advance registration is possible until May 12th. Planning to join the social event? Please note that it requires a separate registration—see the ‘Social Event’ section below for details.
Please follow the next steps to register for the conference:
- Access the registration system by clicking on the following link: https://event.ugent.be/registration/baps26
- Select the proper registration fee. The registration fee is different depending on your BAPS membership status (member or non-member*), staff category (student, PhD student, postdoc/ZAP/other) and time of registration (early bird fee until April 19th 2026, regular fee from April 20-May 12, 2026).
- Log in: If you have an UGent account, you can register from that account. If you don’t have an UGent account, you can register as a guest. In this case you will be redirected to a page where you need to complete your name and e-mail (and confirm you are not a robot). A 6 digits code will be sent to your e-mail to finalize your registration.
- After registration, you will receive a confirmation e-mail with a link to the different payment options. Important! For UGent staff members: Do not pay via the platform but send the confirmation e-mail of your registration to [email protected] to request payment instructions (internal transfer is possible).
- After payment, you will receive a confirmation mail of payment.
If you have any issues or questions, please contact us at [email protected]
Venue
Keynote Speakers
Magic Mind
Prof. Nicola Clayton (Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, UK)
Cognitive illusions reveal a number of fascinating features about the psychology and biology of the mind; not just perception but also mental time travel, the ability to remember the past and anticipate the future. Magic effects also illuminate some important things about Theory of Mind, the ability to assess the thoughts of others, both on the part of the audience and on the part of the magician. In this talk I will evaluate the extent to which corvids, known for their impressive cognitive abilities, exploit such principles in their natural caching behaviour~ i.e., their ability to hide food from the prying eyes of their competitors and protect their caches from being pilfered. I will also investigate whether and to what extent these birds are fooled by human magic effects. Finally, I will discuss what this approach might reveal about the intersection between the ability to manually produce an action, and the ability to anticipate the actions of others: for sleight of hand magic capitalises on the observer’s predictions of specific manual movements, particularly those of the hands.
Bio
Nicola Clayton FRS is Professor of Comparative Cognition in the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge (UK), a Fellow of Clare college Cambridge (UK), and a Fellow of the Royal Society. She is Founding Director of the Cambridge Centre for the Integration of Science, Technology and Culture and holds Visiting Professorships at the Nanging University’s Institute of Technology (China) and Beijing University of Language and Culture (China) and an Honorary Professorship at Hangzhou Diangi University (China) and Beijing Minzu University (China). She was also Scientist-in-Residence and Associate Artist at Rambert (formerly Ballet Rambert), a position she held from 2011 until Mark Baldwin’s retirement as Artistic Director in 2022. She is extremely interested in science-arts collaborations, integrating science with dance and the performing arts including magic. She has two long standing science arts collaborations with Choreographer-in-Residence Mark Baldwin OBE and Artist-in-Residence Clive Wilkins MMC. Nicky is fascinated the processes of thinking with and without words, and comparisons between the cognitive abilities of corvids (members of the crow family), cephalopods (octopus, cuttlefish and squid) and humans, both in adults and also in young children before their linguistic abilities are fully developed.
Registered Reports: from the fringes to the future of science
Prof. Robert McIntosh (University of Edinburgh, Scotland)
The most powerful reform to emerge from psychology’s ‘replication crisis’ is Registered Reports, a model for doing and sharing science in which formal pre-registration is integrated with peer review, and publication decisions are based on the strength of the study plan prior to results. Over the past decade, the ability of this process to generate high-quality unbiased evidence has been confirmed. But despite the spread of the format to more than 300 journals, Registered Reports account for only a tiny fraction of the papers they publish. Prof. Robert McIntosh will consider the main barriers to wider uptake, map out strategies and innovations to increase engagement, and consider what a future science might look like if this can be achieved.
Bio
Robert McIntosh is Professor of Experimental Neuropsychology at the University of Edinburgh, with research interests in attention and action in the healthy and damaged brain, and other scattered topics. He was the first Open Research Officer of the British Neuropsychological Society, and is a keen advocate of the Registered Reports framework for confirmatory science. He was a member of the original team that established this publication format at the journal Cortex in 2013, and has been editing (and publishing) Registered Reports ever since. He is now Editor in Chief of Cortex, and a recommender at Peer Communities in Registered Reports.
Prof. Nicola Clayton (Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, UK)
Cognitive illusions reveal a number of fascinating features about the psychology and biology of the mind; not just perception but also mental time travel, the ability to remember the past and anticipate the future. Magic effects also illuminate some important things about Theory of Mind, the ability to assess the thoughts of others, both on the part of the audience and on the part of the magician. In this talk I will evaluate the extent to which corvids, known for their impressive cognitive abilities, exploit such principles in their natural caching behaviour~ i.e., their ability to hide food from the prying eyes of their competitors and protect their caches from being pilfered. I will also investigate whether and to what extent these birds are fooled by human magic effects. Finally, I will discuss what this approach might reveal about the intersection between the ability to manually produce an action, and the ability to anticipate the actions of others: for sleight of hand magic capitalises on the observer’s predictions of specific manual movements, particularly those of the hands.
