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Manikya Alister

@manikyaalister.bsky.social

370 followers 370 following 42 posts

Melbourne based PhD candidate interested in all things social reasoning, cognition, modelling, and philosophy of science 🤓 https://manikyaalister.github.io/

manikyaalister.github.io

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Manikya Alister @manikyaalister.bsky.social · May 5

Happy to share some new theoretical work with @andyperfors.bsky.social
that will appear at CogSci this year! We argue (and demonstrate through simulations) that people can determine how much to trust other agents by thinking about how those agents have acquired their knowledge. 1/3

Figure showing an overview of the framework argued in the paper. People decide how much they can trust other agents by taking into account 1) features that indicate how the agents acquired their knowledge (their search process); 2) how many other agents agree, and what the features of those agents are; and 3) indications that reflect how knowable the topic is or how easy the space is to search.

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Bria Long @brialong.bsky.social · 1d

We’re recruiting a postdoctoral fellow to join our team! 🎉

I’m happy to share that I’ve opened back up the search for this position (it was temporarily closed due to funding uncertainty).

See lab page and doc below for details!

Bria Long @brialong.bsky.social · Nov 18

The Visual Learning Lab at UC San Diego is looking for a postdoctoral research fellow to join our lab!

Read more about our lab at www.vislearnlab.org

Home | The Visual Learning Lab at UCSD

Lab webpage for the Visual Learning Lab at UCSD, lead by Dr. Bria Long, Ph.D. Launching in July 2024!

www.vislearnlab.org

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Eli Finkel @elijfinkel.bsky.social · 2d

📢POSTDOC POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT📢

@nourkteily.bsky.social & I are recruiting a postdoc in the #LitowitzCenter for Enlightened Disagreement. We seek research excellence regarding navigating conflict.

Application deadline: Nov. 17.

Salary: ~$80k.

facultyrecruiting.northwestern.edu/apply/MjQzNw==

Northwestern Faculty Search -

facultyrecruiting.northwestern.edu

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Dana Miller-Cotto @damcotto.bsky.social · 6d

We’re hiring! The Berkeley School of Education is hiring a tenure track Assistant Professor of AI and STEM education. Due 10/23. aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05125

Assistant Professor (N/T) - Using AI and the Learning Sciences to Advance STEM Teaching and Learning: K12-Higher Education - Berkeley School of Education

University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!

aprecruit.berkeley.edu

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merrick giles @merrickgiles.bsky.social · 15d

One of the most depressing phd experiences is hearing of others' advisors (the ones that are supposed to train us into good scientists) encourage the use of chatbots in lieu of their students' development. thankfully mine don't.

Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · 17d

Getting close to 50k views and I'm wondering is it just everybody is scared to say this and pleased I did? Because if there's so many of us who agree, trust me I'd know if 1k people disagreed with me let alone 50k, why are we letting AI ruin our universities?

Together we can turn back the tide.

Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · Sep 6

Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia:
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...

We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n

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Julia Haaf @juliaha.bsky.social · 16d

It is a common theme in academia to forget that faculty also get paid to do research and write papers. Getting paid doesn't mean no intellectual contribution to a paper, otherwise unpaid interns would be the only authors on papers.

Alex Holcombe @alexh.bsky.social · 16d

Someone asked us (neuromatch.social/@tenzingCont...): if you are paid to do data collection, are you qualified to be an author?

Let me know your thoughts! Here is my draft of an answer:
Taking on just the service-for-payment dimension of this for now,

tenzing and contributorship (@[email protected])

172 Posts, 83 Following, 126 Followers · We (https://contributorshipcollaboration.github.io/) are working on initiatives to shift science from traditional authorship to contributorship. For example, w...

neuromatch.social

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Annie Whamond @anniewham.bsky.social · 20d

Excited to finally have my first paper officially published! "How Do Psychology Journals Handle Postpublication Critique?" is now online with AMPPS. Huge thanks to my supervisors @tomhardwicke.bsky.social and @simine.com and co-authors @bethclarke.bsky.social, N Moodie, S Schiavone, and R Thibault ☺️

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

doi.org

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Tomer Ullman @tomerullman.bsky.social · 23d

out now in Open Mind: "People Evaluate Agents Based on the Algorithms That Drive Their Behavior"

by Bigelow & me

Paper: direct.mit.edu/opmi/article...

