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Daniel Yon

@danieljamesyon.bsky.social
5.5K followers 541 following 245 posts

Psychologist and neuroscientist. Studying how we perceive, act and decide Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience - Birkbeck, University of London psyc.bbk.ac.uk/uncertainty

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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Looking for a fully-funded PhD studying how our minds and brains work? Students can join @birkbeckpsychology.bsky.social via the UBEL scheme (link below). But prospective students and supervisors need to 'pre-register' their interest together by 30th October. ubel-dtp.ac.uk/esrc-student...
ubel-dtp.ac.uk
ESRC Studentships Main Competition - UBEL DTP
ESRC Studentships Main Competition The UBEL DTP’s fully funded ESRC studentships cover full payment of tuition fees per year and an annual maintenance stipend. What’s on offer UBEL DTP studentships co...
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Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · 11/09/2026
I'm excited to share this preprint by my wonderful MSc student Yihsin who's thought deeply about how psychological & neurocognitive theories relate to different types of evidence. Beyond Empirical Success: Evaluating Theoretical Virtue Across the Computational Modeling Chain doi.org/10.5281/zeno...

Beyond Empirical Success: Evaluating Theoretical Virtue Across the Computational Modeling Chain
Authors/Creators

    Chuang, Yihsin
    ORCID icon
    Guest, Olivia1
    ORCID icon

Description

Computational models in psychology are typically judged by a single standard: empirical fit. Unfortunately, fit is insufficient, even misleading as a sole criterion, as the same result can arise from fundamentally different situations: theoretically faithful models, mathematically flexible ones, miscalibrated operationalizations, or implementations that compute something other than intended. Distinguishing between these is vital. Our evaluative metatheoretical account recognises that models stand in three distinct relations: a) toward the theory whose causal commitments it purports to capture, b) toward the specification and implementation it purports to compute, and c) toward the phenomenon it purports to explain. Each relation can succeed or fail independently, governed by criteria local to that stage. Importantly, relations are ordered such that theoretical content is transmitted or lost, and losses at earlier transitions are irrecoverable downstream. What a model's empirical success implicates about its theoretical commitments, therefore, depends on whether transitions are secured. Some success or failure profiles support explanatory claims; others only prediction; others establish theoretical coherence without empirical contact. Our account diagnoses what a given model shows, replacing the implicit assumption that empirical success transfers automatically to theoretical understanding with an explicit conditional rendition of what models can and cannot establish.
a figure that looks like a cloud that stays "cognitive capacity" with an arrow pointing to a lozenge with "theory" which points to a lozenge with "specification" which points to the same with "data" which is pointed to by a cloud that says "phenomenon"
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Cheapskates assemble! For the month of September, A TRICK OF THE MIND is available on Kindle for a mere 99p. Read, enjoy, and discover the scientist inside your skull. amzn.eu/d/01clZD1R
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Nice to be profiled in this piece for @psychscience.bsky.social In which I talk a bit about our research so far, what can make our kind of career challenging - and why we should all strive to be 'fish scales' 🐟 www.psychologicalscience.org/publications...
psychologicalscience.org
Member Spotlight: 2026 Spence Awardee Daniel Yon’s Search for a Distinctive Patch in the Research Landscape
Image above: Yon discusses his book, A Trick of the Mind: How the Brain Invents Your Reality.Daniel Yon is a professor of cognitive neuroscience and the director of the Uncertainty Lab at Birkbeck, Un...
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Really delighted to have been made Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at Birkbeck, University of London.
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Ben Alderson-Day @aldersonday.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
The end to another Edinburgh Book Festival - had a wonderful time with @thereaderbank.bsky.social once more, fantastic to share a stage with Maggie O'Farrell for the Secret Life of Books Podcast, and great fun talking consciousness with @danieljamesyon.bsky.social & Michael Pollan
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
