William Ngiam | 严祥全
@williamngiam.github.io
Cognitive Neuroscientist at Adelaide University | Perception, Attention, Learning and Memory Lab (https://palm-lab.github.io) | Open Practices Editor at Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics | ReproducibiliTea | http://williamngiam.github.io
Had a chuckle at this line from C. Thi Nguyen @add-hawk.bsky.social:
"After all, step counts are not the same as
health, and citation rates are not the same as wisdom".
How much freer would we be if we resisted quantification across all aspects of our life?
"After all, step counts are not the same as
health, and citation rates are not the same as wisdom".
How much freer would we be if we resisted quantification across all aspects of our life?
January 15, 2026 at 10:56 AM
Had a chuckle at this line from C. Thi Nguyen @add-hawk.bsky.social:
"After all, step counts are not the same as
health, and citation rates are not the same as wisdom".
How much freer would we be if we resisted quantification across all aspects of our life?
"After all, step counts are not the same as
health, and citation rates are not the same as wisdom".
How much freer would we be if we resisted quantification across all aspects of our life?
I've decided research is not for me...it's for everyone!
January 14, 2026 at 4:29 AM
I've decided research is not for me...it's for everyone!
This is going to take my thinking in circles to the next level.
Are we still using the #workingmemory tag? Relevant for anyone there – bring back the delayed reproduction task and the computational model wars! #teamnotpureslots #teamnotpureresourceseither
Are we still using the #workingmemory tag? Relevant for anyone there – bring back the delayed reproduction task and the computational model wars! #teamnotpureslots #teamnotpureresourceseither
I am happy to share that our preprint “𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗶𝗿𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮: 𝗔 𝗧𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵” is now out.
Huge thanks to @bayslab.org, Julie de Falco, Zahara, @cjungerius.bsky.social, @ivntmc.bsky.social, Adam, and Xiaolu for the lovely collaboration.
doi.org/10.31234/osf...
Huge thanks to @bayslab.org, Julie de Falco, Zahara, @cjungerius.bsky.social, @ivntmc.bsky.social, Adam, and Xiaolu for the lovely collaboration.
doi.org/10.31234/osf...
OSF
doi.org
January 13, 2026 at 3:28 AM
This is going to take my thinking in circles to the next level.
Are we still using the #workingmemory tag? Relevant for anyone there – bring back the delayed reproduction task and the computational model wars! #teamnotpureslots #teamnotpureresourceseither
Are we still using the #workingmemory tag? Relevant for anyone there – bring back the delayed reproduction task and the computational model wars! #teamnotpureslots #teamnotpureresourceseither
Reposted by William Ngiam | 严祥全
I am happy to share that our preprint “𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗶𝗿𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮: 𝗔 𝗧𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵” is now out.
Huge thanks to @bayslab.org, Julie de Falco, Zahara, @cjungerius.bsky.social, @ivntmc.bsky.social, Adam, and Xiaolu for the lovely collaboration.
doi.org/10.31234/osf...
Huge thanks to @bayslab.org, Julie de Falco, Zahara, @cjungerius.bsky.social, @ivntmc.bsky.social, Adam, and Xiaolu for the lovely collaboration.
doi.org/10.31234/osf...
OSF
doi.org
January 12, 2026 at 2:43 PM
I am happy to share that our preprint “𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗶𝗿𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮: 𝗔 𝗧𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵” is now out.
Huge thanks to @bayslab.org, Julie de Falco, Zahara, @cjungerius.bsky.social, @ivntmc.bsky.social, Adam, and Xiaolu for the lovely collaboration.
doi.org/10.31234/osf...
Huge thanks to @bayslab.org, Julie de Falco, Zahara, @cjungerius.bsky.social, @ivntmc.bsky.social, Adam, and Xiaolu for the lovely collaboration.
doi.org/10.31234/osf...
I am running a self-organised @carpentries.carpentries.org introduction to R workshop later this month, but suddenly getting errors with the Github Actions to build the site. Looks like the same issue in recent datacarpentry repos as well. Anyone else facing the same issue/know the fix?
January 13, 2026 at 1:46 AM
I am running a self-organised @carpentries.carpentries.org introduction to R workshop later this month, but suddenly getting errors with the Github Actions to build the site. Looks like the same issue in recent datacarpentry repos as well. Anyone else facing the same issue/know the fix?
I do my most considered thinking when I am writing. In an effort to think more, I've started a blog to write on whatever has my attention. It's a reminder to myself to keep thinking and discovering; maybe it will serve the same purpose for others to preserve their desire and time to think.
