Sebastian Hellmann
@sehellmann.bsky.social
110 followers 160 following 10 posts
PostDoc working at TU Munich. Interested in on computational modelling, decision-making, and confidence. Cat owner, Ireland lover and brass music fan
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Reposted by Sebastian Hellmann
ranimo.bsky.social
⭐PhD in Cognitive/Computational Psychology⭐, Please Share!! Use Reinforcement Learning and Computational Modelling to study how dis/misinformation affects us (with myself +Tali Sharot). Full funding for those eligible for UK home fees. Deadline 10th Nov. @queenmarycbb.bsky.social
Characterising Cognitive Biases Elicited by Misinformation Using Reinforcement Learning at Queen Mary University of London on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - Characterising Cognitive Biases Elicited by Misinformation Using Reinforcement Learning at Queen Mary University of London, listed on FindAPhD.com
www.findaphd.com
Reposted by Sebastian Hellmann
franziskaknolle.bsky.social
If you’re in #Munich 🥨 and curious about decision-making, perception, and cognition through a translational lens, join us for a seminar I’m hosting on Oct 30 with three fantastic speakers: @jkesby.bsky.social (visiting from 🇦🇺), @miguelbengala.bsky.social, and @jacob-lab.bsky.social 🧠💡
Reposted by Sebastian Hellmann
alienmelon.bsky.social
you heard of running Doom on random gadgets but have you ever heard of…
“Hosting a WebSite on a Disposable Vape”
bogdanthegeek.github.io/blog/project...
this explains how!
((the internet is healing 😌))
#IndieDev
Hosting a WebSite on a Disposable Vape
Someone's trash is another person's web server.
bogdanthegeek.github.io
Reposted by Sebastian Hellmann
rmcelreath.bsky.social
Just back from this - I was the misfit invited speaker who knows nothing about psychology. It was really educational for me, expanded my view of theory construction problems in the human sciences.
lorentzcenter.bsky.social
Experts with theoretical traditions, researchers experienced in approaches to theory construction, educators and policymakers work on the first steps toward creating a mature subfield of theoretical psychology. bit.ly/4nLOWoE @annemscheel.bsky.social @bringmannlaura.bsky.social @jmbh.bsky.social
Reposted by Sebastian Hellmann
kobedesender.bsky.social
Introducing hMFC: A Bayesian hierarchical model of trial-to-trial fluctuations in decision criterion! Now out in @plos.org Comp Bio.
led by Robin Vloeberghs with @anne-urai.bsky.social Scott Linderman

Paper: desenderlab.com/wp-content/u... Thread ↓↓↓

#PsychSciSky #Neuroscience #Neuroskyence
Reposted by Sebastian Hellmann
kobedesender.bsky.social
"Learning to be confident: How agents learn confidence based on prediction errors"! Now out in @cognitionjournal.bsky.social led by @pierreledenmat.bsky.social

Paper: desenderlab.com/wp-content/u... Thread ↓↓↓

#AcademicSky #PsychSciSky #Neuroscience #Neuroskyence
Reposted by Sebastian Hellmann
mamassian.bsky.social
A nice shift in perceived colour between central and peripheral vision. The fixated disc looks purple while the others look blue.

The effect presumably comes from the absence of S-cones in the fovea.

From Hinnerk Schulz-Hildebrandt:
arxiv.org/pdf/2509.115...
An array of 9 purple discs on a blue background. Figure from Hinnerk Schulz-Hildebrandt.
sehellmann.bsky.social
Unfortunately, for the variance on the probability scale, the speed up vanishes.
sehellmann.bsky.social
Thanks for the kind words.
Glad to see that people already account for this in some packages. Not sure whether it helps a lot, but using the direct computations instead of using numerical integration may still speed up things a bit (about 20 times on my machine)
Reposted by Sebastian Hellmann
sehellmann.bsky.social
The good news: We provide a simple, correct computation that accounts for this variability, ensuring accurate group-level inferences. This fix is crucial for reliable conclusions in all cognitive models with constrained parameters.

