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Rebecca Peretz-Lange @rebeccaperetzlange.bsky.social · 17h

TEN DAYS left to submit your work to the Origins of the Social Mind Preconference at #SPSP2026! 👶🐒🌍

This year, our morning timeslot is compatible with a variety of fantastic afternoon preconferences (e.g., Social Cognition, Gender, Economic Inequality). See you there!

spsp.org/events/annua...

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Robert Hawkins @rdhawkins.bsky.social · 1d

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 Interaction Engine

Cambridge Core - Semantics and Pragmatics - The Interaction Engine

www.cambridge.org

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bergelsonlab @bergelsonlab.bsky.social · 5d

now says "No upcoming due dates
Program 23-500 is currently waiting for a new publication"; in prior yrs, would've been due 11/5. Can't ask NSF POs right now... if any1 got info on this before the shutdown happy to hear it! @jaeyoungson.bsky.social i saw you had a similar q, tagging you in too. #NSF

mark brandt @mjbsp.bsky.social · Aug 19

The Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) Postdoctoral Research Fellowships at NSF are no more?

But hopefully I misunderstand?

www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

screenshot of SBE fellowship webpage with words "archive" circled in red.

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Nils Reimer @reimtime.bsky.social · 4d

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Zoe Liberman @zoeliberman.bsky.social · 4d

Please also feel free to register for our virtual open house if you are looking for a #phd in #devpsych #devscience #PsychSciSky I'll be there for the faculty meet and greet part

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Julian Jara-Ettinger @julianje.bsky.social · 4d

Our paper in annual review of dev psych is out! It's a big-picture look at the development of social cognition from a computational perspective: compdevlab.yale.edu/docs/2025/an...

compdevlab.yale.edu

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Chaz Firestone @chazfirestone.bsky.social · 4d

This is a big one! A 4-year writing project over many timezones, arguing for a reimagining of the influential "core knowledge" thesis.

Led by @daweibai.bsky.social, we argue that much of our innate knowledge of the world is not "conceptual" in nature, but rather wired into perceptual processing. 👇

Screenshot of a paper abstract:

“Core knowledge” refers to a set of cognitive systems that underwrite early representations of the physical and social world, appear universally across cultures, and likely result from our genetic endowment. Although this framework is canonically considered as a hypothesis about early emerging conception — how we think and reason about the world — here we present an alternative view: that many such representations are inherently perceptual in nature. This “core perception” view explains an intriguing (and otherwise mysterious) aspect of core-knowledge processes and representations: that they also operate in adults, where they display key empirical signatures of perceptual processing. We first illustrate this overlap using recent work on “core physics”, the domain of core knowledge concerned with physical objects, representing properties such as persistence through time, cohesion, solidity, and causal interactions. We review evidence that adult vision incorporates exactly these representations of core physics, while also displaying empirical signatures of genuinely perceptual mechanisms, such as rapid and automatic operation on the basis of specific sensory inputs, informational encapsulation, and interaction with other perceptual processes. We further argue that the same pattern holds for other areas of core knowledge, including geometrical, numerical, and social domains. In light of this evidence, we conclude that many infant results appealing to precocious reasoning abilities are better explained by sophisticated perceptual mechanisms shared by infants and adults. Our core-perception view elevates the status of perception in accounting for the origins of conceptual knowledge, and generates a range of ready-to-test hypotheses in developmental psychology, vision science, and more.

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Brandon Woo @brandonwoo.bsky.social · 5d

I forgot that Megan’s also on Bluesky: @megan-richardson.bsky.social

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Brandon Woo @brandonwoo.bsky.social · 6d

Our work sheds light on how children apply their theories of the mind and of relationships to navigate the social world.

This is just the start of research that my collaborators and I are doing on mental state reasoning in close relationships. More soon!