On my way to Edinburgh Book Festival - to consider consciousness this evening with @michaelpollan.bsky.social and @aldersonday.bsky.social @edbookfest.bsky.social
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Can confidence spread from one head to another? Nice to see this piece from @christianjarrett.bsky.social in BBC Science Focus, highlighting work from The Uncertainty Lab at @birkbeckpsychology.bsky.social. Led by Einar Andreassen and supported by @leverhulme.ac.uk
sciencefocus.com
A seriously weird study just proved confidence is contagious | BBC Science Focus Magazine
Can you catch the bug?
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Real pleasure to be at #EPSEssex and the symposium celebrating 80 years of the @exppsychsoc.bsky.social - alongside Bob Logie, Anna Franklin, @bhisma.bsky.social, @angeladebruin.bsky.social and Sophie Scott. Thank you @asifamajid.bsky.social!
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Is your brain a scientist? Then where do its theories come from? And how do those paradigms shift? Lots of fun recording this with Dave Edmonds for Social Science Bites.
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
A real pleasure to be at #APS26BCN, and to meet and learn about the work of the other Spence Award winners. Thanks @psychscience.bsky.social !
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Great to be at Hampstead Theatre Press Night yesterday for Blanche McIntyre's production of STAGE KISS. And lots of fun writing my notes for the programme on fantasy and reality in the brain.
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Today is official publication day for the paperback of A TRICK OF THE MIND. Surreal as ever to see on the shelves (this time thanks to Waterstones Gower St for indulging me). More here: www.penguin.co.uk/books/451515...
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Really delighted to have been awarded a Mid-Career Fellowship by the @britishacademy.bsky.social , which I’ll be using to work on a new book about the human imagination 🧠
bbk.ac.uk
Birkbeck academic awarded 2025 British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship
Dr Daniel Yon, Reader in Cognitive Neuroscience at Birkbeck, has been announced as a recipient of a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship.
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Steve Fleming @smfleming.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Public communication alters private confidence - cool study from @danieljamesyon.bsky.social and team www.cell.com/current-biol...
cell.com
Public communication alters private confidence
Andreassen et al. demonstrate that confidence exhibited in public affects our private assessment of confidence.
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
How does uncertainty transmit from one head to another? Our new paper out today in @currentbiology.bsky.social reveals how public communication alters private confidence. w/ Einar Andreassen & @cdfrith.bsky.social @birkbeckpsychology.bsky.social @leverhulme.ac.uk 🧠📈
cell.com
Public communication alters private confidence
Andreassen et al. demonstrate that confidence exhibited in public affects our private assessment of confidence.
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
Excited to be in Vancouver and to be part of the CNS Rising Stars session this afternoon. I’ll be talking about “Stubborn and Flexible Predictions in Perception and Belief Updating” #CNS2026 🧠
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Check out Benjy’s new paper, the first from his postdoc in the lab! 👁️ 🧠 It reveals how our inferences about what’s present and absent in the external world are calibrated by perceiving w/ others. And we come to detect what our partners can. Thread below 👇 @benjyb.bsky.social @leverhulme.ac.uk
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Benjy Barnett @benjyb.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Do our social interactions influence what we become aware of? In our❗new preprint❗@danieljamesyon.bsky.social and I delve into this question: asking whether joint decision making in a detection task can bias awareness reports. osf.io/preprints/ps... 🧵
osf.io
OSF
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Jake Quilty-Dunn @quiltydunn.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
A new preprint, co-authored with @johnwkrakauer.bsky.social: The Deliberation Taboo Cognitive science is, nominally, the science of thinking. We argue that the field has no theory of what thinking is and, even worse, that the topic has largely dropped out of focus. 1/ osf.io/preprints/ps...
osf.io
OSF
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
Really delighted to have received one of these awards from the Association for Psychological Science 🧠 Thanks to the APS, and to everyone in the Uncertainty Lab, at Birkbeck, and beyond for making our work possible! @psychscience.bsky.social @birkbeckpsychology.bsky.social
