Leyla Isik
@lisik.bsky.social
Cognitive neuroscientist studying visual and social perception. Asst Prof at JHU Cog Sci. She/her
Reposted by Leyla Isik
starting fall 2026 i'll be an assistant professor at @upenn.edu 🥳
my lab will develop scalable models/theories of human behavior, focused on memory and perception
currently recruiting PhD students in psychology, neuroscience, & computer science!
reach out if you're interested 😊
my lab will develop scalable models/theories of human behavior, focused on memory and perception
currently recruiting PhD students in psychology, neuroscience, & computer science!
reach out if you're interested 😊
November 25, 2025 at 9:36 PM
starting fall 2026 i'll be an assistant professor at @upenn.edu 🥳
my lab will develop scalable models/theories of human behavior, focused on memory and perception
currently recruiting PhD students in psychology, neuroscience, & computer science!
reach out if you're interested 😊
my lab will develop scalable models/theories of human behavior, focused on memory and perception
currently recruiting PhD students in psychology, neuroscience, & computer science!
reach out if you're interested 😊
Reposted by Leyla Isik
New perspective paper (w/ @sedaakbiyik.bsky.social, Joseph Outa, & @minjaek.bsky.social ) in @natrevpsychol.nature.com ⚽💭🧠👶 : www.nature.com/articles/s44...
How physical information is used to make sense of the psychological world - Nature Reviews Psychology
Reasoning about minds and reasoning about physical objects are governed by two distinct systems. In this Perspective, Liu et al. review research from developmental psychology and cognitive neuroscienc...
www.nature.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:14 PM
New perspective paper (w/ @sedaakbiyik.bsky.social, Joseph Outa, & @minjaek.bsky.social ) in @natrevpsychol.nature.com ⚽💭🧠👶 : www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Reposted by Leyla Isik
✨🔦✨ This month's JHU Cog Sci Student Spotlight features PhD student Yash Mehta @yashsmehta.bsky.social
Read about Yash's research and exciting summer🔗👇
cogsci.jhu.edu/2025/11/10/s...
Read about Yash's research and exciting summer🔗👇
cogsci.jhu.edu/2025/11/10/s...
Student Spotlight: Yash Mehta on Summer Opportunities | Cognitive Science
Cognitive Science PhD student Yash Mehta had quite a busy summer. Yash, a member of the Cognitive Neuroscience & Deep Learning Group here at JHU, led by Professor Mick Bonner, spent the summer far fro...
cogsci.jhu.edu
November 13, 2025 at 4:34 PM
✨🔦✨ This month's JHU Cog Sci Student Spotlight features PhD student Yash Mehta @yashsmehta.bsky.social
Read about Yash's research and exciting summer🔗👇
cogsci.jhu.edu/2025/11/10/s...
Read about Yash's research and exciting summer🔗👇
cogsci.jhu.edu/2025/11/10/s...
Reposted by Leyla Isik
Why do AI models struggle with social scenes? 🧐 Our new preprint with @lisik.bsky.social reveals a fundamental gap: most AI vision models lack explicit 3D pose information that humans rely on for social judgments.
Read the full work: arxiv.org/abs/2511.03988
Read the full work: arxiv.org/abs/2511.03988
Simple 3D Pose Features Support Human and Machine Social Scene Understanding
Humans can quickly and effortlessly extract a variety of information about others' social interactions from visual input, ranging from visuospatial cues like whether two people are facing each other t...
arxiv.org
November 10, 2025 at 12:38 AM
Why do AI models struggle with social scenes? 🧐 Our new preprint with @lisik.bsky.social reveals a fundamental gap: most AI vision models lack explicit 3D pose information that humans rely on for social judgments.
Read the full work: arxiv.org/abs/2511.03988
Read the full work: arxiv.org/abs/2511.03988
Reposted by Leyla Isik
My lab at Boston University has open positions for a postdoc and PhD students. We study visual perception, attention, and decision making with a focus on temporal dynamics. Check out our recent work here sites.bu.edu/denisonlab/ and email me if you're interested in learning more
November 5, 2025 at 2:05 PM
My lab at Boston University has open positions for a postdoc and PhD students. We study visual perception, attention, and decision making with a focus on temporal dynamics. Check out our recent work here sites.bu.edu/denisonlab/ and email me if you're interested in learning more
Reposted by Leyla Isik
I am accepting graduate students for the UCI Cognitive Sciences PhD program for Fall 2026. Check out my lab website - www.relcoglab.org for our recent themes. Our funded work focuses on combinatorial reasoning, moral decision-making, and conceptual cognition in humans and large language models.