In defense of thinking
Writing to retain the practice of thought
indefenseofthinking.substack.com
January 10, 2026 at 5:39 AM
I do my most considered thinking when I am writing. In an effort to think more, I've started a blog to write on whatever has my attention. It's a reminder to myself to keep thinking and discovering; maybe it will serve the same purpose for others to preserve their desire and time to think.
Reposted by William Ngiam | 严祥全
With some trepidation, I'm putting this out into the world:
gershmanlab.com/textbook.html
It's a textbook called Computational Foundations of Cognitive Neuroscience, which I wrote for my class.
My hope is that this will be a living document, continuously improved as I get feedback.
gershmanlab.com/textbook.html
It's a textbook called Computational Foundations of Cognitive Neuroscience, which I wrote for my class.
My hope is that this will be a living document, continuously improved as I get feedback.
January 9, 2026 at 1:27 AM
With some trepidation, I'm putting this out into the world:
gershmanlab.com/textbook.html
It's a textbook called Computational Foundations of Cognitive Neuroscience, which I wrote for my class.
My hope is that this will be a living document, continuously improved as I get feedback.
gershmanlab.com/textbook.html
It's a textbook called Computational Foundations of Cognitive Neuroscience, which I wrote for my class.
My hope is that this will be a living document, continuously improved as I get feedback.
Reposted by William Ngiam | 严祥全
After 5 years of data collection, our WARN-D machine learning competition to forecast depression onset is now LIVE! We hope many of you will participate—we have incredibly rich data.
If you share a single thing of my lab this year, please make it this competition.
eiko-fried.com/warn-d-machi...
If you share a single thing of my lab this year, please make it this competition.
eiko-fried.com/warn-d-machi...
WARN-D machine learning competition is live » Eiko Fried
If you share one single thing of our team in 2026—on social media or per email with your colleagues—please let it be this machine learning competition. It was half a decade of work to get here, especi...
eiko-fried.com
January 7, 2026 at 7:39 PM
After 5 years of data collection, our WARN-D machine learning competition to forecast depression onset is now LIVE! We hope many of you will participate—we have incredibly rich data.
If you share a single thing of my lab this year, please make it this competition.
eiko-fried.com/warn-d-machi...
If you share a single thing of my lab this year, please make it this competition.
eiko-fried.com/warn-d-machi...
One of the best ways for early-career researchers to create community within their department and effect change towards doing open and thoughtful research is to start a ReproducibiliTea journal club. We've distilled our network's experience into a set of simple rules to follow and get started!
📢 New preprint! Ten Simple Rules for Running a ReproducibiliTea Journal Club
🔗 doi.org/10.31222/osf...
Our aim is to equip you as early career researchers with the tools needed to lead grassroots change in research culture.
#reproducibility #openresearch #openscience #metasci #academicsky
🔗 doi.org/10.31222/osf...
Our aim is to equip you as early career researchers with the tools needed to lead grassroots change in research culture.
#reproducibility #openresearch #openscience #metasci #academicsky
January 7, 2026 at 11:31 AM
One of the best ways for early-career researchers to create community within their department and effect change towards doing open and thoughtful research is to start a ReproducibiliTea journal club. We've distilled our network's experience into a set of simple rules to follow and get started!
I think this is a key point for our field to reckon with – that the underlying cognitive representation can vary across the many tasks and conditions that we use to probe working memory. I think that doesn't mean we give up our search – we do have to rethink the questions we are asking though!
In summary, this combination of compositionality and task dependence means that, as scientists, we cannot find a “fundamental” working memory format. Any changes we make to an experiment to zero-in on the memory will also change the memory itself! (19)
a brown dog is sitting on a couch holding a gift box
Alt: a brown dog is sitting on a couch and tilting its head in confusion
media.tenor.com
January 6, 2026 at 10:05 PM
I think this is a key point for our field to reckon with – that the underlying cognitive representation can vary across the many tasks and conditions that we use to probe working memory. I think that doesn't mean we give up our search – we do have to rethink the questions we are asking though!
Reposted by William Ngiam | 严祥全
We recently published a theoretical review about how compositional and generative mechanisms in working memory provide a flexible engine for creative perception and imagery.
Pre-print:
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Paper: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Pre-print:
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Paper: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
January 6, 2026 at 7:04 PM
We recently published a theoretical review about how compositional and generative mechanisms in working memory provide a flexible engine for creative perception and imagery.
