Kou Murayama

Yes, of course Harvey G talked about it...

Most evidence for the compensation account of cognitive training is unreliable - Memory & Cognition Cognitive training and brain stimulation studies have suggested that human cognition, primarily working memory and attention control processes, can be enhanced. Some authors claim that gains (i.e., post-test minus pretest scores) from such interventions are unevenly distributed among people. The magnification account (expressed by the evangelical “who has will more be given”) predicts that the largest gains will be shown by the most cognitively efficient people, who will also be most effective in exploiting interventions. In contrast, the compensation account (“who has will less be given”) predicts that such people already perform at ceiling, so interventions will yield the largest gains in the least cognitively efficient people. Evidence for this latter account comes from reported negative correlations between the pretest and the training/stimulation gain. In this paper, with the use of mathematical derivations and simulation methods, we show that such correlations are pure statistical artifacts caused by the widely known methodological error called “regression to the mean”. Unfortunately, more advanced methods, such as alternative measures, linear models, and control groups do not guarantee correct assessment of the compensation effect either. The only correct method is to use direct modeling of correlations between latent true measures and gain. As to date no training/stimulation study has correctly used this method to provide evidence in favor of the compensation account, we must conclude that most (if not all) of the evidence should be considered inconclusive.

This kind of argument is everywhere... link.springer.com/article/10.3...

Model data based on a theory, which is by itself verbal and underspecified.

We are hiring a new Ph. D. student on neuroimaging and/or computational modeling on motivation and emotion. Tübingen is a great place to pursue work on these topics!!

uni-tuebingen.de/fakultaeten/...

We've been asked what the most important thing we can do to improve research culture. My answer, the only answer, is to withdraw immediately from university rankings.

bsky.app/profile/stat...

Writing some paragraphs about odds ratio and, more generally, different scales in nonlinear models.

Any favorite articles on odds ratio?>

In Japan every morning you can know your fortune of the day according to your zodiac sign and blood type.

Our cluster Machine Learning for Science is up for 7 years more funding!

I need your input! Are there any good AI tools which can work on the reference section of a manuscript? i.e., you have a manuscript with an incomplete reference section and the tool can proactively find missing papers and information (e.g., page numbers). Like what journal production teams do.

New preprint w/ @christophvoelter.bsky.social et al.

Individual differences in great ape cognition across time and domains: stability, structure, and predictability

48 apes 🦍, 10 tasks 🧠, 10 sessions📊, 1.5 y📅
✅ Stable individual traits
❌ No g-factor
🤝 Social ≠ non-social

🔗: osf.io/preprints/ps...

This highlights the point that comparisons between humans and machines are continually muddied by a lack of distinction between evolution and development, both of which contribute to learning in the broad sense.

Tübingen pre-CogSci workshop 2025 July 24th from 10:00 - 15:00, Ground floor seminar room, Maria-von-Linden Str. 6 For the cognitive science community here in Tübingen, the annual Cogsci conference (https://cognitivesciencesociety.or...

Since traveling to #cogsci2025 may be particularly difficult this year, we’re hosting a local workshop in Tübingen!
📅 July 24 | Talks & posters + catering supported by @ml4science.bsky.social
Open to *everyone*, even without an accepted paper/abstr.
👉 Register by July 1: forms.gle/v6VtEE6UqYw5...

You don't want to miss this preprint (soon to be posted) about the many sins and crimes of p-curve procedures. See a quick tl;dr below. They were prematurely introduced into the science reform literature without doing the foundational theoretical work needed for all statistical methods.

Brain Explorer - Test your brain power The brain explorer app for Apple and Android tests your brain functions and helps researchers to understand the brain. Explore your brain power and how brain functions are important for mental health.

#OCD is a understudied disorder, meaning that we know way too little about the underlying (brain) processes.
We have thus built the Brain Explorer app www.brainexplorer.net where everyone can easily contribute to understanding OCD.
#MentalHealthAwareness @tueneurocampus.bsky.social @ucl.ac.uk

Thanks to everybody who chimed in!

I arrived at the conclusion that (1) there's a lot of interesting stuff about interactions and (2) the figure I was looking for does not exist.

