Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Uri Hertz

Simon Ciranka @simyciri.bsky.social · 16d

😍 Our latest is out now in @commspsychol.nature.com. 🤩 We show with Bayesian modelling and experimental manipulation of uncertainty that developmental differences in social influence depend on differences in the internal uncertainty people have about their choice
doi.org/10.1038/s442...

Internal uncertainty impacts social information use in risky choice across adolescence - Communications Psychology

Adolescents’ choices are influenced by others. A social risky choice experiment and Bayesian modelling reveal that age differences in internal uncertainty, being unsure how to choose, relate to differences in susceptibility to social influence.

doi.org

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Reposted by Uri Hertz

Mark Ho @markkho.bsky.social · 1d

We’re hiring!

@sucholutsky.bsky.social and I are seeking a postdoc and RA for a project on trust in AI systems with folks at NYU, Princeton, BU, and Cornell

Positions open until filled. Apply soon! Please share 🔁

postdoc: apply.interfolio.com/175495

RA: apply.interfolio.com/175497

Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio

apply.interfolio.com

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Reposted by Uri Hertz

Paul Sharp @paulbsharp.bsky.social · 2d

1st Sharp Lab preprint! 🚨 We tested how anxiety affects task generalization—not how people generalize threat stimuli, but how they reuse action-outcome structures when planning in new contexts.

Worry makes people avoid reusing actions that co-occurred w/ threat!
📄: osf.io/preprints/ps...

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Reposted by Uri Hertz

Uri Hertz @urihertz.bsky.social · 3d

New paper! "Whose agent are you? Relational norms shape expectation from algorithmic and human advisors in social decisions" led by Lior Gazit. We were interested in how people perceive relationships with AI agents, and how flexible these relationships are.
doi.org/10.1016/j.ch...

Redirecting

doi.org

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Reposted by Uri Hertz

Dan Sperber @dansperber.bsky.social · 3d

osf.io/preprints/ps...
Preprint: Jan Pfänder and Hugo Mercier "The rational impression account of trust in science"

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Uri Hertz @urihertz.bsky.social · 3d

New paper! "Whose agent are you? Relational norms shape expectation from algorithmic and human advisors in social decisions" led by Lior Gazit. We were interested in how people perceive relationships with AI agents, and how flexible these relationships are.
doi.org/10.1016/j.ch...

Redirecting

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Uri Hertz @urihertz.bsky.social · 3d

This is an amazing project, so happy to be part of it! @anllohernan.bsky.social examined how people transfer experiential knowledge to others, and which communication style is most beneficial to learners, using 2arn bandit task. Very relevant to experience-description, social transmission and more!

Hernán Anlló @anllohernan.bsky.social · 4d

I haven't given any news a while, I've been nose deep into this novel preprint with my excellent collaborators @stepalminteri.bsky.social, @urihertz.bsky.social and Bahador Bahrami: "Uncovering the semantics of teaching in
experiential learning with Large Language Models".
doi.org/10.31234/osf...

OSF

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Reposted by Uri Hertz

Hernán Anlló @anllohernan.bsky.social · 4d

I haven't given any news a while, I've been nose deep into this novel preprint with my excellent collaborators @stepalminteri.bsky.social, @urihertz.bsky.social and Bahador Bahrami: "Uncovering the semantics of teaching in
experiential learning with Large Language Models".
doi.org/10.31234/osf...

OSF

doi.org

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Reposted by Uri Hertz

Marc Lanctot @sharky6000.bsky.social · 5d

Hello all! 👋 🚨 New Preprint Alert! 🚨

Code World Models for General Game-Playing. ♟️🎲 ♣️♥️♠️♦️

I am pleased to announce our new paper, which provides an extremely sample-efficient way to create an agent that can perform well in multi-agent, partially-observed, symbolic environments!

🧵 1/N

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Reposted by Uri Hertz

Eliana Hadjiandreou @elianahadtime.bsky.social · 6d

Why do we derogate effective altruists, activists, & other radically prosocial individuals? In new work, we discuss how doing good that deviates from social norms gets stigmatized. New preprint w/ @dcameron.bsky.social @tlau.bsky.social @desmond-ong.bsky.social: osf.io/preprints/ps...

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Reposted by Uri Hertz

Steve Rathje @steverathje.bsky.social · 7d

Our recent review article "The Psychology of Virality" with @jayvanbavel.bsky.social
is on the front cover of this month's issue of
@cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social.

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Reposted by Uri Hertz

Nicole Rust @nicolecrust.bsky.social · 7d

Please spread the word! I am recruiting a PhD student this cycle (Fall 2026 start) to join my team in a new venture: the neuroscience of mood.

If you are curious to learn more, this short talk provides a good overview of why, what and how.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjIK...

Nicole Rust - The representation of mood in the primate insula (May 6, 2025)

YouTube video by Simons Foundation

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Uri Hertz

Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 7d

Why do some ideas spread widely, while others fail to catch on?

Our new review paper on the PSYCHOLOGY OF VIRALITY is now out in @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social (it was led by @steverathje.bsky.social)

Read the full paper here: www.cell.com/trends/cogni...