Bio
Nicola Clayton FRS is Professor of Comparative Cognition in the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge (UK), a Fellow of Clare college Cambridge (UK), and a Fellow of the Royal Society. She is Founding Director of the Cambridge Centre for the Integration of Science, Technology and Culture and holds Visiting Professorships at the Nanging University’s Institute of Technology (China) and Beijing University of Language and Culture (China) and an Honorary Professorship at Hangzhou Diangi University (China) and Beijing Minzu University (China). She was also Scientist-in-Residence and Associate Artist at Rambert (formerly Ballet Rambert), a position she held from 2011 until Mark Baldwin’s retirement as Artistic Director in 2022. She is extremely interested in science-arts collaborations, integrating science with dance and the performing arts including magic. She has two long standing science arts collaborations with Choreographer-in-Residence Mark Baldwin OBE and Artist-in-Residence Clive Wilkins MMC. Nicky is fascinated the processes of thinking with and without words, and comparisons between the cognitive abilities of corvids (members of the crow family), cephalopods (octopus, cuttlefish and squid) and humans, both in adults and also in young children before their linguistic abilities are fully developed.
Registered Reports: from the fringes to the future of science
Prof. Robert McIntosh (University of Edinburgh, Scotland)
The most powerful reform to emerge from psychology’s ‘replication crisis’ is Registered Reports, a model for doing and sharing science in which formal pre-registration is integrated with peer review, and publication decisions are based on the strength of the study plan prior to results. Over the past decade, the ability of this process to generate high-quality unbiased evidence has been confirmed. But despite the spread of the format to more than 300 journals, Registered Reports account for only a tiny fraction of the papers they publish. Prof. Robert McIntosh will consider the main barriers to wider uptake, map out strategies and innovations to increase engagement, and consider what a future science might look like if this can be achieved.
Bio
Robert McIntosh is Professor of Experimental Neuropsychology at the University of Edinburgh, with research interests in attention and action in the healthy and damaged brain, and other scattered topics. He was the first Open Research Officer of the British Neuropsychological Society, and is a keen advocate of the Registered Reports framework for confirmatory science. He was a member of the original team that established this publication format at the journal Cortex in 2013, and has been editing (and publishing) Registered Reports ever since. He is now Editor in Chief of Cortex, and a recommender at Peer Communities in Registered Reports.
Invited Symposia
The BAPS 2026 Annual Meeting will feature several invited symposia on topics spanning various domains in psychological science. You can find an overview of all invited symposia here:
PERSONALITY AT WORK: DYNAMICS AND DEVELOPMENTAL APPROACHES
Chair - Bart Wille (UGent)
Presenters - Cassie Xu (UGent), Sofie Dupré (UGent), Evi Anckaert (VUB), Camilla Hernandez Rodriguez (VUB)
There is a long and rich history of personality research in the work context. In this literature, personality traits have typically been defined as stable between-person differences, with studies examining the predictive power of these dispositions for a variety of work-related outcomes and experiences. The past decade, however, this field has moved beyond such predictive studies by also considering fluctuations (on the short-term) and changes (on the long-term) in personality characteristics in relation to work. Specifically, the field has broadened its scope to investigate dynamic and developmental properties of personality in professional contexts. Present symposium groups four individual presentations that each contribute to this dynamic and developmental approach to personality at work. A first study examines how momentary fluctuations in extraversion can have depleting effects in individuals, depending on the motivational quality of these state-level expressions. The second study explores short-term fluctuations in a compound of personality characteristics that currently receives substantial attention in professional contexts, namely impostor tendencies. The third study in this symposium takes a long-term approach, investigating changes in trait Machiavellianism across a timeframe of six years, hereby looking at the triggering effects of workplace competition. Finally, the fourth study introduces a more ‘active’ perspective on personality development in the professional context, by examining the effects of a digital smartphone intervention enabling volitional trait change in a population of psychology students preparing for labor market entrance.
Presenters - Cassie Xu (UGent), Sofie Dupré (UGent), Evi Anckaert (VUB), Camilla Hernandez Rodriguez (VUB)
There is a long and rich history of personality research in the work context. In this literature, personality traits have typically been defined as stable between-person differences, with studies examining the predictive power of these dispositions for a variety of work-related outcomes and experiences. The past decade, however, this field has moved beyond such predictive studies by also considering fluctuations (on the short-term) and changes (on the long-term) in personality characteristics in relation to work. Specifically, the field has broadened its scope to investigate dynamic and developmental properties of personality in professional contexts. Present symposium groups four individual presentations that each contribute to this dynamic and developmental approach to personality at work. A first study examines how momentary fluctuations in extraversion can have depleting effects in individuals, depending on the motivational quality of these state-level expressions. The second study explores short-term fluctuations in a compound of personality characteristics that currently receives substantial attention in professional contexts, namely impostor tendencies. The third study in this symposium takes a long-term approach, investigating changes in trait Machiavellianism across a timeframe of six years, hereby looking at the triggering effects of workplace competition. Finally, the fourth study introduces a more ‘active’ perspective on personality development in the professional context, by examining the effects of a digital smartphone intervention enabling volitional trait change in a population of psychology students preparing for labor market entrance.