Check out the details to improve your hierarchical analyses!
sehellmann.bsky.social
(e.g. the standard normal CDF) and normal distributions to fit the group-level distribution.
But we cannot simply apply the same transformation to the mean of the real-valued normal distribution to derive the group-level mean on the parameter scale! This ignores individual variability.
A Figure with two panels, demonstrating the transformation of a normally distributed random variable resulting from transforming the values using the standard normal CDF to the interval 0 to 1. The figure shows the discrepancy between the mean of the transformed values and the result from simply transforming the mean of the normal distribution using the standard normal CDF. 
The left side shows a normal distribution with low variance, such that the transformed values also show small variance and a symmetrical shape. The mean of the transformed values and the value resulting from transforming the mean directly coincide. 
The right side shows a distribution with high variance. Due to the non-linearity of the normal CDF, the distribution of transformed values is non-symmetrical and highly skewed. The mean of the distribution is therefore pulled to the center of the range 0 to 1, compared to the result from directly transforming the mean of the normal distribution.
sehellmann.bsky.social
If you’re estimating group-level means of constraint parameters, which are fitted with nonlinear transformations, beware that a common approach can produce biased estimates—especially with high individual variability.

For constraint parameters, we often use nonlinear transformations...
Line graphs comparing correct and biased computations for exponential and probit (Φ) transformations in statistical modeling. Colored lines show how the bias changes with different group means and standard deviations.
sehellmann.bsky.social
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
Reposted by Sebastian Hellmann
manikyaalister.bsky.social
We know that a consensus of opinions is persuasive, but how reliable is this effect across people and types of consensus, and are there any kinds of claims where people care less about what other people think? This is what we tested in our new(ish) paper in @psychscience.bsky.social
Screenshot of the article "How Convincing Is a Crowd? Quantifying the Persuasiveness of a Consensus for Different Individuals and Types of Claims"
Reposted by Sebastian Hellmann
metr.org
METR @metr.org · Jul 10
We ran a randomized controlled trial to see how much AI coding tools speed up experienced open-source developers.

The results surprised us: Developers thought they were 20% faster with AI tools, but they were actually 19% slower when they had access to AI than when they didn't.
Reposted by Sebastian Hellmann
shawnrhoadsphd.com
📢 @markkho.bsky.social & I are recruiting a joint postdoc interested in computational models of social interaction & mental health

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

📅 Apps are reviewed on a rolling basis

🔗 apply.interfolio.com/165809
Reposted by Sebastian Hellmann
matanmazor.bsky.social
Confidence in absence as confidence in counterfactual visibility: a CogSci proceedings paper with star MSc student Maya Schipper, is now out on PsyArXiv:

osf.io/preprints/ps...

🧵👇
Reposted by Sebastian Hellmann
renkew.bsky.social
🚨 PhD position (75%, TV-L E13) at LMU Munich!
Join our DFG funded META REP project on heterogeneity & replicability in psychology.
Work on meta analysis, simulations, modeling in R/Python.
📅 Apply by July 15
🔗 shorturl.at/939tP
🔗 shorturl.at/2bRLD
👇🧵
Research Associate (m/f/x)
shorturl.at
Reposted by Sebastian Hellmann
lutzfernandez.bsky.social
#EduSky A must-read esp. if you use AI tools, are being made to "just try them" at school, or are having your students use them.
lutzfernandez.bsky.social
Esp but not only if you have or teach children, please read this piece. It's a terrifying example of how generative AI is working RN.

I'll say it again: there is no way for schools to teach students how to use AI ethically and responsibly. That's like saying we can teach them how to use heroin.
Diabolus Ex Machina
This Is Not An Essay
amandaguinzburg.substack.com
sehellmann.bsky.social
Thanks so much, also for your support and your wisdom. It has been a pleasure to be your Padawan ;)
manurausch.bsky.social
Massive congrats @sehellmann.bsky.social for his well-deserved win of the Yearly Price for the best dissertation at the KU!
Urkunde + weiße Rose
Reposted by Sebastian Hellmann
cmdn-lab.bsky.social
🧠 Job Alert: Postdoc Position Available!
We're hiring a postdoc as part of the exciting DFG Research Unit on Belief Updating 🔬
🔍 What we're looking for:
Strong quantitative skills & passion for belief updating research
📍 Location: University of Hamburg
⏰ Duration: 2 years, full-time
🔗 Link below
sgluth.bsky.social
Job altert: Postdoc position (100%, 2 yrs) in our lab (@cmdn-lab.bsky.social) in context with the DFG Research Unit on Belief Updating (www.uni-hamburg.de/ru5389/resea...).

We are looking for people with strong quantitative skills.

Info and application via: www.uni-hamburg.de/stellenangeb...
DFG Research Unit 5389
www.uni-hamburg.de
Reposted by Sebastian Hellmann
Reposted by Sebastian Hellmann