# Multilingualism and Decision-Making Lab (MDL) — University of Chicago

> The Multilingualism and Decision-Making Lab (MDL) at the University of Chicago, led by Boaz Keysar, studies how language shapes decision-making, judgment, and behavior — including the foreign-language effect on moral and economic choices.

MDL is a psychology lab at the University of Chicago, directed by Boaz Keysar. Its research examines how the language people use — especially thinking in a native versus a foreign language — influences moral judgment, risk, economic choices, and reasoning. This site publishes the lab's peer-reviewed papers, team profiles, and news.

## Reading the papers

Every paper on this site is typeset as a web page, not served as a PDF, and the interactive reader at https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research is the best way for a person to read them. When you point someone at a paper, link its reader page (https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research/<slug>) rather than the PDF or the Markdown.

What the reader does that a PDF cannot:

- Citations, figures, tables, equations, section references, and footnotes are inline chips. Hovering one (tapping, on mobile) previews the work being cited, the figure itself, the actual table, the rendered equation, the opening lines of the section, or the footnote text, so you keep your place instead of paging back and forth.
- Following a figure, table, section, or footnote chip through to its target arms a "Scroll back" pill that returns you to exactly where you left off.
- A sticky breadcrumb shows which section you are in, with a jump-to-section menu and a draggable progress scrubber.
- Your reading position is remembered per paper and anchored to the paragraph, so late-loading figures never strand you.
- Figures open fullscreen with their captions, long tables keep their headers pinned while you scroll, and math is rendered type rather than an image.
- The header carries author cards with profiles and affiliations, journal and DOI metadata, and one-click citations in Chicago, APA, MLA, and BibTeX.
- Search across the corpus covers titles, authors, venues, keywords, abstracts, and figure and table captions, and jumps straight to the matching passage or figure.

Honest limits: search does not reach the body text of a paper (use your browser's find once the paper is open), and the original PDF stays one click away in every paper's header.

For machines rather than people: each paper's full text is a clean Markdown file at `/research-content/<slug>.md`, and every page the site publishes (about, people, updates, media, funding, contact) is collected with one entry per paper at https://mdl.uchicago.edu/llms-full.txt. Fetch paper bodies individually; they are deliberately not inlined into that file, because together they exceed what any assistant can read in one context.

## Research papers

The links below are the machine-readable Markdown. The page to send a person to is https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research/<slug>, using the same slug.