CONSPIRACY AND MISINFORMATION BELIEFS: MECHANISMS, CONTEXTS, AND INTERVENTIONS
Chair - Kanzo Nera (ULB)
Presenters - Kenzo Nera (ULB), Alessandro Miani (University of Fribourg) (ULB), Yasemin Sahin (ULB)
The spread of conspiracy theories, pseudoscientific beliefs, and misinformation has become a major societal concern, with consequences for public health, trust in institutions, and democratic processes. While research on these phenomena has grown rapidly, important questions remain about the psychological processes that make individuals receptive to such beliefs, the mechanisms through which they become resistant to disconfirming evidence, and the social contexts that shape their interpretation.
This symposium brings together complementary perspectives addressing these questions from cognitive, epistemic, and social psychological approaches. The three contributions examine different levels of explanation underlying conspiratorial and pseudoscientific thinking: individual cognitive dispositions, the internal logic of conspiracy beliefs, and the intergroup dynamics shaping the interpretation of contested information. The first presentation introduces new measurement tools designed to capture a broader pseudoscience mentality and conspiratorial beliefs related to pseudoscience, moving beyond traditional measures that rely on agreement with specific claims and may be confounded with factual knowledge. The second presentation focuses on the epistemic mechanisms that make conspiracy beliefs resistant to disconfirming evidence. Drawing on philosophical analyses of conspiracy theories, it proposes a syllogistic framework in which endorsing certain propositions generates expectations of deception, thereby increasing distrust of contradictory information. The third presentation examines how conspiracy mentality and populist worldviews interact with perceptions of social groups—specifically, who is perceived as “the elite”—to shape interpretations of health information and the endorsement of misinformation. Together, these contributions provide a multi-level understanding of conspiratorial and pseudoscientific beliefs, highlighting how cognitive dispositions, epistemic reasoning, and social identity processes jointly contribute to the persistence and spread of misinformation.
Presenters - Kenzo Nera (ULB), Alessandro Miani (University of Fribourg) (ULB), Yasemin Sahin (ULB)
The spread of conspiracy theories, pseudoscientific beliefs, and misinformation has become a major societal concern, with consequences for public health, trust in institutions, and democratic processes. While research on these phenomena has grown rapidly, important questions remain about the psychological processes that make individuals receptive to such beliefs, the mechanisms through which they become resistant to disconfirming evidence, and the social contexts that shape their interpretation.
This symposium brings together complementary perspectives addressing these questions from cognitive, epistemic, and social psychological approaches. The three contributions examine different levels of explanation underlying conspiratorial and pseudoscientific thinking: individual cognitive dispositions, the internal logic of conspiracy beliefs, and the intergroup dynamics shaping the interpretation of contested information. The first presentation introduces new measurement tools designed to capture a broader pseudoscience mentality and conspiratorial beliefs related to pseudoscience, moving beyond traditional measures that rely on agreement with specific claims and may be confounded with factual knowledge. The second presentation focuses on the epistemic mechanisms that make conspiracy beliefs resistant to disconfirming evidence. Drawing on philosophical analyses of conspiracy theories, it proposes a syllogistic framework in which endorsing certain propositions generates expectations of deception, thereby increasing distrust of contradictory information. The third presentation examines how conspiracy mentality and populist worldviews interact with perceptions of social groups—specifically, who is perceived as “the elite”—to shape interpretations of health information and the endorsement of misinformation. Together, these contributions provide a multi-level understanding of conspiratorial and pseudoscientific beliefs, highlighting how cognitive dispositions, epistemic reasoning, and social identity processes jointly contribute to the persistence and spread of misinformation.
APPLYING PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE: FROM DETERMINANTS OF BEHAVIOR TO REAL-WORLD CHANGE
Chairs - Jan De Houwer (UGent) & Pieter Van Dessel (UGent)
Presenters - Pieter Van Dessel (UGent), Florian Lange (KU Leuven), Denise De Ridder (Utrecht University), Samuel Costa (Human Insight)
Psychological theories identify many determinants of behavior, yet translating these insights into effective real-world applications remains challenging. In this symposium, four speakers will address challenges, opportunities, and new directions in applying psychological science with the aim of achieving real-world change. Florian Lange (Zeppelin University Friedrichshafen & KU Leuven) presents field experimental data on the promotion of pro-environmental behaviors. He argues that a strong cumulative evidence base on the effectiveness of behavior change techniques is essential for addressing environmental issues and sustainability challenges. While many behavior change techniques have been shown to be somewhat effective on average, much research is still needed to learn under which conditions, for which behaviors and people, and in which form, dose, and combination those techniques are most effective. Small-scale student-led field experiments can contribute important pieces to the puzzle. Florian will present three field experiments that he conducted with undergraduate students in different environmentally relevant settings and highlights how those projects allowed to combine the teaching of experimental skills with the generation of actionable behavior-change knowledge and actual environmental impact. Pieter Van Dessel (Ghent University) suggests that behavior can be understood as emerging from person- and context-dependent inferential processes. He discusses how intervention effects may depend on the coherence between behavior change, belief structures, and situational constraints, and outlines a structured way of thinking about intervention design that connects behavioral theory with practice. Samuël Costa (Ghent University) presents the GAP framework that aims to translate knowledge about behavioral determinants into real-world applications. The framework combines established behavioral tools with new technological possibilities, such as artificial intelligence, and outlines several practical implementation considerations. GAP outlines how diagnosis, intervention design, and scalability can be integrated to build behavioral capacity within organizations, and aims to leverage the broader potential of the concept of “bounded rationality” for behavior change in practice. Denise de Ridder (Utrecht University) points out that when applying psychological science in real-world settings, it is often stated that theory should guide practical observations suggesting that such observations by themselves don’t contribute much to theory development. In her talk, she makes a case for the opposite. She posits that field applications are crucial to validate theoretical constructs and verify how the context shapes the influence of behavioral determinants on people’s behavior. Well-designed applications of psychological theories that do not turn out as expected in real life critically enhance our understanding of structural barriers that determine how real people in real environments behave. She illustrates these ideas with some compelling examples from field experiments.
