Gavin Mullin

Know a promising undergrad who wants more time before applying to grad school? Pitt has a funded postbac program for students from underrepresented groups.

This year, my lab will consider applications for solo supervision or to be co-supervised by @mehrgol.bsky.social!

App deadline is March 15!

AI Surrogates and illusions of generalizability in cognitive science Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have generated enthusiasm for using AI simulations of human research participants to generate new know…

Can AI simulations of human research participants advance cognitive science? In @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social, @lmesseri.bsky.social & I analyze this vision. We show how “AI Surrogates” entrench practices that limit the generalizability of cognitive science while aspiring to do the opposite. 1/

First paper from my lab out @commspsychol.nature.com

www.nature.com/articles/s44271-025-00275-w

Latent factor models are popular for mental representation of people, e.g. warmth & competence

But we show in naturalistic contexts, more complex representations are needed: high-dimensional networks

Thank you!!! 😊

Also I want to note, this commentary was inspired by one of my recent favorite papers, “Artificial intelligence and illusions of understanding in scientific research” by @lmesseri.bsky.social and @mjcrockett.bsky.social

Would definitely recommend giving that a read if you haven’t already!!!

Abstract: Scientists across disciplines increasingly rely on artificial intelligence to scan, summarize, and interpret research articles. While these tools offer speed and clarity, their perceived effectiveness exposes deeper, systemic issues in science. Specifically, we argue that the popularity of AI highlights two key problems: the historical failure to communicate research clearly, and the persistent overestimation that other scientists fully understand published research. Rather than an isolated trend, AI use reflects how academic writing often excludes more than it informs. Here, we trace how institutional norms, training, incentives, and culture reinforce AI reliance, and outline reforms to promote more inclusive, comprehensible science.

Excited to share my latest paper, now out in Science Communication!!

TLDR: We’ve seen the (valid) warnings about using AI to understand science, but where does this reliance come from? Perhaps it reflects the longstanding failure to communicate science clearly.

doi.org/10.1177/1075...

Celebratory post because I passed my quals 🎉

Want your NIH and NSF program officers and division directors to be fired and turned into political appointees?

Deadline extended: 3 days left! Already 33,000+ public comments

Comments can tank a proposed rule in court.

📣 Oppose the rule with a brief comment: shorturl.at/WKuBj

YAY CONGRATS!!!

🥳Excited to share that I am joining Columbia July 2025
@columbiauniversity.bsky.social

Looking for🚨lab managers🚨postdocs🚨grad students! Pls REPOST🙏

We study⭐️person perception⭐️social cognition using experimental, cross-cultural, & computational methods!

App👉shorturl.at/5UVPl
More👉shorturl.at/q18GM

The mental tyranny of AI writing An arduously long blog post

"The mental tyranny of AI writing" is the most successful blog post I've had. If you haven't read it, I would be thrilled if you could!

meresophistry.substack.com/p/the-mental...

Logo for "Cafe Scientifique"

With Pride Month right around the corner, in a few weeks, I'm giving a (virtual!) talk about being "in the closet" and what it means for our health at the Carnegie Science Center. It's free and open to the public!

Date and time: June 2, 7-9PM

Registration: carnegiesciencecenter.org/events/cafe-...

🎇It's #PubDay for THE HANDBOOK OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY (6e)!🎇

This is the latest edition of the most venerated institution in social psychology, dating back to 1954. Fifty definitive chapters, over 8,000 manuscript pages. (The TOC appears below.)

And: IT'S 100% OPEN-ACCESS: www.the-HSP.com.🧵

🚨 New study reveals that when used to summarize scientific research, generative AI is nearly five times less accurate than humans.

Many haven't realized, but Gen AI's accuracy problem is worse than initially thought.

Come join us! I have startup funds to hire a postdoc for Fall 2025 at Rutgers to study intergroup relations. The job ad is at jobs.rutgers.edu/postings/249... & evaluations begin in 1 wk (5/16) w rolling evaluation. See 🧵below for a write-up on what I'm looking for in a postdoc. Please share widely!

Author-Paid PublicationFees Corrupt Science and Should Be Abandoned Thomas J. H Morgan & Paul E. Smaldino

As grant money starts drying up, it's more important than ever not to waste it on paying publishers' open access "article processing fees" when we can host PDFs for free. Tom Morgan and I wrote a paper on this, forthcoming at Science and Public Policy. Accepted draft here: osf.io/preprints/os...

Despite everything going on, I may have funds to hire a postdoc this year 😬🤞🧑‍🔬 Open to a wide variety of possible projects in social and cognitive neuroscience. Get in touch if you are interested! Reposts appreciated.

Group diversity The editors at Nature Communications, Communications Psychology and Scientific Reports invite submissions to a Collection on the topic of group diversity.

I was lucky to be a Guest Editor for this Nature Collection on Group Diversity. Thank you to all who submitted work and reviewed!

Check out the collection here: www.nature.com/collections/...

Exclusive: NSF stops awarding new grants and funding existing ones US science funder also plans to screen grant applications for compliance with ‘agency priorities’.

🔔BREAKING🔔

The NSF has frozen all research grant awards—cutting off life-saving science midstream and demanding ideological screenings for future funding.

This is censorship disguised as oversight.

Here’s how you can help us spread the word ➡️🧵(1/3):
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

🚨 I’m hiring a full-time lab manager to help me build my lab start in July or August 2025! 🚨

If you know any stellar candidates who might be interested, please send this their way.

🗓 Application review begins April 15
⏰ Final deadline is April 25
📎 Apply here ➡️ lnkd.in/evhfqzTP

🧪 Our Terminated NSF Grant Tracker is live 🧪

🔴 114 NSF grants listed so far

🔴 Cancelled grants focused on

→ Training scientists
→ Misinformation
→ AI
→ Climate change

Credit to @noamross.net for all the work to build this & to all PIs who submitted their info.

Link: airtable.com/appGKlSVeXni...

Job alert 🚨

We’re hiring a full-time research staff assistant at Columbia starting Fall 2025! The position will focus on several topics in the lab, including the cognitive & neural mechanisms underlying dynamic social perception using fMRI & natural language processing.

Link: freemanlab.org/ra2025

If you want to help support our mission, you can donate here buy.stripe.com/3cs03h1be38D...

Can confirm that my NSF grant "How False Beliefs Form & How to Correct Them" was cancelled today because it is "not in alignment with current NSF priorities" Shocking that understanding how people are misled by false information is now a forbidden topic. Our work will continue but at a smaller scale

I am looking to recruit a postdoc to join my lab next fall, & work on 2 projects focused on online mobilization with social media datasets. If anyone knows of someone with computational skills (network analysis, NLP, etc.) who is looking for a postdoc- have them reach out to me.

Congratulations!!!!!! 🎉🎉🎉

And: I'm hiring a post-doc! I'm looking for someone with a strong computational background who can start in the summer (or sooner). Details here: apply.interfolio.com/165122

Feel free to reach out with questions (email is best: smlevine@mit.edu) and please share widely!

Just a reminder that I am still looking for a new position. My work fits well within multiple contexts ranging from Public Health to Psychology to Political Science.
Don't let anti-science fear mongers win -- #HireWall
#PsycSciSky #PublicHealth 🌈

a yellow sign that says we 're hiring ALT: a yellow sign that says we 're hiring

Hello, #psychology friends! Want to make science inclusive? We are hiring a new full-time recruitment coordinator for our Duke Child Studies group! Priority consideration if you apply by 4/18 but we will keep reviewing after that until the position is filled!

academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/29865