Pre-print:
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Paper: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Pre-print:
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Paper: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Make it your New Year resolution to add a #workingmemory dataset to OpenWMData so that we can curate our field's precious data, start testing theories and benchmarking models across datasets, conduct secondary analyses and meta-research using the data itself, and help me feel like I'm, like, alive.
OpenWMData
A collection of publicly available working memory datasets
williamngiam.github.io
January 2, 2026 at 4:37 AM
Make it your New Year resolution to add a #workingmemory dataset to OpenWMData so that we can curate our field's precious data, start testing theories and benchmarking models across datasets, conduct secondary analyses and meta-research using the data itself, and help me feel like I'm, like, alive.
Never getting any research funding so that my work can never be taken for "granted".
a cartoon of batman wearing a blue cape and mask with his hand on his chin .
Alt: a cartoon of batman wearing a blue cape and mask with his hand on his chin .
media.tenor.com
January 2, 2026 at 4:30 AM
Never getting any research funding so that my work can never be taken for "granted".
Hey everyone! I have enough publications to stop working for the rest of the year!
December 31, 2025 at 5:34 AM
Hey everyone! I have enough publications to stop working for the rest of the year!
Reposted by William Ngiam | 严祥全
Has anyone attended any pre-data-collection poster sessions (i.e., poster sessions where people present their plans for experiments before data collection in order to get feedback when it's most useful) at conferences other than VSS?
December 20, 2025 at 12:55 AM
Has anyone attended any pre-data-collection poster sessions (i.e., poster sessions where people present their plans for experiments before data collection in order to get feedback when it's most useful) at conferences other than VSS?
Reposted by William Ngiam | 严祥全
Our upcoming (NSF-funded) OPAM workshop will feature Dr Johnny van Doorn (of University of Amsterdam) presenting on the theory and practice of Bayesian statistics (using JASP software). Please register and join us for the workshop (on January 26th), here: www.opamconference.com/online-works...
December 13, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Our upcoming (NSF-funded) OPAM workshop will feature Dr Johnny van Doorn (of University of Amsterdam) presenting on the theory and practice of Bayesian statistics (using JASP software). Please register and join us for the workshop (on January 26th), here: www.opamconference.com/online-works...
The faster we move to value science for its practice (the critical thinking and search for knowledge, the various skills we apply) and not simply outputs via number of publications or journal prestige, the easier it will be to survive the onslaught of AI slop, probably de-funding of science too.
December 12, 2025 at 10:43 PM
The faster we move to value science for its practice (the critical thinking and search for knowledge, the various skills we apply) and not simply outputs via number of publications or journal prestige, the easier it will be to survive the onslaught of AI slop, probably de-funding of science too.
Reposted by William Ngiam | 严祥全
AI anthropomorphization hits new highs in science, thanks to a @utoronto.ca PhD candidate and some obvious @aixiv.bsky.social deceptions. @emilymbender.bsky.social @olivia.science @irisvanrooij.bsky.social
www.the-geyser.com/aixiv-nothin...
www.the-geyser.com/aixiv-nothin...
aiXiv — Nothing Is Right About It
Agents with human IDs generating fake papers, and PhD students running amok
www.the-geyser.com
December 12, 2025 at 6:24 PM
AI anthropomorphization hits new highs in science, thanks to a @utoronto.ca PhD candidate and some obvious @aixiv.bsky.social deceptions. @emilymbender.bsky.social @olivia.science @irisvanrooij.bsky.social
www.the-geyser.com/aixiv-nothin...
www.the-geyser.com/aixiv-nothin...
Reposted by William Ngiam | 严祥全
Spread the word: I'm looking to hire a postdoc to explore the concept of attention (as studied in psych/neuro, not the transformer mechanism) in large Vision-Language Models. More details here: lindsay-lab.github.io/2025/12/08/p...
#MLSky #neurojobs #compneuro
#MLSky #neurojobs #compneuro
Lindsay Lab - Postdoc Position
Artificial neural networks applied to psychology, neuroscience, and climate change
lindsay-lab.github.io
December 8, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Spread the word: I'm looking to hire a postdoc to explore the concept of attention (as studied in psych/neuro, not the transformer mechanism) in large Vision-Language Models. More details here: lindsay-lab.github.io/2025/12/08/p...
