Welcome to the Cognition in Development (CoDe) Lab

The CoDe Lab is based at Leiden University in the Netherlands and led by Dr. Ili Ma. We are broadly interested in the development of learning and decision-making during adolescence and early adulthood. Our research examines how adolescents gather and evaluate information from their everyday and online environments, and how this influences their views on societal issues. A central focus of our lab is understanding adolescents’ susceptibility to misinformation and disinformation, as well as the factors that promote resilience. We also investigate the role of social media platforms, which provides opportunities for connection and learning but can also expose people to misleading or harmful content.

We aim to contribute to solutions. We work closely with educators and and youth to design and test interventions that strengthen critical thinking, encourage responsible digital engagement, and reduce vulnerability to online manipulation.

Methodologically, our work combines developmental psychology with computational approaches, including Bayesian models and AI-based tools, allowing us to capture how adolescents learn from information, update their beliefs, and make decisions in a rapidly changing digital world.

Our work is funded by the European Research Council (ERC Starting Grant), the Dutch Research Council (NWO), and the AXA.

Our community and lab culture

Open science is important for the quality and efficiency of research. Our data and code are freely available on Github, OSF, or upon request. Visit the publications page to access these resources.

The CoDe lab strongly values having an open, interdisciplinary, and collaborative community. We organize weekly lab meetings and welcome joint meetings with other labs. The CoDe lab is a member of the CHANGE research platform (also see our position paper).