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Allie Sinclair

@asinclair.bsky.social

9.5K followers 850 following 230 posts

Incoming Asst Prof at Rice (2026) Postdoc @UPenn, Duke PhD 🧠 Cognitive neuroscientist/psychologist exploring how we recall the past & predict the future to change behavior Interventions for health, climate change, & education http://sinclairlab-rice.com

sinclairlab-rice.com

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Allie Sinclair @asinclair.bsky.social · Sep 8

🌟 Excited to share that I'm recruiting PhD students in Psychology for my new lab at Rice University this cycle (Signal boost appreciated!)

To learn more, check out the Learning & Behavior Change Lab website:
www.sinclairlab-rice.com

Applications are due Dec 1st: psychology.rice.edu/graduate/pro...

Sinclair Lab

The Learning & Behavior Change Lab at Rice University, directed by Dr. Sinclair

www.sinclairlab-rice.com

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Allie Sinclair @asinclair.bsky.social · 4d

Attending #SNE2025? Come learn about how we applied insights from cognitive psych/neuro to inform policy-relevant decision making to address the current science funding crisis!

I’ll be presenting a poster this afternoon from 2:45-4 PM, board #48 in the Skyline Foyer! @socforneuroecon.bsky.social

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Allie Sinclair @asinclair.bsky.social · 5d

📣 Job opportunity: the SCIMaP team is hiring a Communication + Media Outreach specialist to support our work on mapping and communicating the impact of science funding cuts!

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 5d

New job 🚨:

Our #SCIMaP (scienceimpacts.org) team is searching for a Research Communications and Media Outreach Specialist to facilitate public engagement related to federal investment in science and health research.

Application review starts Oct 10:
umd.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/UMCP/j...

Research Communications and Media Outreach Specialist

Job Description Summary Organization's Summary Statement: The Science & Community Impacts Mapping Project (SCIMaP: https://scienceimpacts.org/) is committed to visualizing and communicating the lo...

umd.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com

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Reposted by Allie Sinclair

Robert Kelchen @robertkelchen.com · 7d

The government is officially shut down, but the Trump administration is trying to get nine selective colleges to agree to major controls on their operations in order to get a leg up on federal funding.

www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...

Letters on Wednesday were going out to solicit agreement and feedback from Vanderbilt University, Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Texas, the University of Arizona, Brown University and the University of Virginia, according to an administration official.

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Reposted by Allie Sinclair

Garvin Brod @garvinbrod.bsky.social · 8d

You can learn better by making your own predictions than by watching someone else's predictions, even if they are the same as yours. New computational approach to show the benefits of active/generative learning developed together with the fabulous @ebonawitz.bsky.social rdcu.be/eILdR

Do it yourself: discerning the effects of self-directed activity on conceptual learning

npj Science of Learning - Do it yourself: discerning the effects of self-directed activity on conceptual learning

rdcu.be

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Allie Sinclair @asinclair.bsky.social · 7d

Yay!!! So exciting!!!

Reposted by Allie Sinclair

Lexi Decker @lexidecker.bsky.social · 7d

Excited to share that I'm joining WashU in January as an Assistant Prof in Psych & Brain Sciences! 🧠✨!

I'm also recruiting grad students to start next September - come hang out with us! Details about our lab here: www.deckerlab.com

Reposts are very welcome! 🙌 Please help spread the word!

DeckerLab

www.deckerlab.com

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Allie Sinclair @asinclair.bsky.social · 7d

Had a wonderful time ✨ exploring ✨ new ideas and meeting cool people at the Curiosity, Info Seeking, and Exploration symposium #CISE2025! Thanks to all the organizers and Brown for hosting! Hope to be back next time.

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Reposted by Allie Sinclair

Save NSF @savensf.bsky.social · 9d

🚨 The White House's FY 2026 proposed budget cuts to NSF would lead to expected economic losses of ~$11 billion.

Learn more about this data from the Science and Community Impacts Mapping Project in Save NSF's most recent newsletter: mailchi.mp/savensf/prop...

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Reposted by Allie Sinclair

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 10d

White House Funding Cuts to the National Science Foundation Threaten America’s Global Leadership in Science
joshuasweitz.substack.com/p/white-hous...

new long-form post joint with @malar0ne.bsky.social, @cl10.bsky.social and @asinclair.bsky.social

White House FY2026 proposed budget would be lowest funding level in 25+ years.

https://joshuasweitz.substack.com/p/white-house-funding-cuts-to-the-national

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Reposted by Allie Sinclair

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 14d

New from #SCIMaP - analysis of the White House’s Proposed FY 2026 National Science Foundation Budget.

Take-home: Slashing NSF by >50% will lead to ~$11 billion in economic loss and extensive job loss and reduced training opportunities in communities nationwide.

