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urihertz.bsky.social
Uri Hertz
@urihertz.bsky.social
1.9K followers 360 following 46 posts
PI at the cog-sci dept at the university of Haifa. Social-cognitive-computational psychology, and sometimes neuroscience. www.socialdecisionlab.net
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urihertz.bsky.social
Uri Hertz @urihertz.bsky.social · Nov 26
New paper! Led by Elena Kozakevitch-Arbel, with Simone Shamay-Tsoory, we used multi-dimensional reinforcement learning approach to examine whether people are sensitive to different dimensions of social scenarios during empathic interactions www.nature.com/articles/s44... 🧵
Adaptive empathic response selection is sensitive to multiple dimensions of social interaction - Communications Psychology
When providing emotional support and deciding on an empathic reaction, responders were sensitive to changes in the person requiring empathy, the emotional state of that person, and the cause of their ...
www.nature.com
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Reposted by Uri Hertz
anllohernan.bsky.social
Hernán Anlló @anllohernan.bsky.social · 6h
I haven't given any news a while, I've been nose deep into this novel preprint with my excellent collaborators @stepalminteri.bsky.social, @urihertz.bsky.social and Bahador Bahrami: "Uncovering the semantics of teaching in
experiential learning with Large Language Models".
doi.org/10.31234/osf...
OSF
doi.org
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Reposted by Uri Hertz
sharky6000.bsky.social
Marc Lanctot @sharky6000.bsky.social · 1d
Hello all! 👋 🚨 New Preprint Alert! 🚨

Code World Models for General Game-Playing. ♟️🎲 ♣️♥️♠️♦️

I am pleased to announce our new paper, which provides an extremely sample-efficient way to create an agent that can perform well in multi-agent, partially-observed, symbolic environments!

🧵 1/N
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Reposted by Uri Hertz
elianahadtime.bsky.social
Eliana Hadjiandreou @elianahadtime.bsky.social · 2d
Why do we derogate effective altruists, activists, & other radically prosocial individuals? In new work, we discuss how doing good that deviates from social norms gets stigmatized. New preprint w/ @dcameron.bsky.social @tlau.bsky.social @desmond-ong.bsky.social: osf.io/preprints/ps...
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Reposted by Uri Hertz
steverathje.bsky.social
Steve Rathje @steverathje.bsky.social · 3d
Our recent review article "The Psychology of Virality" with @jayvanbavel.bsky.social
is on the front cover of this month's issue of
@cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social.
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Reposted by Uri Hertz
nicolecrust.bsky.social
Nicole Rust @nicolecrust.bsky.social · 3d
Please spread the word! I am recruiting a PhD student this cycle (Fall 2026 start) to join my team in a new venture: the neuroscience of mood.

If you are curious to learn more, this short talk provides a good overview of why, what and how.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjIK...
Nicole Rust - The representation of mood in the primate insula (May 6, 2025)
YouTube video by Simons Foundation
www.youtube.com
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Reposted by Uri Hertz
jayvanbavel.bsky.social
Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 3d
Why do some ideas spread widely, while others fail to catch on?

Our new review paper on the PSYCHOLOGY OF VIRALITY is now out in @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social (it was led by @steverathje.bsky.social)

Read the full paper here: www.cell.com/trends/cogni...
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Reposted by Uri Hertz
commspsychol.nature.com
Communications Psychology @commspsychol.nature.com · 2d
People often receive rewards for good performance, but what happens when rewards do not reflect ability? Two behavioral studies suggest that rewards can impact how we evaluate our own ability, above and beyond the impact of actual performance.
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Rewards bias self-evaluations of ability - Communications Psychology
People often receive rewards for good performance, but what happens when rewards do not reflect ability? Two behavioral studies suggest that rewards can impact how we evaluate our own ability, above and beyond the impact of actual performance.
www.nature.com
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Reposted by Uri Hertz
eraneldar.bsky.social
Eran Eldar @eraneldar.bsky.social · 8d
Happy to share our new work showing how social emotions such as anger and gratitude establish an interindividual form of actor-critic learning, which leads to the emergence of norms in groups of interacting individuals.

