For the start of the year, we thought we'd do a quick update on the journal from launch to date, rather than just the last two months. How are we looking 8 months in? Let's check it out!
So ... for some (ac)counting ...
Excited to share our latest work in Acta Psychologica (with @mattgrizz.bsky.social and Emily Moyer-Guse) on the influence of character depth on affective disposition processes (ADT) across five unfolding acts of a story (pre-registered). Results show... (1/2)
authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...
Researching communication, AI, or algorithms? Join us at Comm Horizons 2026!
Keynotes from Jeff Hancock & @angelhwang.bsky.social, high-quality competitive programming, great feedback, & Napa wine tasting.
Abstract deadline approaching fast: March 1 (AOE)
communication.ucdavis.edu/horizonconf2...
Depressed? Anxious? Lonely?
What if mental health doesn’t just result from media use, but shapes how we choose media?
In a new preprint, Valerie Klein, @gongxuanjun.bsky.social @aeden.bsky.social and I and I test this using a computational decision-making model: doi.org/10.21203/rs....
🧵Thread
Wooooo so happy this is finally out! 🎉 And even happier that it’s the product of some truly collaborative work with such an amazing team!!
Sometimes you see a new paper and stop everything you are doing to read it. This is one of those papers. All-star work by an all-star team!
Very excited about this project introducing an integrative character-based network framework predicting success of novels and films. Idea and analysis credit to @gongxuanjun.bsky.social, with big thanks for including me, @fhopp.bsky.social @mattgrizz.bsky.social and Anna Wolfe. More info here:
Enjoying Stranger Things during the holiday season? Have you thought about why some stories are more successful than others? Our new preprint investigates this question by studying the character networks in the narratives:
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Out now in Scientific Reports! Despite high correlations, ChatGPT models failed to replicate human moral judgments. We propose tests beyond correlation to compare LLM data and human data.
With @mattgrizz.bsky.social @andyluttrell.bsky.social @chasmonge.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Screenshot of a PNAS research article titled “The potential existential threat of large language models to online survey research.” The article is authored by Sean J. Westwood and edited by James N. Druckman. It notes the submission date (July 9, 2025), acceptance date (September 12, 2025), and publication date (November 20, 2025).
This is going to ruin the tour www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
I’ll have more to say about this paper in a bit, but very excited about it. Helps to explain why punishment doesn’t work to improve cooperation, why people still punish anyway, and what it implies about the evolution of cooperation and criminal justice policy www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
💥 New preprint out:
"Ideological (A-)Symmetries in Moral Judgments of Online Hate"
with Meltem Yucel, Lindsay Hahn, Tobias Rothmund & myself.
How do liberals & conservatives morally evaluate online hate?
👉 doi.org/10.31234/osf...
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Yay yay yayyyyy so happy for you!!!! They are so lucky to have you!!!🎉🎉🎉
I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve joined Boston University as an Assistant Professor in Media Psychology and AI. I’ll be part of the Department of Mass Comm, Advertising, & PR as well as the Division of Emerging Media Studies. I’m excited to work with this incredible group of scholars.
🧵 1/ How does the field of Communication use the GRE for PhD admissions?
Ellie Mercedes Ross, @laramiet.bsky.social, & I set out to answer this question. Our paper explores how GRE usage, particularly minimum score thresholds, can filter out certain racial & ethnic groups
doi.org/10.1080/1064...
Poster titled “Negatively Valenced and High-Arousal News Headlines Drive Preferential Evidence Accumulation and Influence Selection” by Gong et al. Presented at the SANS 2025 Annual Meeting. The poster features four main sections: Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions. The Background summarizes prior research on negativity bias and its political implications. The Methods section describes two studies: a behavioral study with 300 nationally representative participants and an fMRI study with 30 young adults (16 Democrats, 14 Republicans). Participants completed a two-choice task involving 140 economic news headlines generated and rated for emotional valence and arousal. The Results show that negatively valenced, high-arousal headlines produced faster evidence accumulation (higher drift rate), moderated by political ideology. fMRI results revealed subcortical brain activation (e.g., caudate, nucleus accumbens, thalamus) that correlated with drift rate. Graphs display estimated drift rates across political groups and brain activity contrasts for valence and arousal. The Conclusions highlight that, when arousal and valence are statistically separated, both drive preference, supporting a value-based model of decision making. Institutional affiliations and references are listed at the bottom.
We’re at #SANS2025! Catch our Blitz Talk (Session #2) + Poster (P2-A-5) on how negative and high-arousal news shape decision-making.
Most research focuses on how the negativity bias captures our attention. We clarify what happens next!
High-res poster here: cogcommscience.com/were-at-sans...
Yayyy can’t wait to see you soon!!
Excited to be back in Buffalo NY for the Moral Media Conference! I’ll be presenting my last PhD chapter on the longitudinal links between adolescents’ moral values and exposure to influencers’ moral content together with @lindsayhahn.bsky.social and @lauravandenbosch.bsky.social ✨ #moralmedia25
After nearly 6 years, I'm delighted to share a new paper in Journal of Media Psychology:
"Media Neuroscience on a Shoestring 2.0". We studied cooperation using AR & low-cost EEG hyperscanning (doi.org/10.1027/1864...).
🧵Here’s how it started, what we found, & why it matters
@lindsayhahn.bsky.social advocates for translational science principles to bridge the gap between CAM research, public understanding & policy on media’s effects on children by, for instance, prioritizing research addressing caregivers’ and educators’ needs (6/8) www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
This looks ahhhhhhhhhhmazing!!!! What a lineup and innovative format for a conference!
And of course, please reach out to me with any questions! We hope you’ll consider submitting early stage ideas and use the conference to find collaborators. We’d love this event to become as interdisciplinary as possible, so please also share with your networks!
This year, you can submit works in ANY stage of progress - and we also have a special submission track in which top papers will receive travel funding & an auto-R&R decision for a special collection in @jmp-hogrefe.bsky.social! More info and the CFP can be found here: moralmedia.org/annual-meeti...
Thrilled to announce keynote speakers for #moralmedia25 - Drs. Helena Bilandzic (U Augsburg), @mdehghani.bsky.social (U Southern California), @aeden.bsky.social (Michigan State U), & @fhopp.bsky.social (Leibniz Institute for Psychology). Submissions are due Feb 2!
Three books, colored yellow, red, and blue, between a pair of over-the-ear headphones.
🚨 Join us for #CommHorizons25, hosted by the Department of Communication @ucdavis.bsky.social!
Theme: Media, Health, & Society: Exploring Wellbeing Across Lifespans & Diverse Communities
Keynotes: Drs. Dana Mastro & @davidmmarkowitz.bsky.social.
Info: communication.ucdavis.edu/horizonconf2...
Dr. Allison Eden will be a keynote speaker for the Moral Media conference in April. She is an Associate Professor at Michigan State. Some of her interests include media enjoyment.
Read more here: moralmedia.org/annual-meeti...
what *isn’t* it though??
Ok but how about Catly though