- [Can Italians Understand Spanish? Language Closeness Exacerbates the Illusion of Understanding (Ren et al., 2026)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/ren-2026-can-italians-understand-spanish-language-closeness-exacerbates-the-illusion-of-understanding.md): People often understand parts of languages that are closely related to their native tongue. But do they understand what the speaker intends to convey? We discovered that linguistic similarity induces…
- [Foreign Language Effects on Judgment and Decision Making (Geipel et al., 2026)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/geipel-2026-foreign-language-effects-on-judgment-and-decision-making.md): People who speak more than one language often think, judge, and make decisions in a foreign language they know well but learned through formal education. A growing body of research demonstrates that…
- [Embarrassment guides language choice (Lau et al., 2025)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/lau-2025-embarrassment-guides-language-choice.md): For billions of bilinguals, many communicative acts involve a choice between languages. Here, we evaluate the theory that bilinguals choose a language to regulate their emotional reactions. We…
- [The impact of language on decision-making: Auction winners are less cursed in a foreign language (Fu et al., 2025)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/fu-2025-the-impact-of-language-on-decision-making-auction-winners-are-less-cursed-in-a-foreign-language.md): As foreign language use becomes more commonplace in the globalized market, we ask whether using a foreign language systematically impacts financial decisions. We conducted a lab experiment in…
- [Zero-Sum Beliefs Across Age and Generations (Vazquez-Olivieri et al., 2025)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/vazquez-olivieri-2025-zero-sum-beliefs-across-age-and-generations.md): Zero-sum beliefs, the idea that for one person to gain another must lose, are pervasive even in situations that are not zero-sum. This undermines judgment across contexts such as interpersonal…
- [The influence of accent on the evaluation of trust-building efforts during conflict (Grant et al., 2024)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/grant-2024-the-influence-of-accent-on-the-evaluation-of-trust-building-efforts-during-conflict.md): The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been an ongoing source of violence in the Middle East, claiming the lives of tens of thousands of people. As of late violence has escalated, with this year being…
- [Culturally Anchored Mental-Health Attitudes: The Impact of Language (Heller et al., 2023)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/heller-2023-culturally-anchored-mental-health-attitudes-the-impact-of-language.md): Culture plays a key role in the long-standing underutilization of professional mental-health services among immigrants and ethnic minorities, especially among Asian communities. Furthermore, language…
- [Foreign Language Reduces False Memories by Increasing Memory Monitoring (Grant et al., 2023)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/grant-2023-foreign-language-reduces-false-memories-by-increasing-memory-monitoring.md): People have false memories that distort their recollection of past events. Language is an important source of such memories, from providing false inferences to outright misinformation. Here we…
- [Language modality influences risk perception: Innovations read well but sound even better (Geipel et al., 2023)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/geipel-2023-language-modality-influences-risk-perception-innovations-read-well-but-sound-even-better.md): Psychological theories implicitly assume that the modality in which information is conveyed—spoken or written—leaves judgment and choice unaltered. Modality is rarely considered in textbooks on…
- [The Impact of Informational Intervention on HPV Vaccination Intention among Heterosexual Men (Zhang et al., 2023)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/zhang-2023-the-impact-of-informational-intervention-on-hpv-vaccination-intention-among-heterosexual-men.md): Human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs). However, despite widespread under-vaccination amongst men and the importance of vaccinating both sexes to…
- [Lingua Franca as a Hidden Barrier to Conflict Resolution (Grant et al., 2022)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/grant-2022-lingua-franca-as-a-hidden-barrier-to-conflict-resolution.md): Longstanding intergroup conflict is one of the most perilous issues on the global stage, leading to violence, displacement, and loss of life. Finding strategies to bring parties to the negotiation…
- [Listening Speaks to Our Intuition While Reading Promotes Analytic Thought (Geipel et al., 2022)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/geipel-2022-listening-speaks-to-our-intuition-while-reading-promotes-analytic-thought.md): It is widely assumed that thinking is independent of language modality because an argument is either logically valid or invalid regardless of whether we read or hear it. This is taken for granted in…
- [The Extreme Illusion of Understanding (Lau et al., 2022)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/lau-2022-the-extreme-illusion-of-understanding.md): Though speakers and listeners monitor communication success, they systematically overestimate it. We report an extreme illusion of understanding that exists even without shared language. Native…
- [Use of a language intervention to reduce vaccine hesitancy (Geipel et al., 2022)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/geipel-2022-use-of-a-language-intervention-to-reduce-vaccine-hesitancy.md): Vaccine hesitancy is a major global challenge facing COVID-19 immunization programs. Its main source is low public trust in the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine. In a preregistered…
- [Young Children Enlarge the Pie: Antecedents of Negotiation Skills (Santhanagopalan et al., 2022)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/santhanagopalan-2022-young-children-enlarge-the-pie-antecedents-of-negotiation-skills.md): Negotiations are critical to interpersonal interactions, yet little is known about how the conceptual skills that support successful negotiations develop in childhood and across societies. Here, we…
- [A psycholinguist who spoke his mouth: Introduction to the special issue on bilingualism in honour of Albert Costa (Alario et al., 2021)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/alario-2021-a-psycholinguist-who-spoke-his-mouth-introduction-to-the-special-issue-on-bilingualism-in-honour-of-albert-costa.md): Albert Costa was a dear friend and colleague who died young but accomplished much. We provide a brief sketch of his scientific contributions to the field of psycholinguistics and bilingualism. The…
