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Rob Ross

@robert-m-ross.bsky.social

600 followers 950 following 65 posts

Cultural evolution, delusions, metascience, misinformation, reasoning, and religion. Macquarie University, Sydney. (Google Scholar: https://tinyurl.com/5f2udu5p)

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Environmental science 27%

Psychology 19%

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Reposted by Gordon Hodson, Robert M. Ross, Mark J. Brandt , and 7 more Gordon Hodson, Robert M. Ross, Mark J. Brandt, Calvin K. Lai, Ian Hussey, Patrick S. Forscher, Andrew Livingstone, Kate A. Ratliff, Eric Hehman, Paul Nightingale

Samantha Joel @datingdecisions.bsky.social · 29d

In a new paper, my colleagues and I set out to demonstrate how method biases can create spurious findings in relationship science, by using a seemingly meaningless scale (e.g., "My relationship has very good Saturn") to predict relationship outcomes. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Pseudo Effects: How Method Biases Can Produce Spurious Findings About Close Relationships - Samantha Joel, John K. Sakaluk, James J. Kim, Devinder Khera, Helena Yuchen Qin, Sarah C. E. Stanton, 2025

Research on interpersonal relationships frequently relies on accurate self-reporting across various relationship facets (e.g., conflict, trust, appreciation). Y...

journals.sagepub.com

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Rob Ross @robert-m-ross.bsky.social · Aug 29

My collaborator Alessandro Sparacio is leading a new multisite study examining the effectiveness of self-administered mindfulness meditation for stress reduction. More details here: www.linkedin.com/posts/alessa...

Research Scientist | Alessandro Sparacio

🤝 Join Our Global Study on Mindfulness & Mental Health! 🌍 We are seeking international collaborators for a funded, multi-site study: "Building Resilience Across Socioeconomic Contexts." This projec...

www.linkedin.com

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Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol, Dorothy Bishop, Robert M. Ross , and 1 more Richard S.J. Tol, Dorothy Bishop, Robert M. Ross, Robert C. Richards

Association for Psychological Science @psychscience.bsky.social · Aug 8

APS's journal AMPPS has accepted its first manuscript through a collaboration with a nonprofit that offers decentralized, community-driven peer review. @dsbarra.bsky.social

AMPPS Accepts First Manuscript From Innovative Peer Review System

The APS journal Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science has accepted its first manuscript through a collaboration with a nonprofit that offers decentralized, community-driven peer review.

www.psychologicalscience.org

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Reposted by Dorothy Bishop, Robert M. Ross, Jill A. Jacobson

Wendy Higgins @wchiggins.bsky.social · Aug 6

oh wow! lovely to see people engaging with my research 😃

www.bps.org.uk/research-dig...

The ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test’ may be less robust than we thought | BPS

A new paper assesses the widely-used tool.

www.bps.org.uk

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Rob Ross @robert-m-ross.bsky.social · Aug 1

Article is open access 🙂 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Rob Ross @robert-m-ross.bsky.social · Aug 1

Is there a relationship between delusional ideation and a jumping to conclusions cognitive bias? Our new meta-analysis led by Rose Doherty (wisely not on social media) syntheses evidence from 42 studies and finds... nothing! First publication from her PhD research 🎉

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Reposted by Robert M. Ross

Willem Sleegers @willemsleegers.bsky.social · Feb 6

It's finally out! Our large-scaled replication attempt of the induced compliance paradigm in the study of cognitive dissonance:
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

A Multilab Replication of the Induced-Compliance Paradigm of Cognitive Dissonance

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Reposted by Robert M. Ross

Rob Ross @robert-m-ross.bsky.social · May 19

My PhD student and I wrote a thing about theory of mind, autism, and psychological measurement: www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/its...

It’s past time to stop using the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test

The widely used measure of “theory of mind” needs to be re-examined, along with the long-standing claim that autism is linked to a lack of this ability.

www.thetransmitter.org

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Reposted by Robert M. Ross

Rob Ross @robert-m-ross.bsky.social · Nov 18

Response to commentaries on our recently published multisite study that failed to find evidence for cognitive dissonance theory (led by @willemsleegers.bsky.social and @vaidis.bsky.social) journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10....

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Reposted by Robert M. Ross

Wendy Higgins @wchiggins.bsky.social · Apr 10

Introducing Dr Wendy Higgins and the Reading the Mammal in the Eyes Test.

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Reposted by Gordon Pennycook, Robert M. Ross, Mark J. Brandt

Omid Ghasemi @omidghasemi.bsky.social · Jun 5

Our recently published paper in Psychonomic Bulletin & Review on #reasoning styles and #belief in God is now featured by @psychonomicsociety.bsky.social!
Thanks, Jonathan Caballero, for the interesting article.

📄 Read the paper here: doi.org/10.3758/s134...

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Reposted by Robert M. Ross

Psychonomic Society @psychonomicsociety.bsky.social · Jun 3

Mysterious ways our reasoning styles relate to belief in God. #psynomPBR paper by @omidghasemi.bsky.social @onurcanyilmaz.bsky.social @jennyterry.bsky.social @robert-m-ross.bsky.social. Post by J Caballero

Reflecting on godly matters … and on cognitive reasoning styles

Our world is incredibly vast and culturally diverse. One of the evident ways in which cultures differ includes their religious beliefs, creating a rich array of expressions and practices. Wandering…

wp.me

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Rob Ross @robert-m-ross.bsky.social · May 18

I had hoped AI could unlock the secrets of the universe. Sadly, I was wrong...

