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Ashley Thomas

@ashleyjthomas.bsky.social
1.7K followers 1K following 175 posts

Assistant Professor she/her. I study how people think about social relationships. Usually with babies and kids. ashleyjthomas.com

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Ashley Thomas @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
could not agree more…
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Tomer Ullman @tomerullman.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
be on the lookout for Aria Zhang! and also read this interesting paper :)
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Marginalia Science @marginaliascience.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
The deadline has been extended to Sep 15th!! Who should apply: Early career faculty, post-docs, PhD & masters students, and undergrads. We especially encourage submissions from scholars who come from marginalized/underrepresented backgrounds and/or whose research focuses on the these groups.
forms.gle
Marginalia Science x Boston College
We are back for another round of community presentations hosted by Marginalia Science and Boston College! Following last year's success, we are happy to announce another Marginalia Science day-long co...
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Chris Krupenye @chriskrupenye.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
🚨 PhD position in human, nonhuman primate, and/or dog cognition! I am thrilled to be reviewing applicants this year for a new PhD student to join the Social & Cognitive Origins Group in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Johns Hopkins @jhu.edu @jhuartssciences.bsky.social 1/
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Sylvia Perry @sylviapperry.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
I’ll be reviewing PhD apps for the 27-28 AY! My lab studies questions related to how people (1) talk and think about (their own/experiences with) racism, (2) have difficult conversations, (3) socialize their children about racism and identity. Learn more here: www.sciplab.com
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Ariel Levy @arielevy.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
New preprint with @fierycushman.bsky.social! Cultures vary in teaching practices: some emphasize examples, others favor direct rules. How can this difference affect cultural evolution? We use computational modeling and an iterated learning experiment to explore this question. osf.io/preprints/ps...
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Ashley Thomas @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Excited to finally have these data out! And, @deontbenton.bsky.social and Hoch’s paper inspired us to combine data to look at age effects from 4.5—19 months; w/ replication data from Ciftci, @jfkominsky.bsky.social & Csibra). Across 4 measures we find age effects in 1 (despite 4+x experience)
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Brandon Woo @brandonwoo.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
New paper with Liz Spelke, @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social, and @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social! We find that when 4- to 6-month-old infants observe two individuals share saliva, they infer that those individuals have a close relationship. Free access link: authors.elsevier.com/a/1niQg_Oow0...
A conceptual schematic illustrating the logic of the studies. (A) Infants observe a central actor who shares saliva with one actor and does not share saliva with another actor. (B) From such observations, infants may infer and represent whether the actors are connected and how thick each connection is. (C) These representations support infants' expectations of who will respond to the central actor's distress.
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Ashley Thomas @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
accurate
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aaron bornstein @aaronbornstein.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
UC Irvine Cognitive Sciences is hiring! Focus on social cognition, broadly construed. Come be my colleague :) I am not on the search committee but happy to talk about the campus, environment, careers, etc any time. recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF10411
recruit.ap.uci.edu
Assistant Professor - Cognitive Sciences
University of California, Irvine is hiring. Apply now!
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Dr. Becca @docbecca.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
My behavioral neuroscience lab at Northeastern is looking to recruit two new research techs! Job description and link to apply is here: northeastern.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/careers/job/...
northeastern.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
Laboratory Technician - The Shansky Lab
About the Opportunity Job Summary The Shansky Lab is seeking a full-time technician to conduct National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded behavioral neuroscience research. The position includes lab ma...
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Ashley Thomas @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
I had the opportunity to mentor two AMAZING students through the Du Bois Scholars program at Harvard this summer. Kathya Lavado-Arrington (Spelman) and Taylor Allen (Howard) designed and piloted completely new experiments and gave fantastic presentations yesterday. 🧵
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Mike Frank @mcxfrank.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Nearly four years ago we asked ourselves, "what would it look like to have a field-leading, completely free reference work for cognitive science"? It's been so fun editing OECS with @asifamajid.bsky.social and @hbaum.bsky.social. I can't believe we have published 200 (!!) articles! oecs.mit.edu
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Martin Zettersten @mzettersten.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Really excited about this new preprint spearheaded by @vboyce.bsky.social w/ @mcxfrank.bsky.social and the Peekbank team. It's a deep-dive into a large looking-while-listening dataset (>3000 children!), evaluating what analytic and design choices really matter for measurement osf.io/preprints/ps...
osf.io
OSF
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John Timmer @jtimmer.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Just a reminder that there's only about a week left to leave comments on the OMB proposal that will cripple federally funded research. Here's my attempt to convince you that you should, along with info on how to do so effectively.
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bergelsonlab @bergelsonlab.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
official ad to follow soon but heads up: 1-2 postdocs slots in my lab, hopefully w/fall start! reposts welcome, details to follow. babies! word learning! cognitive & linguistic skills! #CogSciSky #DevPsychSky 🐦🐦 (lab info: bergelsonlab.fas.harvard.edu/prospectives) also recruiting grads this fall!
bergelsonlab.fas.harvard.edu
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Alicia Chen @aliciamchen.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
New paper with @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social "Expectations of reciprocal generosity are specific to equal relationships," in @openmindjournal.bsky.social. Thread below! Article: doi.org/10.1162/opmi... MIT News: news.mit.edu/2026/would-y...
news.mit.edu
Would you return a favor? Scientists say it depends on the relationship
People generally only engage in reciprocal generosity with others of equal or unknown status, MIT researchers experimentally demonstrated. During repeated interactions between people of different soci...
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Ashley Thomas @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
I loved this. It reminded me of @shariliu.bsky.social's research on how people think about minds and bodies.
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Ashley Thomas @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Hi everyone! My paper on cognitive representations of relationships and their developmental origins is finally out! I had a blast responding to the commentary and was honored to be able to engage with people who laid the foundation for my research program. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
Cognitive representations of social relationships and their developmental origins | Behavioral and Brain Sciences | Cambridge Core
Cognitive representations of social relationships and their developmental origins - Volume 49
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Gabor Brody @gaborbrody.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Hiring! Athulya Aravind and I are looking for a full-time Postgraduate Associate at Yale (Linguistics/Psychology). The position is designed as preparation for PhD applications in linguistics, cog sci, or psychology, including structured mentoring and research training. tinyurl.com/mrxjya5t
tinyurl.com
Postgraduate Researcher in Language and Conceptual Development — Department of Linguistics and Department of Psychology, Yale University (joint appointment); affiliated with the Program in Cognitive S...
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Chris Krupenye @chriskrupenye.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Job Alert 🚨 - please share! My brilliant friend and collaborator, Fumihiro Kano, is launching a new Ecological & Collective Cognition lab at Kyushu University, and has postdoc, grad, and tech openings! Lab video: youtu.be/rXT-yjQzJxU More details: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
youtu.be
groupdemo kyushu 04132026
YouTube video by 狩野文浩
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Ashley Thomas @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Thrilled to have @rbzsparks.bsky.social joining us!!
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Brandon Woo @brandonwoo.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Looking forward to #CDS2026! Come learn about the work that my students and I are doing @emmayu23.bsky.social @cogdevsoc.bsky.social
Information about the posters from the members of the lab