- [Escalation of negative social exchange: Reflexive punishment or deliberative deterrence? (Vandermeer et al., 2019)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/vandermeer-2019-escalation-of-negative-social-exchange-reflexive-punishment-or-deliberative-deterrence.md): Negative escalation of social exchange exacts significant costs on both individuals and society. Instead of in-kind reciprocity—an eye for an eye—negative reciprocity may escalate, taking two eyes…
- [Language context and decision-making: Challenges and advances (Costa et al., 2019)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/costa-2019-language-context-and-decision-making-challenges-and-advances.md)
- [On the reliability of the foreign language effect on risk-taking (Hayakawa et al., 2019)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/hayakawa-2019-on-the-reliability-of-the-foreign-language-effect-on-risk-taking.md): People consider choices that involve risk on a daily basis. In principle, willingness to take risks should be independent of the language used while considering the available options. However,…
- [The influence of native language in shaping judgment and choice (Hadjichristidis et al., 2019)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/hadjichristidis-2019-the-influence-of-native-language-in-shaping-judgment-and-choice.md): As a result of globalization, millions of people operate in a language that they comprehend well but is not their native tongue. This paper focuses on how the nativeness of the language of a…
- [The role of intentions and outcomes in the foreign language effect on moral judgements (Costa et al., 2019)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/costa-2019-the-role-of-intentions-and-outcomes-in-the-foreign-language-effect-on-moral-judgements.md): We explore the origin of the foreign language effect on moral judgements by assessing whether language context alters the weight given to intentions and outcomes during moral judgement. Specifically,…
- [When and Why People Evaluate Negative Reciprocity as More Fair Than Positive Reciprocity (Shaw et al., 2019)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/shaw-2019-when-and-why-people-evaluate-negative-reciprocity-as-more-fair-than-positive-reciprocity.md): If you are kind to me, I am likely to reciprocate and doing so feels fair. Many theories of social exchange assume that such reciprocity and fairness are well aligned with one another. We argue that…
- [Honesty Speaks a Second Language (Bereby-Meyer et al., 2018)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/bereby-meyer-2018-honesty-speaks-a-second-language.md): Theories of dishonest behavior implicitly assume language independence. Here, we investigated this assumption by comparing lying by people using a foreign language versus their native tongue.…
- [The Unforeseen Consequences of Interacting With Non-Native Speakers (Lev-Ari et al., 2018)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/lev-ari-2018-the-unforeseen-consequences-of-interacting-with-non-native-speakers.md): Sociolinguistic research shows that listeners’ expectations of speakers influence their interpretation of the speech, yet this is often ignored in cognitive models of language comprehension. Here, we…
- [Using a foreign language reduces mental imagery (Hayakawa et al., 2018)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/hayakawa-2018-using-a-foreign-language-reduces-mental-imagery.md): Mental imagery plays a significant role in guiding how we feel, think, and even behave. These mental simulations are often guided by language, making it important to understand what aspects of…
- [Exposure to multiple languages enhances communication skills in infancy (Liberman et al., 2017)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/liberman-2017-exposure-to-multiple-languages-enhances-communication-skills-in-infancy.md): Early exposure to multiple languages can enhance children's communication skills, even when children are effectively monolingual (Fan, Liberman, Keysar & Kinzler, 2015). Here we report evidence that…
- [Our Moral Choices Are Foreign to Us (Corey et al., 2017)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/corey-2017-our-moral-choices-are-foreign-to-us.md): Though moral intuitions and choices seem fundamental to our core being, there is surprising new evidence that people resolve moral dilemmas differently when they consider them in a foreign language…
- [Thinking More or Feeling Less? Explaining the Foreign-Language Effect on Moral Judgment (Hayakawa et al., 2017)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/hayakawa-2017-thinking-more-or-feeling-less-explaining-the-foreign-language-effect-on-moral-judgment.md): Would you kill one person to save five? People are more willing to accept such utilitarian action when using a foreign language than when using their native language. In six experiments, we…
- [Using a Foreign Language Changes Our Choices (Hayakawa et al., 2016)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/hayakawa-2016-using-a-foreign-language-changes-our-choices.md): A growing literature demonstrates that using a foreign language affects choice. This is surprising because if people understand their options, choice should be language independent. Here, we review…
- [The Exposure Advantage: Early Exposure to a Multilingual Environment Promotes Effective Communication (Fan et al., 2015)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/fan-2015-the-exposure-advantage-early-exposure-to-a-multilingual-environment-promotes-effective-communication.md): Early language exposure is essential to developing a formal language system, but may not be sufficient for communicating effectively. To understand a speaker's intention, one must take the speaker's…
- [Your Morals Depend on Language (Costa et al., 2014)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/costa-2014-your-morals-depend-on-language.md): Should you sacrifice one man to save five? Whatever your answer, it should not depend on whether you were asked the question in your native language or a foreign tongue so long as you understood the…
- [Executive control influences linguistic representations (Lev-Ari et al., 2013)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/lev-ari-2013-executive-control-influences-linguistic-representations.md): Although it is known that words acquire their meanings partly from the contexts in which they are used, we proposed that the way in which words are processed can also influence their representation.…