A conceptual schematic, depicting how children apply their intuitive theories of the mind and of the relationships to reason about mental state reasoning within close relationships

The abstract for the paper: "To maintain and develop close relationships, people need to accurately represent the minds of their social partners. Although studies have characterized many aspects of children’s intuitive theory of the mind and children’s intuitive theory of relationships, it is largely unknown whether and how children think about mental state reasoning within relationships. In three experiments, we asked whether children think accurate mental state reasoning is a cue to social closeness. In Experiment 1 (n = 145), we found that 5- to 9-year-old children, but not 4-year-old children, inferred that characters who engage in affective touch (making physical contact, as though nuzzling, while moving together in synchrony) are socially closer and know about each other’s goals and desires. In Experiment 2 (n = 137), we found that 6- to 9-year-old children, but not younger children, inferred that characters who are correct about each other’s minds are socially close. Children did not think that being correct about external states of the world was evidence that a character was close to another. In Experiment 3 (n = 79), we conceptually replicated the main findings from Experiments 1 and 2, and we found that 6- to 9-year-old children did not form the same inferences concerning knowledge about observable features of individuals (e.g., an individual’s outfit); children’s inferences were specific to unobservable mental content. Thus, by 6 years of age, children integrate their intuitive theories of the mind and relationships to make sense of whether and how people are connected to each other, as well as the strength and nature of those connections."

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Brandon Woo @brandonwoo.bsky.social · 6d

New paper in Open Mind, with @emmayu23.bsky.social, Megan Richardson, and @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social! We find that by 6 years of age, children think that close friends know the content of each other’s minds.

direct.mit.edu/opmi/article...

@openmindjournal.bsky.social

Developing Intuitions That Close Friends Know the Content of Each Other’s Minds

Abstract. To maintain and develop close relationships, people need to accurately represent the minds of their social partners. Although studies have characterized many aspects of children’s intuitive ...

direct.mit.edu

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Brandon Woo @brandonwoo.bsky.social · 7d

Good lab news: Welcome to Emma Yu (@emmayu23.bsky.social), our team's first graduate student! So excited to be doing science together and growing the team.

Here's a picture of some of the members of our team on a visit to the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.

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Mark Ho @markkho.bsky.social · 7d

I'm recruiting grad students!! 🎓

The CoDec Lab @ NYU (codec-lab.github.io) is looking for PhD students (Fall 2026) interested in computational approaches to social cognition & problem solving 🧠

Applications through Psych (tinyurl.com/nyucp) are due Dec 1. Reach out with Qs & please repost! 🙏

codec lab

codec-lab.github.io

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Zoe Liberman @zoeliberman.bsky.social · 11d

Spread the word: I'm looking to recruit a PhD student for Fall 2026 to @ucsb.bsky.social! Reach out if you are applying this cycle and hoping to study infant and child social cognition, specifically expectations about friendship and/or groups. Bonus: live in paradise! And.. 1/3

UCSB Campus. Meadow in the foreground with Storke Tower and mountains in the distance

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Evan Westra @evanwestra.bsky.social · 11d

Very cool new RL-based approach to modeling the emergence of social norms
www.researchgate.net/publication/...

How Social Norms Emerge: The Interindividual Actor–Critic

Download Citation | How Social Norms Emerge: The Interindividual Actor–Critic | Social norms shape a vast range of human behaviors, from everyday interactions to major life choices. Yet, existing theo...

www.researchgate.net

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Mike Frank @mcxfrank.bsky.social · 14d

Ever wonder how habituation works? Here's our attempt to understand:

A stimulus-computable rational model of visual habituation in infants and adults doi.org/10.7554/eLif...

This is the thesis of two wonderful students: @anjiecao.bsky.social @galraz.bsky.social, w/ @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social

conceptual schema for different habituation models

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Lindsey Powell @lindseypowell.bsky.social · 17d

Seems like a particularly cruel change to make without warning given the stress that reviewers often put on applicants' publication record. Presumably many strong students waited based on this apparent criterion, not because they didn't already have great ideas to propose.

