Fenna Poletiek

Dr. Fenna Poletiek is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Cognitive Psychology at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Leiden University. She holds a joint appointment as Senior Investigator at the Max Planck Institute of Psycholinguistics and serves as Visiting Professor at the Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University (UK). Starting September 2023, she will occupy the ILCB-IMéRA Chair at the University of Aix-en-Provence/Marseille, France, highlighting her international academic recognition.

Her research focuses on the cognitive foundations of language, exploring how visual perception, world knowledge, and minimal effort mechanisms shape language structure, acquisition, and processing. She employs experimental behavioral methods with both artificial and natural language, complemented by computational, neurocognitive, and comparative approaches. She leads the PolBoc Lab (Perception, Language, Behavior and Cognition), a collaborative initiative with Erasmus University Rotterdam. In decision-making research, she investigates memory effects in criminal investigations (IMMCI project), recognition of complex visual patterns (e.g., artistic styles), behavioral impacts of reward systems (e.g., basic income), and analogies between physical laws (Snellius’ law) and human planning behavior.

Dr. Poletiek is actively involved in applied cognitive psychology, serving as an expert witness in criminal cases, providing scientific analysis for courts and police. She is committed to public outreach, regularly contributing to Dutch media, university blogs in English, newspapers, and science policy discussions in Mare. She teaches in the BSc and MSc Psychology programs at Leiden University.

Her scientific contributions span cognitive psychology, psycholinguistics, and applied decision science, with a strong emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration and real-world impact. She maintains a public research profile via Google Scholar and ResearchGate.

Scientific Affiliations:

• Assistant Professor, Cognitive Psychology, Leiden University
• Senior Investigator, Max Planck Institute of Psycholinguistics
• Visiting Professor, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University (UK)
• ILCB-IMéRA Chair Holder (from Sept 2023), University of Aix-en-Provence/Marseille
• Leader, PolBoc Lab (with Erasmus University Rotterdam)

Research and Advisory Engagement:

• Conducts research with students in cognitive psychology and language sciences
• Principal investigator in the IMMCI project (Implicit Memory Methods for Criminal Investigation)
• Expert consultant for legal and police institutions on cognitive aspects of memory and perception

Laboratories and Collaborations: The PolBoc Lab is a key collaborative research initiative with Erasmus University Rotterdam, focusing on perception, language, behavior, and cognition through interdisciplinary methods.