So, I made it myself! Here's a simple illustration of how to control for confounding in interactions:>

Behavioral scientists: If you want to impress us, show us how to increase our end-of-semester Course Evaluation Survey responses.

#psych #nudge #behsci

AERA Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis SIG Online Seminar Series Friday, May 16, 2025 8 am PDT / 9 am MDT / 10 am CDT / 11 am EDT / 15.00 UTC **note the earlier time** Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis Projects: Rationale, Concepts and Pitfalls Dr. Richard Riley, University of Birmingham More details and registration at https://www.srmasig.org/seminar/upcoming-seminars/

Please join us next week Friday for our final seminar of the 2025 season! We are thrilled to be joined by Dr. Richard Riley (@richarddriley.bsky.social), a leading expert in individual participant data meta-analysis, to discuss the rationale, concepts, and pitfalls in conducting IPD syntheses.

Photo of University College on Western's London ON campus. Western University Logo. Text: "Canada Excellence Research Chairs"

Join #WesternU as our next Canada Excellence Research Chair ( #CERC). The awards provide for international researchers to lead prestigious research programs at Western and contribute to Canada's excellence in research & innovation.

Application review begins June 4, 2025.

www.uwo.ca/research/cer...

Can Germany rein in its academic bullying problem? Researchers and administrators are exploring ways to restructure a rigid hierarchy that can breed power abuses.

“There is far too much power in the hands of professors in the German system,” says @leising.bsky.social.

My latest @nature.com story digs into efforts to tackle the entrenched structural heirarchy that enables academic bullies.

Rapid Response Bridge Funding Program In the face of recent abrupt shifts in federal funding for education research, including large-scale terminations of National Science Foundation (NSF) research grant awards, we have developed a rap...

FYI: The Spencer Foundation, Kapor Foundation, The William T. Grant Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation have collaborated to offer $25K rapid response grants.

"This rapid response bridge funding opportunity is for scholars and teams whose grants have recently been cancelled by NSF."

I created this reading list on theory in psychology a while back, so it probably needs an update! Would love any recommendations for papers to include – maybe I can turn this into a syllabus of sorts.

PDF of this reading list here: williamngiam.github.io/reading_list...

🙌 Hot off the presses @natcomms.nature.com! We created a custom #Minecraft environment to study a long-standing puzzle in cognitive science:
How do humans flexibly adapt their individual and social learning strategies in dynamic, realistic situations? Check it out 👉 www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧵👇

Our new preprint by Claudia Neuendorf!! Is social network information useful for prediction? Using a social network dataset of 46,000 students in 2,000 classrooms, we predicted various class-level outcomes from 313 social network metrics with machine learning methods.

osf.io/preprints/ps...

Super excited for #AERA2025 to kick off tomorrow! As a former Coloradan and frequent visitor who currently lives at sea level, while we're in the Mile High City I highly recommend keeping well hydrated and looking for signs of altitude sickness. It's a thing!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altitud...

Why We Might Still be Concerned About Low Cronbach’s Alphas in Domain-specific Knowledge Tests - Educational Psychology Review Edelsbrunner et al. Educational Psychology Review, 37, 1–43, 2025 recently published a systematic review and meta-analysis of Cronbach's alphas in domain-specific knowledge tests. While appreciating…

An instrument is not reliable or valid. Viewing validity as an argument, based on multiple types of validity and reliability evidence, addresses concerns about alpha, in particular. #PsychSciSky #AcademicSky #EduSky doi.org/10.1007/s106...

see tables a233 - a256

Okay appendices are getting out of control.

Just to give a context. He is not a leader or a ministry. He is an MP of an opposition party.

Also don’t forget cash! We had a small trip and none of the places accepted card payment!

I think you are talking about “ablations” in LLM? This has been common ever since neural network I believe.

Cutting international bachelor programs threatens psychological science » Eiko Fried Two days ago, four Dutch universities announced discontinuing their English-speaking psychology bachelor programs (1, 2). I will briefly explain (1) how this decision came to be, (2) why this is such ...

Four large Dutch universities, including Leiden University where I work, have decided to throw international psychology bachelor programs under the bus in an effort to appease the rightwing government.

Here's my blog why this is a terrible idea.

eiko-fried.com/cutting-inte...