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Bella Fascendini

@bellafascendini.bsky.social
256 followers 244 following 38 posts

PhD student at Princeton🐯 | bellafascendini.github.io

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Reposted by Bella Fascendini
Dan Mirea @danmirea.bsky.social · 16h
Thrilled to announce that I will be joining the University of Miami as an Assistant Professor of Psychology next year! I am recruiting a PhD student to start in Fall 2027 — please reach out if you are interested in joining the lab! For more info check out my website: dan-mirea.com
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Tom McCoy @rtommccoy.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Since many are starting grad school soon, let me re-share my One Big Tip™️ for research! Research involves many skills - collaborating, writing, presenting, etc. But many of these skills can be unified under a single overarching ability: theory of mind Blog post link in reply
Illustration of the blog post's main argument, summarized as: "Theory of Mind as a Central Skill for Researchers: Research involves many skills.If each skill is viewed separately, each one takes a long time to learn. These skills can instead be connected via theory of mind – the ability to reason about the mental states of others. This allows you to transfer your abilities across areas, making it easier to gain new skills."
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Steven Mesquiti @smesquiti.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Excited to share a new Annual Review paper with @eriknook.bsky.social : "Large Language Models in Mental Health Research and Treatment." Here lay out what LLMs actually are and aren't, then take a census of how mental health research has used them so far, where it's heading 🧵1/n
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Tania Lombrozo @tanialombrozo.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
What do rubber ducks have to do with learning and AI? You can find out in my TEDx talk, released today as an Editor’s Pick at the YouTube TED Channel! www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbiy...
youtube.com
How you can learn in a world of information overload | Tania Lombrozo | TEDxNewEngland
YouTube video by TEDx Talks
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Elaine Wang @elainewang.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Come say hello at #CogSci2026! Excited to be part of this incredible symposium!
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Bella Fascendini @bellafascendini.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
New paper! w/ @cocoscilab.bsky.social🧵Can large language models reason flexibly, or have they learned what reasoning looks like? We introduce a new paradigm to test this question—the riddle riddle—and find that humans and LLMs show opposite patterns of performance. 📜
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Tania Lombrozo @tanialombrozo.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
I wrote a book! It's called WHY WE ASK WHY, and it's about the human drive to explain, combining psychology, philosophy, and stories. It will be released on October 6, but it's currently available for pre-order from Barnes & Noble at 25% off with code PREORDER25.
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Melanie Mitchell @melaniemitchell.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
It's always a treat to read Ted Chiang's thoughts on AI. www.theatlantic.com/philosophy/2...
theatlantic.com
No, Artificial Intelligence Is Not Conscious
Taken to its logical conclusion, this line of thinking is absurd—and damning.
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Casey Lewry @caseylewry.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
So excited that I’ll be joining @jesssalerno.bsky.social and Nick Schweitzer as a postdoc at Cornell starting this fall! Stay tuned for work on how people assign causal and moral responsibility in legal contexts!
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Bella Fascendini @bellafascendini.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Congrats,Tom!! 🎉@cocoscilab.bsky.social
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Cognition @cognitionjournal.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
A computational theory of Aha! moments! New paper explaining why Aha! moments occur & why they feel so good. TLDR: They are a form of meta-cognitive prediction errors i.e. they occur when we surprise ourselves about our own abilities! @rachitdubey.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
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Bella Fascendini @bellafascendini.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Registration deadline tomorrow! Come join our workshop! 😃✨
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Paul Middlebrooks @braininspired.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Are the laws of thought woven from three golden threads? Tom @cocoscilab.bsky.social and I discuss some of the history and themes in logic, probability, and neural nets, in his new book The Laws of Thought. braininspired.co/podcast/233/
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Bella Fascendini @bellafascendini.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
Are you attending @cogdevsoc.bsky.social 2026? Come join us for an afternoon pre-conference workshop on motivation in development! We'll bring together developmental, educational, and computational perspectives to ask: Can we build a unified account of motivation across the lifespan? ✨
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Killian McLoughlin @killianmcloughlin.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
Are you a grad student who wants to give a talk at Princeton’s psychology department (in-person or on Zoom)? Nominate yourself or someone you know: forms.gle/WN2ybYMuZiW3... Priority given to non-Ivy and URM students. International applicants welcome. Deadline is this Friday (Feb 6)!
forms.gle
Emerging Scholars in Psychological Science Speaker Nominations
Nominate yourself or another late-stage PhD student to speak at Princeton's Department of Psychology this academic semester (Spring 2026). The Emerging Scholars in Psychological Science (ESPS) talk ...
