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Alisa Loosen

@alisaloosen.bsky.social

230 followers 230 following 15 posts

Postdoctoral Researcher in Computational Neuroscience & Psychiatry @Yale University | Previously Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai | PhD from UCL Max Planck Centre & Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging UCL She/Her

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Alisa Loosen @alisaloosen.bsky.social · 22d

📢 NEW PREPRINT 📢 We show a metacognitive paradox (not blanket deficit!) in OCD: confidence is persistently lower, but fluctuations track evidence more tightly and are nearer Bayes-optimal.

www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7...
🧵👇

The metacognitive paradox of OCD: confidence is globally reduced but shows increased sensitivity to local evidence

Confidence is a critical metacognitive signal that guides performance. Biases in confidence, such as excessive doubt, are hallmark features of mental health disorders, especially obsessive- compulsive...

www.researchsquare.com

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Reposted by Alisa Loosen

Simon Ciranka @simyciri.bsky.social · 9d

😍 Our latest is out now in @commspsychol.nature.com. 🤩 We show with Bayesian modelling and experimental manipulation of uncertainty that developmental differences in social influence depend on differences in the internal uncertainty people have about their choice
doi.org/10.1038/s442...

Internal uncertainty impacts social information use in risky choice across adolescence - Communications Psychology

Adolescents’ choices are influenced by others. A social risky choice experiment and Bayesian modelling reveal that age differences in internal uncertainty, being unsure how to choose, relate to differences in susceptibility to social influence.

doi.org

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Alisa Loosen @alisaloosen.bsky.social · 22d

And a result of a collaboration across @ucl.ac.uk & @yale.edu and at the Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry & UCL’s FIL @uclbrainscience.bsky.social and support from @maxplanck.de & @wellcometrust.bsky.social

Alisa Loosen @alisaloosen.bsky.social · 22d

With brilliant Brian Zaboski, Avalon Moore, Calvin Bohner, Helen Pushkarskaya, Christopher Pittenger & @tobiasuhauser.bsky.social

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Alisa Loosen @alisaloosen.bsky.social · 22d

4/4 This shows a clear disconnect: well-tracked evidence without a stable felt certainty. It aligns with work on heightened internal uncertainty and information seeking in OCD and argues against a blanket deficit in decision-making, learning, or metacognition.

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Alisa Loosen @alisaloosen.bsky.social · 22d

3/4 Strikingly, we found that the fluctuations of confidence ratings of individuals with OCD were more susceptible to decision evidence and more aligned to a Bayesian Observer model.

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Alisa Loosen @alisaloosen.bsky.social · 22d

2/4 Despite no significant differences in decision accuracy, participants with OCD showed lower confidence throughout the task, indicating a persistent negative metacognitive bias.

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Alisa Loosen @alisaloosen.bsky.social · 22d

1/4 Patients with OCD and matched controls, recruited and assessed at the Yale OCD Research Clinic, completed a rule-shifting task with trial-by-trial confidence ratings.

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Alisa Loosen @alisaloosen.bsky.social · 22d

The metacognitive paradox of OCD: confidence is globally reduced but shows increased sensitivity to local evidence

www.researchsquare.com

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Reposted by Alisa Loosen

Evan Russek @evanrussek.bsky.social · Aug 6

Thrilled to announce that I'll be starting in January 2026 as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Hunter College, City University of New York.

The lab will study the thought processes that underlie our decision-making.

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Reposted by Alisa Loosen

Evan Russek @evanrussek.bsky.social · Jun 10

So excited for our #RLDM2025 workshop on Thursday, Chess as a bridge between human cognition and artificial intelligence, co-organized with Ionatan Kuperwajs.

sites.google.com/nyu.edu/ches...

Chess @ RLDM

Workshop Description Chess presents an intriguing case study in complex decision-making and multi-step planning. Historically, the psychology underlying chess play has been a topic of great interest,...

sites.google.com

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Reposted by Alisa Loosen

Lénárd Döme @lenarddome.bsky.social · May 21

📢 We still have some places left, but they are limited – so don't miss out!

New to computational modelling? Or want to sharpen your workflow? This workshop is for you – based on our easy-to-use library that does modelling for you: cpm-toolbox.net

Extend your stay at #CPConf2025
Sign up now👇

Lénárd Döme @lenarddome.bsky.social · May 2

We are excited to announce our hands-on workshop aimed at lowering barriers to entry into the world of computational modeling using our user-friendly python toolbox, cpm (cpm-toolbox.net)!

