Ryan Boyd
@ryanboyd.io
Computational Social Scientist, Social/Personality Psychologist, and Generally Curious Person. University of Texas at Dallas. https://www.ryanboyd.io
Reposted by Ryan Boyd
Can large language models stand in for human participants?
Many social scientists seem to think so, and are already using "silicon samples" in research.
One problem: depending on the analytic decisions made, you can basically get these samples to show any effect you want.
THREAD 🧵
Many social scientists seem to think so, and are already using "silicon samples" in research.
One problem: depending on the analytic decisions made, you can basically get these samples to show any effect you want.
THREAD 🧵
The threat of analytic flexibility in using large language models to simulate human data: A call to attention
Social scientists are now using large language models to create "silicon samples" - synthetic datasets intended to stand in for human respondents, aimed at revolutionising human subjects research. How...
arxiv.org
September 18, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Can large language models stand in for human participants?
Many social scientists seem to think so, and are already using "silicon samples" in research.
One problem: depending on the analytic decisions made, you can basically get these samples to show any effect you want.
THREAD 🧵
Many social scientists seem to think so, and are already using "silicon samples" in research.
One problem: depending on the analytic decisions made, you can basically get these samples to show any effect you want.
THREAD 🧵
Reposted by Ryan Boyd
‼️Academic job alert‼️ Our dept at Queen's University (Canada!) is looking to hire a TT assistant prof in clinical psychology... Applications due end of Sept! Re-posts very much appreciated www.queensu.ca/psychology/n...
Employment Opportunities | Department of Psychology
Available Positions Position Title Position Details Posting Date Closing Date Assistant Professor - Tenure-Track Appointment in Psychology
www.queensu.ca
August 15, 2025 at 5:26 PM
‼️Academic job alert‼️ Our dept at Queen's University (Canada!) is looking to hire a TT assistant prof in clinical psychology... Applications due end of Sept! Re-posts very much appreciated www.queensu.ca/psychology/n...
Reposted by Ryan Boyd
The LEADING reporting guideline is now published in Comprehensive Psychiatry 🥳
See www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Or read the previous summary 👇
See www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Or read the previous summary 👇
June 16, 2025 at 11:05 AM
The LEADING reporting guideline is now published in Comprehensive Psychiatry 🥳
See www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Or read the previous summary 👇
See www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Or read the previous summary 👇
Reposted by Ryan Boyd
🎺 Publication in JPSP 🎺
1/7 We automated the coding procedure of the implicit motives of power, achievement and affiliation with at least as high accuracy as human coders while being 99% faster! 🎯⚡️
Article: psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...
#personality
#AI
#NLProc
@apajournals.bsky.social
1/7 We automated the coding procedure of the implicit motives of power, achievement and affiliation with at least as high accuracy as human coders while being 99% faster! 🎯⚡️
Article: psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...
#personality
#AI
#NLProc
@apajournals.bsky.social
April 11, 2025 at 8:52 AM
🎺 Publication in JPSP 🎺
1/7 We automated the coding procedure of the implicit motives of power, achievement and affiliation with at least as high accuracy as human coders while being 99% faster! 🎯⚡️
Article: psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...
#personality
#AI
#NLProc
@apajournals.bsky.social
1/7 We automated the coding procedure of the implicit motives of power, achievement and affiliation with at least as high accuracy as human coders while being 99% faster! 🎯⚡️
Article: psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...
#personality
#AI
#NLProc
@apajournals.bsky.social
Reposted by Ryan Boyd
Our new paper in PNAS Nexus. County morals > politics for carbon footprints? 🤯 We find that county-level values predict actual green behavior (emissions!), not just attitudes. Stronger than political leaning.
A study finds that moral values predict environmental action as well as or better than political party affiliation. US counties where residents prioritize purity and fairness report higher environmental concerns and lower carbon emissions. In PNAS Nexus: academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
February 24, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Our new paper in PNAS Nexus. County morals > politics for carbon footprints? 🤯 We find that county-level values predict actual green behavior (emissions!), not just attitudes. Stronger than political leaning.
With all of the big announcements about AI-facilitated scientific research, like OpenAI's Deep Research and Google's AI co-scientist, it appears as though our thinky-piece on AI in the research process might be worth a re-read: www.frontiersin.org/journals/soc...
