bergelsonlab

We are hiring an assistant professor in cognitive neural systems in the department of psychology at the university of arizona. please use this link to check out the requirements and apply!

arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...

Great question!

1) First and foremost, we evaluate a candidate based on the departmental guidelines and expectations provided. We don't hold the candidate to arbitrary standards, or even to those of our own institution unless asked to do so. We assess the materials against the guidelines provided.

Ooh might have to try this in my seminar!

Fav thing to do in the last class is to have the students pick their top 3 readings that I *must* include the next time I teach the class. Then they get into small groups and have to produce a new top 3 list. Solidifies all that they got from the readings (and gives me some ideas for the future).

Fig. 3. Effects of the intervention. In (a) are shown effects 7 months after the intervention; in (b) are shown interaction effects 7 months after the intervention. Models show the effects of the intervention on expressive-language skills in the grade 1 posttest, with an interaction between expressive-language skills in the pretest and after the intervention. Standardized coefficients (with 95% confidence intervals) are shown, except for the intervention dummy variable and the interaction where y-standardized values are indicated. Rectangles and circles contain observed variables and latent variables, respectively. Solid arrows point to significant regression or factor loadings (arrows from latent variables to their observed indicators); the arrow with dotted lines shows nonsignificant regression. The interaction (Fig. 3b) is illustrated by the arrow from the black circle to expressive language in the posttest. **p < .01.

Fig. 4. Long-term effects of the intervention on expressive-language skills. Model showing the effect of the intervention on expressive-language skills in the grade 4 posttest. Standardized coefficients (with 95% CIs) are shown, except for the intervention dummy variable where y-standardized values (equal to Cohen’s d) are indicated. Rectangles and circles contain observed variables and latent variables, respectively. Solid arrows point to significant regression or factor loadings (arrows from latent variables to their observed indicators); arrows with dotted lines show nonsignificant regression. **p < .01.

Fadeout of cognitive training remains one of the more replicable
findings in psychology in this preregistered study of 300 preschool children. Well-done study with a 4 year follow up. The language gains either faded or the control group caught up.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

Two plots side by side showing time in weeks on x axis and probability of returning to work on the y axis. The left hand plot shows the trajectory of two groups (self-efficacy improved or not improved), while the right hand plot shows the probability difference between the two groups.

geomtextpath can really help make a plot easier to interpret. Nice to avoid using a legend. #rstats #dataviz

My email spam box today
🤝
12-yr-old waiting for the late bus in the sleet

"it's giving Tuesday"

(thanks @apmackey.bsky.social for the inspiration)

Bhattacharya’s NIH 😢

“Earlier this year, it delayed reviewing grants in order to vet research by political appointees, culled projects that mentioned D.E.I. and fired thousands of employees or pressured them to retire early.”

Just gave a colloq there last month and can confirm, awesome group of scientists!

i've seen multiple 'leadership training' things, for pay, offered by universities, that rely in large part on the myers-briggs. is that what you mean?

tired: AI vs. human
wired: toddler vs. bad boss

T/BB: Do you want this?
you: no
T/BB: okay, here you go.

you: why did you do that (clearly negative thing)
T/BB: because I wanted to.

Revolving door with text saying “to conserve energy please use revolving door” and then a taped up laminated sign saying revolving door is permanently closed

a little too on the nose there, door.

Assistant Professor, Associate Professor or Full Professor of Cognitive Science - Vacancy at Aarhus University Vacancy at School of Communication and Culture - Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics, Dept. of, Aarhus University

CogSci in Aarhus is hiring, open rank (assi, asso or full prof).
We want somebody working on and teaching computational modelling of cognitive processes and/or social processes. Students are amazing, work/life balance very satisfactory, and colleagues are nice!

international.au.dk/about/profil...

a red building on UPENN's campus photographed during the fall

the Philadelphia skyline, with clear skies and autumn trees

starting fall 2026 i'll be an assistant professor at @upenn.edu 🥳

my lab will develop scalable models/theories of human behavior, focused on memory and perception

currently recruiting PhD students in psychology, neuroscience, & computer science!

reach out if you're interested 😊

lol, no. but can you reply with an IDENTICAL reply to mine please?
Dear [],
This topic has no overlap with my expertise I'm afraid, so I'd have no business being an expert advisor.
best,
Dr. B.

random h.s. student: can you be an expert advisor on my project about [not at all my specialty]?

me: no, that is not at all my specialty. [this space left blank to show the other things i left unsaid]

random h.s. student: thanks SO MUCH! can you connect me to anyone who could be my expert advisor?