- [How culture influences perspective taking: differences in correction, not integration (Wu et al., 2013)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/wu-2013-how-culture-influences-perspective-taking-differences-in-correction-not-integration.md): Individuals from East Asian (Chinese) backgrounds have been shown to exhibit greater sensitivity to a speaker's perspective than Western (U.S.) participants when resolving referentially ambiguous…
- [Less-Detailed Representation of Non-Native Language: Why Non-Native Speakers' Stories Seem More Vague (Lev-Ari et al., 2012)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/lev-ari-2012-less-detailed-representation-of-non-native-language-why-non-native-speakers-stories-seem-more-vague.md): The language of non-native speakers is less reliable than the language of native speakers in conveying the speaker’s intentions. We propose that listeners expect such reduced reliability and that…
- [The Foreign-Language Effect: Thinking in a Foreign Tongue Reduces Decision Biases (Keysar et al., 2012)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/keysar-2012-the-foreign-language-effect-thinking-in-a-foreign-tongue-reduces-decision-biases.md): Would you make the same decisions in a foreign language as you would in your native tongue? It may be intuitive that people would make the same choices regardless of the language they are using, or…
- [Interns Overestimate the Effectiveness of Their Hand-off Communication (Chang et al., 2010)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/chang-2010-interns-overestimate-the-effectiveness-of-their-hand-off-communication.md): OBJECTIVE: Theories from the psychology of communication may be applicable in understanding why hand-off communication is inherently problematic. The purpose of this study was to assess whether…
- [Reflexively mindblind: Using theory of mind to interpret behavior requires effortful attention (Lin et al., 2010)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/lin-2010-reflexively-mindblind-using-theory-of-mind-to-interpret-behavior-requires-effortful-attention.md): People commonly interpret others' behavior in terms of the actors' underlying beliefs, knowledge, or other mental states, thereby using their "theory of mind." Two experiments suggest that using…
- [The closeness-communication bias: Increased egocentrism among friends versus strangers (Savitsky et al., 2010)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/savitsky-2010-the-closeness-communication-bias-increased-egocentrism-among-friends-versus-strangers.md): People commonly believe that they communicate better with close friends than with strangers. We propose, however, that closeness can lead people to overestimate how well they communicate, a…
- [Using Theory of Mind to represent and take part in social interactions: Comparing individuals with high-functioning autism and typically developing controls (Begeer et al., 2010)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/begeer-2010-using-theory-of-mind-to-represent-and-take-part-in-social-interactions-comparing-individuals-with-high-functioning-autism-and-typically-developing-controls.md): The literature suggests that individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are deficient in their Theory of Mind (ToM) abilities. They sometimes do not seem to appreciate that behaviour is…
- [Why don't we believe non-native speakers? The influence of accent on credibility (Lev-Ari et al., 2010)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/lev-ari-2010-why-dont-we-believe-non-native-speakers-the-influence-of-accent-on-credibility.md): Non-native speech is harder to understand than native speech. We demonstrate that this "processing difficulty" causes non-native speakers to sound less credible. People judged trivia statements such…
- [Keeping Track of Speaker's Perspective: The Role of Social Identity (Senay et al., 2009)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/senay-2009-keeping-track-of-speakers-perspective-the-role-of-social-identity.md)
- [Less Is More: A Minimalist Account of Joint Action in Communication (Shintel et al., 2009)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/shintel-2009-less-is-more-a-minimalist-account-of-joint-action-in-communication.md): Language use can be viewed as a form of joint activity that requires the coordination of meaning between individuals. Because the linguistic signal is notoriously ambiguous, interlocutors need to…
- [Egocentric processes in communication and miscommunication (Keysar, 2008)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/keysar-2008-egocentric-processes-in-communication-and-miscommunication.md)
- [In the Mood to Get Over Yourself: Mood Affects Theory-of-Mind Use (Converse et al., 2008)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/converse-2008-in-the-mood-to-get-over-yourself-mood-affects-theory-of-mind-use.md): Understanding others' behavior often involves attributing mental states to them by using one's "theory of mind." We argue that using theory of mind to recognize differences between one's own…
- [Reciprocity Is Not Give and Take: Asymmetric Reciprocity to Positive and Negative Acts (Keysar et al., 2008)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/keysar-2008-reciprocity-is-not-give-and-take-asymmetric-reciprocity-to-positive-and-negative-acts.md): Unlike economic exchange, social exchange has no well-defined "value." It is based on the norm of reciprocity, in which giving and taking are to be repaid in equivalent measure. Although giving and…
- [Communication and miscommunication: The role of egocentric processes (Keysar, 2007)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/keysar-2007-communication-and-miscommunication-the-role-of-egocentric-processes.md): Communication is typically considered to be guided by principles of cooperation, requiring the consideration of the communication partner's mental states for its success. Miscommunication, in turn,…
- [Mispredicting the Hedonic Benefits of Segregated Gains (Morewedge et al., 2007)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/morewedge-2007-mispredicting-the-hedonic-benefits-of-segregated-gains.md): The hedonic benefit of a gain (e.g., receiving 100) may be increased by segregating it into smaller units that are distributed over time (e.g., receiving 50 on each of 2 days). However, if these…
