Manikya Alister

🎉 New preprint: Bayesian Competence Inference guides Knowledge Attribution and Information search

If someone knows that Venus is the only planet in the Solar System that rotates clockwise, will they also know what Earth’s only natural satellite is? What about which planets have no moons at all?

Call for Abstract (AMPC 2026): Applying Mathematical and Quantitative Psychology to Real World Complex Problems Singapore, 23-25 February 2026. Abstract submission deadline 26 November 2024 Plus a bunch of other info. Go to https://ampc2026.com/ for details.

Hello fellow nerds! The upcoming Australasian Mathematical Psych Conference (AMPC) is going to be on Feb 23-25, and they've just put out the call for abstracts.

Details below. This is one of my favourite conferences and this year it's in Singapore(!!) which should be awesome.

Koofr with Zotero via WebDAV Are you using Zotero with Box and don’t know what to do when Box support for WebDAV eventually runs out? Are you searching for Zotero with Box alternative? Don’t fret, Koofr is here for you. Read abou...

FYI, if you are using Zotero, koofr.eu provides a free 10 gb cloud with webdav that could be used for synchronizing pdfs. I tested it this week as I no longer have access to the server I used previously. Seems to work well. koofr.eu/blog/posts/k...

disappointed that @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social is implicitly endorsing the use of LLMs to replace scientific thought

@richardsever.bsky.social this is a short-sighted move and a net negative for science

Slide is titled: You don't need to use LLMs. Science is a process of collaborative meaning making, by which we try to understand the world Even if AI were perfect, we rely on it at our peril — it is not science if we (i.e., humanity as a whole) do not understand and cannot recapitulate all parts of it I very, very rarely use LLMs myself. You can give yourself permission not to. Don’t FOMO yourself into it

Conclusion: Don't rely on something you don't understand and can't control If you must use LLMS: 1. Treat them like you would an intern: only use them for things you can easily and thoroughly check 2. Make your process as robust as possible 3. Be aware of your own (human) cognitive biases

Getting nervous for the talk I'm about to give at a workshop about "using AI to drive impact" which features slides such as these.

Tracing the neural trajectories of evidence accumulation and motor preparation processes during voluntary decisions Voluntary decisions have previously been described by where they arise in the brain and how actions corresponding to one's choice are prepared. However, the processes by which these internally guided ...

Interested in how we make preference-driven decisions, and how this is implemented in the brain?

We report that neural correlates of evidence accumulation (CPP, Mu/Beta) are also observed during value-based decisions.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Led by @laurencf.bsky.social (Lauren Fong)

1/n

Hey memory folks! I got a question from a student I couldn't quite answer. I talked about consolidation, and how HM's loss of 3-5 years of recent memories led the field to believe that consolidation might take the same period of time.

A student asked - "why would it take so long?"

Do AI agents ask good questions? We built “Collaborative Battleship” to find out—and discovered that weaker LMs + Bayesian inference can beat GPT-5 at 1% of the cost.

Paper, code & demos: gabegrand.github.io/battleship

Here's what we learned about building rational information-seeking agents... 🧵🔽

Hive mind, I need your help! What are good resources to give to a PhD student to catch up on basic calculus in their own time?

For example: logarithms, finding the integral/derivative of a function, basic matrix algebra...

High-school level is fine, no need for proofs!

#AcademicSky #StatsSky

Very cool study and accompanying @theconversation.com article by @violetchae.bsky.social. Follow her if you’re interested in food, decision-making, and/or cognitive neuroscience!

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/

How do humans keep inventing tools and technologies that no single person could create alone?

Our new preprint, led by
@anilyaman.bsky.social & @ts-brain.bsky.social
shows that semantic knowledge guides innovation and drives cultural evolution. 🧠📘 arxiv.org/abs/2510.12837

Very excited to share a new preprint that’s been brewing for a long time! This work was led by the exceptional @traceym.bsky.social, and made possible by a developmental + comparative + computational dream team.

osf.io/preprints/ps...