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Tania Lombrozo @tanialombrozo.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
This is an amazing book - highly recommend for experts and casual readers alike!
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Bella Fascendini @bellafascendini.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
Congrats, Alex!!! 🥳
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Leonard Learning Lab @leonardlearnlab.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
We are looking to hire a research assistant to help with data collection at our partner museum in Philadelphia! Share with your undergraduates or post-baccs who are looking for more experience in cog dev research! Please see the attached ad for more information: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
docs.google.com
Yale Leonard Learning Lab - Philadelphia RA Ad
Title: Philadelphia-Area-Based Research Assistant Position in the Yale Learning Lab The Leonard Learning Lab (PI: Dr. Julia Leonard) at Yale University has an opening for a research assistant to help...
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Bella Fascendini @bellafascendini.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Congrats, Rachit!! Super well deserved! 🥳
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Kristina Olson @olsonista.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
Are you a US-based PhD student WITHOUT summer funding who is interested in adolescent development, trans youth, and/or gender? Reach out to me about applying to join my lab in Summer 2026 for the VIPS program! psych.princeton.edu/diversity/vi...
psych.princeton.edu
Visiting Internship for Ph.D. Students (VIPS) Program
The VIPS program is an initiative of the DEI committee of the Department of Psychology at Princeton University. VIPS will support up to 4 Ph.D. students who are full-time students at other universitie...
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Bella Fascendini @bellafascendini.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
Honored to contribute a Journal Club piece to @natrevpsychol.nature.com! I explore Robert White's seminal "competence motivation" framework (1959) and why it remains relevant over 60 years later—from why toddlers insist on doing things themselves to designing intrinsically motivated AI. 🤖
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Rachit Dubey @rachitdubey.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
My lab at UCLA is hiring 1-2 PhD students this cycle! Join us to work at the intersection of cognitive science and AI applied to pressing societal challenges like climate change. More info about me: rachit-dubey.github.io My lab: ucla-cocopol.github.io Please help repost/spread the word!
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Bella Fascendini @bellafascendini.bsky.social · 17/08/2025
One of the most brilliant scientists in CogSci + one of the best institutions to study CogSci. 💫 Apply!!
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Bella Fascendini @bellafascendini.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
Excited to present at @CogSci2025 tomorrow at 1pm in Salon 6! Looking forward to presenting alongside incredible cognitive scientists @cvales.bsky.social, @elainewang.bsky.social, and @junyi.bsky.social ✨
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Bella Fascendini @bellafascendini.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
Come check out my lab mate Ham Huang’s cool work and cape! 😎
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Bella Fascendini @bellafascendini.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
Come say hi! 👋
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Bella Fascendini @bellafascendini.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
Congrats, @emiecz.bsky.social !! Super, super cool work! 🍞
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Bella Fascendini @bellafascendini.bsky.social · 12/07/2025
Congrats Ham!👏
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Bella Fascendini @bellafascendini.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
So exited to work with such a fun bunch this summer! 🙌 Welcome to the lab! 🥳
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Melissa Kline Struhl @mekline.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
After a few days to fix some bugs, we will be holding another online Psych-DS tutorial on Wednesday, June 4, 12pm EDT. This is an informal workshop designed to help you convert a dataset to Psych-DS - BYO or find an open dataset at osf.io/mbvk4. Sign up here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com
Psych-DS Workshop signups!
Psych-DS is an open source data standard for representing datasets in the social/behavioral sciences. It is designed for use by individual researchers who are collecting data, preparing datasets for a...
