Nilli Lavie facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Nilli Lavie
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| נילי לביא | |
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| Nationality | Israeli British |
| Alma mater | Tel Aviv University |
| Known for | Perceptual Load Theory |
| Awards | BPS Cognitive Section Award, EPS Mid-Career Award |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Cognitive Neuroscience |
| Institutions | University College London (Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience) |
Nilli Lavie (Hebrew: נילי לביא) is a well-known scientist who studies the brain and how we think. She is a psychologist and neuroscientist with both British and Israeli citizenship.
Professor Lavie works at University College London (UCL). She leads the Attention and Cognitive Control laboratory there. She is also a respected member of several important groups, like the British Academy and the Royal Society of Biology.
She is famous for solving a long-standing puzzle about how our brains pay attention. She created the Perceptual load theory, which helps us understand how we focus, see things, and control our thoughts.
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Her Early Life and Studies
Nilli Lavie studied at Tel Aviv University. In 1987, she earned degrees in Psychology and Philosophy. She then continued her studies and received her PhD in Cognitive Psychology in 1993.
In the mid-1990s, she received a special fellowship to do more research at UC Berkeley in the United States. After this, she moved to the UK. She started her first job at the MRC-Applied Psychology Unit in Cambridge. Later, in 1995, she joined UCL, where she still works today. She has written many scientific papers during her career.
Awards and Special Recognition
Professor Lavie has received several important awards for her research. In 2006, she won the British Psychological Society Cognitive Section Award. This award recognized her amazing contributions to research.
In 2011, she was chosen as an "inspirational woman" by the WISE Campaign. This campaign encourages women to get involved in science, engineering, and construction. The next year, in 2012, she received the Mid-Career Award from the Experimental Psychology Society.
She was also named an 'Academic Champion' at UCL in 2012. This shows how much her work is valued at the university.
Understanding How We Pay Attention
Nilli Lavie's research looks at how much information our brains can handle. She studies how this "information load" affects our brains. It also impacts how we see, what we are aware of, our memory, and our feelings.
Her work is guided by her "Load Theory of attention and cognitive control." She first suggested this theory in the mid-1990s. It helped to settle a big discussion about how our brains choose what to pay attention to.
What is Load Theory?
Load Theory offered a new way to think about how our brains process information. It helped to bring together different ideas about whether our brains can only handle a certain amount of information, or if some things are processed automatically.
According to Load Theory, our brains have a limited capacity for processing what we see. However, our brains automatically process all the information that fits within this limit. This theory has greatly helped us understand how attention affects what we see and what we are aware of.
It also explains how people use their working memory when doing tasks. It shows how people can control their perception, attention, and actions.
Nilli Lavie in the News
Nilli Lavie has appeared in the media many times. She has been on TV science shows and in interviews. Her work has also been featured in articles in British newspapers and online.
You might have seen her on channels like BBC One, BBC Two, and Channel 4. She has also been in newspapers such as The Guardian, The Times, and New Scientist. Her research has also been shared by international news outlets.
See also
In Spanish: Nilli Lavie para niños