A little while ago I wrote a blog post about this work for @spspnews.bsky.social 🧑‍🤝‍🧑👫👭 Check it out here: spsp.org/news/charact...

The Interaction Engine Cambridge Core - Semantics and Pragmatics - The Interaction Engine

just finished steve levinson's new book! it's a beautifully articulated argument for social interaction as the evolutionary niche which made language possible, rather than the other way around. progress in linguistics depends on a stronger science of interaction.

www.cambridge.org/core/books/i...

The Social Action Lab + Annenberg Public Policy Center at UPenn are hiring postdocs! Work on decision-making, attitudes, persuasion, social cognition, and behavior change with an interdisciplinary team. PhD in psych required. Apply here: my.spsp.org/Career-Cente...

We’re recruiting a postdoctoral fellow to join our team! 🎉

I’m happy to share that I’ve opened back up the search for this position (it was temporarily closed due to funding uncertainty).

See lab page and doc below for details!

📢POSTDOC POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT📢

@nourkteily.bsky.social & I are recruiting a postdoc in the #LitowitzCenter for Enlightened Disagreement. We seek research excellence regarding navigating conflict.

Application deadline: Nov. 17.

Salary: ~$80k.

facultyrecruiting.northwestern.edu/apply/MjQzNw==

Assistant Professor (N/T) - Using AI and the Learning Sciences to Advance STEM Teaching and Learning: K12-Higher Education - Berkeley School of Education University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!

We’re hiring! The Berkeley School of Education is hiring a tenure track Assistant Professor of AI and STEM education. Due 10/23. aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05125

One of the most depressing phd experiences is hearing of others' advisors (the ones that are supposed to train us into good scientists) encourage the use of chatbots in lieu of their students' development. thankfully mine don't.

It is a common theme in academia to forget that faculty also get paid to do research and write papers. Getting paid doesn't mean no intellectual contribution to a paper, otherwise unpaid interns would be the only authors on papers.

Excited to finally have my first paper officially published! "How Do Psychology Journals Handle Postpublication Critique?" is now online with AMPPS. Huge thanks to my supervisors @tomhardwicke.bsky.social and @simine.com and co-authors @bethclarke.bsky.social, N Moodie, S Schiavone, and R Thibault ☺️

out now in Open Mind: "People Evaluate Agents Based on the Algorithms That Drive Their Behavior"

by Bigelow & me

Paper: direct.mit.edu/opmi/article...

OSF: osf.io/yzbrq/?view_...

For all who use Bayesian hierarchical models, have a look at our new preprint, out now together with @linushof.bsky.social @nunobusch.bsky.social and @thorstenpachur.bsky.social

osf.io/preprints/ps...

This is an epic paper!

I very much enjoyed chatting with @dyamins.bsky.social about the connections between world models and counterfactual simulation.

If you’re applying to grad school this cycle, consider signing up for the MIT BCS application assistance program!

Assistant Professor of Psychology - Human Cognition or Cognitive Neuroscience University of California, Davis is hiring. Apply now!

UC Davis is hiring! A tenure-track assistant professor of psychology, in human cognition or cognitive neuroscience #psychjobs recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07300

Here's the link to their "stakeholder survey on the use of AI in grant assessment":

www.surveymonkey.com/r/X7PY5GL

Screenshot of tweet from the ARC about a survey they want "stakeholders" to complete. Black text on white background above a rather outsized picture of dark blue smudges on a light-blue background. One smudge says "Survey" … you know, to catch your eye?

Once again, ARC hits the 🎯 with their comms strategy:

8pm on Sunday night. When the eyeballs of researchers are glued to … twitter?

They've not posted this anywhere else. I can't think of a better way to _not_ "engage stakeholders". Almost uncanny.

Information and Misinformation by Andrew Perfors: https://doi.org/10.21428/e2759450.a2555670