📢 Limited seats – don't miss out!
📅 17.07.2025 9.00 – 13.00 📍 Tübingen
Apply 👉 forms.office.com/e/xtqb6sv604

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Reposted by Alisa Loosen

Tobias Hauser @tobiasuhauser.bsky.social · Apr 22

Late Abstract Submissions Now Open – Limited Space Available!
We are now accepting late abstract submissions for the 2025 Computational Psychiatry Conference in Tübingen!
cmt3.research.microsoft.com/CPConf2025/S... (1/3) #CPConf2025

Conference Management Toolkit - Login

Microsoft's Conference Management Toolkit is a hosted academic conference management system. Modern interface, high scalability, extensive features and outstanding support are the signatures of Micros...

cmt3.research.microsoft.com

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Reposted by Alisa Loosen

Matilde Vaghi @matildevaghi.bsky.social · Mar 28

📣 I'm hiring 📣
Join the Vaghi Lab @birkbeckpsychology.bsky.social!
We're seeking a postdoctoral researcher with strong fMRI expertise to lead the development of neurocognitive paradigms and use dense-sampling fMRI in the general population and in OCD patients. 🧠 (1/3)
cis7.bbk.ac.uk/vacancy/post...

Postdoctoral Researcher (2106) - Birkbeck, University of London

Birkbeck

cis7.bbk.ac.uk

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Reposted by Alisa Loosen

Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics @mpicybernetics.bsky.social · Apr 4

Today is the last day to vote for CaCTüS 🌵as one of the most inspiring and successful concepts for the Impact of Diversity Award 🏳️‍🌈. Help us show what real change in living diversity in the sciences 🔬⚛️ looks like! Cast your vote for CaCTüS now!
iodaward.awardstage.com/public/judgi...

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Reposted by Alisa Loosen

Shawn Rhoads @shawnrhoadsphd.com · Apr 4

🚨 @markkho.bsky.social & I are hiring a joint postdoc interested in computational models of social interaction & computational psychiatry

💻 Ideal candidates have experience w/ multi-player web-based experiments & computational modeling

📅 Review begins April 18, 2025

🔗 apply.interfolio.com/165809

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Reposted by Alisa Loosen

Mark Ho @markkho.bsky.social · Apr 4

🤔 Interested in models of social interaction and computational psychiatry?

🤗 If so, @shawnrhoadsphd.bsky.social and I are seeking a highly motivated and talented postdoc to work on these topics!

Please share widely!

apply.interfolio.com/165809

We are hiring! Interested in computational models of social interaction and computational psychiatry?

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Reposted by Alisa Loosen

Samuel Hewitt, PhD @samuelhewitt.bsky.social · Aug 13

why is that effortful task SO unappealing today?
v happy to share a BIG effort from my PhD!

Real-world fluctuations in motivation drive effort-based choices
https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/w3x7d
with incredible co-authors Dr Agnes Norbury, Prof Quentin Huys & @tobiasuhauser.bsky.social

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Alisa Loosen @alisaloosen.bsky.social · Jun 7

💡Learned lesson: Small details, big impact. This project showed us just how much seemingly minor choices matter in complex task designs. A huge thank you to everyone in the community who gave us valuable insights!

Alisa Loosen @alisaloosen.bsky.social · Jun 7

4/4: Our findings 1) highlight the need for a thorough assessment of task measures and 2) emphasize the importance of carefully considering task details (e.g., varying vs. stable hazard rate & uncertainty), tailoring the design to the specific research question at hand.

Alisa Loosen @alisaloosen.bsky.social · Jun 7

3/4: However, some of the more complex links between these behavioural measures and factors derived from a Bayesian learner were less robust. 🤔

Alisa Loosen @alisaloosen.bsky.social · Jun 7

2/4: We found key measures of confidence and behavioural adaptation to be consistent and reliable over the entire task and around environmental shifts.📊

Alisa Loosen @alisaloosen.bsky.social · Jun 7

1/4: New paper alert! Our paper investigating the psychometric properties of the predictive-inference task, a key paradigm for studying how we adapt to sudden environmental changes, is now out! w/ @seowxft.bsky.social @tobiasuhauser.bsky.social

link.springer.com/article/10.3...

Consistency within change: Evaluating the psychometric properties of a widely used predictive-inference task - Behavior Research Methods

Rapid adaptation to sudden changes in the environment is a hallmark of flexible human behaviour. Many computational, neuroimaging, and even clinical investigations studying this cognitive process have...

link.springer.com

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Alisa Loosen @alisaloosen.bsky.social · Jan 26

Join us for the official launch of our "OCD and the Brain" website on January 27th at 10am EST/ 3pm GMT 💻 via www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN1s...

Very excited to unveil the results of our nearly two-year-long co-production!

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Reposted by Alisa Loosen

Tobias Hauser @tobiasuhauser.bsky.social · Jan 19

🚨 Job Alert 🚨
Developmental Computational Psychiatry lab is hiring!
We are looking for postdocs in CBT, neuroimaging, developmental psychology, and a lab manager.
We offer: brand new MRI, great coffee, wonderful place w nature
Interested? Email me!
Details: devcompsy.org/join-the-lab/
#neuroscience

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