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Rebecca Saxe @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social · 8d

Totally agree with Mikes description of this project as a wild journey, utterly joyous true collaboration, and satisfying first step for quantitative predictive rational model of habituation.

Not the first time I’ve suggested a “first step” in research that required a whole PhD to complete. 😉

Mike Frank @mcxfrank.bsky.social · 8d

Ever wonder how habituation works? Here's our attempt to understand:

A stimulus-computable rational model of visual habituation in infants and adults doi.org/10.7554/eLif...

This is the thesis of two wonderful students: @anjiecao.bsky.social @galraz.bsky.social, w/ @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social

conceptual schema for different habituation models

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Reposted by Rebecca Saxe

Mike Frank @mcxfrank.bsky.social · 8d

Ever wonder how habituation works? Here's our attempt to understand:

A stimulus-computable rational model of visual habituation in infants and adults doi.org/10.7554/eLif...

This is the thesis of two wonderful students: @anjiecao.bsky.social @galraz.bsky.social, w/ @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social

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Reposted by Rebecca Saxe

flymuscles @flymuscles.bsky.social · Aug 13

Total disaster for the #drosophila community if flybase disappears

Dr Sian Gramates @drglam.bsky.social · Aug 13

News via The Transmitter www.thetransmitter.org/community/ha...

Harvard University lays off fly database team

The layoffs jeopardize this resource, which has served more than 4,000 labs for about three decades.

www.thetransmitter.org

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Rebecca Saxe @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social · Aug 13

Thanks so much to everyone was patient and supportive of my de-tangling efforts over the last 7 years.

‪@guggfellows.bsky.social‬
Patrick J McGovern Foundation
McGovern Institute at MIT
and so many friends and colleagues.

Fin.

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Rebecca Saxe @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social · Aug 13

I have found this insights are ... disconcertingly ... relevant to current events over the past year. Maybe a topic for another thread sometime.

16/17

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Rebecca Saxe @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social · Aug 13

My other favourite part is that we fit this complex model to the data from Study 1 and used it, with no free parameters, to predict the results in Study 2 & 3, for situations the model had never seen (e.g. punishment of allies or competitors, or that was personally costly or beneficial).

15/17

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Rebecca Saxe @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social · Aug 13

Having a single model that synthesizes these different results is enormously satisfying to me.

The synthesis, per se.

Putting the pieces together.

14/17

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Rebecca Saxe @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social · Aug 13

Because Bayesian inference is continuous and quantitative, there are many intermediate cases in which people update all of their beliefs to some degree. People - human minds - do joint inference.

13/17

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Rebecca Saxe @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social · Aug 13

When observers believe that the target act was not wrong, the punisher gained directly from punishing, or punished a competitor or enemy, then punishment neither teaches norms nor improves reputation.

e.g. the controversy about when people punish out-groups more severely than in-groups.

12/17

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Rebecca Saxe @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social · Aug 13

When observers believe that the target act violated norms, punishers look justice-motivated. Costly punishment enhances their reputation for unselfishness. Punishment of an ally increases their reputation for impartiality.

e.g. third party punishment in common goods games.

11/17

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Rebecca Saxe @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social · Aug 13

When observers believe that the punishing authority is motivating by justice and is impartial, then punishment communicates social norms, and the severity of norm violations.

E.g. vignettes about parents, institutions, or justice systems in the role of punisher.

10/17

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Rebecca Saxe @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social · Aug 13

Essentially, the prior literatures on punishment are each studying a special case, when observers have strong prior beliefs about one dimension of the situation.

People learn from punishment, whichever feature of the situation they don’t already know.

9/17

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Rebecca Saxe @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social · Aug 13

And the model derives from a familiar one: the Bayesian Theory of Mind model that Josh, Chris Baker and I worked on nearly twenty years ago (yikes).

saxelab.mit.edu/wp-content/u...