Relational Cognition Lab
www.relcoglab.org
November 5, 2025 at 8:09 AM
I am accepting graduate students for the UCI Cognitive Sciences PhD program for Fall 2026. Check out my lab website - www.relcoglab.org for our recent themes. Our funded work focuses on combinatorial reasoning, moral decision-making, and conceptual cognition in humans and large language models.
Reposted by Leyla Isik
Interested in doing a PhD at the intersection of human and machine cognition? ✨ I'm recruiting students for Fall 2026! ✨
Topics of interest include pragmatics, metacognition, reasoning, & interpretability (in humans and AI).
Check out JHU's mentoring program (due 11/15) for help with your SoP 👇
Topics of interest include pragmatics, metacognition, reasoning, & interpretability (in humans and AI).
Check out JHU's mentoring program (due 11/15) for help with your SoP 👇
The department of Cognitive Science @jhu.edu is seeking motivated students interested in joining our interdisciplinary PhD program! Applications due 1 Dec
Our PhD students also run an application mentoring program for prospective students. Mentoring requests due November 15.
tinyurl.com/2nrn4jf9
Our PhD students also run an application mentoring program for prospective students. Mentoring requests due November 15.
tinyurl.com/2nrn4jf9
November 4, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Interested in doing a PhD at the intersection of human and machine cognition? ✨ I'm recruiting students for Fall 2026! ✨
Topics of interest include pragmatics, metacognition, reasoning, & interpretability (in humans and AI).
Check out JHU's mentoring program (due 11/15) for help with your SoP 👇
Topics of interest include pragmatics, metacognition, reasoning, & interpretability (in humans and AI).
Check out JHU's mentoring program (due 11/15) for help with your SoP 👇
Reposted by Leyla Isik
Please repost! I am looking for a PhD candidate in the area of Computational Cognitive Neuroscience to start in early 2026.
The position is funded as part of the Excellence Cluster "The Adaptive Mind" at @jlugiessen.bsky.social.
Please apply here until Nov 25:
www.uni-giessen.de/de/ueber-uns...
The position is funded as part of the Excellence Cluster "The Adaptive Mind" at @jlugiessen.bsky.social.
Please apply here until Nov 25:
www.uni-giessen.de/de/ueber-uns...
November 4, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Please repost! I am looking for a PhD candidate in the area of Computational Cognitive Neuroscience to start in early 2026.
The position is funded as part of the Excellence Cluster "The Adaptive Mind" at @jlugiessen.bsky.social.
Please apply here until Nov 25:
www.uni-giessen.de/de/ueber-uns...
The position is funded as part of the Excellence Cluster "The Adaptive Mind" at @jlugiessen.bsky.social.
Please apply here until Nov 25:
www.uni-giessen.de/de/ueber-uns...
@jhucogsci.bsky.social is now on bluesky 🦋
Give us a follow and check out the info about our PhD program
Give us a follow and check out the info about our PhD program
The department of Cognitive Science @jhu.edu is seeking motivated students interested in joining our interdisciplinary PhD program! Applications due 1 Dec
Our PhD students also run an application mentoring program for prospective students. Mentoring requests due November 15.
tinyurl.com/2nrn4jf9
Our PhD students also run an application mentoring program for prospective students. Mentoring requests due November 15.
tinyurl.com/2nrn4jf9
October 30, 2025 at 7:58 PM
@jhucogsci.bsky.social is now on bluesky 🦋
Give us a follow and check out the info about our PhD program
Give us a follow and check out the info about our PhD program
Reposted by Leyla Isik
The department of Cognitive Science @jhu.edu is seeking motivated students interested in joining our interdisciplinary PhD program! Applications due 1 Dec
Our PhD students also run an application mentoring program for prospective students. Mentoring requests due November 15.
tinyurl.com/2nrn4jf9
Our PhD students also run an application mentoring program for prospective students. Mentoring requests due November 15.
