Jake Embrey
Principal Researcher
University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
jake.embrey@chicagobooth.edu
I am a cognitive psychologist currently working as a postdoc at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
My research is focused on the ‘cost of thinking’. I’m interested in why people are averse to cognitively demanding tasks and avoid exerting what we colloquially call mental effort. My work aims to understand why effort is costly and how so-called cognitive costs influence people’s behaviour.
In the consumer behaviour domain I apply this approach to online product search. In particular how cognitive costs influence search behaviour and whether complexity increases search costs for consumers.
To answer these questions I use cognitive computational modelling, experimental methods, and real world data.
Select Publications
Embrey, J. R (in press) Metabolic constraints may both help and hinder cognitive models. Commentary on ‘Metabolic considerations for cognitive modelling’ by Haueis & Colaço. Behavioral and Brain Sciences
Embrey, J. R. & Inzlicht, M. (2025) Are metabolic costs needed to explain cognitive fatigue? Trends in Cognitive Sciences.
Schulze, C., Aka, A., Bartels, D. M., Bucher, S. F., Embrey, J. R., Gureckis, T. M., Haeubl, G., Ho, M. K., Krajbich, I., Moore, A. K., Oettingen, G., Ongchoco, J. D. K., Oprea, R., Reinholtz, N., & Newell, B. R. (2025) A Timeline of Cognitive Costs in Decision Making. Trends in Cognitive Sciences
Embrey, J. R., Mason, A., Donkin, C., & Newell, B. R. (2025) On-task errors drive effort avoidance more than opportunity costs. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.
Embrey, J. R., Donkin, C., & Newell, B. R. (2023). Is all mental effort equal? The role of cognitive demand-type on effort avoidance. Cognition, 236, 105440
Jake R. Embrey 