Tess Neal

Two toy elves with chopsticks on their laps sitting by a tray of homemade candy “sushi” - which are rice crispy treats cut into squares each topped with a Swedish fish candy and wrapped in a flat sour candy strip.

We are having fun with the ridiculousness of this elf stuff. #elfontheshelf #sushi

A Researcher Made an AI That Completely Breaks the Online Surveys Scientists Rely On We can no longer trust that survey responses are coming from real people.”

Yikes.

www.404media.co/a-researcher...

I'm playing around with an article concept about "compensation absurdities" in higher ed. Thinking about things like:

-a $1,500 raise for promotion after 6 years of teaching
-requiring outside offers for a raise
-not increasing pay for interim roles

What other examples can you think of?

Adversarial collaboration is such an interesting idea! Despite its very intuitive appeal, a common opinion is that it is extremely difficult to actually do. I'm excited to see an actual example in the wild!

Ooh. I like.

Pasteur’s quadrant researchers bring novelty, impact to publishing, and patenting A new dataset highlights distinctive contributions of scientists who both publish and patent their research

"The linear model of science & tech prescribes sequential stages & normative division of labor...We constructed a new [public] dataset of 'Pasteur’s quadrant researchers' who both publish science & patent tech...Greater novelty & future citation..." @science.org

www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1...

My kid says “leg wrists” for “ankles” and it cracks me up.

lololol

It’s widely known (and, I think, pretty uncontroversial) that learning requires effort — specifically, if you don’t have to work at getting the knowledge, it won’t stick.

Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.

@apajournals.bsky.social

What leads some drivers to repeated dangerous road traffic behaviors?

Research findings point to new directions for road safety interventions grounded in behavioral science.

🔗 Read open-access article here: psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...

#psychlaw #lawpsych #psychology #law

Run for Something

Anything. People should run for school boards and city councils.

And some real people should be looking at primarying some senators.

My reviewing style has changed over time. Rather than litigate every little thing, and pushing my own ideas, I focus only on 2 things:
(1) Are the claims interesting/important?
(2) Does the evidence support the claims?

Most of my reviews these days are short and focused.

The Mental Illness Self-Labeling Model: A Conceptual Model for Studying the Effects of Mental-Illness Self-Labeling on Clinical Outcomes - Isaac L. Ahuvia, Bruce G. Link, 2025 Self-labeling with a mental illness, for example, deciding that one “has depression,” has the potential to affect clinical outcomes through multiple cognitive a...

My experience is that many treat therapy like a restaurant, where one orders the experience to their taste. This includes self diagnosis. This study is an attempt to develop a model around this theme.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...

As the number of exonerations increase, the importance of applying science-based practices becomes clear. While customary practices were developed that produced confessions, they also produced false confessions. The idea that they produce results is no longer enough - they must be accurate results.

Collaborative news curation as a service, demonstrating the value of social media based on protocols, not platforms and a “playbook for killing information voids.”

I'm always impressed by how seriously jurors take their charge. Every time you get a peek into the black box, you see things that reveal that they understand the gravity of their choices.

Just generally I wish there was more enforcement around scams and fraud. Maybe it’s a drop in the bucket, but enforcing the laws that protect our most vulnerable Americans from financial ruin seems like it’s always a good idea.

"Criminogenic Risk Factors Among Immigrants in the U.S.–México Border Region," recently published in Psychology, Public Policy, and Law and selected as noteworthy by the Editor. Free-to-read: https://bit.ly/3L6smZR

#Immigration @enolouden.bsky.social @pppl-journal.bsky.social

In case you missed it — "Criminogenic Risk Factors Among Immigrants in the U.S.–México Border Region" is now free to read: bit.ly/3L6smZR

@apajournals.bsky.social

#psychlaw #lawpsych #psychology #law

HUGE: Nearly 3000 people have signed up with @runforsomething.net to run for office since Tuesday night. runforwhat.net

This is appalling. There has to be a way to hold massive companies accountable for *knowingly* facilitating & profiting from criminal behavior. And yes, I understand the value of Section 230, but here we have a trillion $ company that profits by letting its users get scammed. Has to be a better way.

Screenshot of the abstract & clinical impact statement of "Contemporary Issues in Forensic Psychology" by Randy K. Otto & David DeMatteo

@unmhsc.bsky.social's Randy Otto & Dave DeMatteo address contemporary issues in forensic psych. Covers language, ethical inconsistencies w/ general clinical guidelines, transparency vs. test security, & several practices yet to be standardized (if they should). psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-...

How Gun Blasts From Indoor Shooting May Cause Brain Injuries The Times tested the blast waves of several popular civilian guns at an indoor range and found that repeated firing could add up to potentially harmful exposure.

Small concussions add up.

The data from football players has made that clear.

New concerns about soldiers raise similar concerns. This from The NY Times measures the pressure at a shooting range (which may magnify effects from blast echoes).

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Appeals Court Upholds Shaken Baby Conviction Despite Medical Examiner Recanting Testimony — ProPublica Dissenting from the court’s majority, one judge sounded the alarm about ignoring recanted forensic testimony, saying the medical examiner’s reversal “calls into doubt the foundation of the trial.”

A Tennessee appeals court had upheld a shaken baby conviction, despite pleas to overturn by the DA’s office and a recantation by the medical examiner who testified for the prosecution.

apple.news/ATQRcd8WjTlW...

She’s describing conditions for motivated reasoning.

Hi! Since others are talking about my book, thought I'd share a little about it. The book is a love letter to women everywhere wondering why their time just isn't adding up. It turns out, it's not you! We are getting massively squeezed by structural changes! 🧵
www.amazon.com/Having-All-T...

5 adults throwing leaves into the air in a field full of colorful fall leaves and trees with red and yellow leaves.

5 adults by a sign that says "Lagomarcino Hall" on the Iowa State University campus in front of a tree full of colorful fall leaves in red and yellow hues.

5 adults throwing leaves into the air in a field full of colorful fall leaves and trees with red and yellow leaves.

5 adults standing together and smiling in front of a tree with colorful leaves in hues of yellow and red.

Fall 2025 photos of the Clinical and Legal Judgment Lab. We had fun with the beautiful leaves. Photos taken outside Lagomarcino Hall on the Iowa State University campus.

#CLJlab #Psychology #science #mentoring #law #LawPsych #PsychLaw

📢 Seeking an expert in #psychopathy for my Psychology & Law class at York University! Looking for a guest speaker to discuss research and real-world applications in forensic settings. Interested or know someone? Please DM me! #ForensicPsych #AcademicTwitter

Is face recognition a reliable enough tool for making decisions on who to deport (or who to put in a lineup or who to charge with a crime).

No.

Simple and clear answer. Too many near misses that appear reasonable. One of our six claims.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....