8/17

saxelab.mit.edu

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Rebecca Saxe @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social · Aug 13

Working with @setayeshradkani.bsky.social and @joshtenenbaum.bsky.social: these three patterns are consequences of a single underlying cognitive model.

7/17

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Rebecca Saxe @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social · Aug 13

What is going on?

For years, I found reading about punishment soooo confusing.

6/17

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Rebecca Saxe @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social · Aug 13

And yet, third, punishment often fails in both regards. Very often, after punishment, the target does not learn the intended norm *and* does not trust the punisher. To the contrary, the target may reject the lesson and the punisher as a bully.

This happens to parents (ugh) and governments.

5/17

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Rebecca Saxe @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social · Aug 13

Second, punishment can be altruism, paying a personal cost to benefit society. So, punishment must benefit reputation: Punishers are trusted, seen as unselfish and committed to norms.

Great e.g. is Lily Tsai’s work: how single-party governments punish officials for alleged corruption.

4/17

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Rebecca Saxe @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social · Aug 13

First, punishment is one way people teach and communicate norms. More severe punishments are chosen for more severe violations, so that both the targets of punishment and other observers learn and internalize the norms.

  For example, think of how parents punish their children.

3/17

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Rebecca Saxe @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social · Aug 13

Punishment is VERY puzzling.

This work entangles one piece of the puzzle.

2/17

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Rebecca Saxe @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social · Aug 13

So pleased and proud to share this work.

I started trying to think clearly about authority punishment in 2018. This new paper with Setayesh Radkani is the first fruit of that labour.

Why so much struggle? See thread.

1/17

Setayesh Radkani @setayeshradkani.bsky.social · Aug 8

🚨Out in PNAS🚨
with @joshtenenbaum.bsky.social & @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social

Punishment, even when intended to teach norms and change minds for the good, may backfire.

Our computational cognitive model explains why!

Paper: tinyurl.com/yc7fs4x7
News: tinyurl.com/3h3446wu

🧵

PNAS

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

tinyurl.com

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Reposted by Rebecca Saxe

Setayesh Radkani @setayeshradkani.bsky.social · Aug 8

Also sharing a beautiful illustration of these ideas by my lovely and talented 👩‍🎨 friend, Adhara Martellini!

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Reposted by Rebecca Saxe

Setayesh Radkani @setayeshradkani.bsky.social · Aug 8

🚨Out in PNAS🚨
with @joshtenenbaum.bsky.social & @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social

Punishment, even when intended to teach norms and change minds for the good, may backfire.

Our computational cognitive model explains why!

Paper: tinyurl.com/yc7fs4x7
News: tinyurl.com/3h3446wu

🧵

PNAS

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

tinyurl.com

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Rebecca Saxe @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social · Aug 7

Reading this book and really enjoying it. Even the parts that are familiar are fun to hear again in this new succinct and thoughtful voice.

Nicole Rust @nicolecrust.bsky.social · May 10

Just look what was waiting for me when I came back from my run. Elusive Cures is now a REAL BOOK!!

press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

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Reposted by Rebecca Saxe

The It's Innate! Podcast @theitsinnatepc.bsky.social · Jul 21

In case you missed it, our discussion with Professor Rebecca Saxe (@rebeccasaxe.bsky.social‬) is live! Give it a listen, why don't ya?

The It's Innate! Podcast @theitsinnatepc.bsky.social · Jul 19

🚨 New Episode! 🚨 We're thrilled to release another installment of "A conversation with a luminary," featuring *over 2 hours* with Professor Rebecca Saxe. We discuss her early life, science journey, mentorship under Nancy Kanwisher, her Theory of Mind work, & more! So fun!

itsinnate.fireside.fm/30

A conversation with a luminary #5: Rebecca Saxe

itsinnate.fireside.fm

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Rebecca Saxe @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social · Jun 9

Oh my!!! I would love to wear MRI images. Not sure about the polka dot effect though.