OSF: osf.io/yzbrq/?view_...

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Sebastian Hellmann @sehellmann.bsky.social · 28d

For all who use Bayesian hierarchical models, have a look at our new preprint, out now together with @linushof.bsky.social @nunobusch.bsky.social and @thorstenpachur.bsky.social

osf.io/preprints/ps...

osf.io

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Tobias Gerstenberg @tobigerstenberg.bsky.social · 22d

This is an epic paper!

I very much enjoyed chatting with @dyamins.bsky.social about the connections between world models and counterfactual simulation.

Dan Yamins @dyamins.bsky.social · 22d

Here is our best thinking about how to make world models. I would apologize for it being a massive 40-page behemoth, but it's worth reading. arxiv.org/pdf/2509.09737

arxiv.org

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Tracey Mills @traceym.bsky.social · 28d

If you’re applying to grad school this cycle, consider signing up for the MIT BCS application assistance program!

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Yuko Munakata @yukomunakata.bsky.social · 29d

UC Davis is hiring! A tenure-track assistant professor of psychology, in human cognition or cognitive neuroscience #psychjobs recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07300

Assistant Professor of Psychology - Human Cognition or Cognitive Neuroscience

University of California, Davis is hiring. Apply now!

recruit.ucdavis.edu

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ARC Tracker @arc-tracker.bsky.social · Sep 8

Here's the link to their "stakeholder survey on the use of AI in grant assessment":

www.surveymonkey.com/r/X7PY5GL

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/X7PY5GL

t.co

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ARC Tracker @arc-tracker.bsky.social · Sep 8

Once again, ARC hits the 🎯 with their comms strategy:

8pm on Sunday night. When the eyeballs of researchers are glued to … twitter?

They've not posted this anywhere else. I can't think of a better way to _not_ "engage stakeholders". Almost uncanny.

Screenshot of tweet from the ARC about a survey they want "stakeholders" to complete. Black text on white background above a rather outsized picture of dark blue smudges on a light-blue background. One smudge says "Survey" … you know, to catch your eye?

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Open Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science bot @oecs-bot.bsky.social · Sep 2

Information and Misinformation by Andrew Perfors: https://doi.org/10.21428/e2759450.a2555670

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Gilad Feldman @giladfeldman.bsky.social · Aug 31

Need to backup your Qualtrics?
I needed this urgently given a revocation of my Qualtrics account with my former affiliation.

Found William Ryan's R code, but it didn't work for me, so I made some tweaks, and it works now.

Hope it's helpful to others:
github.com/giladfeldman...

GitHub - giladfeldman/qualtrics_backup: A very simple script for backing up all your data and .qsf files from Qualtrics (bug fixes)

A very simple script for backing up all your data and .qsf files from Qualtrics (bug fixes) - giladfeldman/qualtrics_backup

github.com

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samuel mehr @mehr.nz · Aug 31

Our posting is now up for a Lecturer (Asst prof) in Social Psych at the University of Auckland

Please apply! Portal closes 20 Oct NZT. That's the 19th stateside bc here in New Zealand we live in the future

I'm not on the committee so am unconflicted and happy to chat with interested folks

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William J. Brady @williambrady.bsky.social · Aug 12

Are you interested in topics related to conflict and intergroup relations *broadly construed*? Come join us as a postdoc in the Dispute Research Research Center! This position is up to 3 years, comes with your own research funding, and a phenomenal network of past DRRC postdocs.

Dispute Resolution Research Center @drrc-kellogg.bsky.social · Aug 11

Apply now for Kellogg’s DRRC Postdoc Fellowship, which supports outstanding research in conflict and cooperation, offering dedicated time for scholarship, access to exceptional resources, and a vibrant academic community. Deadline: Nov 1.
t.co/UDZwJCqDw5

https://tinyurl.com/drrcpostdoc2025

t.co

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Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences @psychunimelb.bsky.social · Aug 27

What do the names of colours, kinship terms and legal jargon tell us about the human mind? In the latest episode of PsychTalks, Dr Frank Mollica explores language as a culturally shaped, far from universal cognitive tool.