Now published at @apajournals.bsky.social: psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-...
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Reposted by Uri Hertz
lhuntneuro.bsky.social
Laurence Hunt @lhuntneuro.bsky.social · 15d
Looking for a PhD next year? Want to come and work on the next generation of OPM-MEG/EEG biomarkers in computational psychiatry?

Apply for our MRC iCase studentship with @mkflugge.bsky.social, collabs with @lilweb.bsky.social + industrial placement at P1Vital:
www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/study/gradua...
Development of robust, single-subject markers of predictive inference for computational psychiatry
www.medsci.ox.ac.uk
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Reposted by Uri Hertz
jzleibo.bsky.social
Joel Z Leibo @jzleibo.bsky.social · 21d
Concordia 2.0: www.cooperativeai.com/post/google-...
Google DeepMind Releases Concordia Library v2.0
Google DeepMind has released Concordia v2.0, a platform providing a robust environment for creating multi-agent simulations, games, and AI evaluations.
www.cooperativeai.com
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Reposted by Uri Hertz
toddgureckis.bsky.social
todd gureckis @toddgureckis.bsky.social · 15d
🚨 New preprint: "Decision rule inference limits social escape from learning traps" (with Rheza Budiono and Cate Hartley of the @hartleylabnyu.bsky.social ✨). Read here: osf.io/preprints/ps.... This is more work on a very curious phenomena!
OSF
osf.io
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kristorpjensen.bsky.social
Kris Jensen @kristorpjensen.bsky.social · 17d
I’m super excited to finally put my recent work with @behrenstimb.bsky.social on bioRxiv, where we develop a new mechanistic theory of how PFC structures adaptive behaviour using attractor dynamics in space and time!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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sansmeeting.bsky.social
SANS @sansmeeting.bsky.social · 17d
Symposium submissions are now open for #SANS2026 in San Diego! The deadline for these submissions is November 17th at 23:59 Pacific. Check out the submission guidelines here: socialaffectiveneuro.org/symposia-gui...
Symposia Guidelines - Social Affective Neuroscience Society
socialaffectiveneuro.org
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rdhawkins.bsky.social
Robert Hawkins @rdhawkins.bsky.social · 19d
arxiv.org/abs/2509.15560

"Human and machine intelligence as collective, language-based intelligence."
How important is language for human-like intelligence?
We use language to communicate our thoughts. But is language merely the expression of thoughts, which are themselves produced by other, nonlinguistic parts of our minds? Or does language play a more t...
arxiv.org
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Reposted by Uri Hertz
guyitzchakov.bsky.social
GuyItzchakov @guyitzchakov.bsky.social · 20d
A new article in Current Opinion in Psychology: Willful ignorance is the deliberate avoidance of information that is relevant but uncomfortable or threatening. We argue that when attitudes are strong, people are more likely to engage in this behavior.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Attitude Strength as a Novel Predictor of Willful Ignorance
Willful ignorance is a pervasive phenomenon with significant consequences for decision-making, belief maintenance, and social polarization. While past…
www.sciencedirect.com
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Reposted by Uri Hertz
jayvanbavel.bsky.social
Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 22d
Our new paper explains the #polarization of public health

Identifying with a social group can shape people’s beliefs and values, leading them to act in ways that have consequences for their health

From vaccine hesitancy to smoking cessation, identity plays a critical role:
osf.io/preprints/ps...
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Reposted by Uri Hertz
anitakeshmirian.bsky.social
Anita Keshmirian, PhD. @anitakeshmirian.bsky.social · 22d
Excited to share that my recent paper *many llms are more utilitarian than one * has been accepted to NeurIPS 2025! 🎉
#NeurIPS

