UC Merced Cognitive & Information Sciences

Scientists See ‘Eureka’ Moments in Mathematicians’ Chalkboard Writings Researchers spot the “tipping point” before mathematicians’ moments of discovery

@ucmerced.bsky.social cognitive scientist @tylermarghetis.bsky.social wondered whether he could use the “manual labor” of math to deduce what was happening in someone’s mind.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/math...

Monday! Join us for the next MTS speaker, @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social's Bill Thompson as he discusses the experimental evolution of structured norms for joint action. Details in the flyer!

Michael Hove, Professor of Psychology at Fitchburg State, will join us as our next MTS speaker Monday 11/3! His talk will discuss musical features that drive body movement and repetitive drumming as a tool for inducing trance. Details in the flyer!

Our next MTS speaker @psycheloui.bsky.social, Prof. of Creativity and Creative Practice at @northeasternu.bsky.social, joins us Mon 10/27 to discuss her recent work on how/why humans across societies learn to love music in "Strange Scales: How Novel Music Reveals the Secrets of the Predictive Brain"

Drew Abney, Associate Professor of Psychology from the University of Georgia, will join us as our next MTS speaker!
Dive into his talk about developmental phenomena next Monday 10/20. Details in the flyer!

Our next MTS Guest Speaker is @stolkarjen.bsky.social, Assistant Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Dartmouth! Join us Monday (10/13) for "Building a Shared Conceptual Space" - examining the extreme flexibility of selecting and interpreting signals. Details in the flyer!

Our next MTS Guest Speaker is Marco Buongiorno Nardelli (Composition Studies & Physics Professor at University of North Texas)! Join us Monday (10/6) for
"MUSIC" for Martians - a look at the hidden structure of music as a complex data system. Details in the flyer!

@ucmerced.bsky.social Bobcats! Join us next Monday (9/29) for MTS Guest Speaker Sarah Creel (CogSci Professor at @ucsandiego.bsky.social) presenting on how learners figure out the structure of sound patterns in spoken language across a wide variety of speakers! Details in the flyer!

Monday (9/22) we have our next Fall 2025 Mind, Technology, & Society (MTS) speaker: Dr. Erica Cartmill of Indiana University! Come check out her presentation exploring teasing and tool use by great apes for navigating their social and physical environments (details in the flyer)!

Next week we kick off our Fall 2025 Mind, Technology, & Society (MTS) Speaker Series with guest speaker Dr. Jason Samaha! Come check out his presentation exploring the connection between alpha oscillations and temporal properties of perception (details in the flyer)!

I’m excited to say the article I published last week in the MIT Press Reader has now been republished in both Popular Science (@popsci.com‬) and Nautilus (@nautil.us‬). It’s a short-form overview of my book, Gaming Cancer.

popsci.com/healt…

nautil.us/gamin���
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/how-c…

“We are not evolutionarily, psychologically prepared to understand that AI does not have general intelligence”
@ucmerced.bsky.social Prof. Colin Holbrook weighed in on trusting AI use.

Fresno Unified superintendent called out amidst AI controversy www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/local-n...

Perception or Reality? Rethinking How Polarized We Really Are - Neuroscience News A new study challenges the notion that society is as polarized as many believe, revealing that perceptions of division often stem from the consensus within one’s own social circles.

Are opinions on controversial political issues as divided as many people perceive them to be?
@ucmerced.bsky.social Prof. @psmaldino.bsky.social and coauthors Peter Steiglechner and Agostino Merico discuss their new study with Neurosciences News @pau
neurosciencenews.com/perception-s...

How Citizen Science Games Could Help Cure Disease By inviting players to tackle real scientific problems, games can offer a hand in solving medicine’s toughest challenges.

I just published an article in the MIT Press Reader about my book, Gaming Cancer, which is short and quite readable. Check it out! https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/how-citizen-science-games-could-help-cure-disease/

#citizenscience #cancer #gaming

Last week three of my PhD students defended their dissertations on three consecutive days. From left to right in the picture below are: Andrew Proulx, Me,
@jclingo.bsky.social , and Liza Kim.

I wanted to share this cool thank you card from Suzanne Garcia, who just graduated from @ucmcogsci.bsky.social. She took my class on neural networks and made a card describing her college development in the style of a #Simbrain network.

Next week! Come check out Dr. James Holland Jones' presentation on the development of narrative as a decision-making tool in the face of uncertainty!

TOMORROW! Come see our Bobcat Day presentation on how Cognitive Science got a Nobel Prize in AI! We will have a reception (with snacks!) after the presentation for a chance to chat with faculty.
WHERE: UC MERCED COB 120
Presentation 11AM-12PM
Reception 12PM-1PM

@ucmerced.bsky.social students! Run, don't walk! 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️ Don't miss your chance to register for this summer's CogSci courses! Did we mention they're ONLINE!? See you (virtually) this summer!