Marko Antolčić

A cognitive scientist on a mission to explore the human mind using data analytics technology.

Check out my ResearchGate profile for full access to my publications. Focus of Marko’s research is on experimental study of expertise and cognitive science about hybrid (symbolic-connectionist) systems of the human mind with a keen interest in an embedded theory of cognition, problem-solving, attention, reasoning, and decision making. He is currently working on a project about natural language processing and expertise (in chess), investigating perceptual and conceptual processes in problem-solving and human expertise in general.

Academic publications

Eye-tracking study - The effect of reverse perspective and player’s rating on flexible thinking in chess. Suvremena Psihologija, 22(1), 53-65. doi:10.21465/2019-SP-221-04

I investigated mental rigidity in chess expertise named Einstellung effect and potential approaches to overcome it. The effect is evident in situations where players struggle to optimize tactics when a familiar solution is available, usually decide to make suboptimal and familiar solution instead of optimal and less familiar solution. I learned that presenting positions from a different, reversed, viewpoint does not reduce E-effect and more experienced players were more likely to find optimal solutions, with player rating having the strongest effect on flexible thinking in chess.

Do higher-level chess players rely on heuristics in general as well as in chess problem solving? In book: Proceedings of the XXVIII Scientific Conference Empirical Studies in Psychology. Publisher: Institute of Psychology, Laboratory for Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade

This study explores the intuitive and heuristic methods employed by chess experts, comparing their problem-solving abilities within and outside their domain of expertise. The study found that greater expertise in chess correlates with increased efficiency in chess-related tasks but does not necessarily translate to improved performance in general problem-solving tasks. Interestingly, participants who excelled in chess-specific tasks tended to be less accurate in general problem-solving tasks, indicating a potential transfer of cognitive style that may not always be advantageous.