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Mara Breen

@mbreen

Professor of psychology at Mount Holyoke College; Cognitive scientist studying speech and music

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18.11.2023
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Latest posts by Mara Breen @mbreen

your ai slop bores me Be an AI, answer prompts, trigger a RAM crisis

I was introduced to this Anti-AI slop site by @kamkonek.bsky.social where your answers come from humans LARPing as AI and you in turn also pretend to be AI. youraislopbores.me

06.03.2026 17:00 πŸ‘ 598 πŸ” 247 πŸ’¬ 13 πŸ“Œ 101
Kids on a playground with the words β€œIt will be a great day when our schools get all the money they need and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber”

Kids on a playground with the words β€œIt will be a great day when our schools get all the money they need and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber”

This!

02.03.2026 11:56 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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28.02.2026 08:26 πŸ‘ 213 πŸ” 58 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 2

A reminder that Girl Scouting of America has welcomed trans and nonbinary girls from the first one that asked, has always had lesbian and bi members and adults, never declared bankruptcy to avoid paying for sexual assaults, and never poached the other side to recover from said bankruptcy.

27.02.2026 18:08 πŸ‘ 2191 πŸ” 712 πŸ’¬ 27 πŸ“Œ 27

This recent RCT of an "AI stethoscope" claims the technology "shows promise" for diagnosing cardiovascular conditions.

It does not.

It is a textbook example of the risks of conducting unprincipled 'per protocol analyses'. Once again, peer review at a major medical journal has failed.

🧡 1/

25.02.2026 16:44 πŸ‘ 419 πŸ” 184 πŸ’¬ 8 πŸ“Œ 31
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CorpusPhon 2 A one-day satellite workshop at LabPhon 20 to bring together researchers using corpus phonetic tools

πŸ“£ Phoneticians/phonologists: CorpusPhon is happening again this year on June 29th at LabPhon in Montreal! Submissions due Friday, March 13th. Hope to see you there!

sites.google.com/view/corpusp...

21.02.2026 23:39 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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Humans 40,000 y ago developed a system of conventional signs | PNAS As humans, we store and share information. This allows us to distribute knowledge necessary for survival and to coordinate large groups. Our homini...

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... Germans started writing 40,000 years ago! You know what that means? Any day now they might be getting to the verb

25.02.2026 20:08 πŸ‘ 481 πŸ” 95 πŸ’¬ 27 πŸ“Œ 13
Front cover of my book, titled "Comparative musicology: Evolution, universals, and the science of the world's music" (published today by Oxford University Press)

Front cover of my book, titled "Comparative musicology: Evolution, universals, and the science of the world's music" (published today by Oxford University Press)

1st of my 4-page essay published in Nature today titled "Music is not a universal language - but it can bring us together when words fail"
Picture caption: "Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny (centre) performed in Spanish at the half-time show of the 2026 American Football Super Bowl LX."

1st of my 4-page essay published in Nature today titled "Music is not a universal language - but it can bring us together when words fail" Picture caption: "Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny (centre) performed in Spanish at the half-time show of the 2026 American Football Super Bowl LX."

My book is now published! 🌏🎢πŸ§ͺ

You can download it for free at academic.oup.com/book/62353 - I’d be grateful if you do!
I also published an accessible summary with audio/video today in @nature.com: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Try reading that first, then give the whole book a read if you like it!

23.02.2026 12:10 πŸ‘ 108 πŸ” 50 πŸ’¬ 8 πŸ“Œ 5
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Avoiding unintended consequences: science of reading policies may harm deaf children Abstract. Many U.S. policies inspired by the Science of Reading rest on two assumptions: (1) skilled reading always involves automatic mapping between writ

The title of this new article by >30 deaf and hearing authors says it all "Avoiding unintended consequences: Science of reading policies have potential to harm deaf children" doi.org/10.1093/jdsa...

22.02.2026 23:14 πŸ‘ 24 πŸ” 17 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1
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How far back in time can you understand English? An experiment in language change

If you liked this experiment, I published a full piece today in the same vein: a text that gets 100 years older with every section, from a modern blog post to a medieval chronicle.

It's a single story spanning 1000 years of English. See how far you get.

www.deadlanguagesociety.com/p/how-far-ba...

18.02.2026 18:40 πŸ‘ 3561 πŸ” 1298 πŸ’¬ 194 πŸ“Œ 479

Research plug: we're currently seeking (bilateraly, congenitally) blind adults & Deaf adults for a *paid* online research study (screen reader compatible) on how individuals experience words across perceptual modalities. Ping bergelsonlab@fas.harvard.edu if interested! Reposts welcome! #Blind #Deaf

20.02.2026 16:38 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 16 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Congratulations Kyle!

