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Dr Linden Ball

Formerly at Lancaster University

Linden Ball

Research Interests

General Research Interests

  • Thinking and reasoning
  • Problem solving and expertise
  • Creativity and innovation
  • Cognitive processes in design
  • Context-dependent memory

Current Research Focus

Dual Processes in Human Reasoning

My reasoning research aims to understand the interplay between implicit, intuitive processes and explicit, analytic processes. Topics of interest include:

  • The factors that influence the dominance of intuitive versus analytic processes in reasoning
  • The way in which competition and conflict between dual reasoning processes is monitored, detected and resolved
  • The implications of dual-process views of reasoning for an understanding of human rationality


Uncertainty and Strategic Shifts in Expert Cognition

Much of my expertise research focuses on design cognition and explores the way in which uncertainty arising from metacognitive awareness of knowledge limitations determines changes in strategic processing. Topics of interest include:

  • The influence of uncertainty as a trigger for the deployment of analogising and mental simulation processes
  • The role of uncertainty in mediating between design complexity and strategic switches from breadth-first to depth-first modes of design development
  • The association between uncertainty and creativity in innovative design contexts 

Editorial Roles

  • Associate Editor, Journal of Cognitive Psychology.
  • Associate Editor, Thinking & Reasoning.
  • Editorial Board, CoDesign: International Journal of Co-Creation in Design and the Arts.
  • Series Editor, Current Issues in Thinking and Reasoning, Psychology Press.


Committee Memberships

  • Chair, Cognitive Section Committee of the British Psychological Society.

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