Frontiers | From silicon to solutions: AI's impending impact on research and discovery
The social sciences have long relied on comparative work as the foundation upon which we understand the complexities of human behavior and society. However, ...
www.frontiersin.org
February 21, 2025 at 9:33 PM
With all of the big announcements about AI-facilitated scientific research, like OpenAI's Deep Research and Google's AI co-scientist, it appears as though our thinky-piece on AI in the research process might be worth a re-read: www.frontiersin.org/journals/soc...
Reposted by Ryan Boyd
our department at Lund University has a position for a PhD student.
feel free to reach out if you are interested in applying.
lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
feel free to reach out if you are interested in applying.
lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
At least one Doctoral student in Psychology
The Department of Psychology is now looking for a doctoral student in any field of study in the subject and based on their own proposed project plan. Regarding the doctoral programme The doctoral prog
lu.varbi.com
January 30, 2025 at 8:42 AM
our department at Lund University has a position for a PhD student.
feel free to reach out if you are interested in applying.
lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
feel free to reach out if you are interested in applying.
lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
Reposted by Ryan Boyd
I'm glad to announce that I just started as co-Editor-in-chief of EPJ Data Science with @yelenamejova.bsky.social
Looking forward to building the community around one of my favorite journals!
www.epj.org/113-epj-ds/2...
Looking forward to building the community around one of my favorite journals!
www.epj.org/113-epj-ds/2...
EPJ
The EPJ portal gives you access to EPJA, EPJB, EPJC, EPJD, EPJE, EPJAP, EPJST, EPJH, EPJPlus, EPJ Data Science, EPJ Photovoltaics, EPJ Web of Conferences, EPJ Nuclear Sciences & Technologies, EPJ ...
www.epj.org
January 15, 2025 at 3:31 PM
I'm glad to announce that I just started as co-Editor-in-chief of EPJ Data Science with @yelenamejova.bsky.social
Looking forward to building the community around one of my favorite journals!
www.epj.org/113-epj-ds/2...
Looking forward to building the community around one of my favorite journals!
www.epj.org/113-epj-ds/2...
New blog post, and (I think?) my first one directly about LIWC-related things. More challenges, and thoughts, about sailing on the choppy seas of interdisciplinary scholarship. www.pancakes.wtf/20250110/lan...
Language Analysis Across Contexts: A Dialogue Between Forensic Linguistics and Psychology — A Rejoinder to Hunter & Grant (2025) – Pancakes? WTF?
www.pancakes.wtf
January 10, 2025 at 7:41 PM
New blog post, and (I think?) my first one directly about LIWC-related things. More challenges, and thoughts, about sailing on the choppy seas of interdisciplinary scholarship. www.pancakes.wtf/20250110/lan...
Reposted by Ryan Boyd
🥁 Announcing the Public Domain Image Archive! 🥁
We are v excited to share our new sister-project, the Public Domain Image Archive (PDIA), a curated collection of 10k+ out-of-copyright historical images, all free to explore and reuse: pdimagearchive.org @pdimagearchive
We are v excited to share our new sister-project, the Public Domain Image Archive (PDIA), a curated collection of 10k+ out-of-copyright historical images, all free to explore and reuse: pdimagearchive.org @pdimagearchive
January 8, 2025 at 5:02 PM
🥁 Announcing the Public Domain Image Archive! 🥁
We are v excited to share our new sister-project, the Public Domain Image Archive (PDIA), a curated collection of 10k+ out-of-copyright historical images, all free to explore and reuse: pdimagearchive.org @pdimagearchive
We are v excited to share our new sister-project, the Public Domain Image Archive (PDIA), a curated collection of 10k+ out-of-copyright historical images, all free to explore and reuse: pdimagearchive.org @pdimagearchive
Reposted by Ryan Boyd
Stimulation Clicker is the best thing you'll play today https://neal.fun/stimulation-clicker/
January 6, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Stimulation Clicker is the best thing you'll play today https://neal.fun/stimulation-clicker/
Reposted by Ryan Boyd
"A study of federally funded research projects in the United States estimated that principal investigators spend on average about 45% of their time on administrative activities related to applying for and managing projects rather than conducting active research"
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
January 4, 2025 at 1:26 PM
"A study of federally funded research projects in the United States estimated that principal investigators spend on average about 45% of their time on administrative activities related to applying for and managing projects rather than conducting active research"
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Hey, it's finally up! I'm hiring a postdoctoral researcher for our new and growing computational social science lab! If you're passionate about Computational Social Science, Social/Personality Psychology, and AI/NLP, don't be shy — apply! jobs.utdallas.edu/postings/28227
Research Associate
The Boyd Computational Social Science Lab is seeking a highly motivated post-doctoral scientist who is passionate about exploring the intersection of computational methods (e.g., machine learning, nat...