tinyurl.com/2nrn4jf9
October 30, 2025 at 7:09 PM
The department of Cognitive Science @jhu.edu is seeking motivated students interested in joining our interdisciplinary PhD program! Applications due 1 Dec
Our PhD students also run an application mentoring program for prospective students. Mentoring requests due November 15.
tinyurl.com/2nrn4jf9
Our PhD students also run an application mentoring program for prospective students. Mentoring requests due November 15.
tinyurl.com/2nrn4jf9
Check out this new preprint led by @gkathy.bsky.social showing how a new fine-tuning scheme using human similarity judgements can improve existing video models, making them more human-aligned on different social tasks!
arxiv.org/abs/2510.01502
arxiv.org/abs/2510.01502
🚨New preprint w/ @lisik.bsky.social!
Aligning Video Models with Human Social Judgments via Behavior-Guided Fine-Tuning
We introduce a ~49k triplet social video dataset, uncover a modality gap (language > video), and close via novel behavior-guided fine-tuning.
🔗 arxiv.org/abs/2510.01502
Aligning Video Models with Human Social Judgments via Behavior-Guided Fine-Tuning
We introduce a ~49k triplet social video dataset, uncover a modality gap (language > video), and close via novel behavior-guided fine-tuning.
🔗 arxiv.org/abs/2510.01502
October 3, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Check out this new preprint led by @gkathy.bsky.social showing how a new fine-tuning scheme using human similarity judgements can improve existing video models, making them more human-aligned on different social tasks!
arxiv.org/abs/2510.01502
arxiv.org/abs/2510.01502
Reposted by Leyla Isik
🚨New preprint w/ @lisik.bsky.social!
Aligning Video Models with Human Social Judgments via Behavior-Guided Fine-Tuning
We introduce a ~49k triplet social video dataset, uncover a modality gap (language > video), and close via novel behavior-guided fine-tuning.
🔗 arxiv.org/abs/2510.01502
Aligning Video Models with Human Social Judgments via Behavior-Guided Fine-Tuning
We introduce a ~49k triplet social video dataset, uncover a modality gap (language > video), and close via novel behavior-guided fine-tuning.
🔗 arxiv.org/abs/2510.01502
October 3, 2025 at 1:48 PM
🚨New preprint w/ @lisik.bsky.social!
Aligning Video Models with Human Social Judgments via Behavior-Guided Fine-Tuning
We introduce a ~49k triplet social video dataset, uncover a modality gap (language > video), and close via novel behavior-guided fine-tuning.
🔗 arxiv.org/abs/2510.01502
Aligning Video Models with Human Social Judgments via Behavior-Guided Fine-Tuning
We introduce a ~49k triplet social video dataset, uncover a modality gap (language > video), and close via novel behavior-guided fine-tuning.
🔗 arxiv.org/abs/2510.01502
Reposted by Leyla Isik
Forget modeling every belief and goal! What if we represented people as following simple scripts instead (i.e "cross the crosswalk")?
Our new paper shows AI which models others’ minds as Python code 💻 can quickly and accurately predict human behavior!
shorturl.at/siUYI%F0%9F%...
Our new paper shows AI which models others’ minds as Python code 💻 can quickly and accurately predict human behavior!
shorturl.at/siUYI%F0%9F%...
October 3, 2025 at 2:24 AM
Forget modeling every belief and goal! What if we represented people as following simple scripts instead (i.e "cross the crosswalk")?
Our new paper shows AI which models others’ minds as Python code 💻 can quickly and accurately predict human behavior!
shorturl.at/siUYI%F0%9F%...
Our new paper shows AI which models others’ minds as Python code 💻 can quickly and accurately predict human behavior!
shorturl.at/siUYI%F0%9F%...
Reposted by Leyla Isik
I'm recruiting PhD students to join my new lab in Fall 2026! The Shared Minds Lab at @usc.edu will combine deep learning and ecological human neuroscience to better understand how we communicate our thoughts from one brain to another.
October 1, 2025 at 10:39 PM
I'm recruiting PhD students to join my new lab in Fall 2026! The Shared Minds Lab at @usc.edu will combine deep learning and ecological human neuroscience to better understand how we communicate our thoughts from one brain to another.
Reposted by Leyla Isik
My lab at USC is recruiting!