Report: osf.io/e8rnc

a 🧵

Economic loss from the White House's NSF FY 2026 Proposed Budget

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Reposted by Allie Sinclair

Alex Barnett @alexbarnett.bsky.social · 22d

New preprint! My stellar undergrad, June Kim, & @charan-neuro.bsky.social find that intersubject pattern similarity at encoding (especially in posteromedial cortex) relates to shared/differing content between Ss at recall (measured using topic modeling) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Natural language processing captures memory content associated with shared neural patterns at encoding

People can experience the same event yet form distinct memories shaped by individual interpretations. Prior research shows that multivariate activity patterns in the Default Mode Network (DMN) are cor...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Allie Sinclair

Gretchen Goldman, PhD @gretchentg.bsky.social · 23d

Science and scientists are under attack like never before and we need all the tools in the toolbox to fight back. Here's my @nature.com book review of Science Under Siege. Thanks for speaking up for science, @michaelemann.bsky.social and @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

How did assaults on science become the norm — and what can we do?

An insightful book explores attacks on science from a historical and a personal perspective.

www.nature.com

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Allie Sinclair @asinclair.bsky.social · 23d

Our new short correspondence in @nature.com: Protecting science funding in the national budget is crucial, but it’s not enough. We have an impoundment problem.

What happens when money that Congress allocated for science gets withheld?

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 23d

"The impoundment of funds that the US Congress designated for support of science and medical research endangers US investments in people, projects and health advances."

New, short correspondence with @malar0ne.bsky.social, @asinclair.bsky.social & @jeremymberg.bsky.social:

🎁
rdcu.be/eGCOe

Impoundment of funds endangers US investment in science and medical research | Nature

Letter to the Editor

rdcu.be

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Allie Sinclair @asinclair.bsky.social · 23d

Looking forward to sharing my work and hearing some other great talks on motivation and cognition!

Motivated Cognition Meetings @motcogmeet.bsky.social · 23d

Announcing our FALL Schedule! Please like and share!
@kendraseaman.bsky.social @colleencfrank.bsky.social @sebastianshorn.bsky.social @kimberlychiew.bsky.social @zitamayer.bsky.social @srndna.bsky.social

Allie Sinclair @asinclair.bsky.social · 24d

Excited to share that SCIMaP (scienceimpacts.org) is now supported by a new award from Open Philanthropy!

Read more in the press release here:

cmns.umd.edu/news-events/...

Reposted by Allie Sinclair

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · Sep 9

"Hostility, exclusion and academic bullying should be formally recognised as research integrity issues because they directly impact who gets to succeed and whose voices are silenced."

By @maddipow.bsky.social

Research integrity needs a kindness agenda or we will lose ECRs

Responding to early-career researchers’ honest questions with accusations of misconduct is a travesty of open science, says Madeleine Pownall

www.timeshighereducation.com

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Reposted by Allie Sinclair

Buddhika Bellana @buddhikabellana.bsky.social · Sep 5

How might stories shed light on brain function? Check out this opinion piece by @alexbarnett.bsky.social and I about the DMN and "situation models" -- our understanding of the current "state of affairs" in a story (or even experience).

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

On the left: an illustration from Brooke's 1904 rendition of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, where Little bear discovers their favourite chair is broken 😲. On the right, a sketch of what a corresponding "situation model" might contain.

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Allie Sinclair @asinclair.bsky.social · Sep 8

Please feel free to reach out and connect to learn more about the lab and chat about potential fit! To start the conversation, please email [email protected] with a description of your interests and a copy of your CV.

Allie Sinclair @asinclair.bsky.social · Sep 8

Strong candidates will have:
- prior degree(s) in psychology, neuroscience, or related fields
- relevant research experience and skills
- foundational experience in coding and statistics
- good alignment in research interests
- enthusiasm about conducting applied research for real-world challenges

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Allie Sinclair @asinclair.bsky.social · Sep 8

The lab studies how people update their memories, beliefs, and behaviors to guide adaptive behavior in daily life.

🧠 We uncover and apply insights from cognitive neuroscience to develop interventions that help address real-world challenges related to education, health behavior, and climate change!

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Allie Sinclair @asinclair.bsky.social · Sep 8

Sinclair Lab

The Learning & Behavior Change Lab at Rice University, directed by Dr. Sinclair

www.sinclairlab-rice.com

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Allie Sinclair @asinclair.bsky.social · Sep 5

Thank you! I learned some new ggplot tricks for these! 😊 You can find the plotting code within our analysis code file on OSF. File is “tournament_analysis_moderators.Rmd” osf.io/x9c6j/files/...

OSF

osf.io

Allie Sinclair @asinclair.bsky.social · Sep 5

Original paper here. @falklab.bsky.social @michaelemann.bsky.social @dcosme.bsky.social @diegoreinero.bsky.social @curse10.bsky.social

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Behavioral interventions motivate action to address climate change | PNAS

Mitigating climate change requires urgent action at individual, collective, and institutional levels. However, individuals may fail to act because ...

www.pnas.org

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Allie Sinclair @asinclair.bsky.social · Sep 5

Overall, we support the call for recruiting diverse samples, exploring individual differences, and tailoring interventions to specific audiences. Despite the need for further exploration, we propose that our leading interventions show promise and are worth testing in the field.

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Allie Sinclair @asinclair.bsky.social · Sep 5

It is important to note that this dataset had more liberals than conservatives, and few climate change deniers (due to recruitment strategy). In other studies, we have collected politically-balanced samples that include non-believers, and identified interventions that show bipartisan effectiveness.

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