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Reposted by Uri Hertz

Communications Psychology @commspsychol.nature.com · 6d

People often receive rewards for good performance, but what happens when rewards do not reflect ability? Two behavioral studies suggest that rewards can impact how we evaluate our own ability, above and beyond the impact of actual performance.
www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Rewards bias self-evaluations of ability - Communications Psychology

People often receive rewards for good performance, but what happens when rewards do not reflect ability? Two behavioral studies suggest that rewards can impact how we evaluate our own ability, above and beyond the impact of actual performance.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Uri Hertz

Eran Eldar @eraneldar.bsky.social · 12d

Happy to share our new work showing how social emotions such as anger and gratitude establish an interindividual form of actor-critic learning, which leads to the emergence of norms in groups of interacting individuals.

Now published at @apajournals.bsky.social: psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-...

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Reposted by Uri Hertz

Laurence Hunt @lhuntneuro.bsky.social · 19d

Looking for a PhD next year? Want to come and work on the next generation of OPM-MEG/EEG biomarkers in computational psychiatry?

Apply for our MRC iCase studentship with @mkflugge.bsky.social, collabs with @lilweb.bsky.social + industrial placement at P1Vital:
www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/study/gradua...

Development of robust, single-subject markers of predictive inference for computational psychiatry

www.medsci.ox.ac.uk

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Reposted by Uri Hertz

Joel Z Leibo @jzleibo.bsky.social · 25d

Concordia 2.0: www.cooperativeai.com/post/google-...

Google DeepMind Releases Concordia Library v2.0

Google DeepMind has released Concordia v2.0, a platform providing a robust environment for creating multi-agent simulations, games, and AI evaluations.

www.cooperativeai.com

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Reposted by Uri Hertz

todd gureckis @toddgureckis.bsky.social · 19d

🚨 New preprint: "Decision rule inference limits social escape from learning traps" (with Rheza Budiono and Cate Hartley of the @hartleylabnyu.bsky.social ✨). Read here: osf.io/preprints/ps.... This is more work on a very curious phenomena!

OSF

osf.io

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Reposted by Uri Hertz

Kris Jensen @kristorpjensen.bsky.social · 20d

I’m super excited to finally put my recent work with @behrenstimb.bsky.social on bioRxiv, where we develop a new mechanistic theory of how PFC structures adaptive behaviour using attractor dynamics in space and time!

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

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Reposted by Uri Hertz

SANS @sansmeeting.bsky.social · 21d

Symposium submissions are now open for #SANS2026 in San Diego! The deadline for these submissions is November 17th at 23:59 Pacific. Check out the submission guidelines here: socialaffectiveneuro.org/symposia-gui...

Symposia Guidelines - Social Affective Neuroscience Society

socialaffectiveneuro.org

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Reposted by Uri Hertz

Robert Hawkins @rdhawkins.bsky.social · 23d

arxiv.org/abs/2509.15560

"Human and machine intelligence as collective, language-based intelligence."

How important is language for human-like intelligence?

We use language to communicate our thoughts. But is language merely the expression of thoughts, which are themselves produced by other, nonlinguistic parts of our minds? Or does language play a more t...

arxiv.org

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Reposted by Uri Hertz

GuyItzchakov @guyitzchakov.bsky.social · 24d

A new article in Current Opinion in Psychology: Willful ignorance is the deliberate avoidance of information that is relevant but uncomfortable or threatening. We argue that when attitudes are strong, people are more likely to engage in this behavior.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Attitude Strength as a Novel Predictor of Willful Ignorance

Willful ignorance is a pervasive phenomenon with significant consequences for decision-making, belief maintenance, and social polarization. While past…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Reposted by Uri Hertz

Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 26d

Our new paper explains the #polarization of public health

Identifying with a social group can shape people’s beliefs and values, leading them to act in ways that have consequences for their health

From vaccine hesitancy to smoking cessation, identity plays a critical role:
osf.io/preprints/ps...

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Reposted by Uri Hertz

Anita Keshmirian, PhD. @anitakeshmirian.bsky.social · 26d

Excited to share that my recent paper *many llms are more utilitarian than one * has been accepted to NeurIPS 2025! 🎉
#NeurIPS

Thanks to my amazing collaborators!
@razanbaltaji.bsky.social

Preprint: arxiv.org/abs/2507.00814

Many LLMs Are More Utilitarian Than One

Moral judgment is integral to large language model (LLM) alignment and social reasoning. As multi-agent systems gain prominence, it becomes crucial to understand how LLMs function collectively during ...

arxiv.org

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Reposted by Uri Hertz

Roy Salomon @royesal.bsky.social · 29d

Just published in World Psychiatry our study "Trauma under psychedelics: how psychoactive substances impact trauma processing" . Amazing work led by @ophirnetzer.bsky.social with the brave survivors of the Nova festival attack. Huge team effort, thx to all!
👉 doi.org/10.1002/wps....

Trauma under psychedelics: how psychoactive substances impact trauma processing

Click on the article title to read more.

doi.org

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