Poster Session 2on Friday, April 10
5:45 to 7:00 pm

Children’s understanding of common ground in relationships
Raissa Cheng | P2-111

Children expect emotional consolation to occur in close relationships
Emma Yu | P2-148

Infants track the social targets of their parents’ gaze
Brandon Woo | P2-155
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Ashley Thomas @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Come see the Thomas Lab's work at @cogdevsoc.bsky.social conference! #CDS2026
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Ashwini Ashokkumar @ashwinia.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
🚨🚨 My lab is hiring a Pre-doc Researcher/Lab Manager! 🚨🚨 Full-time pre-doc research opening in my lab at Harvard Psych (start: Summer/Fall 2026). Review begins April 10 Apply: jobs.smartrecruiters.com/HarvardUnive... Please repost + tag folks who might be a good fit! 👇
jobs.smartrecruiters.com
Research Assistant II
Company Description: By working at Harvard University, you join a vibrant community that advances Harvard's world-changing mission in meaningful ways, inspires innovation and collaboration, and builds...
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Martin Zettersten @mzettersten.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
I'm hiring a new lab manager for my lab @ UCSD! For more info on the lab, check out our website: lillab.ucsd.edu Target start date is June 1 (flexible) and application deadline is March 26. Please share with anyone you think might be a good fit! Apply here: employment.ucsd.edu/laboratory-c...
employment.ucsd.edu
Laboratory Coordinator - 138788
Laboratory Coordinator - 138788 | Careers at UC San Diego
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Shannon Heffernan @shannonheffernan.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
The number of children in ICE detention on an average day has skyrocketed 6x since Trump took an office. Families complain of poor medical care and worm-infested food. "It’s only a matter of time before we see a child die," one advocate said. www.themarshallproject.org/2026/01/29/i...
themarshallproject.org
Children in ICE Detention Skyrocket in Trump’s Second Term
With a six-fold jump in children in detention, advocates allege harrowing conditions are putting kids’ lives at risk.
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Anne Helen Petersen @annehelen.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
One small thing you can do today: ICE is ramping up in Maine. Food For All is delivering meals to 300 families that can't leave their homes. They need $7k a day to continue operations. The Culture Study community is raising enough to cover a day—join us? Donate directly: givebutter.com/Scx87A or
givebutter.com
Food Delivered With Dignity
In the current environment we need to raise a $7,000 a day to sustain our operations
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Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Wow. This is devastating. www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
U.S. government has lost more than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s since Trump took office
A Science analysis reveals how many were fired, retired, or quit across 14 agencies
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Ashley Thomas @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
Oops -- we should have included a pre-print, but here it is! osf.io/preprints/ps... Abstract core knowledge may shape the basins of cultural attraction: romantic kissing as a case study
osf.io
OSF
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Shirley Wang @shirleybwang.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
Yale Psychology is accepting applications for the Susan Nolen-Hoeksema postdoctoral fellowship! Open to a broad range of areas in psychology, and applicants should identify 1 or more potential faculty mentors. Apply by Feb 1, 2026: apply.interfolio.com/178435
apply.interfolio.com
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
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Ashley Thomas @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
Hossein was supposed to come to my lab as a grad student but couldn’t because of the travel ban. I had a blast writing this paper with him, but it was bittersweet knowing he should have been in person with us. ❤️ check out 🧵below. part of a special issue on kissing led by Deb Lieberman.
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Melissa Kline Struhl @mekline.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
This is a fundraising post! An anonymous donor is matching contributions to Children Helping Science up to 100K through the end of the year - if it's in your giving budget, please consider supporting open science infrastructure! giving.mit.edu/search/node/... Details below...
giving.mit.edu
Fund Search Results | Giving to MIT
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Larisa Heiphetz Solomon @drlarisa.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
