David Pietraszewski
@dpietra.bsky.social
Assistant Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences at University of California, Santa Barbara. Previously Research Scientist at Max Planck for Human Development in Berlin, Germany.
Reposted by David Pietraszewski
This—on my former university, department, and advisor—is harrowing but required reading for all social psychologists. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
Oxford University Has Failed Women Over Harassment Concerns, Staff Say
The university has repeatedly been slow to act against male academics accused of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behavior, a Bloomberg investigation found.
www.bloomberg.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:10 PM
This—on my former university, department, and advisor—is harrowing but required reading for all social psychologists. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
This is so fantastic. 🔥🔥🔥I can’t wait to read it!
Many thanks to my wonderful coauthor @chrisvonrueden.bsky.social for being ever insightful and incisive. I've wanted to work with him for years and it has been a joy and a pleasure.
Also note that an this early online uncorrected proof - Baylor University does not have a UK campus ☺️
Also note that an this early online uncorrected proof - Baylor University does not have a UK campus ☺️
📣 New BBS preprint out now! 📣
"Models casting egalitarian societies as crucibles of equality perpetuate the factually uninformed notion that foragers are somehow more noble. Critiques portray egalitarianism as romantic fantasy. Neither characterization is wholly justified."
doi.org/10.1017/S014...
"Models casting egalitarian societies as crucibles of equality perpetuate the factually uninformed notion that foragers are somehow more noble. Critiques portray egalitarianism as romantic fantasy. Neither characterization is wholly justified."
doi.org/10.1017/S014...
November 19, 2025 at 3:55 AM
This is so fantastic. 🔥🔥🔥I can’t wait to read it!
Reposted by David Pietraszewski
🌱 There’s still time to apply to the open #PhD positions in my lab! 🌱 More information below; deadline is December 1st. Please help spread the word! 🌱
I’m recruiting #PhD students to join my Lab for Infant Learning and Cognition (LILAC) at @ucsantabarbara.bsky.social! We study how infants learn about the natural world from others 🌱 If you’re interested in #devpsych, #EvPsych, and #infantstudies, please reach out and apply! More info below (1/2)
November 17, 2025 at 6:47 PM
🌱 There’s still time to apply to the open #PhD positions in my lab! 🌱 More information below; deadline is December 1st. Please help spread the word! 🌱
Reposted by David Pietraszewski
New paper out today with Zhian Chen.
We argue that modern intensive parenting is not only exhausting for parents, but in some cases disrupts healthy child development.
What is 'overparenting'? And can evolutionary theory help us understand how we got here?
academic.oup.com/emph/advance...
We argue that modern intensive parenting is not only exhausting for parents, but in some cases disrupts healthy child development.
What is 'overparenting'? And can evolutionary theory help us understand how we got here?
academic.oup.com/emph/advance...
When parental care hurts: Extended parental care and the evolution of overparenting
Abstract. In recent years, childrearing in high-income countries has become described as ‘relentless’ in its demands on parents. In response to growing del
academic.oup.com
October 21, 2025 at 6:53 PM
New paper out today with Zhian Chen.
We argue that modern intensive parenting is not only exhausting for parents, but in some cases disrupts healthy child development.
What is 'overparenting'? And can evolutionary theory help us understand how we got here?
academic.oup.com/emph/advance...
We argue that modern intensive parenting is not only exhausting for parents, but in some cases disrupts healthy child development.
What is 'overparenting'? And can evolutionary theory help us understand how we got here?
academic.oup.com/emph/advance...
Reposted by David Pietraszewski
New paper out on the important role of social learning in breastfeeding! academic.oup.com/emph/article...
Social learning is critical to breastfeeding success: evidence from rural Namibian pastoralists
AbstractBackground and objectives. Lactation is one of the defining features of mammals, yet many humans struggle with breastfeeding. One reason for this i
academic.oup.com
October 21, 2025 at 5:21 PM
New paper out on the important role of social learning in breastfeeding! academic.oup.com/emph/article...
Reposted by David Pietraszewski
This week, @anniewertz.bsky.social talks about her ground-breaking work exploring what infants know, and come prepared to learn, about 🌱plants🌿! (Annie gets credit for all plant-based puns in this episode).
youtu.be/bMbDieccEtc
www.podbean.com/eas/pb-67k8k...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
youtu.be/bMbDieccEtc
www.podbean.com/eas/pb-67k8k...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
Plants, Infants, and the Evolution of Social Learning with Annie Wertz
YouTube video by Evolutionary Psychology (The Podcast)
youtu.be
August 26, 2025 at 12:21 PM
This week, @anniewertz.bsky.social talks about her ground-breaking work exploring what infants know, and come prepared to learn, about 🌱plants🌿! (Annie gets credit for all plant-based puns in this episode).
youtu.be/bMbDieccEtc
www.podbean.com/eas/pb-67k8k...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
youtu.be/bMbDieccEtc
www.podbean.com/eas/pb-67k8k...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
Reposted by David Pietraszewski
New preprint! Led by Bill Pepe, with @brandonwoo.bsky.social and @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social. We asked if infants think helping and hindering stem from actors' dispositions (i.e. good/nice v bad/mean) or their social relationships, by testing expectations for future behavior: osf.io/preprints/ps...