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
Last call for this PhD studentship! Deadline Sun 22nd Feb
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
Last call for this PhD studentship! Deadline Sun 22nd Feb
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
A few more weeks left to apply for this PhD position 👇 Deadline 22nd Feb @birkbeckpsychology.bsky.social
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
A few more weeks left to apply for this PhD position 👇 Deadline 22nd Feb @birkbeckpsychology.bsky.social
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
Snowy Second Day in Oxford.
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
I've got a fully-funded PhD studentship open at @birkbeckpsychology.bsky.social, investigating social learning about metacognition & awareness, w/ behavioural studies & neuroimaging (fMRI) - thanks to @leverhulme.ac.uk More details here: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPV831/p... #cogsci #neuroskyence
jobs.ac.uk
PhD Studentship: Social Learning of Metacognition and Awareness at Birkbeck, University of London
jobs.ac.uk now advertising a PhD Studentship: Social Learning of Metacognition and Awareness Visit jobs.ac.uk to apply and to browse more PhD opportunities.
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
Delighted to be among the Publishers Weekly picks from 2025 ! Thanks @publisherswkly.bsky.social !
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
ECR looking for a change in the New Year? We are recruiting a new Lecturer in Psychology at @birkbeckpsychology.bsky.social ! If you’d like to talk about life in the Department, please do feel free to get in touch. Deadline 8th Feb - More details below 👇 cis7.bbk.ac.uk/vacancy/lect...
cis7.bbk.ac.uk
Lecturer in Psychology (2303) - Birkbeck, University of London
Birkbeck
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Krisztina Jedlovszky @kjedlovszky.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
Wrapping up an incredible three months at @wutsaiyale.bsky.social 👋 time flies when you're having a good time Thank you @philcorlett.bsky.social for having me in the lab and to the @exppsychsoc.bsky.social for funding this visit!
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
I've got a fully-funded PhD studentship open at @birkbeckpsychology.bsky.social, investigating social learning about metacognition & awareness, w/ behavioural studies & neuroimaging (fMRI) - thanks to @leverhulme.ac.uk More details here: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPV831/p... #cogsci #neuroskyence
jobs.ac.uk
PhD Studentship: Social Learning of Metacognition and Awareness at Birkbeck, University of London
jobs.ac.uk now advertising a PhD Studentship: Social Learning of Metacognition and Awareness Visit jobs.ac.uk to apply and to browse more PhD opportunities.
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London Judgement and Decision Making seminar series @ljdm.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
Next Wednesday Dec 10th, we are excited to have Dr @danieljamesyon.bsky.social join us for our last session of the year. Dr Yon will tell us about how our interactions with others alter metacognitive states of mind. Full details on our website (surl.li/mqtofs). All are welcome in person!
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Steve Fleming @smfleming.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Last Consciousness Club of term tomorrow, Wed 3rd Dec 11am-1230pm UK time Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social will be telling us about “The private life of public confidence” Looking forward to it! All welcome- for more info see metacoglab.org/consciousnes...
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David Mair @davidmair4.bsky.social · 09/11/2025
Excellent book on the predicting mind.
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Clare Press @clarepress.bsky.social · 02/11/2025
I finally gave my Professorial Inaugural Lecture. A great night with friends, family, & colleagues, & sharing the stage with a good friend @cmcgettigan.bsky.social🥂 Watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsTG... Bookmarks flag both my lecture and @celiaheyes.bsky.social’s (far more entertaining!) intro
youtube.com
McGettigan and Press Inaugural Professorial Lectures 2025
YouTube video by UCL PALS
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Penny Sarchet @pennysarchet.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
Bad photos of an extraordinary weekend at #NewScientistLive. 1. @anjanakhatwa.bsky.social, @danieljamesyon.bsky.social and @chamkaurghag.bsky.social tell @rowhoop.bsky.social and myself all about their fascinating research on a special live episode of The World, The Universe & Us (on feeds soon).