1) research coordinator: perfect for a recent graduate looking for research experience before applying to PhD programs: usccareers.usc.edu REQ20167829
2) PhD students: see FAQs on lab website dornsife.usc.edu/hklab/faq/
1) research coordinator: perfect for a recent graduate looking for research experience before applying to PhD programs: usccareers.usc.edu REQ20167829
2) PhD students: see FAQs on lab website dornsife.usc.edu/hklab/faq/
September 28, 2025 at 9:46 PM
My lab at USC is recruiting!
1) research coordinator: perfect for a recent graduate looking for research experience before applying to PhD programs: usccareers.usc.edu REQ20167829
2) PhD students: see FAQs on lab website dornsife.usc.edu/hklab/faq/
1) research coordinator: perfect for a recent graduate looking for research experience before applying to PhD programs: usccareers.usc.edu REQ20167829
2) PhD students: see FAQs on lab website dornsife.usc.edu/hklab/faq/
New preprint led by @hsmall.bsky.social with @hleemasson.bsky.social, Ericka Wodka and Stewart Mostofsky: Ubiquitous cortical sensitivity to visual information during naturalistic, audiovisual movie viewing
Check out the paper osf.io/b5p4n and Hannah's summary 👇
Check out the paper osf.io/b5p4n and Hannah's summary 👇
Excited to share new work with @hleemasson.bsky.social , Ericka Wodka, Stewart Mostofsky and @lisik.bsky.social! We investigated how simultaneous vision and language signals are combined in the brain using naturalistic+controlled fMRI. Read the paper here: osf.io/b5p4n
1/n
1/n
September 25, 2025 at 11:56 AM
New preprint led by @hsmall.bsky.social with @hleemasson.bsky.social, Ericka Wodka and Stewart Mostofsky: Ubiquitous cortical sensitivity to visual information during naturalistic, audiovisual movie viewing
Check out the paper osf.io/b5p4n and Hannah's summary 👇
Check out the paper osf.io/b5p4n and Hannah's summary 👇
Reposted by Leyla Isik
See the speakers for 2025-26 #KempnerInstitute Seminar Series!
bit.ly/46xphKq
@moiradillon.bsky.social @lisik.bsky.social @profsanjeevarora.bsky.social @kyunghyuncho.bsky.social @scychan.bsky.social @stellaathena.bsky.social @judithfan.bsky.social @engeltatiana.bsky.social @zdeborova.bsky.social
bit.ly/46xphKq
@moiradillon.bsky.social @lisik.bsky.social @profsanjeevarora.bsky.social @kyunghyuncho.bsky.social @scychan.bsky.social @stellaathena.bsky.social @judithfan.bsky.social @engeltatiana.bsky.social @zdeborova.bsky.social
September 11, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Reposted by Leyla Isik
Excited to share our (Flo Martinez Addiego @yuqiliu1179.bsky.social @culhamari-lab.bsky.social) paper, now published in PNAS!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
(or an easier read on medicine.georgetown.edu/news-release... )
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
(or an easier read on medicine.georgetown.edu/news-release... )
Action-type mapping principles extend beyond evolutionarily conserved actions, even in people born without hands | PNAS
How are actions represented in the motor system? Although the sensorimotor system
is broadly organized somatotopically, higher-level sensorimotor a...