Presenters - Pieter Van Dessel (UGent), Florian Lange (KU Leuven), Denise De Ridder (Utrecht University), Samuel Costa (Human Insight)
Psychological theories identify many determinants of behavior, yet translating these insights into effective real-world applications remains challenging. In this symposium, four speakers will address challenges, opportunities, and new directions in applying psychological science with the aim of achieving real-world change. Florian Lange (Zeppelin University Friedrichshafen & KU Leuven) presents field experimental data on the promotion of pro-environmental behaviors. He argues that a strong cumulative evidence base on the effectiveness of behavior change techniques is essential for addressing environmental issues and sustainability challenges. While many behavior change techniques have been shown to be somewhat effective on average, much research is still needed to learn under which conditions, for which behaviors and people, and in which form, dose, and combination those techniques are most effective. Small-scale student-led field experiments can contribute important pieces to the puzzle. Florian will present three field experiments that he conducted with undergraduate students in different environmentally relevant settings and highlights how those projects allowed to combine the teaching of experimental skills with the generation of actionable behavior-change knowledge and actual environmental impact. Pieter Van Dessel (Ghent University) suggests that behavior can be understood as emerging from person- and context-dependent inferential processes. He discusses how intervention effects may depend on the coherence between behavior change, belief structures, and situational constraints, and outlines a structured way of thinking about intervention design that connects behavioral theory with practice. Samuël Costa (Ghent University) presents the GAP framework that aims to translate knowledge about behavioral determinants into real-world applications. The framework combines established behavioral tools with new technological possibilities, such as artificial intelligence, and outlines several practical implementation considerations. GAP outlines how diagnosis, intervention design, and scalability can be integrated to build behavioral capacity within organizations, and aims to leverage the broader potential of the concept of “bounded rationality” for behavior change in practice. Denise de Ridder (Utrecht University) points out that when applying psychological science in real-world settings, it is often stated that theory should guide practical observations suggesting that such observations by themselves don’t contribute much to theory development. In her talk, she makes a case for the opposite. She posits that field applications are crucial to validate theoretical constructs and verify how the context shapes the influence of behavioral determinants on people’s behavior. Well-designed applications of psychological theories that do not turn out as expected in real life critically enhance our understanding of structural barriers that determine how real people in real environments behave. She illustrates these ideas with some compelling examples from field experiments.
ADVANCEMENTS IN EXPERIENCE SAMPLING METHODOLOGY
Chairs - Laura Sels (UGent)
Presenters - Egon Dejonckheere (Tilburg University), Leonie Cloos (KU Leuven), Annelies Blanchard (UCL), Mariek Vanden Abeele (UGent-imec)
Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) is a methodology that captures individuals’ experiences, behaviors, and contextual factors in their natural environment through repeated assessments. One common approach is experience sampling methodology, in which participants repeatedly self-report on their emotions, behaviors, cognitions, and contextual experiences. Another approach gaining increasing attention, is passive mobile sensing, which continuously collects behavioral or physiological data from smartphones or wearable devices. By minimizing recall bias and maximizing ecological validity, EMA has transformed psychological research and has seen rapid uptake in Belgium. Despite these strengths, EMA also presents methodological and practical challenges. The four contributions in this symposium collectively address these challenges, highlighting recent advances in measurement, sampling, and data integration. Egon Dejonckheere and colleagues examined the momentary reliability of single-item emotion measures in a one-week EMA study with individuals. Repeated retest items and passive mobile sensing were used to assess personal, situational, and temporal correlates of measurement error. Results showed that reliability was robust across contexts, with variability primarily reflecting random noise rather than systematic influences. These findings support the use of single-item ratings in high-frequency EMA and provide methodological guidance for quantifying and interpreting measurement error. Leonie Cloos and colleagues introduce affect intensity profile drawings, a method for capturing emotional fluctuations between fixed assessments. In their study, participants retrospectively traced the rise and fall of emotions, revealing additional episodes missed by conventional designs. This approach improves temporal resolution, recovers underrepresented negative affect, and allows investigation of memory and recovery processes, providing richer, time-sensitive data without substantially increasing participant burden. Annelise Blanchard and colleagues explored qualitative EMA data through open-text daily diary entries in a study of parental burnout. Analyses revealed that qualitative responses complemented quantitative ratings by uncovering the “why” behind numerical scores and providing nuanced contextual information on daily life, stressors, and social support. These findings highlight the value of integrating open prompts to enhance interpretability and ecological validity in EMA research. Finally, Mariek Vanden Abeele and colleagues demonstrate digital trace data integration, extending EMA with passively sensed behavioral metrics across devices. In their study, using combined smartphone, laptop, and EMA data from knowledge workers, they showed that relying solely on smartphone data can misrepresent patterns of screen use and well-being. Multimodal digital sensing revealed hand-over effects and cross-device behaviors invisible in single-device approaches, emphasizing the potential of integrated data for understanding mental health dynamics. Collectively, these studies demonstrate how innovations in measurement, sampling, and data integration strengthen the design, precision, and interpretability of EMA research.
