Benedek Kurdi
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benedek.bsky.social
Benedek Kurdi
@benedek.bsky.social
Experimental psychologist studying social learning and memory, assistant professor @psychillinois.bsky.social, SAB chair @projectimplicit.bsky.social, AE at JEP:G & @openmindjournal.bsky.social, immigrant, 🏳️‍🌈, he/him
Pinned
Paper in @pnas.org in which @d-melnikoff.bsky.social and I provide evidence for model-based effects on automatic evaluation. This was a super fun “adversarial” collaboration with 0 adversariality. It may have been nice to be right, but getting it right is nearly as nice: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Benedek Kurdi
Bluesky is the new science Twitter, new study by @whysharksmatter.bsky.social and Julia Wester concludes!

"Results show that for every reported professional benefit that scientists once gained from Twitter, scientists can now gain that benefit more effectively on Bluesky than on Twitter."
Scientists no Longer Find Twitter Professionally Useful, and have Switched to Bluesky
Synopsis. Social media has become widely used by the scientific community for a variety of professional uses, including networking and public outreach. For
academic.oup.com
February 13, 2026 at 10:08 PM
Reposted by Benedek Kurdi
📊 Sometimes belonging comes down to a checkbox. Our new paper in PSPB led by Brenda Straka finds that the way Latino identity is formatted on demo forms, especially the traditional two-question census format, can subtly undermine feelings of inclusion and belonging

news.illinois.edu/study-demogr...
Study: Demographic forms can undermine sense of belonging in Latino Americans – News Bureau
news.illinois.edu
February 13, 2026 at 2:25 PM
Reposted by Benedek Kurdi
🎉 Excited to share our new paper on how the brain forms first impressions, now out (open access)!

In our EEG study, we tested how the brain responds to two kinds of social information: what we see (like perceived race) and what we know (like a person’s socioeconomic status).

🧵
February 12, 2026 at 6:10 PM
Reposted by Benedek Kurdi
(Mic check 1-2-3)

I'm on the job market🚨

I’m a social psychologist building computational models to study social cognition, attitudes, polarization, and how people update beliefs.

Evidence accumulation models, Hierarchical Bayes, Agent-based models, NLP, etc.

Interested in formal theorizing!
February 12, 2026 at 7:00 AM
Reposted by Benedek Kurdi
New piece in the March issue of Social Forces tracing 120 years of segregation.

We note the emergence of a new kind of segregation starting the 1950s: macro-segregation.
doi.org/10.1093/sf/s...
@sfjournal.bsky.social
The changing spatial pattern of metropolitan racial segregation, 1900–2020: the rise of macro-segregation
Abstract. This paper tracks 120 years of Black-white segregation in US metropolitan areas. We draw on comprehensive Census data at consistent small-scale g
doi.org
February 12, 2026 at 5:21 PM
Reposted by Benedek Kurdi
Our lab has the capacity to test ~500 uni students each semester
If you’re a researcher in cognitive psychology or metascience and need data collection support, we’d love to collaborate. We can help collect high-quality data from a large student sample.
Get in touch to discuss potential projects!
February 12, 2026 at 12:18 PM
Reposted by Benedek Kurdi
Postdoc position!

Myself and @jordanaxt.bsky.social are seeking applications for a shared post-doctoral researcher at McGill, beginning Fall 2026.

Topic area broadly centered on intergroup dynamics, prejudice, discrimination

Full description here: hehmanlab.org/ad
1/2
ad
hehmanlab.org
February 11, 2026 at 7:45 PM
Reposted by Benedek Kurdi
When my son was 3, his Ped and Dentist both women (and his mom a prof): "Mom, can boys be doctors, too?" 😂💕

Cool study - manipulating gender composition in jobs can move gender stereotypes in kids 6-10 - interesting implications for early intervention to expand access to occupational feasibility.
Children do not endorse a "male = brilliance" stereotype when reasoning about novel occupations: https://osf.io/acvp2
February 10, 2026 at 2:56 PM
Reposted by Benedek Kurdi
Proud advisor moment. Check out my student, Emily Zohar's, new paper (her first first-authored paper) on how norms shape how effort. Yes, when we see hard workers around us, we work harder. But...when we see lazy people around us, we also work harder. Check it out!

psycnet.apa.org/record/2027-...
APA PsycNet
psycnet.apa.org
February 10, 2026 at 1:39 PM
Reposted by Benedek Kurdi
Imagination in bonobos!

I am thrilled to share a new paper w/ Amalia Bastos, out now in @science.org

We provide the first experimental evidence that a nonhuman animal can follow along a pretend scenario & track imaginary objects. Work w/ Kanzi, the bonobo, at Ape Initiative

youtu.be/NUSHcQQz2Ko
Apes Share Human Ability to Imagine
YouTube video by Johns Hopkins University
youtu.be
February 5, 2026 at 7:18 PM
Reposted by Benedek Kurdi
Why do otherwise rational people disagree about the same evidence? Our new paper finds that group membership is a deeply rooted influence on how we form beliefs, leading even preschoolers to bias their evidential standards and form inaccurate beliefs.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
February 5, 2026 at 4:56 PM
Reposted by Benedek Kurdi
McGill is hiring a faculty lecturer in social psychology, in a (non-adjunct) permanent teaching position.