21.02.2026 00:43 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Matching sounds to shapes: Evidence of the bouba-kiki effect in naΓ―ve baby chicks  Maria Loconsole1*, Silvia Benavides-Varela2,3, Lucia Regolin1  Humans across multiple languages spontaneously associate the nonwords β€œkiki” and β€œbouba” with spiky and round shapes, respectively, a phenomenon named the bouba-kiki effect. To explore the origin of this association, and whether it is unique to humans, we tested the bouba-kiki effect in baby domestic chickens (Gallus gallus). as a precocial species, chicks can be tested shortly after hatching, allowing us to control their pretest experiences. Similar to humans, both 3-day-old [experiment 1 (exp. 1)] and 1-day-old (exp. 2) chicks spontaneously choose a spiky shape when hearing the β€œkiki” sound and a round shape when hearing the β€œbouba” sound. results from naΓ―ve young animals suggest a predisposed mechanism for matching the dimensions of shape and sound, which may be widespread across species.

Matching sounds to shapes: Evidence of the bouba-kiki effect in naΓ―ve baby chicks Maria Loconsole1*, Silvia Benavides-Varela2,3, Lucia Regolin1 Humans across multiple languages spontaneously associate the nonwords β€œkiki” and β€œbouba” with spiky and round shapes, respectively, a phenomenon named the bouba-kiki effect. To explore the origin of this association, and whether it is unique to humans, we tested the bouba-kiki effect in baby domestic chickens (Gallus gallus). as a precocial species, chicks can be tested shortly after hatching, allowing us to control their pretest experiences. Similar to humans, both 3-day-old [experiment 1 (exp. 1)] and 1-day-old (exp. 2) chicks spontaneously choose a spiky shape when hearing the β€œkiki” sound and a round shape when hearing the β€œbouba” sound. results from naΓ―ve young animals suggest a predisposed mechanism for matching the dimensions of shape and sound, which may be widespread across species.

main fig from the paper showing the association between bouba/round and kiki/spiky in newborn chicks

main fig from the paper showing the association between bouba/round and kiki/spiky in newborn chicks

the new paper on bouba/kiki in chicks is utterly compelling

canonical, elegant method from comparative cogsci & its partner in developmental science, ultra-simple design, ultra-clear effects, no need for fancy analyses, machine learning, or AI

it appeared in an appropriately badass venue (Science)

20.02.2026 06:08 πŸ‘ 423 πŸ” 156 πŸ’¬ 11 πŸ“Œ 22
DOGE Bro’s Grant Review Process Was Literally Just Asking ChatGPT β€˜Is ThisΒ DEI?’ Federal grants that had been approved after a full application and review process were terminated by some random inexperienced DOGE bros based on whether ChatGPT could explainβ€”in under 120 charactersβ€”that they were "related to DEI." That's what the newly released proposed amended complaint from the Authors Guild against the US government reveals about how DOGE actually decided which National Endowment for the Humanities grants to kill.

DOGE Bro’s Grant Review Process Was Literally Just Asking ChatGPT β€˜Is ThisΒ DEI?’

Federal grants that had been approved after a full application and review process were terminated by some random inexperienced DOGE bros based on whether ChatGPT could explainβ€”in under 120 charactersβ€”that they were…

19.02.2026 17:25 πŸ‘ 802 πŸ” 347 πŸ’¬ 26 πŸ“Œ 97
6 bad doodles with text under each one.
horseshoe crab is literally the animal horseshoe crab.
shoehorse crab is a crab riding a shoe, cowboy style.
crabshoe horse is a horse wearing literal crabs as shoes.
shoecrab horse is a horse telling a crab to go away.
crabhorse shoe is a pair of shoes, left one crab shaped, right one horse shaped.
horsecrab shoe is literally the same pair of shoes, flipped.

6 bad doodles with text under each one. horseshoe crab is literally the animal horseshoe crab. shoehorse crab is a crab riding a shoe, cowboy style. crabshoe horse is a horse wearing literal crabs as shoes. shoecrab horse is a horse telling a crab to go away. crabhorse shoe is a pair of shoes, left one crab shaped, right one horse shaped. horsecrab shoe is literally the same pair of shoes, flipped.

#InvertebrateShitposting as per @joabaldwin.com's request

19.02.2026 07:20 πŸ‘ 1517 πŸ” 508 πŸ’¬ 22 πŸ“Œ 17

Recent work has shown how vulnerable online survey research is to LLMs. Motivated by this, we examined our online Posner cueing data from Prolific. It's concerning. We now must carefully consider when (or whether?) online behavioral data can be trusted.
see our comment:
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

19.02.2026 12:00 πŸ‘ 76 πŸ” 34 πŸ’¬ 6 πŸ“Œ 4
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I just did the dumbest thing of my entire career to prove a much more serious point.