Presenters - Egon Dejonckheere (Tilburg University), Leonie Cloos (KU Leuven), Annelies Blanchard (UCL), Mariek Vanden Abeele (UGent-imec)
Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) is a methodology that captures individuals’ experiences, behaviors, and contextual factors in their natural environment through repeated assessments. One common approach is experience sampling methodology, in which participants repeatedly self-report on their emotions, behaviors, cognitions, and contextual experiences. Another approach gaining increasing attention, is passive mobile sensing, which continuously collects behavioral or physiological data from smartphones or wearable devices. By minimizing recall bias and maximizing ecological validity, EMA has transformed psychological research and has seen rapid uptake in Belgium. Despite these strengths, EMA also presents methodological and practical challenges. The four contributions in this symposium collectively address these challenges, highlighting recent advances in measurement, sampling, and data integration. Egon Dejonckheere and colleagues examined the momentary reliability of single-item emotion measures in a one-week EMA study with individuals. Repeated retest items and passive mobile sensing were used to assess personal, situational, and temporal correlates of measurement error. Results showed that reliability was robust across contexts, with variability primarily reflecting random noise rather than systematic influences. These findings support the use of single-item ratings in high-frequency EMA and provide methodological guidance for quantifying and interpreting measurement error. Leonie Cloos and colleagues introduce affect intensity profile drawings, a method for capturing emotional fluctuations between fixed assessments. In their study, participants retrospectively traced the rise and fall of emotions, revealing additional episodes missed by conventional designs. This approach improves temporal resolution, recovers underrepresented negative affect, and allows investigation of memory and recovery processes, providing richer, time-sensitive data without substantially increasing participant burden. Annelise Blanchard and colleagues explored qualitative EMA data through open-text daily diary entries in a study of parental burnout. Analyses revealed that qualitative responses complemented quantitative ratings by uncovering the “why” behind numerical scores and providing nuanced contextual information on daily life, stressors, and social support. These findings highlight the value of integrating open prompts to enhance interpretability and ecological validity in EMA research. Finally, Mariek Vanden Abeele and colleagues demonstrate digital trace data integration, extending EMA with passively sensed behavioral metrics across devices. In their study, using combined smartphone, laptop, and EMA data from knowledge workers, they showed that relying solely on smartphone data can misrepresent patterns of screen use and well-being. Multimodal digital sensing revealed hand-over effects and cross-device behaviors invisible in single-device approaches, emphasizing the potential of integrated data for understanding mental health dynamics. Collectively, these studies demonstrate how innovations in measurement, sampling, and data integration strengthen the design, precision, and interpretability of EMA research.
BEYOND MEMORY: MULTIMODAL MARKERS OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE
Chair - Nina Dolfen (UGent)
Presenters - Emma Delhaye (University of Lisbon), Tineke Van Vrekhem (UGent), Oona Cromheecke (UGent)
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by a long preclinical phase during which neuropathological changes accumulate years before the onset of cognitive symptoms. Identifying markers of these early disease stages is therefore crucial for improving early detection and informing targeted interventions. However, the consequences of early AD pathology remain poorly understood, particularly regarding how early neural alterations translate into measurable changes in cognitive processing and everyday functioning. The goal of this symposium is therefore to advance our understanding of early cognitive markers of AD by combining evidence from neural, electrophysiological, and behavioural approaches. Dr. Emma Delhaye will first present a series of studies examining the role of the transentorhinal cortex—one of the earliest regions affected by AD pathology. This work aims to clarify the cognitive function of the transentorhinal cortex and evaluate entity representation as a potential early marker of disease-related changes. Next, Oona Cromheecke will present electrophysiological evidence on verbal semantic processing across different stages of AD. Using event-related potentials, her work investigates the N400 component, a neural marker of semantic processing, to characterize potential changes in semantic processing as the disease progresses. Finally, Tineke Van Vrekhem will present research on spatial navigation deficits, another early hallmark of AD. Using immersive virtual reality, she examines allocentric and egocentric navigation mechanisms in individuals with mild cognitive impairment with and without AD biomarkers, and evaluates the feasibility of this approach for detecting early navigation deficits. Together, these contributions highlight how integrating neural, electrophysiological, and behavioural approaches can improve our understanding of the earliest manifestations of AD and support the development of sensitive tools for early detection.