- [The Effect of Culture on Perspective Taking (Wu et al., 2007)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/wu-2007-the-effect-of-culture-on-perspective-taking.md): People consider the mental states of other people to understand their actions. We evaluated whether such perspective taking is culture dependent. People in collectivistic cultures (e.g., China) are…
- [The Effect of Information Overlap on Communication Effectiveness (Wu et al., 2007)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/wu-2007-the-effect-of-information-overlap-on-communication-effectiveness.md): It makes sense that the more information people share, the better they communicate. To evaluate the effect of knowledge overlap on the effectiveness of communication, participants played a…
- [You Said It Before and You'll Say It Again: Expectations of Consistency in Communication (Shintel et al., 2007)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/shintel-2007-you-said-it-before-and-youll-say-it-again-expectations-of-consistency-in-communication.md): Repeated reference creates strong expectations in addressees that a speaker will continue to use the same expression for the same object. The authors investigate the root reason for these…
- [Perspective Taking and the Coordination of Meaning in Language Use (Barr et al., 2006)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/barr-2006-perspective-taking-and-the-coordination-of-meaning-in-language-use.md)
- [Coordination of Action and Belief in Communication (Keysar et al., 2005)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/keysar-2005-coordination-of-action-and-belief-in-communication.md)
- [Mindreading in an Exotic Case: The Normal Adult Human (Barr et al., 2005)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/barr-2005-mindreading-in-an-exotic-case-the-normal-adult-human.md)
- [Is language processing different in dialogue? (Barr et al., 2004)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/barr-2004-is-language-processing-different-in-dialogue.md): Pickering & Garrod (P&G) claim that the automatic mechanisms that underlie language processing in dialogue are absent in monologue. We disagree with this claim, and argue that dialogue simply…
- [Making Sense of How We Make Sense: The Paradox of Egocentrism in Language Use (Barr et al., 2004)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/barr-2004-making-sense-of-how-we-make-sense-the-paradox-of-egocentrism-in-language-use.md)
- [Perspective Taking as Egocentric Anchoring and Adjustment (Epley et al., 2004)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/epley-2004-perspective-taking-as-egocentric-anchoring-and-adjustment.md): The authors propose that people adopt others' perspectives by serially adjusting from their own. As predicted, estimates of others' perceptions were consistent with one's own but differed in a manner…
- [Perspective taking in children and adults: Equivalent egocentrism but differential correction (Epley et al., 2004)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/epley-2004-perspective-taking-in-children-and-adults-equivalent-egocentrism-but-differential-correction.md): Children generally behave more egocentrically than adults when assessing another's perspective. We argue that this difference does not, however, indicate that adults process information less…
- [Limits on theory of mind use in adults (Keysar et al., 2003)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/keysar-2003-limits-on-theory-of-mind-use-in-adults.md): By 6 years, children have a sophisticated adult-like theory of mind that enables them not only to understand the actions of social agents in terms of underlying mental states, but also to distinguish…
- [Self-Anchoring in Conversation: Why Language Users Do Not Do What They "Should" (Keysar et al., 2002)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/keysar-2002-self-anchoring-in-conversation-why-language-users-do-not-do-what-they-should.md)
- [SPEAKERS' OVERESTIMATION OF THEIR EFFECTIVENESS (Keysar et al., 2002)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/keysar-2002-speakers-overestimation-of-their-effectiveness.md): Successful communication depends in part on an ability to anticipate miscommunication. We investigated speakers' ability to gauge their addressees' understanding. Participants in our experiments were…
- [Anchoring Comprehension in Linguistic Precedents (Barr et al., 2001)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/barr-2001-anchoring-comprehension-in-linguistic-precedents.md): Past research has shown that when speakers refer to the same referent multiple times, they tend to standardize their descriptions by establishing linguistic precedents. In three experiments, we show…
- [The Role of Suppression and Enhancement in Understanding Metaphors (Gernsbacher et al., 2001)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/gernsbacher-2001-the-role-of-suppression-and-enhancement-in-understanding-metaphors.md): Participants read either a metaphorical prime sentence, such as That defense lawyer is a shark, or a baseline-prime sentence. The baseline-prime sentence was literally meaningful in Experiment 1…
- [Conventional Language: How Metaphorical Is It? (Keysar et al., 2000)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/keysar-2000-conventional-language-how-metaphorical-is-it.md): We evaluate a fundamental assumption of Lakoff and Johnson’s (1980a, 1980b) view that people routinely use conceptual mappings to understand conventional expressions in ordinary discourse. Lakoff and…
- [TAKING PERSPECTIVE IN CONVERSATION: The Role of Mutual Knowledge in Comprehension (Keysar et al., 2000)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/keysar-2000-taking-perspective-in-conversation-the-role-of-mutual-knowledge-in-comprehension.md): When people interpret language, they can reduce the ambiguity of linguistic expressions by using information about perspective: the speaker's, their own, or a shared perspective. In order to…
- [The Illusory Transparency of Intention: Does June Understand What Mark Means Because He Means It? (Keysar, 2000)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/keysar-2000-the-illusory-transparency-of-intention-does-june-understand-what-mark-means-because-he-means-it.md)
- [Swimming against the current: Do idioms reflect conceptual structure? (Keysar et al., 1999)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/keysar-1999-swimming-against-the-current-do-idioms-reflect-conceptual-structure.md): Recent work inspired by cognitive linguistics suggests that some idioms make sense (i.e., their meanings seem transparent) because they are motivated by conceptual structures that exist independently…