Rob Ross @robert-m-ross.bsky.social · Apr 24

Wendy Higgins recently joined BlueSky (@wchiggins.bsky.social) and was awarded her PhD! Follow her for more cutting edge developments in psychological measurement, including measurement of ToM 🙂

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Rob Ross @robert-m-ross.bsky.social · Apr 18

For the full story see this summary by the leader of the research project @willgervais.com
bsky.app/profile/will...

Will Gervais @willgervais.com · Mar 28

🚨New Paper Klaxon 🚨

Belief in Belief: Even Atheists in Secular Countries Show Intuitive Preferences Favoring Religious Belief.

Now out at PNAS

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Here's a quick 🧵 on what we did and found!👇

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🧪
#atheism
#religion
#culture
#evolution

Belief in belief: Even atheists in secular countries show intuitive preferences favoring religious belief | PNAS

We find evidence of belief in belief—intuitive preferences for religious belief over atheism, even among atheist participants—across eight comparat...

www.pnas.org

Rob Ross @robert-m-ross.bsky.social · Apr 18

Just in time for Easter lighthouse.mq.edu.au/article/apri...

Atheists have a soft spot for God, new study shows

lighthouse.mq.edu.au

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Reposted by Robert M. Ross, Sarah J. Schoppe‐Sullivan

Nature Human Behaviour @nathumbehav.nature.com · Apr 17

Why do scientists disagree with each other? This new study from @justinsulik.bsky.social et al. surveys psychologists to find that scientific divides are associated with differences in researcher cognitive traits. @mi3lab.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Differences in psychologists’ cognitive traits are associated with scientific divides - Nature Human Behaviour

Scientific disagreements are not just a matter of using different methods or having conflicting data. Sulik et al. surveyed psychological scientists and found that disagreements are also associated wi...

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Robert M. Ross

Mark Alfano @markalfano.bsky.social · Apr 16

new preprint available!

Trust from Mistrust: When is Trust Rationally Justified?

Co-authors @michalk.bsky.social @stevebland.bsky.social @robert-m-ross.bsky.social

osf.io/preprints/ps...

Drawing on insights from Nietzsche's Human All-too-human, we develop a framework for wisely placing trust 🧵

OSF

osf.io

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Rob Ross @robert-m-ross.bsky.social · Apr 10

Thanks. You're right! I failed to notice these stats on the researcher profile. I agree that this is much less neat (and useful) than publons was -- all this blah (which duplicates Google Scholar profiles and the Pure blah) detracts from the single piece of information that is very useful. Sigh.

Rob Ross @robert-m-ross.bsky.social · Apr 10

Wendy Higgins (@wchiggins.bsky.social), who developed all these projects that interrogated the validity of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test, has just been awarded her PhD and joined BlueSky! Follow her for more cutting-edge research on measurement and meta-science!

Rob Ross @robert-m-ross.bsky.social · Apr 1

Have you every found yourself wondering whether the most widely used measures of social cognitive ability measure what they are supposed to measure?

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Rob Ross @robert-m-ross.bsky.social · Apr 10

Dr Wendy Higgins, who developed several brilliant projects that interrogated the validity of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test, has been awarded her PhD and joined BlueSky! Follow her for cutting-edge research on measurement and meta-science as she begins the next stage of her academic carer! 😀

Wendy Higgins @wchiggins.bsky.social · Apr 10

Introducing Dr Wendy Higgins and the Reading the Mammal in the Eyes Test.

Rob Ross @robert-m-ross.bsky.social · Apr 10

If it's totally dead I guess it's a "failed attempt" to reward peer review?

Rob Ross @robert-m-ross.bsky.social · Apr 10

Is Publons defunct? It got bought by Clarivate Analytics several years ago (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publons). When I dig around on their webpage attempting to access it I go round in circles. I was thinking of mentioning it in a metascience paper as an example of an attempt to reward peer review.

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Rob Ross @robert-m-ross.bsky.social · Apr 1

Thanks! Lion's share of the credit for this work goes to Wendy Higgins!

Rob Ross @robert-m-ross.bsky.social · Apr 1

Encourage your students to take up the baton and examine more social cognitive measures please 🙂

Rob Ross @robert-m-ross.bsky.social · Apr 1

I reckon a process of elimination is the best approach. There are typically two absurd responses and then it's a coin toss to identify the "correct" response.

Rob Ross @robert-m-ross.bsky.social · Apr 1

Thanks! We're hoping that understatement could be a good approach to winning over the research community. Could be wrong though 🙃

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Rob Ross @robert-m-ross.bsky.social · Apr 1

Rest assured that things haven't changed. See opening example: www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/its...

It’s past time to stop using the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test

The widely used measure of “theory of mind” needs to be re-examined, along with the long-standing claim that autism is linked to a lack of this ability.

www.thetransmitter.org

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