Presenters - Emma Delhaye (University of Lisbon), Tineke Van Vrekhem (UGent), Oona Cromheecke (UGent)
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by a long preclinical phase during which neuropathological changes accumulate years before the onset of cognitive symptoms. Identifying markers of these early disease stages is therefore crucial for improving early detection and informing targeted interventions. However, the consequences of early AD pathology remain poorly understood, particularly regarding how early neural alterations translate into measurable changes in cognitive processing and everyday functioning. The goal of this symposium is therefore to advance our understanding of early cognitive markers of AD by combining evidence from neural, electrophysiological, and behavioural approaches. Dr. Emma Delhaye will first present a series of studies examining the role of the transentorhinal cortex—one of the earliest regions affected by AD pathology. This work aims to clarify the cognitive function of the transentorhinal cortex and evaluate entity representation as a potential early marker of disease-related changes. Next, Oona Cromheecke will present electrophysiological evidence on verbal semantic processing across different stages of AD. Using event-related potentials, her work investigates the N400 component, a neural marker of semantic processing, to characterize potential changes in semantic processing as the disease progresses. Finally, Tineke Van Vrekhem will present research on spatial navigation deficits, another early hallmark of AD. Using immersive virtual reality, she examines allocentric and egocentric navigation mechanisms in individuals with mild cognitive impairment with and without AD biomarkers, and evaluates the feasibility of this approach for detecting early navigation deficits. Together, these contributions highlight how integrating neural, electrophysiological, and behavioural approaches can improve our understanding of the earliest manifestations of AD and support the development of sensitive tools for early detection.
CONSTRUCTING IDENTITY: SOCIAL INFLUENCES, COGNITIVE PROCESSES AND CLINICAL PERSPECTIVES
Chair - Lien Goossens (UGent)
Presenters - Lisanne De Moor (Tilburg University), Marianthi Terpini (ULiege), Jakke Coenye (UGent), Sam Houthuys (UGent)
Identity development is a central developmental task during adolescence and young adulthood, as individuals actively explore and define their sense of self in relation to their social world. This symposium brings together complementary perspectives to explore how identity is constructed across social, cognitive, and clinical domains. By integrating these perspectives, the symposium aims to advance a more comprehensive understanding of identity construction and its implications for both research and clinical practice.
Presenters - Lisanne De Moor (Tilburg University), Marianthi Terpini (ULiege), Jakke Coenye (UGent), Sam Houthuys (UGent)
Identity development is a central developmental task during adolescence and young adulthood, as individuals actively explore and define their sense of self in relation to their social world. This symposium brings together complementary perspectives to explore how identity is constructed across social, cognitive, and clinical domains. By integrating these perspectives, the symposium aims to advance a more comprehensive understanding of identity construction and its implications for both research and clinical practice.
INTEGRATIVE PERSPECTIVES ON WORKING MEMORY: DOMAINS, METHODS, AND MECHANISMS
Chairs - Simone Maucci (UGent)
Presenters - Johanna Hein (University of Geneva), Robin Remouchamps (ULiege), Benjamin Kowialiewsk (ULiege), Simone Maucci (UGent)
Working memory (WM) enables the short-term maintenance and manipulation of information and plays a central role in language, reasoning, and goal-directed behavior. While considerable progress has been made in identifying the mechanisms supporting the maintenance of individual items, a key challenge concerns how WM represents relationships between items, such as bindings between features or serial order, and how strategic processes such as rehearsal help regulate the allocation of limited cognitive resources supporting these representations. This symposium brings together behavioral and neuroimaging research investigating how working memory maintains structured information, with a particular focus on binding processes, serial order representations, and the strategic allocation of cognitive resources through processes such as rehearsal. The first presentation by Hein et al. examines whether different forms of binding in working memory rely on common or distinct cognitive resources. Using a resource trade-off paradigm that manipulates participants’ foreknowledge of the upcoming test, the study compares feature-binding and order-binding to determine whether these processes compete for shared resources or rely on independent mechanisms. The second talk by Kowialiewski investigates the functional role of rehearsal in verbal working memory. Using an overt rehearsal paradigm with letter sequences containing familiar acronyms, the study tests whether rehearsal serves as a strategic mechanism for reallocating working memory resources across items. The third presentation by Remouchamps et al. examines whether maintaining serial order requires greater attentional resources than maintaining item information. Across dual-task experiments manipulating attentional load, the findings challenge this assumption, showing that item memory can be equally or more affected by attentional demands than order memory. Finally, Maucci et al. investigate how the brain represents and accesses serial order in verbal working memory. Combining behavioral measures with univariate and multivoxel fMRI analyses, the study provides neural evidence supporting positional coding and serial scanning mechanisms in the posterior intraparietal sulcus. Together, these contributions provide complementary insights into the mechanisms through which working memory represents structured information, integrates multiple cognitive resources, and implements serial order processing at both behavioral and neural levels.
