William Ngiam | 严祥全

Learning-dependent modulation of working memory - Memory & Cognition Category knowledge helps us make inferences and decisions but may also bias how information is perceived and remembered. Previous studies have reported categorical biases in working memory (WM), but m...

Learning-dependent modulation of working memory

link.springer.com/article/10.3...

Excited to present my poster today at 1:00! #cogsci2025

Does anyone have an example of a preregistration that was done well? I'm hoping to provide one for students to read through and familiarise themselves with what goes into designing an experimental study.

Now out in JEP:G! We (@fridaprintzlau.bsky.social & @keisukefukuda.bsky.social ) resolve inconsistent attentional protection in WM by addressing discrepancies in cueing. Upshot: Attention changes how perception biases memory, but *not* how memory biases perception!

doi.org/10.1037/xge0...

Quantifying funding sources across neuroscience labs We want to hear from you about the sources of funding for your research.

@thetransmitter.bsky.social wants to hear from neuroscience PIs around the world to find out where they get their funding for basic research.

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/funding/quan...

Read it! It's not short but it's important. It's about why running our universities like corporations is killing them. Quentin goes beyond the usual complaints and really lays out the institutional dynamics that make universities and corporate managerialism incompatible.

I signed the open letter rejecting the call to embed generative AI in education. I sign it with the hope that it stops institutions that have acritically bought into the hype (including my own, the new Adelaide University), and shines a spotlight on those who continue to point out the many harms.

Generative AI is not fit for use in education Educators speak out against the digital cartels pushing AI into schools and colleges in an open letter.

Watch this amazing video by Jim Amos and then consider signing the two open letters below.

1. Open Letter Australia: openletter.earth/an-open-lett...

2. Open Letter The Netherlands: openletter.earth/open-letter-...

deeplywrong.substack.com/p/generative...

After a bit of interest on my upcoming talk, I've tentatively started a newsletter/blog on Substack! If you're interested in my thoughts on cognitive research, with a particular focus on what's in the public discourse around digital technology and attention: thecentreofattention.substack.com

I'm preparing a public talk on the impact of digital technology on attention, and whether there is any evidence behind 'brain rot' (and help the public understand that researchers need public funds and support to work on this issue!). #cogsci, what message would you want the public to hear on this?

Yes! Both their research articles and their reviews were very helpful for getting a lay of the land. I think they have done tremendous work to make sure there is nuance: that the impacts can be both positive and negative, across different kinds of people, across different social media use!

Hi Will! This piece was very helpful; I cited it in support of my DECRA proposal to apply a cognitive neuroscience framework to tackle this issue. I'm hoping to get brain and behavioural measures of cognition alongside objective measures of screentime to start clarifying what the impacts are.

But I think it is also important to point out that these effects are complex; we use digital tech in different ways, and attention and cognition is multifaceted. I think there is not definitive evidence for sustained harms to brain function or cognitive capacity (but a lot on momentary effects!)

I think it's important to acknowledge the collective concern around the impact of digital media may be having on attention; that many are experiencing a lot of wasted time on their smartphones and feel like they are losing their ability to focus. Parents and teachers are also sounding the alarm.

I'm preparing a public talk on the impact of digital technology on attention, and whether there is any evidence behind 'brain rot' (and help the public understand that researchers need public funds and support to work on this issue!). #cogsci, what message would you want the public to hear on this?

If this is you or you want to nominate someone, you can reach out to me here or via email, or via the @reproducibilitea.org contact details.

Are you an early-career researcher (or someone hoping to help ECRs) working in #openscience or #metascience? The @reproducibilitea.org podcast is looking for guests for our next season of episodes! We'd love to feature ECR voices foremost – the next generation of scientists should be heard the most!

I am incredibly excited to catch-up on the latest #workingmemory research and to be amongst the community at WMS; especially as someone who is missing/avoiding US-based conferences (VSS, OPAM, Psychonomics). I will be absolutely ruining my sleep habits to be a part of the fun!

Reading Lists Lecturer in the School of Psychology at Adelaide University

This paper is included in a reading list on theory in psychological science that I created for @reproducibilitea.org. While not specific to cognitive science, I think it serves as a decent intro into the role of theory (and philosophy of science). williamngiam.github.io/reading_list...

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A paper that has shaped much of my thinking about theory in cognitive science and psychology is this from Denny Borsboom et al.; their Theory Construction Methodology linking data to theory looks like the chart that you have mapped at the bottom of your primer. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

Hi Caroline, it looks like you are starting a very useful primer! A few things to share – this chapter from a recently released psych research methods textbook by @mcxfrank.bsky.social provides a decent overview of the history and role of theory in psychology experimentology.io/002-theories...

“Even the term 'Artificial Intelligence' … is widely misused, with conceptual unclarity coopted to advance industry agendas and undermine scholarly discussions. It is our task to demystify and to challenge 'AI' in our teaching, research & engagement with society.” openletter.earth/open-letter-...

Experimentology cover: title and curves for distributions.

Experimentology is out today!!! A group of us wrote a free online textbook for experimental methods, available at experimentology.io - the idea was to integrate open science into all aspects of the experimental workflow from planning to design, analysis, and writing.

Are you a top US-based scientist wanting to relocate to Australia?

US scientists are being recruited to Australia. Already a flood of applications for senior positions. Now active recruitment programs. More to come, perhaps for humanities and social sciences too

I’ve been thinking a lot about the interaction yesterday at the #metascience2025 panel on AI and more generally how I’ve felt about the conference and how I fit into the metascience community, and here’s a potentially useful analogy… 🌈

thread👇

Model mimicry limits conclusions about neural tuning and can mistakenly imply unlikely priors Nature Communications - Model mimicry limits conclusions about neural tuning and can mistakenly imply unlikely priors

Who doesn't like a good model of the brain? Yet, from simple regression to neural nets, some limitations keep popping up (e.g., overfitting) @mjwolff.bsky.social & I saw some cool but puzzling data, ran a quick analysis & found one such limitation: model mimicry. Now in #naturecommunications &🧵below

a man wearing a red white and black hoodie holds up his hand Alt: Marques Brownlee saying 'Just think about it'

A big shout-out to @forrt.bsky.social as well for their success in community-drive initiatives. I love the big picture things that will likely be the focus at #metascience2025, but we probably should think about action across various levels of the network with all stakeholders.

To be a little facetious, the only times I have seen ECRs empowered in the movement is through @reproducibilitea.org journal clubs (ones I started at my institutions) – you know, having ECRs form community by discussing why it is so important to do research rigorously and participate in the reform.

Thank you to everyone posting to #metascience2025 – I'm gaining a lot though I am not there! I do wish there was more content on how to include (and give power to) early-career researchers in the push to improve science (though I am heartened by similar calls for feminists and the Global South!)