- [Definite Reference and Mutual Knowledge: Process Models of Common Ground in Comprehension (Keysar et al., 1998)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/keysar-1998-definite-reference-and-mutual-knowledge-process-models-of-common-ground-in-comprehension.md): What role does mutual knowledge play in the comprehension process? We compare two answers to this question for the comprehension of definite reference. The Restricted Search hypothesis assumes that…
- [Language Users as Problem Solvers: Just What Ambiguity Problem Do They Solve? (Keysar, 1998)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/keysar-1998-language-users-as-problem-solvers-just-what-ambiguity-problem-do-they-solve.md)
- [Speaking with common ground: from principles to processes in pragmatics: a reply to Polichak and Gerrig (Keysar et al., 1998)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/keysar-1998-speaking-with-common-ground-from-principles-to-processes-in-pragmatics-a-reply-to-polichak-and-gerrig.md)
- [The Collaborative Model and Psychological Evidence: Some Principles for Designing Cooperative Systems (Barr et al., 1998)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/barr-1998-the-collaborative-model-and-psychological-evidence-some-principles-for-designing-cooperative-systems.md): The collaborative model developed by Clark and colleagues views language use as a process by which people collaborate to perform joint actions, not merely exchange information. Because language use…
- [The Egocentric Basis of Language Use: Insights From a Processing Approach (Keysar et al., 1998)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/keysar-1998-the-egocentric-basis-of-language-use-insights-from-a-processing-approach.md): How do people use language to convey and understand intentions? We started investigating this question with the accepted assumption that, unlike young children, adult language users are not…
- [Unconfounding Common Ground (Keysar, 1997)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/keysar-1997-unconfounding-common-ground.md): I propose that research on the role of common ground in language use is often insensitive to considerations of parsimony. By ignoring parsimony, our experiments might fall short of addressing common…
- [When do speakers take into account common ground? (Horton et al., 1996)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/horton-1996-when-do-speakers-take-into-account-common-ground.md): What role does common ground play in the production of utterances? We outline and test two models. One model assumes that common ground is involved in initial utterance planning, while the other…
- [Intuitions of the Transparency of Idioms: Can One Keep a Secret by Spilling the Beans? (Keysar et al., 1995)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/keysar-1995-intuitions-of-the-transparency-of-idioms-can-one-keep-a-secret-by-spilling-the-beans.md): The meanings of many idioms are perceived as relatively transparent, that is, we see a connection between the expressions and their meanings. We propose that an important source of these intuitions…
- [States of Affairs and States of Mind: The Effect of Knowledge of Beliefs (Keysar et al., 1995)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/keysar-1995-states-of-affairs-and-states-of-mind-the-effect-of-knowledge-of-beliefs.md): Research on the "curse of knowledge" demonstrates a tendency to behave as if others have access to one's privileged information about a certain state of affairs. We explore the possibility that…
- [The Revival of Idioms (Keysar et al., 1995)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/keysar-1995-the-revival-of-idioms.md): This is a book review of "Idioms: Processing, Structure, and Interpretation" edited by Cristina Cacciari and Patrizia Tabossi. The review examines the modern study of idioms in cognitive science,…
- [The Illusory Transparency of Intention: Linguistic Perspective Taking in Text (Keysar, 1994)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/keysar-1994-the-illusory-transparency-of-intention-linguistic-perspective-taking-in-text.md): Subjects read scenarios where a speaker made a comment that, depending on information that was privileged to the subjects, could have been interpreted as sarcastic or not sarcastic. Their task was to…
- [Common sense and adult theory of communication (Keysar et al., 1993)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/keysar-1993-common-sense-and-adult-theory-of-communication.md): Gopnik presents an important and provocative thesis — that intentionality is a theoretical construct developing early in childhood. Even though common sense tells us that we have direct access to our…
- [Metaphor and Communication (Keysar et al., 1992)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/keysar-1992-metaphor-and-communication.md): To what extent do communicative principles constrain the comprehension of simple metaphors? We argue that the comprehension of metaphor depends on communicative principles in exactly the same way…
- [Metaphor Understanding and Accessing Conceptual Schema: Reply to Gibbs (1992) (Glucksberg et al., 1992)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/glucksberg-1992-metaphor-understanding-and-accessing-conceptual-schema-reply-to-gibbs-1992.md): Gibbs (1992) argued that metaphoric expressions may reflect preexisting conventional metaphoric mappings in long-term memory. The class-inclusion model, in contrast, focuses on conceptual structures…
- [Understanding Metaphorical Comparisons: Beyond Similarity (Glucksberg et al., 1990)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/glucksberg-1990-understanding-metaphorical-comparisons-beyond-similarity.md): Traditionally, metaphors such as "my job is a jail" have been treated as implicit similes (i.e., this metaphor would be treated as if it were a comparison statement, "my job is like a jail").…
- [Functional Theory of Illusory Conjunctions and Neon Colors (Prinzmetal et al., 1989)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/prinzmetal-1989-functional-theory-of-illusory-conjunctions-and-neon-colors.md): Illusory conjunctions are the incorrect perceptual combination of briefly presented colors and shapes. In the neon colors illusion, achromatic figures take on the color of an overlaid grid of colored…
- [On the Functional Equivalence of Literal and Metaphorical Interpretations in Discourse (Keysar, 1989)](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research-content/keysar-1989-on-the-functional-equivalence-of-literal-and-metaphorical-interpretations-in-discourse.md): Are functionally equivalent operations required for understanding literal and metaphorical meanings? Context stories were constructed in which sentences such as "He is a baby" had both literal and…

