hariharan purohit

hariharan22 at iitk dot ac dot in
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I'm a PhD student and PMRF fellow in The Department of Cognitive Science. I work in the PLATIPUS lab under Dr. Nisheeth Srivastava on computational cognitive science.

I use computational modeling, behavioral experiments, and data science to study why and how people stop thinkng about quitting and actually decide to quit something. Instead of focusing on a lab-grown conception of quitting, I primarily intend to define quitting in real-life contexts and provide a mechanistic framework inspired from bounded rationality farmework.

Before my PhD, I was a masters student in Cognitive Science at University of Allahabad and majored in psychology in my bachelors at University of Mumbai.


Current work

I am currently investigating the cognitive mechanisms underlying quitting behavior, using computational models and behavioral experiments. My work aims to bridge theoretical frameworks with real-world quitting scenarios. I take inspiration from phenomenology to approach quitting as a phenomenal experience first and aim to provide a mechanistic framework for it.

Quitting in Online Chess players

My first project looked at the quitting behavior of online chess players. Using the the open access data from lichess.org, I analyzed chess players' propensity to quit in 'Classical' chess matches. Using a combination of game factors and custom quitting factors, I quantified the quitting behavior of player with a statistical hazard of quitting. I also showed evidence for tilting in chess players, that occurs as a consquence of quitting a chess match.

Quitting in Long Distance Runners

My second project looks at process-tracing the thoughts of stopping that long-distance runners experience during a run. In order to accomplish this, I conducted field experiments where long-distance runners ran around a track with a wearbale device at a pre-specified pace catered to each runner's endurance levels. Runners self-reported their stopping thoughts using the device. I study the time series of stopping thoughts in order to explicate how the thoughts impact the runner's decision to completely stop the run. This project has been one of my favourites due to the wide range of runners that i have met along the way who have shared their stories with me.

Quitting Doomscrolling

In my third project, I wanted to study a real-life issue faced by many people today: the problem of not being able to stop mindless scrolling. Colloquially termed as 'doomscrolling', this term has come to encompass the act of mindlessly engaging in activities that are relevant with regards to a person's current goals. This is an ongoing project where I make willing participants wear a EEG headset and observe them while they are working and engaging in doomscrolling. I am currently in the process of analyzing the data and hope to have some results soon.

Publications

A metacognitive appraisal of quitting.
Hariharan Purohit, and Nisheeth Srivastava (2025). Proceedings of the 47th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society.

Measuring the completeness of race models for perceptual decision-making
Anjali Sifar, Hariharan Purohit, and Nisheeth Srivastava (2023). Proceedings of the 45th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society.

Factors Affecting Academic Achievement in Students: An Empirical Study
Vinita Vader, Hariharan Purohit, and Shreya Pandit (2018). Journal of Educational Planning and Administration.

conference papers & abstracts

'Sounds like a skill issue': what makes you quit at chess?
Hariharan Purohit, and Nisheeth Srivastava (2024). 11th Annual Conference on Cognitive Science.

Measuring Behavioural Variability in Random Dot Motion Task
Hariharan Purohit, Anjali Sifar, and Nisheeth Srivastava (2022). 9th Annual Conference on Cognitive Science.