Nicole Nelson

We’re looking for a postdoc to join our Max Planck group in Germany some time in 2026. If you have computational and/or neuroimaging expertise, and are interested in questions intersecting perception and cognition, please reach out! I’ll also be happy to chat at the #Bernsteinconference this week.

duet: An R package for dyadic analysis of motion data generated by OpenPose - Behavior Research Methods Research into dyadic social interactions has expanded significantly, enabling a deeper understanding of the dynamic processes underlying interpersonal communication. As the use of larger datasets becomes increasingly common in this field, the need for scalable and efficient analytical tools has grown. Automated coding methods, such as those provided by OpenPose, an open-source software for detecting and tracking human motion, offer significant advantages for analysing the movement of two individuals during an interaction. However, the processing and analysis of large quantities of JSON output files generated by OpenPose remain a considerable challenge. To address this, we introduce duet, an R package designed to streamline the processing and analysis of OpenPose output data, particularly in the context of dyadic interactions. The package provides a suite of functions for data cleaning, interpolation, kinematic analysis, and visualisation, offering researchers a comprehensive and user-friendly workflow. By simplifying the handling of OpenPose data, duet aims to facilitate large-scale, automated analysis of dyadic social interactions, with minimal coding experience, thereby advancing methodological capabilities in social and behavioural sciences.

📢 New paper out in Behavior Research Methods!

With @cjcrompton.bsky.social we introduce duet, an R package for analysing dyadic motion data from OpenPose.

It simplifies data wrangling, kinematics, & synchrony analysis of social interactions.

Paper: doi.org/10.3758/s134...

We have a new paper published in @cpsyjournal.bsky.social! We used large-language models (LLMs) to estimate linguistic distance in psychotherapy text and found that these ratings tracked with clients’ symptoms in treatment over time, more strongly than word-counting techniques did.

@durhampsych.bsky.social current has 5 (FIVE!!) PhD studentships being advertised!

3 to work with me on children as agents of cultural evolution

2 to work with @drboothroyd.bsky.social on examining school-based body image interventions.

Please share and apply!

www.durham.ac.uk/departments/...

Image of labubu doll labeled labubu next to image of spiky labubu doll labeled lakiki

::slowly stands while clapping::

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

The GRFP lives!! (due end of October)
www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

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.

There's a lawsuit about AI stealing your work. It's the same lawyers taking on Elsevier et al in a separate case.

Academics:
1. Check if your work is in LibGen at www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

2. If so, let the lawyers know at www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-au...

Last days to apply!

Excited to have this one out! We found that the perception of illusory faces relies on parallel brain representations of faces and objects with different dynamics, enabling flexible behaviour.

#Psychjobs
My former institution Colby College is hiring a tenure track in intergroup relations, broadly defined & open to many psych areas (not just social). This is my replacement line. I truly enjoyed my time at Colby and it's a great dept! Happy to answer Qs if I can.
apply.interfolio.com/172552

Careers Faculty Position:         Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Developmental Psychology

Job alert! The Psychology Department at NDSU is hiring a tenure-track assistant professor in Developmental Psychology, broadly defined. Please share widely & if you (or students/post-docs) have questions about the dept., about Fargo, or anything else please be in touch. #PsychSciSky #VisionScience

First-time fathers show distinct brain responses to their own babies New research sheds light on how fatherhood affects the brain. First-time dads showed stronger neural responses to their own babies—especially in areas linked to social and emotional processing—compared to unfamiliar infants or partners. These responses also tracked with bonding and stress.

First-time fathers show distinct brain responses to their own babies

Our department is seeking applicants for an Assistant Professor position with a focus on affective science. Please apply and/or pass this along to anyone who might be interested! facultypositions.stanford.edu/en-us/job/49...

Late afternoon sun in Albert park

My dept at the University of Auckland (NZ) will be hiring in social psych at the junior level this cycle. Official ad to follow

It's a big research-active dept with fun colleagues, plus you can commute to uni on a boat, paired with a pleasant walk thru Albert Park (this pic from heading home today)

Delighted to share our latest paper in Communications Psychology on face pareidolia.

doi.org/10.1038/s442...

Screenshot of paper title

Our position paper is now out: "Learning Variability Network Exchange (LEVANTE): A Global Framework for Measuring Children's Learning Variability Through Collaborative Data Sharing".

srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
(preprint: osf.io/preprints/ps...)