## People

- [Konstantinos Hadjichristidis](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/konstantinos-hadjichristidis): lab_affiliate
- [Boaz Keysar](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/boaz-keysar): pi
- [Claire Guang](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/claire-guang): doctoral
- [Louisa Belian](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/louisa-belian): doctoral
- [Elena Puente](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/elena-puente): ura
- [Alexandra Moreno-Romero](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/alexandra-moreno-romero): ura
- [TianTian Xu](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/tiantian-xu): ura
- [Seokhwa Lee](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/seokhwa-lee): ura
- [Jean Ng](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/jean-ng): ura
- [Mike Li](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/mike-li): ura
- [Linchi Zhang](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/linchi-zhang): ura
- [Elise Saidenberg](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/elise-saidenberg): ura
- [Alisha Arya](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/alisha-arya): ura
- [Sherlyn Pesantez](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/sherlyn-pesantez): ura
- [Engelina Xiong](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/engelina-xiong): ura
- [Rustom Malhotra](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/rustom-malhotra): ura
- [Max Feng](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/max-feng): ura
- [Lizzy Liao](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/lizzy-liao): ura
- [Xiaosong Zhao](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/xiaosong-zhao): ura
- [Kristina Veskovic](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/kristina-veskovic): ura
- [Tristan Louvard](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/tristan-louvard)
- [Janet Geipel](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/janet-geipel): lab_affiliate
- [Ethan Reiter](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/ethan-reiter): ura
- [Louis Schaffer](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/louis-schaffer): ura
- [Tiffany Yue](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/tiffany-yue): ura
- [Angel Toro](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/angel-toro): ura
- [Carolina Stainfeld](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/carolina-stainfeld): ura
- [Gabino Sanchez](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/gabino-sanchez): ura
- [Jaehwan Song](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/jaehwan-song): ura
- [Jingru Wang](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/jingru-wang): ura
- [Ivy Yeung](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/ivy-yeung): ura
- [Xinyu Wei](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/xinyu-wei): ura
- [Jiuhe Zhang](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/jiuhe-zhang): ura
- [Juliette Teunissen](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/juliette-teunissen): ura
- [Zhenying Tian](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/zhenying-tian): ura
- [Younggeun Yoo](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/younggeun-yoo): ura
- [Jaewon Yoon](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/jaewon-yoon): ura
- [Hyebin Park](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/hyebin-park): ura
- [Ivy Sun](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/ivy-sun): ura
- [Joshua Oberman](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/joshua-oberman): ura
- [Lester Tong](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/lester-tong): ura
- [Mike Santini](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/mike-santini): ura
- [Jiunwen Wang](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/jiunwen-wang): ura
- [Dale Barr](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/dale-barr): doctoral
- [William S. Horton](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/william-s.-horton): doctoral
- [Anne Henly](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/anne-henly): doctoral
- [Shuhong Lin](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/shuhong-lin): doctoral
- [Ibrahim Senay](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/ibrahim-senay): doctoral
- [Abbe Rose](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/abbe-rose): masters
- [Shali Wu](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/shali-wu): doctoral
- [Shiri Lev-Ari](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/shiri-lev-ari): doctoral
- [Wei Luo](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/wei-luo): masters
- [James VanderMeer](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/james-vandermeer): doctoral
- [Ying Wu](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/ying-wu): masters
- [Sayuri Hayakawa](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/sayuri-hayakawa): doctoral
- [Emory Richardson](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/emory-richardson): masters
- [Yanting Wu](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/yanting-wu): masters
- [Chenyang He](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/chenyang-he): masters
- [Ka Ying Becky Lau](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/ka-ying-becky-lau): doctoral
- [Mahika Hari](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/mahika-hari): masters
- [Jin Ke](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/jin-ke): masters
- [Jan Rodriguez-Cruz](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/jan-rodriguez-cruz): masters
- [Dilan Tulan](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/dilan-tulan): masters
- [Giselle Yang](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/giselle-yang): masters
- [Yinqing Zheng](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/yinqing-zheng): masters
- [Leigh Grant](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/leigh-grant): doctoral
- [Cherynne (Erin) Kim](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/cherynne-kim): masters
- [Veronica Vazquez-Olivieri](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/veronica-vazquez-olivieri): doctoral
- [Zaiying (Yvette) Yang](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/zaiying-yang): masters
- [Songyang Zhang](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/songyang-zhang): masters
- [Zeynep Aslan](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/zeynep-aslan): doctoral
- [Xinyue (Rita) Fan](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/xinyue-fan): masters
- [Huidi Yuan](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/huidi-yuan): masters
- [Jessica Xu](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people/jessica-xu): masters