jobs.utdallas.edu
November 22, 2024 at 4:37 PM
Hey, it's finally up! I'm hiring a postdoctoral researcher for our new and growing computational social science lab! If you're passionate about Computational Social Science, Social/Personality Psychology, and AI/NLP, don't be shy — apply! jobs.utdallas.edu/postings/28227
I've had a lot of social scientists asking about using Whisper for transcription but without any Python skills on hand. So, here's "Whispering Wizard" — a simple tool to transcribe audio/video files locally with OpenAI’s Whisper models. No Python needed!
github.com/ryanboyd/Whi...
github.com/ryanboyd/Whi...
GitHub - ryanboyd/WhisperingWizard: A GUI wrapper with some nice QoL features for Whisper
A GUI wrapper with some nice QoL features for Whisper - ryanboyd/WhisperingWizard
github.com
October 31, 2024 at 2:36 AM
I've had a lot of social scientists asking about using Whisper for transcription but without any Python skills on hand. So, here's "Whispering Wizard" — a simple tool to transcribe audio/video files locally with OpenAI’s Whisper models. No Python needed!
github.com/ryanboyd/Whi...
github.com/ryanboyd/Whi...
📢Announcement! I'm planning to recruit 1 PhD student and 1 postdoc to join our research group. If you're passionate about Computational Social Science, Social/Personality Psychology, and AI/NLP, don't be shy — apply! #PhDPosition #Postdoc #AI #NLP #Psychology
October 18, 2024 at 12:28 AM
📢Announcement! I'm planning to recruit 1 PhD student and 1 postdoc to join our research group. If you're passionate about Computational Social Science, Social/Personality Psychology, and AI/NLP, don't be shy — apply! #PhDPosition #Postdoc #AI #NLP #Psychology
Reposted by Ryan Boyd
Excited to share our Registered Replication on whether Women are Really (Not) More Talkative Than Men (in press at JPSP): osf.io/preprints/ps.... The results are complex but describe a reality different from what the photos below show 😊. Kudos to Colin Tidwell, Alex Danvers, and Valeria Pfeifer.
OSF
osf.io
September 22, 2024 at 2:27 PM
Excited to share our Registered Replication on whether Women are Really (Not) More Talkative Than Men (in press at JPSP): osf.io/preprints/ps.... The results are complex but describe a reality different from what the photos below show 😊. Kudos to Colin Tidwell, Alex Danvers, and Valeria Pfeifer.
For those who haven't heard already, I am delighted to announce that I'll be joining the Department of Psychology at University of Texas at Dallas this Fall! I look forward to contributing to, collaborating with, and being a part of the outstanding School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences community.
June 24, 2024 at 5:50 PM
For those who haven't heard already, I am delighted to announce that I'll be joining the Department of Psychology at University of Texas at Dallas this Fall! I look forward to contributing to, collaborating with, and being a part of the outstanding School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences community.
Reposted by Ryan Boyd
Think the Earth is flat? Or that aliens experimented on your cow? Don't worry, KNBV has you covered! In a new #AmericanPsychologist piece Michael Barlev & Steve Neuberg explore the deep evolutionary logic behind why people hold irrational (at least to most) beliefs.
psycnet.apa.org/record/2024-...
psycnet.apa.org/record/2024-...
APA PsycNet
psycnet.apa.org
June 10, 2024 at 2:01 AM
Think the Earth is flat? Or that aliens experimented on your cow? Don't worry, KNBV has you covered! In a new #AmericanPsychologist piece Michael Barlev & Steve Neuberg explore the deep evolutionary logic behind why people hold irrational (at least to most) beliefs.
psycnet.apa.org/record/2024-...
psycnet.apa.org/record/2024-...