Thank you to Christina Steele for sharing her work with @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social in lab meeting today! Christina shared neat findings on implicit attitudes toward interracial couples, building on her prior work on development of understanding about relationships. Interesting & important project!
watermark02.silverchair.com
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Christoph Völter @christophvoelter.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
Fully funded #PhDposition in Comparative Cultural Psychology @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social. We will use touchscreen experiments & eyetracking to study mental simulations in nonhuman apes & human children across different cultures. All info here: www.eva.mpg.de/career/posit... Please share / apply!🙏
eva.mpg.de
Positions available - Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
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Ashley Thomas @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
Interested in understanding how young humans think about social relationships? I am reading PhD applications this year! **Please note**, that Harvard now requires the GRE. More information here: www.ashleyjthomas.com/workwithme
ashleyjthomas.com
WANT TO WORK WITH ME? | Mysite
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Ashley Thomas @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social · 01/11/2025
Three robot costumes, large medium and small A family one child frowning a small child in a robot costume not looking
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Emily M. Sanford @emilymsanford.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
Are humans really the only rational animals? Our NEW PAPER 🎉 out in @science.org suggests otherwise! In a large collaboration led with my joint first author @hanna-schleihauf.bsky.social, we show that “Chimpanzees rationally revise their beliefs” 🧵
science.org
Chimpanzees rationally revise their beliefs
The selective revision of beliefs in light of new evidence has been considered one of the hallmarks of human-level rationality. However, tests of this ability in other species are lacking. We examined...
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Ashley Thomas @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
Interested in understanding how young humans think about social relationships? I am reading PhD applications this year! **Please note**, that Harvard now requires the GRE. More information here: www.ashleyjthomas.com/workwithme
ashleyjthomas.com
WANT TO WORK WITH ME? | Mysite
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Ashley Thomas @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
Interested in applying to graduate programs or research positions in psychology? Want more information and feedback on your submission materials? Then Harvard’s Prospective Ph.D. & RA Event in Psychology (PPREP) Is for you!! psychology.fas.harvard.edu/pprep More info in the link!! Please retweet!
psychology.fas.harvard.edu
PPREP Program | Department of Psychology
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Setayesh Radkani @setayeshradkani.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
🚨Out in PNAS🚨 with @joshtenenbaum.bsky.social & @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social Punishment, even when intended to teach norms and change minds for the good, may backfire. Our computational cognitive model explains why! Paper: tinyurl.com/yc7fs4x7 News: tinyurl.com/3h3446wu 🧵
tinyurl.com
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...
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Ashley Thomas @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
The lab feels so empty without our summer interns!
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Adena Schachner @adenaschachner.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
I and my lab are happy to be at #cogsci2025! Here's a shortcut to find work from the fabulous folks in my lab (and me) 😄
On Wednesday:
Adena Schachner, talk: "Intuitive Archeology: Social reasoning from the physical world”, W ~10 am, Fourth Level (Pacific) Room A.
Chaolan Lin & Adena Schachner, poster: "How children explore and detect augmented reality filters", W 10-11 am, Fourth level (Pacific) Room E.
On Thursday:
Amy Nguyễn, Rodney Tompkins & Adena Schachner, poster, "When walls talk: People make social inferences from towns’ protective features", Th 1:00-2:15, P1-T-194
On Saturday:
Chaolan Lin & Adena Schachner, poster, "Perceived musicality in an android increases positive social attributions", Sat 1:00-2:15, P3-L-113
Shirley Liu, Craig McKenzie & Adena Schachner, poster, "When Default Options Explain Away Preferences: A Causal Reasoning Account of Mental State Reasoning from Default Options ", Sat 1:00-2:15, P3-L-11
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Leonard Learning Lab @leonardlearnlab.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
The Learning Lab is heading to CogSci 2025 (@cogscisociety.bsky.social) to share our latest research! Come say hello!
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Shari Liu @shariliu.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
Who's excited for #CogSci2025? 💭
Schedule for the LIU LAB at CogSci 2025 conference, featuring a variety of workshops and presentations.