Thanks to my amazing collaborators!
@razanbaltaji.bsky.social

Preprint: arxiv.org/abs/2507.00814
Many LLMs Are More Utilitarian Than One
Moral judgment is integral to large language model (LLM) alignment and social reasoning. As multi-agent systems gain prominence, it becomes crucial to understand how LLMs function collectively during ...
arxiv.org
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Reposted by Uri Hertz
royesal.bsky.social
Roy Salomon @royesal.bsky.social · 25d
Just published in World Psychiatry our study "Trauma under psychedelics: how psychoactive substances impact trauma processing" . Amazing work led by @ophirnetzer.bsky.social with the brave survivors of the Nova festival attack. Huge team effort, thx to all!
👉 doi.org/10.1002/wps....
Trauma under psychedelics: how psychoactive substances impact trauma processing
Click on the article title to read more.
doi.org
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culturalevolsoc.bsky.social
Cultural Evolution Society @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social · 28d
The count down starts for #CESRabat! Follow @ces2026.bsky.social and join us May 11-13 next year for an exciting meeting in Rabat, Morocco.

Massive thanks to the #CESRabat organising committee:
Sarah Alami (co-chair)
Mathieu Charbonneau (co-chair)
Zachary Garfield
Edmond Seabright
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wiringthebrain.bsky.social
Kevin Mitchell @wiringthebrain.bsky.social · 29d
Here's a link to the paper: Beyond Mechanism—Extending Our Concepts of Causation in Neuroscience onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Beyond Mechanism—Extending Our Concepts of Causation in Neuroscience
The search for neural mechanisms of behaviour often relies on a synchronic, driving view of causation, where neural activity drives more neural activity, which eventually drives behaviour. The real c...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
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joebarnby.com
Joe Barnby @joebarnby.com · Sep 10
🤖After a fantastic debut in 2025, the Theory of Mind in AI workshop at AAAI is back for 2026!

We invite submissions on ToM in artificial & biological intelligence—across comp sci, cog sci, comp psych, psychiatry & more.

CFP 👉 tom4ai.github.io/AAAI2026/cal...

2025 procs 👉 arxiv.org/abs/2505.03770
Call for Papers - ToM4AI Workshop@AAAI 2026
tom4ai.github.io
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tomstafford.mastodon.online.ap.brid.gy
Tom Stafford @tomstafford.mastodon.online.ap.brid.gy · Sep 11
Reliability, bias and randomisation in peer review: a simulation

https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/4gqce_v1

new preprint from UKRI #metascience Unit
For a variety of reasons, including a need to save time and a desire to reduce biases in outcomes, some funders of research have started to use partial randomisation in their funding decision processes. The effect that randomisation interventions have on the reliability of those processes should, it is argued, be a consideration in their use, but this key aspect of their implementation remains under-appreciated. Using a simple specification of a research proposal peer review process, simulations are carried out to explore the ways in which decision reliability, bias, extent of decision randomisation and other factors interact. As might be expected, based on both logic and existing knowledge, randomisation has the potential to reduce bias, but it may also reduce decision reliability as inferred from the F1 score and accuracy of a simulated binary (successful, rejected) decision outcome classification process. Bias is also found, in one sense and qualitatively, to be rather insensitive to partial randomisation as it is typically applied in real- world situations. The simple yet apparently effective specification of the simulation of reviewer scores implemented here may also provide insights into the distribution of merit across research funding proposals, and of assessment of them.
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stefanherzog.bsky.social
Stefan Herzog @stefanherzog.bsky.social · Sep 11
🧠🤖 Ever wondered about the risks of the increasing customization capabilities of AI/AI-powered chatbots & what we can do about it? Check out our recent-ish paper:

The governance & behavioral challenges of generative artificial intelligence’s hypercustomization capabilities. doi.org/10.1177/2379...
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lmesseri.bsky.social
Lisa Messeri @lmesseri.bsky.social · Sep 9
yup! shameless book and article plug if you want to go deep on the previous hype cycle and get some different angles for critiquing AI
Book, "In the Land of the Unreal": www.dukeupress.edu/in-the-land-...
Article, "Putting Big Tech in its Place": anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
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nicholaraihani.bsky.social
Prof Nichola Raihani @nicholaraihani.bsky.social · Sep 5
Our response to Corlett & co on what they call 'pseudo-social' paranoia is now online in TICS. We hope this clarifies some persistent misunderstandings of our work and approach. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Pseudo-approaches lead to pseudo-explanations: reply to Corlett et al.
www.sciencedirect.com
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