#MLSky #neurojobs #compneuro
#MLSky #neurojobs #compneuro
Reposted by William Ngiam | 严祥全
Is WM a gateway to LTM? In this registered report we find that higher WM load rarely impairs LTM encoding - suggesting WM capacity is not a bottleneck for forming LTM traces. @as-souza.bsky.social @edamizrak.bsky.social @cognition-zurich.bsky.social psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-... [1/3]
APA PsycNet
psycnet.apa.org
December 9, 2025 at 7:46 AM
Is WM a gateway to LTM? In this registered report we find that higher WM load rarely impairs LTM encoding - suggesting WM capacity is not a bottleneck for forming LTM traces. @as-souza.bsky.social @edamizrak.bsky.social @cognition-zurich.bsky.social psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-... [1/3]
Reposted by William Ngiam | 严祥全
New paper in Psych Review on a model of false recognition in Deese-Roediger-McDermott DRM task.
Not just recognition responses, but also associated RTs!
And not just the semantic task, but also the structural task - where words overlap in orthography/phonology!
A thread!
Not just recognition responses, but also associated RTs!
And not just the semantic task, but also the structural task - where words overlap in orthography/phonology!
A thread!
APA PsycNet
psycnet.apa.org
December 8, 2025 at 4:39 AM
New paper in Psych Review on a model of false recognition in Deese-Roediger-McDermott DRM task.
Not just recognition responses, but also associated RTs!
And not just the semantic task, but also the structural task - where words overlap in orthography/phonology!
A thread!
Not just recognition responses, but also associated RTs!
And not just the semantic task, but also the structural task - where words overlap in orthography/phonology!
A thread!
Reposted by William Ngiam | 严祥全
Well this is exciting!
The Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Johns Hopkins University (@jhu.edu) invites applications for a full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty member in Cognitive Psychology, in any area and at any rank!
Application + more info: apply.interfolio.com/178146
The Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Johns Hopkins University (@jhu.edu) invites applications for a full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty member in Cognitive Psychology, in any area and at any rank!
Application + more info: apply.interfolio.com/178146
Apply - Interfolio
{{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
December 2, 2025 at 3:18 AM
Well this is exciting!
The Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Johns Hopkins University (@jhu.edu) invites applications for a full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty member in Cognitive Psychology, in any area and at any rank!
Application + more info: apply.interfolio.com/178146
The Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Johns Hopkins University (@jhu.edu) invites applications for a full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty member in Cognitive Psychology, in any area and at any rank!
Application + more info: apply.interfolio.com/178146
Do you have an open working memory dataset and want it to be findable and reused? You can now add it to the Open WM Data Hub: williamngiam.github.io/OpenWMData! The collection of datasets tagged with useful metadata is steadily growing thanks to a small team of volunteers!
OpenWMData
A collection of publicly available working memory datasets
williamngiam.github.io
December 1, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Do you have an open working memory dataset and want it to be findable and reused? You can now add it to the Open WM Data Hub: williamngiam.github.io/OpenWMData! The collection of datasets tagged with useful metadata is steadily growing thanks to a small team of volunteers!
Reposted by William Ngiam | 严祥全
🚨 SynthNet is out 🚨
Researchers propose new constructs and measures faster than anyone can track. We (@anniria.bsky.social @ruben.the100.ci) built a search engine to check what already exists and help identify redundancies; indexing 74,000 scales from ~31,500 instruments in APA PsycTests. 🧵1/3
Researchers propose new constructs and measures faster than anyone can track. We (@anniria.bsky.social @ruben.the100.ci) built a search engine to check what already exists and help identify redundancies; indexing 74,000 scales from ~31,500 instruments in APA PsycTests. 🧵1/3
November 26, 2025 at 11:42 AM
🚨 SynthNet is out 🚨
Researchers propose new constructs and measures faster than anyone can track. We (@anniria.bsky.social @ruben.the100.ci) built a search engine to check what already exists and help identify redundancies; indexing 74,000 scales from ~31,500 instruments in APA PsycTests. 🧵1/3
Researchers propose new constructs and measures faster than anyone can track. We (@anniria.bsky.social @ruben.the100.ci) built a search engine to check what already exists and help identify redundancies; indexing 74,000 scales from ~31,500 instruments in APA PsycTests. 🧵1/3
Thank you to everyone who came to the symposium! I'm also grateful to the people who have chatted to me about my talk on building a formal cognitive model that fits for the latent representation to then link to neural representation similarity.
My talk slides: williamngiam.github.io/talks/2025_A...
My talk slides: williamngiam.github.io/talks/2025_A...
November 27, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Thank you to everyone who came to the symposium! I'm also grateful to the people who have chatted to me about my talk on building a formal cognitive model that fits for the latent representation to then link to neural representation similarity.
My talk slides: williamngiam.github.io/talks/2025_A...
My talk slides: williamngiam.github.io/talks/2025_A...