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
How does the brain invent your reality? Great to be speaking at New Scientist Live this weekend - and signing a few copies of the book! 🧠 🍎 Thanks @newscientist.com and @waterstones.bsky.social
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Silvia Seghezzi @silviaseghezzi.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
Next in line in our super cool Psychological Sciences Seminar Series: 🎤 Jim A.C. Everett from University of Kent 🗓 Wed 22 Oct, 1–2 pm 📍 Room 612, Malet Street, + online via Teams @birkbeckpsychology.bsky.social @jimaceverett.bsky.social
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Silvia Seghezzi @silviaseghezzi.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
Next in line in our Psychological Sciences Seminar Series: 🎤 Connor Keating 🗓 Wed 15 Oct, 1–2 pm 📍 Room 612, Malet Street, + online via Teams @connortkeating.bsky.social @birkbeckpsychology.bsky.social
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
Next week for all you South East Londoners! 👇
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alicia-rybicki.bsky.social @alicia-rybicki.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
🚨 PhD Opportunity! 🚨 Come investigate the mechanistic role of dopamine in emotion processing with Prof Jennifer Cook - @thechbh.bsky.social @unibirmingham.bsky.social MIBTP-funded PhD, using behavioural, computational and pharmacological approaches. Get in touch and please share!
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The Centre for Human Brain Health @thechbh.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
Join us for a CHBH Seminar with @danieljamesyon.bsky.social on 'Learning about uncertainty from ourselves and others' Thur 9 Oct 1–2pm LT6 Strathcona/Zoom Hosted by Prof Jennifer Cook Event info/registration: bit.ly/4gWAPdO #CognitiveNeuroscience#Metacognition#Learning #Uncertainty #SocialCognition
Poster for a CHBH seminar with Dr Daniel Yon on uncertainty in perception and social interaction, held on 9 October 2025 at the University of Birmingham. Includes event details, a photo of Dr Yon, a QR code, and the CHBH University slogan.
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Phil Corlett @philcorlett.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
We are delight to have @kjedlovszky.bsky.social visiting from @danieljamesyon.bsky.social lab, despite appearances we do not work in the Nakatomi Plaza from Die Hard!
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
Looking forward to being in conversation with Stacey Humphries about A TRICK OF THE MIND - next month at Waterstones Greenwich. Tickets available here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/in-convers... @waterstones.bsky.social
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Scientific American @sciam.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
In his new book, Daniel Yon explains how our brain is constantly constructing reality
scientificamerican.com
Your Brain Is Hallucinating—And That’s How It’s Supposed to Work
In his new book, Daniel Yon explains how our brain is constantly constructing reality
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Sebastiaan Mathôt @cogsci.nl · 31/08/2025
Looking forward to reading A Trick of the Mind by @danieljamesyon.bsky.social! About the relationship between consciousness and prediction. #booksky #science #psychology
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Aidan Horner @aidanhorner.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
Deadline for these jobs is 5th September, so you've got until next week on Friday to apply! Come join us in beautiful York, complete with Minsters, snickelways, fMRI and OPMs - what more could you ask for?! #neuroskyence #neurojobs #psychscisky #cognition #psychjobs
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New Scientist @newscientist.com · 31/07/2025
The unpredictability of our times isn't all bad, as it may help us think up some genuine new ideas, says Daniel Yon, author of A Trick of the Mind
newscientist.com
Why living in a volatile age may make our brains truly innovative
The unpredictability of our times isn't all bad, as it may help us think up some genuine new ideas, says Daniel Yon, author of A Trick of the Mind
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 03/08/2025
What does living through uncertain times do to our minds and brains? Delighted to have this piece in the latest New Scientist - talking about some of the ideas in my new book ‘A Trick of the Mind’ !
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Daniel Yon @danieljamesyon.bsky.social · 03/07/2025
Het is gepubliceerd! 🇳🇱 Excited to get my hands on the Dutch Edition of 'A Trick of the Mind' - published by Atlas Contact 🧠 More here: www.atlascontact.nl/boek/een-tru...
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