www.pnas.org
August 20, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Excited to share our (Flo Martinez Addiego @yuqiliu1179.bsky.social @culhamari-lab.bsky.social) paper, now published in PNAS!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
(or an easier read on medicine.georgetown.edu/news-release... )
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
(or an easier read on medicine.georgetown.edu/news-release... )
Reposted by Leyla Isik
What fun to hang out in Amsterdam with former lab members, dear friends, and scientific rock stars @evfedorenko.bsky.social @lisik.bsky.social @apurvaratan.bsky.social @carolinerobertson.bsky.social
August 15, 2025 at 2:13 PM
What fun to hang out in Amsterdam with former lab members, dear friends, and scientific rock stars @evfedorenko.bsky.social @lisik.bsky.social @apurvaratan.bsky.social @carolinerobertson.bsky.social
Excited to be in Amsterdam for #CCN2025! If you're here, check out the presentations from our lab 👇@qinwenshuo.bsky.social @ziruichen.bsky.social @manasimalik.bsky.social
@cogcompneuro.bsky.social
@cogcompneuro.bsky.social
August 11, 2025 at 8:54 AM
Excited to be in Amsterdam for #CCN2025! If you're here, check out the presentations from our lab 👇@qinwenshuo.bsky.social @ziruichen.bsky.social @manasimalik.bsky.social
@cogcompneuro.bsky.social
@cogcompneuro.bsky.social
Reposted by Leyla Isik
If you're heading to @cogscisociety.bsky.social, come to our symposium “Perception as a Foundation for Common‑Sense Theories of the World”
📅 August 1 • 9 AM
📍 Salon 2
With
@thiskevinsmith.bsky.social
@shariliu.bsky.social
@judithfan.bsky.social
@ardeeb.bsky.social
— See you there! #CogSci2025
📅 August 1 • 9 AM
📍 Salon 2
With
@thiskevinsmith.bsky.social
@shariliu.bsky.social
@judithfan.bsky.social
@ardeeb.bsky.social
— See you there! #CogSci2025
July 29, 2025 at 2:50 PM
If you're heading to @cogscisociety.bsky.social, come to our symposium “Perception as a Foundation for Common‑Sense Theories of the World”
📅 August 1 • 9 AM
📍 Salon 2
With
@thiskevinsmith.bsky.social
@shariliu.bsky.social
@judithfan.bsky.social
@ardeeb.bsky.social
— See you there! #CogSci2025
📅 August 1 • 9 AM
📍 Salon 2
With
@thiskevinsmith.bsky.social
@shariliu.bsky.social
@judithfan.bsky.social
@ardeeb.bsky.social
— See you there! #CogSci2025
If you're heading to @cogscisociety.bsky.social check out the presentations from our lab
And congratulations again to @emaliemcmahon.bsky.social on her Glushko dissertation prize 🥳
And congratulations again to @emaliemcmahon.bsky.social on her Glushko dissertation prize 🥳
July 29, 2025 at 1:08 PM
If you're heading to @cogscisociety.bsky.social check out the presentations from our lab
And congratulations again to @emaliemcmahon.bsky.social on her Glushko dissertation prize 🥳
And congratulations again to @emaliemcmahon.bsky.social on her Glushko dissertation prize 🥳
Reposted by Leyla Isik
New paper! Here (in Nature Communications) we (Ale Geraci, Luca Surian, Lucia Gabriella Tina, & I; work led/run by Ale) show that 5-day-old newborns selectively attend to two distinct forms of prosocial over antisocial action: approaching versus avoiding and helping versus hindering.
rdcu.be/evorW
rdcu.be/evorW
Human newborns spontaneously attend to prosocial interactions
Nature Communications - Abilities to distinguish between prosocial and antisocial actions are crucial for sustaining cooperative systems. Here, the authors show that human newborns with just 5 days...
rdcu.be
July 8, 2025 at 8:57 PM
New paper! Here (in Nature Communications) we (Ale Geraci, Luca Surian, Lucia Gabriella Tina, & I; work led/run by Ale) show that 5-day-old newborns selectively attend to two distinct forms of prosocial over antisocial action: approaching versus avoiding and helping versus hindering.
rdcu.be/evorW
rdcu.be/evorW
Reposted by Leyla Isik
New paper from Laura Lewis and Jan Engelmann et al. (including me) with a clever new method. Chimps and kids will forgo reward to get a chance to look at social interactions
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10....
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10....
Chimpanzees and children are curious about social interactions | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Curiosity is adaptive, enhances learning, and reduces uncertainty. Social curiosity is defined as the motivation to gain information about the actions, relationships, and psychology of others. Little is known about the developmental and evolutionary roots ...
royalsocietypublishing.org
June 4, 2025 at 5:19 PM
New paper from Laura Lewis and Jan Engelmann et al. (including me) with a clever new method. Chimps and kids will forgo reward to get a chance to look at social interactions
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10....
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Leyla Isik
This framing is all wrong
Our international students are not a “crucial funding source”
They are our STUDENTS
They are the reason we EXIST
We teach STUDENTS
Our international students are not a “crucial funding source”
They are our STUDENTS
They are the reason we EXIST
We teach STUDENTS
May 22, 2025 at 6:21 PM
This framing is all wrong
Our international students are not a “crucial funding source”
They are our STUDENTS
They are the reason we EXIST
We teach STUDENTS
Our international students are not a “crucial funding source”
They are our STUDENTS
They are the reason we EXIST
We teach STUDENTS