Wednesday, July 30

Workshop 1: "Putting it together: Interactions between domains of cognition" at 8:30 AM, presented by Shari Liu and Joseph Outa.

Thursday, July 31

P1-C-24: "Surprise isn’t symmetrical: Adults’ looking suggests non-perceptual considerations during dishabituation" from 1:00 PM to 2:15 PM, presented by Qiong Cao, Anjie Cao, Gal Raz, Josh Tenenbaum, and Shari Liu.

Friday, August 1

Lecture in Symposium 4: "Perceiving and reasoning jointly about the social and physical world" at 9:40 AM, presented by Shari Liu.
P2-O-146: "Adults hold two parallel causal frameworks for reasoning about people’s minds, actions, and bodies" from 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM, presented by Joseph Outa and Shari Liu.

Saturday, August 2

P3-B-15: "Who drew this? Children appreciate visual style differently than adults" from 1:00 PM to 2:15 PM, presented by Tal Boger, Chaz Firestone, and Shari Liu.
P3-K-95: "Pushing people: the neural basis of social interaction perception" from 1:00 PM to 2:15 PM, presented by Minjae Kim, Miriam Hauptman, and Shari Liu.
Talks 49: "Learning and Development 5" from 3:21 PM to 3:45 PM, presenting findings on individual differences in habituation and dishabituation, by Anjie Cao, Qiong Cao, Michael Frank, and Shari Liu.

The schedule includes a call to attendees to "Come and say hi!" at the event.
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Lindsey Powell @lindseypowell.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
The SoCal Lab is headed to #cogsci2025 this week! Here's where you can find us:
A list of the SoCal Lab's presentations at CogSci.

In brief: 
Lindsey Powell is giving talks in Workshop 1 on July 30 at 9:30 am and in Symposium 1 on July 31. 

Tori Hennessy is giving a talk in the Development of Social Cognition 1 session on July 31. 

Bill Pepe is giving a talk in the Development of Social Cognition session on August 1. 

Coxi Jiang is giving a talk in the Emotion session on August 1. 

Rodney Tompkins is presenting a poster in Session 2 on August 1.
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Brandon Woo @brandonwoo.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
Looking forward to #CogSci2025! Anushka Laha and I will be sharing some of the first work from our lab
A visual with the presentations from the lab

Brandon Woo
Social engagement leads infants to represent people as individuals
Development of Social Cognition IThu, July 31 | 10:30 am to 12:00 pm PSTSalon 6

Anushka Laha
Young children spontaneously appreciate the perspectives of their social partners
Virtual Poster Session 1Thu, July 31 | 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm PST
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Shari Liu @shariliu.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
If you are attending #CogSci2025 I hope you will consider attending our pre-conference workshop on July 29 - "Putting it Together: Interactions Between Domains of Cognition" sites.google.com/view/cogsci2...
sites.google.com
Domain Interactions | CogSci 2025
Organizers
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Ashley Thomas @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social · 19/07/2025
@brandonwoo.bsky.social @lizettepizza.bsky.social
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