Please consider being my colleague, Montreal is really great: mcgill.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/McGill...
Faculty Lecturer - Department of Psychology
Please refer to the How to Apply for a Job (for External Candidates) job aid for instructions on how to apply. If you are an active McGill employee (ie: currently in an active contract or position at ...
mcgill.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com
February 4, 2026 at 9:36 PM
Reposted by Benedek Kurdi
SPSP is just around the corner and in our backyard of Chicago! @lydiaemery.bsky.social and I love the Chicago food scene, and we've put together a list of places we like. We hope this will help you enjoy and explore Chicago!! See y'all soon!!

docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Chicago Restaurant Recs
Chicago Restaurant Recommendations from Jin Goh and Lydia Emery Chicago has an amazing food scene. You can get a great meal in pretty much any neighborhood, all of which have unique culture, food, an...
docs.google.com
February 1, 2026 at 5:39 PM
Reposted by Benedek Kurdi
Hey, help us out with this search and repost this announcement. Thanks.
Assistant Professor in Cognitive Psychology, Tenure-Track Position at Western Washington University.

This is an assistant professor position in applied cognitive psychology.

Short 🧵 about this position. 1/?

Here is the link with details and for applying: hr.wwu.edu/careers-facu...
January 28, 2026 at 6:41 PM
Reposted by Benedek Kurdi
What motivates people to engage in climate advocacy?

In a new PNAS Nexus megastudy [https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf400] led by @dgoldwert.bsky.social we tested 17 theoretical interventions on a large US sample (N=31,324) to increase public, political, and financial climate advocacy.

1/5
January 27, 2026 at 6:23 PM
Reposted by Benedek Kurdi
I just created a series of seven deep-dive videos about AI, which I've posted to youtube and now here. 😊

Targeted to laypeople, they explore how LLMs work, what they can do, and what impacts they have on learning, well-being, disinformation, the workplace, the economy, and the environment.
Part 1: How do LLMs work?
YouTube video by Andrew Perfors
www.youtube.com
January 22, 2026 at 12:45 AM
Reposted by Benedek Kurdi
#AcademicSky #PrejudiceResearch

New paper out by Paolini et al. on habit-ruptures in intergroup contact

www.nature.com/articles/s44...

(If you like that, our also team has a related paper in press at American Psychologist, led by Rose Meleady)
psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-...
Towards a habit-rupture model of intergroup contact in everyday settings - Nature Reviews Psychology
The literature assumes that intergroup contact is naturally occurring, positive and consistently associated with positive outcomes, but these premises are inconsistent with everyday intergroup contact...
www.nature.com
January 21, 2026 at 9:53 PM
Reposted by Benedek Kurdi
🚨New pub alert!🚨 Now available open-access in @hcr-journal.bsky.social, I show how endorsements of entertainment media from ingroup members, particularly inpartisans, affect exposure intentions, with differential effects across racial lines. #PolComm #PoliSci #Politics #MediaStudies 🧵
January 21, 2026 at 6:46 PM
Reposted by Benedek Kurdi
CAIC has been hard at work creating an interdisciplinary hub for pursuing big questions in cognitive science. This spring we are excited to officially launch the Cognition, Agency, Intelligence Conference featuring talks by an amazing lineup of interdisciplinary researchers. See you on April 2-3! 🥳
January 20, 2026 at 6:15 PM
Reposted by Benedek Kurdi
arxiv.org/abs/2601.11432
I want to share an astonishing result. LLMs can "translate" Jabberwocky' texts like 'He dwushed a ghanc zawk” & even and even 'In the BLANK BLANK, BLANK BLANK has BLANK over any BLANK BLANK’s BLANK' This has profound consequence for thinking about.. 1/2
arxiv.org
January 19, 2026 at 3:27 AM
Reposted by Benedek Kurdi
With some trepidation, I'm putting this out into the world:
gershmanlab.com/textbook.html
It's a textbook called Computational Foundations of Cognitive Neuroscience, which I wrote for my class.

My hope is that this will be a living document, continuously improved as I get feedback.
January 9, 2026 at 1:27 AM
Reposted by Benedek Kurdi
Project Implicit is facing an existential threat. After almost 30 years, 60 million visitors, and hundreds of published papers, funding for our work has disappeared.

We’ve never held a fundraising drive before, but we need your support to keep our site running. Please consider donating! 🙏
Project Implicit is a research nonprofit behind tools millions use to understand bias. Like many public science orgs, sustaining this work has become increasingly difficult. We are at risk of closing without additional support.

Help protect this impt work by donating here: 4agc.com/donate/impli...
January 8, 2026 at 6:10 PM
Reposted by Benedek Kurdi
a project I really like, now officially out!

"Shape Guides Visual Pretense"

by Qian and me

paper link: direct.mit.edu/opmi/article...

I'll walk through a quick version here

To get a sense of it, first consider:

Would it make more sense to pretend that this block is a car, or a strawberry?
January 6, 2026 at 2:34 PM
Reposted by Benedek Kurdi
Call for Applications! APS's Editorial Fellowship Program (EFP) is now OPEN #AcademicSky

📝 Evaluate submitted manuscripts
🔍 Select and invite reviewers
🤝 Receive mentorship across five APS journals
💵 US $1,000 stipend

Learn more & apply by February 6 www.psychologicalscience.org/publications...
APS Editorial Fellowship Program: Call for Applications
Deadline: February 6, 2026APS is pleased to announce the application process for the next cohort of the Editorial Fellowship Program (EFP) is now open. This program aims to increase opportunities for ...
www.psychologicalscience.org
January 6, 2026 at 2:50 PM
Reposted by Benedek Kurdi
A fascinating new paper by Amanda Royka and colleagues explores why monkeys fail false belief tasks.

A natural explanation would be that monkeys wrongly assume that other agents share their own knowledge.

Royka et al. find that this is NOT the case...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Exploring the evolutionary roots of theory of mind: Primate errors on false belief tasks reveal representational limits
Human adults flexibly reason about others' unobservable mental states, a capacity known as Theory of Mind (ToM). Unfortunately, the roots of this capa…
www.sciencedirect.com
January 2, 2026 at 5:21 PM