Presenters - Johanna Hein (University of Geneva), Robin Remouchamps (ULiege), Benjamin Kowialiewsk (ULiege), Simone Maucci (UGent)
Working memory (WM) enables the short-term maintenance and manipulation of information and plays a central role in language, reasoning, and goal-directed behavior. While considerable progress has been made in identifying the mechanisms supporting the maintenance of individual items, a key challenge concerns how WM represents relationships between items, such as bindings between features or serial order, and how strategic processes such as rehearsal help regulate the allocation of limited cognitive resources supporting these representations. This symposium brings together behavioral and neuroimaging research investigating how working memory maintains structured information, with a particular focus on binding processes, serial order representations, and the strategic allocation of cognitive resources through processes such as rehearsal. The first presentation by Hein et al. examines whether different forms of binding in working memory rely on common or distinct cognitive resources. Using a resource trade-off paradigm that manipulates participants’ foreknowledge of the upcoming test, the study compares feature-binding and order-binding to determine whether these processes compete for shared resources or rely on independent mechanisms. The second talk by Kowialiewski investigates the functional role of rehearsal in verbal working memory. Using an overt rehearsal paradigm with letter sequences containing familiar acronyms, the study tests whether rehearsal serves as a strategic mechanism for reallocating working memory resources across items. The third presentation by Remouchamps et al. examines whether maintaining serial order requires greater attentional resources than maintaining item information. Across dual-task experiments manipulating attentional load, the findings challenge this assumption, showing that item memory can be equally or more affected by attentional demands than order memory. Finally, Maucci et al. investigate how the brain represents and accesses serial order in verbal working memory. Combining behavioral measures with univariate and multivoxel fMRI analyses, the study provides neural evidence supporting positional coding and serial scanning mechanisms in the posterior intraparietal sulcus. Together, these contributions provide complementary insights into the mechanisms through which working memory represents structured information, integrates multiple cognitive resources, and implements serial order processing at both behavioral and neural levels.
Smartphone and social media use in adolescence: Moving beyond direct associations with well-being
Chair - Matteo Giletta (UGent)
Presenters - Ine Beyens (University of Amsterdam/KU Leuven), Loes Pouwels (Radbound University Nijmegen), Marlies Van de Casteele (UGent), Matthias Maerevoet (UGent)
From the age of 12, most adolescents own a smartphone on which they spend a substantial portion of their daily time. Over the past decade, this has raised profound concerns among scientists, parents, educators, and policymakers about the potential impact of smartphone and social media use on adolescent well-being and functioning. These concerns have also led to policy regulations aimed at limiting smartphone use among youth. However, existing evidence regarding the effects of smartphone and social media use is generally small and highly heterogeneous, highlighting the need for more nuanced research that goes beyond examining direct associations between smartphone use and well-being to better understand how and when smartphones may affect adolescent functioning. The studies included in this symposium aim to contribute to this effort by examining mechanisms and contextual factors associated with adolescent smartphone and social media use. Study 1 examines parent–adolescent conversations about social media to identify which aspects of communication are most beneficial for helping parents gain insight into their children’s social media use. Study 2 uses a four-week experience sampling design to examine how adolescents’ online and in-person interactions with friends and peer groups shape their sense of connectedness. Study 3 employs a large sample of secondary schools to examine the impact of school smartphone restrictions and the conditions under which they are most effective, focusing on students’ motivation and teacher communication styles. Finally, Study 4 uses an experimental design to examine the mechanisms through which smartphones may affect attentional functioning.
Presenters - Ine Beyens (University of Amsterdam/KU Leuven), Loes Pouwels (Radbound University Nijmegen), Marlies Van de Casteele (UGent), Matthias Maerevoet (UGent)
From the age of 12, most adolescents own a smartphone on which they spend a substantial portion of their daily time. Over the past decade, this has raised profound concerns among scientists, parents, educators, and policymakers about the potential impact of smartphone and social media use on adolescent well-being and functioning. These concerns have also led to policy regulations aimed at limiting smartphone use among youth. However, existing evidence regarding the effects of smartphone and social media use is generally small and highly heterogeneous, highlighting the need for more nuanced research that goes beyond examining direct associations between smartphone use and well-being to better understand how and when smartphones may affect adolescent functioning. The studies included in this symposium aim to contribute to this effort by examining mechanisms and contextual factors associated with adolescent smartphone and social media use. Study 1 examines parent–adolescent conversations about social media to identify which aspects of communication are most beneficial for helping parents gain insight into their children’s social media use. Study 2 uses a four-week experience sampling design to examine how adolescents’ online and in-person interactions with friends and peer groups shape their sense of connectedness. Study 3 employs a large sample of secondary schools to examine the impact of school smartphone restrictions and the conditions under which they are most effective, focusing on students’ motivation and teacher communication styles. Finally, Study 4 uses an experimental design to examine the mechanisms through which smartphones may affect attentional functioning.