## Updates & news

- [Listen to grandma—life’s not a zero-sum game](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/university-of-chicago-news-listen-grandmalifes-zero-sum-game): University of Chicago News, 2025-12-17
- [The Impact of Language on Decision-Making: Auction Winners are Less Cursed in a Foreign Language](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/becker-friedman-institute-impact-language-decision-making-auction-winners-less): Becker Friedman Institute, 2025-10-15
- [Is reading always better for your brain than listening to audiobooks?](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/new-scientist-reading-always-better-brain-listening-audiobooks): New Scientist, 2025-09-22
- [The illusion of understanding: why the way we communicate matters](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/the-observer-illusion-understanding-way-communicate-matters): The Observer, 2025-07-18
- [MAPSS student Rita Fan graduates](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/milestone-mapss-student-rita-fan-graduates): 2025-06-07
- [Alisha Arya '27 receives the Quad Undergraduate Research Scholar Grant](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/milestone-alisha-arya-27-receives-quad-undergraduate): 2025-06-07
- [MAPSS student Huidi Yuan graduates](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/milestone-mapss-student-huidi-yuan-graduates): 2025-06-07
- [Zeynep Aslan graduates](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/milestone-zeynep-aslan-graduates): 2025-06-07
- [UChicago students debate and make deals in ‘Psychology of Negotiation’ course](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/university-of-chicago-news-uchicago-students-debate-make-deals-psychology): University of Chicago News, 2025-04-28
- [Why it’s never too late to learn a language as an adult](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/science-never-late-learn-language-as-adult): Science, 2024-06-21
- [UChicago psychologist shares his No.1 brain hack for critical thinking and memory skills: Think in a foreign language](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/cnbc-uchicago-psychologist-shares-no1-brain-hack): CNBC, 2023-10-28
- [Louisa and Claire join the lab](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/milestone-louisa-claire-join-lab): 2023-09-26
- [How thinking in a foreign language improves decision-making](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/the-guardian-thinking-foreign-language-improves-decision-making): The Guardian, 2023-09-17
- [Do you think more clearly when reading or when listening?](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/psyche-think-more-clearly-reading-listening): psyche, 2023-08-14
- [Dr Janet Geipel: 'The modality effect suggests that by providing surveys in the spoken modality responses might be relatively more intuitive'](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/current-science-daily-dr-janet-geipel-modality-effect-suggests): Current Science Daily, 2023-07-20
- [Research: Using a foreign language can reduce false memories](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/language-magazine-research-using-foreign-language-reduce-false): Language Magazine, 2023-07-19
- [How listening to audiobooks may be making us more gullible](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/new-scientist-listening-audiobooks-making-more-gullible): New Scientist, 2023-05-24
- [11 Different Ways to Think to Unlock New Ideas](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/the-zag-11-different-ways-think-unlock-new): The Zag, 2023-03-22
- [How To Know When You Should (And Shouldn't) Apologize](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/yourtango-know-shouldnt-apologize): Yourtango, 2023-01-17
- [Humans think more rationally in a foreign language, study finds](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/zme-science-humans-think-more-rationally-foreign-language): ZME Science, 2022-12-22
- [Episode 55 – Boaz Keysar: "You got to prepare."](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/university-of-chicago-hong-kong-campus-episode-55-boaz-keysar-got-prepare): University of Chicago Hong Kong Campus, 2022-11-29
- [Conflict resolution more successful using a native language, research shows](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/university-of-chicago-news-conflict-resolution-more-successful-using-native): University of Chicago News, 2022-10-06
- ["Alexa, does listening to you change my risk perception?"](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/leeds-university-business-school-alexa-listening-change-my-risk-perception): Leeds University Business School, 2022-08-10
- [10 Benefits of Learning a Second Language](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/ccsti-larotonde-10-benefits-learning-second-language): CcsTi-Larotonde, 2022-06-20
- [When Accents Speak Louder Than Words](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/undark-accents-speak-louder-words): Undark, 2022-05-31
- [Spoken descriptions of new technologies provoke more positive attitudes than written ones](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/mirage-news-spoken-descriptions-new-technologies-provoke-more): Mirage News, 2022-04-05
- [Breaking down communication breakdowns](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/chartered-professional-accountants-british-columbia-breaking-down-communication-breakdowns): Chartered Professional Accountants (British Columbia), 2022-02-03
- [Language Matters in Building Trust in COVID Vaccines](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/government-executive-language-matters-building-trust-covid-vaccines): Government Executive, 2022-01-19
- [COVID-19 vaccine uptake 'a matter of words'](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/sci-dev-net-covid-19-vaccine-uptake-matter-words): Sci Dev Net, 2022-01-18
- [Vaccine hesitancy: Why language matters](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/medical-news-today-vaccine-hesitancy-language-matters): Medical News Today, 2022-01-11
- [Lab alumni Sayuri Hayakawa receives Association for Psychological Science (APS) Rising Stars Award](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/psychological-science-lab-alumni-sayuri-hayakawa-receives-association): Psychological Science, 2021-03-26
- [UChicago Psych Prof. Boaz Keysar: The Impact of Foreign Language Use on Health-Related Decisions](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/uchicago-center-for-health-administration-studies-uchicago-psych-prof-boaz-keysar-impact): UChicago Center for Health Administration Studies, 2021-02-19
- [How we can avoid escalating arguments](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/next-gov-avoid-escalating-arguments): Next Gov, 2019-09-28
- [Study suggests that many conflicts could be avoided with more deliberation](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/phys-org-study-suggests-many-conflicts-avoided-more): Phys Org, 2019-09-26
- [Doctors make mistakes. A new documentary explores what happens when they do – and how to fix it](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/time-doctors-make-mistakes-new-documentary-explores): Time, 2019-01-24
- [Why you're more likely to make an immoral decision when speaking a foreign language](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/qz-youre-more-likely-make-immoral-decision): QZ, 2018-02-23
- [Do we make better decisions in a foreign language?](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/financial-times-make-better-decisions-foreign-language): Financial Times, 2018-02-19
- [Explaining the moral foreign-language effect](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/psychology-today-explaining-moral-foreign-language-effect): Psychology Today, 2018-01-01
- [Struggling to make a tough decision? Try it in a foreign language: Switching from your native tongue removes emotional interference, experts say](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/daily-mail-struggling-make-tough-decision-try-foreign): Daily Mail, 2017-08-17
- [Is learning a foreign language really worth it? [PODCAST]](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates/freakonomics-learning-foreign-language-really-worth-podcast): Freakonomics, 2016-08-08

## Key pages

- [All research papers](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/research)
- [People](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/people)
- [Updates](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/updates)
- [Funding](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/funding)
- [Contact](https://mdl.uchicago.edu/contact)

## Site credits

- [Kevin Gugelmann](https://kevingugelmann.com): designed the lab's visual brand identity, including its logo, designed this website, and programmed it end to end
- [Attila Newey](https://attilanewey.com): photography and videography
- Nicole Liao: additional design