Kosta Boskovic @kostaboskovic.bsky.social · 17d

Extremely disappointing decision from the NSF today to exclude second-year graduate students from eligibility for the GRFP. I and many other second-year grads purposely held off from applying in our first year to be able to do so now...

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Daniel Coppersmith @danielcoppersmith.bsky.social · 17d

I’m starting a suicide prevention research lab at UMass Amherst! I’ll be reviewing applications for our clinical psychology PhD program. Come to our virtual open house to learn more about the program and speak with faculty accepting students.
www.umass.edu/psychologica...

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John Anderson 🇨🇦 @janderz8.bsky.social · 25d

Hi #canadian researchers - please sign this petition to help ensure funding isn’t cut to tri council agencies (NSERC, SSHRC, and CIHR). We’re looking at potential 15% cuts to ALL federal spending including grants win.newmode.net/canadianasso...

New/Mode | Make your voice impossible to ignore

win.newmode.net

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aaron bornstein @aaronbornstein.bsky.social · Sep 11

Come work with us! UC Irvine Cognitive Sciences is looking for a new Assistant Professor to join our team: recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF09896

I'm not on the committee, but happy to talk if you're interested.

Assistant Professor - Cognitive Sciences

University of California, Irvine is hiring. Apply now!

recruit.ap.uci.edu

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Samantha Joel @datingdecisions.bsky.social · Sep 11

For potential grad students: if you're interested in this kind of work on assessing and improving close relationships measures, our group just got a grant to do five more years of it. Join our team!

Samantha Joel @datingdecisions.bsky.social · Sep 10

In a new paper, my colleagues and I set out to demonstrate how method biases can create spurious findings in relationship science, by using a seemingly meaningless scale (e.g., "My relationship has very good Saturn") to predict relationship outcomes. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Pseudo Effects: How Method Biases Can Produce Spurious Findings About Close Relationships - Samantha Joel, John K. Sakaluk, James J. Kim, Devinder Khera, Helena Yuchen Qin, Sarah C. E. Stanton, 2025

Research on interpersonal relationships frequently relies on accurate self-reporting across various relationship facets (e.g., conflict, trust, appreciation). Y...

journals.sagepub.com

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Tracey Mills @traceym.bsky.social · Sep 10

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

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Larisa Heiphetz Solomon @drlarisa.bsky.social · Sep 8

My lab is hiring a lab manager! Application deadline = 11/1, start date sometime between June & September 2026 (to be arranged with finalist). Please spread the word & apply here: opportunities.columbia.edu/jobs/a3f80f7....
#AcademicSky #PhdSky #PsychSciSky #SocialPsyc #DevPsyc #psychjobs

Research Staff Assistant - Morningside, New York, United States

Job Type: Support Staff - Non-Union Regular/Temporary: Regular Hours Per Week: 35 Salary Range: $41,000- $41,000 The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of fa...

opportunities.columbia.edu

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Evan Westra @evanwestra.bsky.social · Sep 8

A nice post in praise of the @socphilpsych.bsky.social and the virtue of interdisplinary-mindedness.

Paul Bloom @paulbloomatyale.bsky.social · Sep 8

smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net/p/the-only-i...

The only interdisciplinary conversations worth having

(This is a niche post of interest to a relatively narrow community of scholars.

smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net

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Sam Gershman @gershbrain.bsky.social · Sep 5

I had an illuminating interaction with a colleague who said that they try to find time to do a few paper reviews per year. It made me realize that different researchers have widely varying expectations about reviewing, probably because there are no public norms.

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Ashley Thomas @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social · Sep 5

Interested in applying to graduate programs or research positions in psychology? Want more information and feedback on your submission materials? Then Harvard’s Prospective Ph.D. & RA Event in Psychology (PPREP) Is for you!! psychology.fas.harvard.edu/pprep
More info in the link!! Please retweet!

PPREP Program | Department of Psychology

psychology.fas.harvard.edu

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