I tricked ChatGPT and Google, and made them tell other users I’m a competitive hot-dog-eating world champion

People are using this trick on a massive scale to make AI tell you lies. I’ll explain how I did it

18.02.2026 16:37 πŸ‘ 4828 πŸ” 2132 πŸ’¬ 86 πŸ“Œ 300
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Troop 6000

It’s once again Girl Scout cookie season so it’s time for me remind everyone to please consider buying from NYC’s Girl Scout Troop 6000, which is entirely made up of girls living in NYC homeless shelters πŸ™β€οΈ

14.02.2026 22:45 πŸ‘ 1713 πŸ” 915 πŸ’¬ 19 πŸ“Œ 31
Blue–green distinction in language - Wikipedia

Roses are red
Violets are grue
In Ancient Egyptian,
Pashto, and Zulu

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue%E2...

14.02.2026 18:12 πŸ‘ 599 πŸ” 173 πŸ’¬ 21 πŸ“Œ 18
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1/9 Comparison of carnivore brains beyond brain size

They compared the brains of 26 carnivore species (including canids, felids, and ursids, among others) using magnetic resonance imaging.

(paper) elifesciences.org/articles/100...

15.02.2026 10:12 πŸ‘ 61 πŸ” 18 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 5
Postdoctoral Requisition Details - Jobs@UIOWA: Search and Apply for Jobs at The University of Iowa Jobs@UIOWA: The official place to search and apply for jobs at The University of Iowa.

I am looking to hire 2-3 post-docs over the course of the next few months to work on questions related to cognitive control in humans, broadly construed. EEG, TMS, DBS, sEEG, fMRI or related methodological experience preferred.
Apply here:

jobs.uiowa.edu/jobSearch/po...

Lab website: wessellab.org

13.02.2026 22:54 πŸ‘ 30 πŸ” 37 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 2
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An AI Agent Published a Hit Piece on Me Summary: An AI agent of unknown ownership autonomously wrote and published a personalized hit piece about me after I rejected its code, attempting to damage my reputation and shame me into acceptin…

"An AI agent of unknown ownership autonomously wrote and published a personalized hit piece about me after I rejected its code, attempting to damage my reputation and shame me into accepting its changes into a mainstream python library." Pubpeer, journals are next!
theshamblog.com/an-ai-agent-...

13.02.2026 10:03 πŸ‘ 13 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1

If you work at the intersection of computational neuroscience and machine learning, consider applying for this postdoc position (January 2027 start date):
academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/15868
An opportunity to work with a great group of people across Harvard, MIT, and UC Berkeley.

10.02.2026 19:36 πŸ‘ 72 πŸ” 48 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 2

Jeremy Wolfe’s lab at Harvard is recruiting for a postbac RA!

So, if you know a graduating undergrad…

09.02.2026 20:54 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Disturbingly detailed analysis of my first rewatch incoming

09.02.2026 02:30 πŸ‘ 6013 πŸ” 1788 πŸ’¬ 107 πŸ“Œ 924
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Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Cognitive/Computational Neuroscience If you are a current Barnard College employee, please use the internal career site to apply for this position. Job: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Cognitive/Computational Neuroscience The Barnard Visua...

🚨Job alert! I'm recruiting a postdoc! If you want to study the time course of task-driven visual perception, please reach out! #neuroskyence #VisionScience #CogSci barnard.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Facult...

07.02.2026 20:13 πŸ‘ 34 πŸ” 30 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1
Visiting Assistant Professor in Psychology Job no: R-0000003072 Position Title: Visiting Assistant Professor in Psychology Work Type: Faculty Full time In-Person Start Date: 07/01/2026 Job Description: The Department of Psychology and Educatio...

My dept - Psychology & Education at Mount Holyoke College - is searching for a 1-yr visitor in developmental psych. 3/2 teaching load with research support mtholyoke.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/External/job...

07.02.2026 15:55 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 8 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Lecturer in Linguistics (Semantics) The Department of Linguistics seeks applications for a lecturer in linguistics, with a focus on teaching and advising in formal semantics. The ability to teach and advise students in another area in a...

We are hiring next year in semantics- one year positions of course less exciting and good for the field than straight up tenure track postings, but on the other hand hiring in something that isn’t computational feels like a win anymore in linguistics. Come bring some innovative takes on meaning!

06.02.2026 13:48 πŸ‘ 16 πŸ” 11 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1

Soon hiring a lab manager! Looking for someone who is really interested in language neuroscience, who is organised, motivated, a great communicator, and who works well in a research team. Express interest by submitting this form: tinyurl.com/glysn-labman...

Reposts appreciated!

03.02.2026 16:14 πŸ‘ 41 πŸ” 39 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 1

🚨 Job alert🚨 My former lab in Germany led by Daniel Schneider is recruiting a postdoc. Daniel’s research sits at the intersection of memory and attention, and the ideal candidate will have expertise in EEG and/or fMRI.
πŸ‘‰Job ad in English: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/br2vg... 1/n

29.01.2026 21:48 πŸ‘ 11 πŸ” 12 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0