Excited to announce the release of our new paper, "Verbal Behavior and the Future of Social Science"! Co-authored with
@davidmmarkowitz.bsky.social, we delve into the transformative potential of Natural Language Processing (NLP) in social sciences. dx.doi.org/10.1037/amp0... (1/)
@davidmmarkowitz.bsky.social, we delve into the transformative potential of Natural Language Processing (NLP) in social sciences. dx.doi.org/10.1037/amp0... (1/)
APA PsycNet
dx.doi.org
May 31, 2024 at 2:14 PM
Excited to announce the release of our new paper, "Verbal Behavior and the Future of Social Science"! Co-authored with
@davidmmarkowitz.bsky.social, we delve into the transformative potential of Natural Language Processing (NLP) in social sciences. dx.doi.org/10.1037/amp0... (1/)
@davidmmarkowitz.bsky.social, we delve into the transformative potential of Natural Language Processing (NLP) in social sciences. dx.doi.org/10.1037/amp0... (1/)
There are a *lot* of researchers out there asking "How similar is ChatGPT to humans on X psychological test?" @davidmmarkowitz.bsky.social, Kate Blackburn, and I suggest that we can be thinking much, much more broadly about the future potential of generative AI: doi.org/10.3389/frsp...
From silicon to solutions: AI's impending impact on research and discovery
The social sciences have long relied on comparative work as the foundation upon which we understand the complexities of human behavior and society. However, as we delve deeper into the era of artifici...
doi.org
May 24, 2024 at 2:47 PM
There are a *lot* of researchers out there asking "How similar is ChatGPT to humans on X psychological test?" @davidmmarkowitz.bsky.social, Kate Blackburn, and I suggest that we can be thinking much, much more broadly about the future potential of generative AI: doi.org/10.3389/frsp...
Reposted by Ryan Boyd
Excited to share our new paper in Frontiers in Social Psychology! 🚀 With @ryanboyd.io and Kate Blackburn, we explore how AI may revolutionize academic research. Many pieces focus on AI's shortcomings, but we focused on the benefits and potential. Dive in: www.frontiersin.org/articles/10....
From silicon to solutions: AI's impending impact on research and discovery
The social sciences have long relied on comparative work as the foundation upon which we understand the complexities of human behavior and society. However, as we delve deeper into the era of artifici...
www.frontiersin.org
May 15, 2024 at 1:50 PM
Excited to share our new paper in Frontiers in Social Psychology! 🚀 With @ryanboyd.io and Kate Blackburn, we explore how AI may revolutionize academic research. Many pieces focus on AI's shortcomings, but we focused on the benefits and potential. Dive in: www.frontiersin.org/articles/10....
Academia needs to consider a world where AI is our primary research collaborator. In our new preprint, @davidmmarkowitz.bsky.social, Kate Blackburn,
and I imagine a near-future where AI permeates science, providing some ideas about ethics, equality, and responsibility. osf.io/preprints/ps...
and I imagine a near-future where AI permeates science, providing some ideas about ethics, equality, and responsibility. osf.io/preprints/ps...
OSF
osf.io
February 27, 2024 at 4:05 PM
Academia needs to consider a world where AI is our primary research collaborator. In our new preprint, @davidmmarkowitz.bsky.social, Kate Blackburn,
and I imagine a near-future where AI permeates science, providing some ideas about ethics, equality, and responsibility. osf.io/preprints/ps...
and I imagine a near-future where AI permeates science, providing some ideas about ethics, equality, and responsibility. osf.io/preprints/ps...
A couple of familiar faces! Thanks, PBS! youtu.be/-EVXdhstw14?...
How Language Nerds Solve Crimes | Otherwords
The way you speak can be as unique as a fingerprint... and as useful for investigators in solving crimes!Otherwords is a PBS web series on Storied that digs ...
youtu.be
February 20, 2024 at 2:57 AM
A couple of familiar faces! Thanks, PBS! youtu.be/-EVXdhstw14?...
Reposted by Ryan Boyd
New paper in press at SPPS w/ Ryan Boyd, Nick Evans, Eriksen Ravey, Perla Henderson, & Han Tran, on The Topics of Nostalgia Recall: The Benefits of Nostalgia Depend on the Topics that One Recalls. fettermanlab.weebly.com/uploads/8/1/...
January 10, 2024 at 3:11 PM
New paper in press at SPPS w/ Ryan Boyd, Nick Evans, Eriksen Ravey, Perla Henderson, & Han Tran, on The Topics of Nostalgia Recall: The Benefits of Nostalgia Depend on the Topics that One Recalls. fettermanlab.weebly.com/uploads/8/1/...