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Dr. Alexandra Witt @alexthewitty.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
🚨CogSci preprint alert🚨 When you look at reviews, do you like to focus on positive or negative ones? @stepalminteri.bsky.social, @thecharleywu.bsky.social and I set out to investigate how learning rate biases differ between individual and social learning in our new study. osf.io/bcrw9_v2 🧵 below!
osf.io
OSF
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Rebecca Saxe @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
Please help: Do you know a baby, less than 12 months old, who can walk? We are trying to complete a project, 7 years in the works. And all we need are 3 infants who are less than a year old and can walk, to do a short online looking-time study. 🆘
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Dorsa Amir @dorsaamir.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
Wanted to share a handy little resource with you all (especially those in dev psych) — my lab & I made a "journal submission cheat sheet" that summarizes article types, word limits, & other requirements for the journals we typically submit to. Link below 👇🏼 docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
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Tania Lombrozo @tanialombrozo.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
Are you interested in research experience before applying to PhD programs? Or just want to learn more about cognitive science? Consider joining my lab as a lab manager (joint w/the Griffiths Lab). We will begin reviewing applications one week from today: cognition.princeton.edu/news/2025/op...
cognition.princeton.edu
Open Position for Lombrozo/Griffiths Lab Manager (starting Fall 2025)
The Lombrozo and Griffiths Labs at Princeton University are seeking a full-time lab manager to begin August 14, 2025, but there is some flexibility. You can apply here. Applications will be reviewed b...
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Elizabeth Mieczkowski @emiecz.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
We often assume that specialized roles improve performance in multi-agent systems, but when does specialization emerge based on a given task and environment? 🧵👇 ⭐️ New preprint w/ Ruaridh Mon-Williams, @neilbramley.bsky.social, Chris Lucas, @natvelali.bsky.social & @cocoscilab.bsky.social
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Bella Fascendini @bellafascendini.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
This is so cool!!
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Emily Kubota @emilykubota.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
The latest paper from my PhD is now out in Nature Human Behavior! rdcu.be/edRwQ
rdcu.be
White matter connections of human ventral temporal cortex are organized by cytoarchitecture, eccentricity and category-selectivity from birth
Nature Human Behaviour - Kubota et al. find that white matter connections of ventral temporal cortex are innately organized by cytoarchitecture, category and eccentricity from birth, and also...
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Steven Mesquiti @smesquiti.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
As part of @sciencehomecoming.bsky.social, I wrote an opinion piece for San Antonio Express News on the dangers of cuts to federal science funding for today and tomorrow's scientists: www.expressnews.com/opinion/comm... @cantlonlab.bsky.social @spiantado.bsky.social
expressnews.com
Cuts to federal research funding will hurt future Texas science students
Cutting funding from anything perceived as “DEI-adjacent” harms us all. It freezes life-changing research, and shuts the door on talented, hardworking students.
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Diana Tamir @dianatamir.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
📢 The Princeton Social Neuroscience Lab is hiring! 📢 We're seeking a full-time Research Specialist/Lab Manager to study naturalistic conversation, social cognition, and spontaneous thought. More info here: psnlab.princeton.edu/join-us Please apply and share!
psnlab.princeton.edu
Join Us
Thanks for your interest in joining our lab! At the Princeton Social Neuroscience Lab, we believe that our science is better with a diverse team. We embrace and encourage our lab members’ differences ...
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Reut Shachnai @reutshachnai.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
Overparenting can hold kids back—but our research shows that framing tasks as learning opportunities helps parents step back and foster kids' independence! ✨ Read more in our latest Psychology Today piece: www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/deve... @julia-a-leonard.bsky.social @mika-asaba.bsky.social
psychologytoday.com
Overparenting Is Holding Kids Back—Here’s What to Do Instead
Overparenting can hinder kids' independence. Research shows that reframing everyday tasks as learning opportunities helps parents step back and let kids grow.
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Steven Mesquiti @smesquiti.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
🚨New Preprint Alert!🚨 To what extent can we use language to measure psychological and subjective well-being? 🤔 We tested how well language-based models (i.e., bert-based embeddings) predict subjective & psychological well-being across three studies. Here’s what we found! 🧵👇
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Steven Mesquiti @smesquiti.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
Here’s the poster for those who can’t attend
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Bella Fascendini @bellafascendini.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
I had a great time and learned so much last year! Highly recommend!
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Bella Fascendini @bellafascendini.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
Agreed 100%!
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Natalia Vélez @natvelali.bsky.social · 11/03/2024
📣 Applications are due this Friday!
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Bella Fascendini @bellafascendini.bsky.social · 22/02/2024
I genuinely cannot express how much I've enjoyed working with @natvelali.bsky.social and the @velezcolab.bsky.social !! 😊This is truly a dream job in every aspect!✨ Please feel free to reach out if you have questions about the position or what it's like to work in the lab! RTs appreciated 🙌
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