Find it here go.unimelb.edu.au/7axe

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Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science (SIPS) @improvingpsych.org · Aug 27

Thanks to our amazing moderators working on this 24/7, we are now 50% done with the PsyArXiv backlog! 🎉

For all our PsyArXiv users, thank you for your patience. If you would like to help us, here are some tips to help your next preprint sail through moderation:

#PsychSciSky

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Jens Koed Madsen @jenskoedmadsen.bsky.social · Aug 26

New paper with Jon Roozenbeek and David Young where we present a Bayesian framework for the wilful rejection of interventions, such as inoculation against misinformation

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

The wilful rejection of psychological and behavioural interventions

Psychology and behavioural science play a key role in the development, testing, and implementation of interventions aimed at addressing societal chall…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · Jul 25

You: pornbots keep randomly following me on Bluesky

Me, an intellectual: pornbots are citing my books on Google Scholar

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Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science (SIPS) @improvingpsych.org · Aug 15

PsyArXiv is seeking new moderators to help combat an increase in AI submissions! If you've ever posted a preprint to PsyArXiv, please consider joining. Minimum commitment 1h/month, there's a training session this Monday @ 1pm ET. More info here: forms.gle/9LB1rEtxHAeZ... #PsychSciSky

Expression of Interest in Serving as a PsyArXiv Moderator

As you might have heard, PsyArXiv is having some issues with an increase in low-quality submissions, ranging from AI generated manuscripts to inflate citation metrics, incoherent or nonsensical docume...

forms.gle

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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · Aug 19

5. Today I read a paper by @sabinaleonelli.bsky.social and Alexander Mussgnug that I think illustrates this point perfectly.

philsci-archive.pitt.edu/24891/1/Phil...

Convenience AI
Sabina Leonelli & Alexander Martin Mussgnug12
Abstract: This paper considers the mundane ways in which AI is being incorporated into scientific
practice today, and particularly the extent to which AI is used to automate tasks perceived to be
boring, “mere routine” and inconvenient to researchers. We label such uses as instances of
“Convenience AI” — that is situations where AI is applied with the primary intention to increase
speed and minimize human effort. We outline how attributions of convenience to AI applications
involve three key characteristics: (i) an emphasis on speed and ease of action, (ii) a comparative
element, as well as (iii) a subject-dependent and subjective quality. Using examples from medical
science and development economics, we highlight epistemic benefits, complications, and drawbacks
of Convenience AI along these three dimensions. While the pursuit of convenience through AI can
save precious time and resources as well as give rise to novel forms of inquiry, our analysis
underscores how the uncritical adoption of Convenience AI for the sake of shortcutting human labour
may also weaken the evidential foundations of science and generate inertia in how research is
planned, set-up and conducted, with potentially damaging implications for the knowledge being
produced. Critically, we argue that the consistent association of Convenience AI with the goals of
productivity, efficiency, and ease, as often promoted also by companies targeting the research market
for AI applications, can lower critical scrutiny of research processes and shift focus away from
appreciating their broader epistemic and social implications.

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Raihan Alam @raihanalam.bsky.social · Aug 19

I'm so jazzed to finally have this paper out with
@tagerai.bsky.social in @pnas.org! It's probably my favorite paper I've worked on so far. What happens when punishment is incentivized? 🧵
t.co/y5DUUGTdT9

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2508479122

t.co

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Benjamin Lowe @brainboyben.bsky.social · Aug 19

🚨Pre-print of some cool data from my PhD days!
doi.org/10.1101/2025...

☝️Did you know that visual surprise is (probably) a domain-general signal and/or operates at the object-level?
✌️Did you also know that the timing of this response depends on the specific attribute that violates an expectation?

The Latency of a Domain-General Visual Surprise Signal is Attribute Dependent

Predictions concerning upcoming visual input play a key role in resolving percepts. Sometimes input is surprising, under which circumstances the brain must calibrate erroneous predictions so that perc...

doi.org

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