UNDERSTANDING AGING: BRAIN, BEHAVIOUR, AND SOCIAL PERSPECTIVES
Chair - Lisa Moreel (UGent)
Presenters - Sarah de Pue (KU Leuven), Julie Latomme (UGent), Saloua Berdai Chaouni (VUB), Lisa Moreel (UGent)
Aging is a complex and multifaceted process shaped not only by biological changes, but also by social conditions, life experiences, health behaviors, and transformations in the brain. The symposium Understanding Aging: Brain, Behavior, and Social Perspectives brings together interdisciplinary research examine aging from complementary perspectives, ranging from social inequality and health to cognitive functioning and brain mechanisms. Together, the contributions offer a broad and accessible view of aging as a complex and diverse life process. The first presentation foregrounds aging as a socially embedded process. Through a decolonial participatory action research approach, it explores how lifelong exposure to structural racism shapes health and wellbeing among racialized migrant women in midlife and older age. Focusing on midlife as a critical moment when the embodied effects of racism intensify, it highlights how these impacts remain insufficiently recognized within racism-insensitive care systems and introduces care-oriented collective sessions as a methodological response. The second talk focuses on behavioral and lifestyle interventions supporting brain health, presenting findings from an intergenerational cognitive-physical activity program based on rhythm and music. By combining social engagement, physical activity, and cognitive stimulation, the intervention demonstrates effects on memory, daily activity patterns, and sleep, illustrating how socially meaningful participation may contribute to maintaining cognitive function in later life. The third speaker presents research examining cognitive control across the adult lifespan, challenging simplified assumptions of uniform decline. By assessing multiple cognitive control components across several older age cohorts, this work reveals a heterogeneous pattern of aging: some functions decline, while others remain stable or even improve. The findings underscore the importance of integrating behavioral, neurophysiological, and longitudinal approaches to understanding cognitive aging. Finally, the symposium turns to the neural foundations of cognition through an investigation of arithmetic processing in younger and older adults. Using functional neuroimaging techniques, this research shows that certain memory-based arithmetic skills remain preserved with age and are supported by compensatory bilateral brain recruitment. These findings highlight selective preservation and compensatory mechanisms across the lifespan.
Presenters - Sarah de Pue (KU Leuven), Julie Latomme (UGent), Saloua Berdai Chaouni (VUB), Lisa Moreel (UGent)
Aging is a complex and multifaceted process shaped not only by biological changes, but also by social conditions, life experiences, health behaviors, and transformations in the brain. The symposium Understanding Aging: Brain, Behavior, and Social Perspectives brings together interdisciplinary research examine aging from complementary perspectives, ranging from social inequality and health to cognitive functioning and brain mechanisms. Together, the contributions offer a broad and accessible view of aging as a complex and diverse life process. The first presentation foregrounds aging as a socially embedded process. Through a decolonial participatory action research approach, it explores how lifelong exposure to structural racism shapes health and wellbeing among racialized migrant women in midlife and older age. Focusing on midlife as a critical moment when the embodied effects of racism intensify, it highlights how these impacts remain insufficiently recognized within racism-insensitive care systems and introduces care-oriented collective sessions as a methodological response. The second talk focuses on behavioral and lifestyle interventions supporting brain health, presenting findings from an intergenerational cognitive-physical activity program based on rhythm and music. By combining social engagement, physical activity, and cognitive stimulation, the intervention demonstrates effects on memory, daily activity patterns, and sleep, illustrating how socially meaningful participation may contribute to maintaining cognitive function in later life. The third speaker presents research examining cognitive control across the adult lifespan, challenging simplified assumptions of uniform decline. By assessing multiple cognitive control components across several older age cohorts, this work reveals a heterogeneous pattern of aging: some functions decline, while others remain stable or even improve. The findings underscore the importance of integrating behavioral, neurophysiological, and longitudinal approaches to understanding cognitive aging. Finally, the symposium turns to the neural foundations of cognition through an investigation of arithmetic processing in younger and older adults. Using functional neuroimaging techniques, this research shows that certain memory-based arithmetic skills remain preserved with age and are supported by compensatory bilateral brain recruitment. These findings highlight selective preservation and compensatory mechanisms across the lifespan.
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION AT WORK
Chair - Eva Derous (UGent)
Presenters - Delphine Van Muylem (UGent), Maaike Schellaert (UGent), Annalisa Casini (UCL), Claudia Toma (ULB)
In this symposium, four presenters discuss recent findings on diversity and inclusion of underrepresented groups (ethnicity, age, gender, class) in the workplace. Topics include recruitment, cybervetting, impostor syndrome, and effects of DEI‑initiatives.
Presenters - Delphine Van Muylem (UGent), Maaike Schellaert (UGent), Annalisa Casini (UCL), Claudia Toma (ULB)
In this symposium, four presenters discuss recent findings on diversity and inclusion of underrepresented groups (ethnicity, age, gender, class) in the workplace. Topics include recruitment, cybervetting, impostor syndrome, and effects of DEI‑initiatives.
Social Events
In addition to the various sessions and activities that we will offer during the conference, two social events will be organized for you.
On Thursday 21st of May, after the last session of the day, a free reception will take place at the conference venue. No registration is necessary for the reception.
In addition, the BAPS Junior Board invites you to join their social evening at Bar Mòris (Klein Turkije 20, Ghent), located in the heart of the city’s historic center, starting at 19:00. Some drinks and light food will be provided, so we recommend arriving early to fully enjoy the evening. Register here to let them know you will attend!
On Thursday 21st of May, after the last session of the day, a free reception will take place at the conference venue. No registration is necessary for the reception.
In addition, the BAPS Junior Board invites you to join their social evening at Bar Mòris (Klein Turkije 20, Ghent), located in the heart of the city’s historic center, starting at 19:00. Some drinks and light food will be provided, so we recommend arriving early to fully enjoy the evening. Register here to let them know you will attend!