What is LEVANTE? 🧵

Parentese Elicits Infant Speech‐Like Vocalizations in Typically Developing and Autistic Infants Caregivers across many cultures modify their speech when interacting with infants or young children. This type of speech, commonly known as “parentese”, is characterized by greater pitch variations, ...

Su et al. (2025) analysed daylong home recordings: both neurotypical & autistic infants make more speech-like sounds when spoken to in parentese➡️ parentese supports early lang growth by encouraging infants to vocalize & interact #DevPsySky #Autism #EarlyYears #infancypapers doi.org/10.1111/infa...

"Preregistration" lumps three distinct practices into one:

- Study registration
- Protocol
- Analysis plans (SAPs)

To advance open science, it's critical that we distinguish them.

🌟 🌟 Now in-press paper from Evan Mayo-Wilson, @seangrant.bsky.social, David Moher, me: osf.io/preprints/me...

A Month‐Long Parent‐Led Spatial Intervention Failed to Improve Children's Spatial Skills Eighty 4- and 5-year-olds and their parents were randomly assigned to a spatial or narrative activity condition. For a month, parents engaged their children in these activities and learned about the ...

Sad but true. Lessons here though. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

New paper accepted at JEP:G with @sakierahudson.bsky.social, Brandon Kinsler, & former students Ian Davis and Alissa Vandenbark!

Come for the opening Aladdin quote, stay for a developmental perspective on SDO!

osf.io/preprints/ps...

Psychology Jobs in All Otago, Job Vacancies - Aug 2025 | SEEK Find your ideal job at SEEK with 104 Psychology jobs found in All Otago. View all our Psychology vacancies now with new jobs added daily!

If anyone fancies moving to NZ, the @universityofotago.bsky.social are advertising for up to SIX faculty positions in their School of Psychology 👀 www.seek.co.nz/psychology-j...

When the World Pivots: Changes in Infant Negative Affect Trajectories Following the Onset of the COVID‐19 Pandemic Research on the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on infant emotional development has produced mixed results, often limited by methodological constraints, such as not having access to data prior to and afte....

A new paper w/ @kabuss.bsky.social & Vanessa LoBue, and led by @joscelinrocha.com & Brendan Ostlund now in Infancy @infantstudies.bsky.social

When the World Pivots: Changes in Infant Negative Affect Trajectories Following the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

I am beyond thrilled to share with everyone that our review paper on human turn-taking in the first 6 years of life has been published! This paper took longer to complete than any other paper I have worked on. But here she is! Check it out here!
doi.org/10.3758/s134...

Just over a week left to apply for this exciting postdoctoral research opportunity on children and nature! 🐾

The application deadline is Wednesday the 20th of August 2025.

Audiovisual virtual reality for emotion induction: a dataset of physiological responses - Scientific Data Scientific Data - Audiovisual virtual reality for emotion induction: a dataset of physiological responses

Audiovisual virtual reality for emotion induction: a dataset of physiological responses www.nature.com/articles/s41... "Emotion induction was conducted using two virtual environments designed to elicit distinct emotional states: happiness ...and anger"

Positive Affect as a Developmental Mediator of Early Adversity and Internalizing Psychopathology Early life adversities (ELAs) including experiences such as abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction are strongly linked to psychopathology; yet, the developmental pathways connecting ELA to external...

🆕 RESEARCH: Not all kids respond to early adversity the same way. We examined data from ~7,400 children for 4 years and found something notable about positive emotions & mental health outcomes...
doi.org/10.1101/2025...

A thread 🧵 #MentalHealth #ChildDevelopment #Resilience /1

Exploring Associations Between Infant Attachment, Maternal Sensitivity, and Attention to Maternal Emotion Expressions Recent studies have indicated that patterns of infant-caregiver attachment are associated with differences in infants’ processing of social signals of emotion, such as facial expressions. In the cur...

Happy to share a new paper (w/ Biro, Huffmeijer, @hannelis.bsky.social, Bakermans-Kranenburg & @mhvij.bsky.social). We explored whether infants' brain responses and attention to their mother's facial expressions predicted infants' attachment security. 👶😀😠🧠 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

daSilva & Bertenthal (2025): At 4-6mos, more vocal bids during a still-face episode were linked to higher RSA and greater physiological synchrony with mothers. This highlights early links between social engagement and physiological regulation #infancypapers onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Interested in a cognitive neuroscience #postdoc down under?

Come work with me at @marcsinstitute.bsky.social on an ARC Linkage Project aimed at understanding how people perceive objects in the Powerhouse Museum's digitised collection. Applications closing 13 August! 📅 seek.com.au/job/86079413