OSF
osf.io
July 17, 2025 at 1:29 PM
New preprint! Led by Bill Pepe, with @brandonwoo.bsky.social and @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social. We asked if infants think helping and hindering stem from actors' dispositions (i.e. good/nice v bad/mean) or their social relationships, by testing expectations for future behavior: osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by David Pietraszewski
I'm hiring a full-time #labmanager for my new Lab for Infant Learning and Cognition (LILAC) at UCSB! The start date is flexible, but could be as early as August 1, 2025. Application review begins July 17th and will continue until the position is filled 👶🪴
recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF02992
#academicjobs
recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF02992
#academicjobs
Junior Specialist-Lab for Infant Learning And Cognition (LILAC), Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
University of California Santa Barbara is hiring. Apply now!
recruit.ap.ucsb.edu
July 2, 2025 at 7:26 PM
I'm hiring a full-time #labmanager for my new Lab for Infant Learning and Cognition (LILAC) at UCSB! The start date is flexible, but could be as early as August 1, 2025. Application review begins July 17th and will continue until the position is filled 👶🪴
recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF02992
#academicjobs
recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF02992
#academicjobs
Reposted by David Pietraszewski
Helicopter parenting is not a human universal! In our sixth episode, @sheinalew.bsky.social discusses studying childhood in the Congo basin.
www.podbean.com/ew/pb-bpsfw-...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=12mI...
www.podbean.com/ew/pb-bpsfw-...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=12mI...
Childhood in the Congo Basin with Sheina Lew-Levy
Helicopter parenting is not a human universal! Guest Sheina Lew-Levy (Durham) explains what drew her to studying childhood among BaYaka foragers in the Congo Basin, and what parenting and childhood is...
www.podbean.com
June 24, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Helicopter parenting is not a human universal! In our sixth episode, @sheinalew.bsky.social discusses studying childhood in the Congo basin.
www.podbean.com/ew/pb-bpsfw-...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=12mI...
www.podbean.com/ew/pb-bpsfw-...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=12mI...
Reposted by David Pietraszewski
Fifth episode is up! @jaimiekrems.bsky.social on friendship!
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
epthepod.podbean.com/e/friendship...
youtu.be/fbrW4Hq0hFc?...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
epthepod.podbean.com/e/friendship...
youtu.be/fbrW4Hq0hFc?...
Friendship with Jaimie Krems
Podcast Episode · Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast) · 06/17/2025 · 2h 2m
podcasts.apple.com
June 17, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Fifth episode is up! @jaimiekrems.bsky.social on friendship!
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
epthepod.podbean.com/e/friendship...
youtu.be/fbrW4Hq0hFc?...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
epthepod.podbean.com/e/friendship...
youtu.be/fbrW4Hq0hFc?...
Reposted by David Pietraszewski
Our Fourth Episode is out today! Our first of many wonderful interviews. This one with Dan Conroy-Beam @dconroybeam.bsky.social where we discuss the good and less good of ep studies of mating.
www.podbean.com/ew/pb-f8icb-...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/m...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0qR...
www.podbean.com/ew/pb-f8icb-...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/m...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0qR...
Mating with Daniel Conroy-Beam
Guest Daniel Conroy-Beam (UCSB) explains why human mating has occupied the interest of evolutionary psychologists, what consequences this has had on science, and how things might be done better. If yo...
www.podbean.com
June 10, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Our Fourth Episode is out today! Our first of many wonderful interviews. This one with Dan Conroy-Beam @dconroybeam.bsky.social where we discuss the good and less good of ep studies of mating.
www.podbean.com/ew/pb-f8icb-...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/m...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0qR...
www.podbean.com/ew/pb-f8icb-...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/m...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0qR...
This looks fantastic—a great line up of speakers!
Join us this Thursday/Friday for Deconstructing the Universal Mind, an open webinar with an amazing group of speakers discussing recent developments in the study of cross-cultural cognition!
Register here: cps-vo.org/group/cise-s...
Register here: cps-vo.org/group/cise-s...
June 9, 2025 at 8:19 PM
This looks fantastic—a great line up of speakers!