Students applying for grad school, or reaching out to professors. I have an important piece of advice for you: STOP DOING THIS 👇 (a thread) #STEM #PhD #gradschool #academictips

whenever a new video-generation model comes out I check if it can create centaurs from the prompt 'half-man, half-horse'.

The answer is almost always 'no'.

This is Veo 3.1's response to "a half-man, half-horse creature running along the beach"

SynTeach Focus Group Interest Form SynTeach is a project researching peoples' experiences teaching and learning syntax in higher education. We have conducted surveys of the field including syntax instructors and students, and we are pl...

hey #linguistics peeps! have you ever taken (or taught) a syntax class? we want to hear your opinions (good or bad) about it! We're doing focus group interviews (on zoom, or in person at select conferences) - if you're at all interested, you can fill out our interest form: forms.gle/nhBtz78hQXNA...

As a post-doc I remember noticing that the parking garage was free, but the gym cost money.

What you subsidize is what people will do!

Bicycle counts significantly increased on every corridor where we completed Better Bike Lanes projects in 2024. The number of people biking, and the percentage of all traffic they make up, both saw substantial increases. ▸ We counted over 3,000 more daily bike trips, a 55% increase across all projects. In our prior report on Better Bike Lane projects completed in 2023, we recorded a 44% increase in volume. The latest projects appear to have tapped into even more growth potential by focusing on mostly arterial streets and closing key new network connection gaps. ▸ Bicycles as a share of of all traffic increased to 7% of daily traffic across all projects, nearly doubling from 4% in the baseline condition. Some projects saw bicycle mode share as high as 19% ▸ Boylston Street (Back Bay) topped the list with a near doubling (+83%) of daily bike trips, leading four other corridors that measured growth of nearly 50% or more.

The latest evaluation of bike lane projects in Boston continues to show that if you build bike infrastructure, people will use it.

Full report: www.boston.gov/sites/defaul...

Looking for a funded Ph.D. in #CogSci in an interdisciplinary, research-first program? Apply to CEU!

cognitivescience.ceu.edu/admission

Deadline February 4, 2026. Please share with any interested students!

#PsychSciSky #DevPsych #CogPsych

Screenshot from linked article: Learning is done best in community. The most important function of educational institutions is providing spaces for building that community. Every time we suggest a student would be well served by “asking a chatbot,” we are cutting off an opportunity for that student to engage with their classmates, instructors, or librarians. Those interactions, however small, are what constitute communities of learners.

Yes! This also comes up in my recent contribution to CHE:

www.chronicle.com/article/how-...

This policy comes as they 1) install cronies as Institute Directors - eg, JD Vance's old roommate is NIEHS Director 2) reject Council slates & 3) ignore scientific program staff.

In sun, politicos (rather than scientists trained in the appropriate field) can skip applications with no justification

What enables human language? A biocultural framework Explaining the origins of language is a key challenge in understanding ourselves as a species. We present an empirical framework that draws on synergies across fields to facilitate robust studies of l...

Origins of language, one of humanity’s most distinctive traits, may be best explained as a unique convergence of multiple capacities each with its own evolutionary history, involving intertwined roles of biology & culture. This framing can expand research horizons. A 🧵 on our @science.org paper.🧪1/n

how do you know these potatoes?
_ i grew them
_ i bought them
_ someone in my lab tried to fry them, but then just mashed them
_ i'm not even a potato expert, i'm in the tomato patch next door, but there was that one summer...

Think bigger! all PhD programs in the U.S. would make a good start! Several of them now share some kind of portal under the hood anyway. but yes, touche, i assume law and med got it bc they have LSAC & MCAS or whatever. maybe whatever ships GRE scores could do it? or interfolio? IDK! there's a need!

relative to the __ potatoes i've sized up in my __ years of potato sizing, i'd say they're in the top __

am i required to answer

just think of it! one portal you'd log into! you'd see all the schools student X applied for, and upload their one letter, and all the school student Y applied for, and upload their one letter, and so on and so on. So Dreamy.