Ava Ma de Sousa

yay!! Congrats Jean -- this looks so interesting!

Rewards bias self-evaluations of ability - Communications Psychology People often receive rewards for good performance, but what happens when rewards do not reflect ability? Two behavioral studies suggest that rewards can impact how we evaluate our own ability, above and beyond the impact of actual performance.

Very excited to share that my first paper, with Peter Mende-Siedlecki and @leorhackel.bsky.social, is out now in @commspsychol.nature.com! ☺️

Can getting more rewards make you feel more skilled, even if your performance doesn't change?

www.nature.com/articles/s44...

UCSB Campus. Meadow in the foreground with Storke Tower and mountains in the distance

Spread the word: I'm looking to recruit a PhD student for Fall 2026 to @ucsb.bsky.social! Reach out if you are applying this cycle and hoping to study infant and child social cognition, specifically expectations about friendship and/or groups. Bonus: live in paradise! And.. 1/3

Loneliness is associated with unstable and distorted emotion transition predictions - Communications Psychology A mini meta-analysis finds loneliness is linked to distorted expectations of emotion transitions, including atypical models, reduced accuracy, perceived volatility in others, and an anti-positivity bi...

1st SANS Social Media Highlight!

UCSB PhD student @avamadesousa.bsky.social first first-author empirical paper is out!

In a mini-meta analysis, the authors looked at whether loneliness is related to altered expectations of one’s own and others' emotion transitions.
www.nature.com/articles/s44...

New episode!! Dr. Anikó Kusztor joins us this week to discuss the results of dissociation, and how they vary from person to person. Link in 🧵

Job alert: I'm hiring a postdoc for my lab at CU Boulder starting Fall 2026!

We study person perception, stereotyping & prejudice, and intervention science using behavioral & neuroimaging methods.

Link: jobs.colorado.edu/jobs/JobDeta...

Review starts Nov 1 and continues until filled.

Excited to share this work led by @avamadesousa.bsky.social! This paper is so significant to me, not only because it reveals important insights into the disruptions in emotion representations that characterize loneliness, but also because it is a clear example of the power of team science 🌟

Very grateful to all the co-authors, esp
@elisabaek.bsky.social,
@shannon47burns.bsky.social & Miriam Schwyck for making this such a fun and rewarding process!

co-authors: Laura Furtado Fernandes, Ezra Ford,
@begumbabur.bsky.social, Chang Lu, ‪@jacobzm.bsky.social,
@psyhongbo.bsky.social 🙏 (4/4)

My favourite finding is in the valence domain: lonelier people expect that they themselves will be less likely to stay in positive states (an anti-positivity bias), but they see others as more volatile and more likely to jump between positive and negative states.
(3/4)

We find that lonelier individuals tend to hold less accurate and more atypical models of emotion transitions, and anchor less on their own emotion transition expectations to predict others’.
(2/4)

So excited to share that my first first-author paper is out in
@commspsychol.nature.com
🎉

In a mini-meta analysis of seven studies, we looked at whether loneliness is related to altered expectations of one’s own and others' emotion transitions.

www.nature.com/articles/s44...
(1/4)

Home | Social Connection Lab The Social Connection Lab ("SoCoLab") at USC investigates what helps people feel socially connected to one another.

🚨We are recruiting a lab manager who will spend 80% of their effort in my lab and 20% of their effort in @leorhackel.bsky.social's lab. Please share widely!

Apply at usccareers.usc.edu/job/los-ange... with:
completed questionnaire (socolab.org/lab-manager-application), CV & Cover Letter!

congratulations hongbo 🎉 so grateful for your mentorship and for the community you've fostered to make the lab such a special place; it's an honor to get to work with and learn from you every day. excited for the yes lab's new chapter!

It was so fun talking to @raziasahi.bsky.social about how we regulate each other's emotions (and getting her take on love languages 👀)

Hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed recording this one!

New Episode!🤖

Have you ever seen a robot that looks almost human, but something feels a bit off? This week, we are joined by Dr. Julija Vaitonyté as she discusses her research regarding the phenomenon of the uncanny valley. Links in 🧵!

Postdoctoral Researcher in psychology/cognitive science with focus on social learning and cultural evolution Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research? The Mechanisms of Social Behavior lab at the Karolinska Institutet (PI: Björn Lindström) in Stockholm, Sweden is seeking a highly qualified

Postdoc opening in beautiful Stockholm 🇸🇪!
Join us at Karolinska Institutet to explore how interdependent traits shape social learning and cultural evolution.
🧠 Behavioral + computational work
🤝 Work w/ labs in Amsterdam @lucasmolleman.bsky.social & Leuven

Details: shorturl.at/Wzy9o

Are you interested in research experience before applying to PhD programs? Or just want to learn more about cognitive science? Consider joining my lab as a lab manager (joint w/the Griffiths Lab). We will begin reviewing applications one week from today: cognition.princeton.edu/news/2025/op...

First article in TICS led by excellent YES Lab member and graduate student @avamadesousa.bsky.social Commentary on a recent cross-cultural work on conceptual representation of social relationships by @bruceyinwang.bsky.social

kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...

A very exciting episode out now — our very own @bethfisher.bsky.social
tells us all about optimism! Beth shares work on psilocybin administration in rats🍄 and how optimism shapes our engagement with the world.
We hope you enjoy listening as much as much as we enjoyed recording this one!

Minds Matter is now on Bluesky! Listening back to this episode I love the way you can feel the support I have from @avamadesousa.bsky.social 🥹 Forever grateful for the best podcast co-host, science peer, and best friend 💕

🥹 ❤️!!!

Applying to psych/neuro PhD programs this fall?

Join us for a @UCSBpsych virtual open house on 10/10 to learn about our programs & meet our faculty.

I am recruiting this year. UCSB has an amazing neuro+psych community and is in a great place to live! Please share & RT

#neuroskyence #psychscisky