My very personal story about how I discovered evolutionary psychology.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
Basement Cults
Podcast Episode · Evolutionary Psychology (the podcast) · 05/27/2025 · 2h 10m
podcasts.apple.com
May 27, 2025 at 12:43 PM
My very personal story about how I discovered evolutionary psychology.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
Reposted by David Pietraszewski
May 15, 2025 at 5:40 PM
"A Psychological Explanation of the Problem of Free Will"
with Thomas Hills @thomhills.bsky.social
osf.io/preprints/ps...
with Thomas Hills @thomhills.bsky.social
osf.io/preprints/ps...
OSF
osf.io
January 29, 2025 at 7:15 PM
"A Psychological Explanation of the Problem of Free Will"
with Thomas Hills @thomhills.bsky.social
osf.io/preprints/ps...
with Thomas Hills @thomhills.bsky.social
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Christian List is consistently clear-minded, explicit about argument structure, and concise. So, as usual, I really liked and learned something new from this paper; Maybe there’s no view from nowhere for the mind?
New paper: "The first-personal argument against physicalism". The standard physicalist worldview is third-personal. Some of the facts about conscious experience are first-personal. First-personal facts don't supervene on third-personal ones. So, standard physicalism is false. #consciousness #philsci
Christian List, The first-personal argument against physicalism - PhilPapers
The aim of this paper is to discuss a seemingly straightforward argument against physicalism which, despite being implicit in much of the philosophical debate about consciousness, has not received the...
philpapers.org
November 19, 2023 at 3:51 PM
Christian List is consistently clear-minded, explicit about argument structure, and concise. So, as usual, I really liked and learned something new from this paper; Maybe there’s no view from nowhere for the mind?
Reposted by David Pietraszewski
📣 Seeking PhD applicants passionate about fMRI, EEG, & data science to study race/ethnicity & religion effects on how we see ourselves & world around us. We’re a supportive & hard-working lab committed to open science. Applications due 12/1. Still time to apply — spread the word! spl.psych.ucsb.edu
November 16, 2023 at 8:08 PM
📣 Seeking PhD applicants passionate about fMRI, EEG, & data science to study race/ethnicity & religion effects on how we see ourselves & world around us. We’re a supportive & hard-working lab committed to open science. Applications due 12/1. Still time to apply — spread the word! spl.psych.ucsb.edu
Reposted by David Pietraszewski
New paper with Christophe Heintz, in PNAS:
"Great ape interaction: Ladyginian but not Gricean"
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
"Great ape interaction: Ladyginian but not Gricean"
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
October 30, 2023 at 12:03 PM
New paper with Christophe Heintz, in PNAS:
"Great ape interaction: Ladyginian but not Gricean"
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
"Great ape interaction: Ladyginian but not Gricean"
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
New preprint on how our evolved psychology may be getting in the way of theory progress in Psychology. Highlights include jumping spiders and the concept of difference-detecting mechanisms. @speciestypical.bsky.social Based on my talk @ehbea.bsky.social Comments welcome!
osf.io/preprints/ps...
osf.io/preprints/ps...
October 12, 2023 at 6:54 AM
New preprint on how our evolved psychology may be getting in the way of theory progress in Psychology. Highlights include jumping spiders and the concept of difference-detecting mechanisms. @speciestypical.bsky.social Based on my talk @ehbea.bsky.social Comments welcome!
osf.io/preprints/ps...
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by David Pietraszewski
Really pleased to announce that the University of Toronto has an Assistant Professor position in personality/social psychology. Please spread the word!
jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-...
jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-...
October 11, 2023 at 2:50 PM
Really pleased to announce that the University of Toronto has an Assistant Professor position in personality/social psychology. Please spread the word!
jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-...
jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-...
Reposted by David Pietraszewski
I'm excited to launch the CENTER FOR CONFLICT & COOPERATION @NYU. We are planning research around the world on topics related to social identity, intergroup relations, polarization & social media.
Subscribe to learn about—and join—our research: jayvanbavellab.substack.com/p/introducin...
Subscribe to learn about—and join—our research: jayvanbavellab.substack.com/p/introducin...
Introducing the Center for Conflict and Cooperation at New York University
We are launching a new Center at New York University to conduct and coordinate global, large-scale research on intergroup relations
jayvanbavellab.substack.com
September 28, 2023 at 2:30 PM
I'm excited to launch the CENTER FOR CONFLICT & COOPERATION @NYU. We are planning research around the world on topics related to social identity, intergroup relations, polarization & social media.
Subscribe to learn about—and join—our research: jayvanbavellab.substack.com/p/introducin...
Subscribe to learn about—and join—our research: jayvanbavellab.substack.com/p/introducin...