Language and Memory Aging Lab
@lamalab.bsky.social
230 followers 180 following 10 posts
PI: Brennan Payne. The Language and Memory Aging (LaMA) Lab is a cognitive neuroscience lab at the University of Utah. https://lama-lab.com
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lamalab.bsky.social
Hello everyone! A brief bio: we are a cognitive neuroscience research lab in the Psychology department at University of Utah. We research the cognitive and neural bases of language comprehension across the adult lifespan using tools like EEG, eye tracking, and TMS. Account run by Brennan Payne.
Reposted by Language and Memory Aging Lab
irisvanrooij.bsky.social
🚨Our paper `Reclaiming AI as a theoretical tool for cognitive science' is now forthcoming in the journal Computational Brain & Behaviour. (Preprint: osf.io/preprints/ps...)

Below a thread summary 🧵1/n

#metatheory #AGI #AIhype #cogsci #theoreticalpsych #criticalAIliteracy
The idea that human cognition is, or can be understood as, a form of computation is a useful conceptual tool for cognitive science. It was a foundational assumption during the birth of cognitive science as a multidisciplinary field, with Artificial Intelligence (AI) as one of its contributing fields. One conception of Al in this context is as a provider of computational tools (frameworks, concepts, formalisms, models, proofs, simulations, etc.) that support theory building in cognitive science. The contemporary field of Al, however, has taken the theoretical possibility of explaining human cognition as a form of computation to imply the practical feasibility of realising human(-like or -level) cognition in factual computational systems; and, the field frames this realisation as a short-term inevitability. Yet, as we formally prove herein, creating systems with human(-like or -level) cognition is intrinsically computationally intractable.
Reposted by Language and Memory Aging Lab
joshuasweitz.bsky.social
There is time to urge a change to the current #GRFP solicitation ( #NSF 25-547 ): reverse the eligibility restrictions and ensure applicants (including 2nd year PhD students) have a fair chance in the competition.

Feel free to sign and share this open petition:
laurenkuehne.github.io/grfpChanges/
Petition to NSF to Restore Eligibility for the 2026 Graduate Research Fellowship Program Competition
laurenkuehne.github.io
lamalab.bsky.social
🚨Pre-print alert!🚨 osf.io/preprints/ps...
The first paper from our NIDCD-funded study examining the effects of aging, acoustic challenge, and hearing loss on language-related ERPs. w/ Jack Silcox, David Strayer, Sarah Ferguson, and Karen Bennett. Check it out!
Reposted by Language and Memory Aging Lab
Reposted by Language and Memory Aging Lab
psychscience.bsky.social
President Trump’s FY26 budget for #NSF will slash funding for the agency by 56.9% and funding for Social, Behavioral, and Economic sciences by 67.6%

These cuts will end US STEM leadership, weaken national security, and set-back individual prosperity and well-being.
Reposted by Language and Memory Aging Lab
battalio.com
The President's Budget request as released yesterday will gut scientific research. Why should you care?
1) Science is fundamentally a jobs program. Many 100,000s are employed to do science and work for you, the US taxpayer.
NSF, NASA and NIH budgets per year, inflation adjusted from 2000-2025 along with the proposed cuts. NSF includes research component only. Massive cuts across all sectors, well below support spanning 25 years.
lamalab.bsky.social
Devastating...
emikracht.bsky.social
Social, Behavioral, & Economic Sciences is getting hit with a 67.6% cut, worse than other programs within NSF. Funding for archaeologists comes from the division for Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences, which is facing a 77.3% cut.

It appears every post doc program has been 100% cut.
Screenshot of NSF budget cuts to various programs
Reposted by Language and Memory Aging Lab
davidimiller.bsky.social
I am so heartened to this seriously AWESOME #SaveNSF website go up today!!!!

Has a take action toolkit with:

1. Press outreach templates
2. Social media toolkit
3. Elected official outreach
4. Talking points

Check it out and share widely!!!! Likely more to come.

www.savensf.com
Welcome to Save The U.S. National Science Foundation
A Girl Looking at a Physics Model
TAKE ACTION
Save NSF is a coalition of concerned scientists and allies who are working to save funding for scientific grants through the U.S. National Science Foundation.

 

Our mission is to support and advocate for the continuation of vital research and innovation in various scientific fields. NSF funding is critical to this work.

 

 Join us in our endeavor to ensure a sustainable future for scientific exploration and discovery.
lamalab.bsky.social
And here is a free link to the published paper, now in Brain and Language: authors.elsevier.com/c/1l18O,28iJ...
Reposted by Language and Memory Aging Lab
mh-christiansen.bsky.social
Every year at the end of the semester, I ask the students in my Psych of Language class to create memes about what they've learned. They then vote for their favorites.
Here's the winner about how the idea of a universal grammar is no longer as compelling as it once seemed.
1/5
A meme about Chomsky's notion of universal grammar and how it is no longer as dominant in theories of language acquisition
lamalab.bsky.social
Out now in Brain & Language -- "Did you say brain or brave? Event-related potentials reveal the central role of phonological prediction in false hearing"

osf.io/preprints/os...
Reposted by Language and Memory Aging Lab
irahyman.bsky.social
Hey academics, wondering about changes for evaluating job applicants and T&P decisions.

Downgrade importance of grants if getting grants is no longer based on scientific evaluation.

Increase the value of communication with the general public. We need to speak clearly about the value of our work.
lamalab.bsky.social
Had a blast at #CNS2025! Proud of our LaMA labbers who gave some awesome presentations!
Reposted by Language and Memory Aging Lab
Reposted by Language and Memory Aging Lab
prasad.bsky.social
“NIH produces an astounding return on investment to the American taxpayer. In Fiscal Year 2022, NIH research funding supported 568,585 jobs and generated $96.84 billion in economic activity — that’s $2.64 of economic activity for every $1 of research funding.”
www.researchamerica.org/2023-oped-us...
crampell.bsky.social
Research supported by NIH has led more than 100 Nobel Prizes and has supported more than 99% of drugs approved by federal regulators from 2010 to 2019.
But come January, NIH may face a wrecking ball
nytimes.com/2024/12/01/h...
Long a ‘Crown Jewel’ of Government, N.I.H. Is Now a Target
nytimes.com
lamalab.bsky.social
A great time at #psynom24 seeing new science, presenting our recent work, and catching up with old friends!
lamalab.bsky.social
Hello everyone! A brief bio: we are a cognitive neuroscience research lab in the Psychology department at University of Utah. We research the cognitive and neural bases of language comprehension across the adult lifespan using tools like EEG, eye tracking, and TMS. Account run by Brennan Payne.