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Jake Parker

@jacob-a-parker.bsky.social
136 followers 154 following 18 posts

PhD Candidate @ UPenn | I study how people reduce the complexity of inference and the implications of these simplifications for behavior and the brain | jacobaparker.github.io

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Reposted by Jake Parker
aaron bornstein @aaronbornstein.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Congratulations to Dr. Ari @khoudary.bsky.social on a successful PhD defense! @meganakpeters.bsky.social and I are so proud of all you have accomplished and excited for what you will do at @pennmindcore.bsky.social!
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Reposted by Jake Parker
Kara McGaughey @kara-mcgaughey.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
New paper from my PhD out in @elife.bsky.social! 🎉 We asked: when the state of the world is changing, how does the brain adjust how much incoming evidence is accumulated? Turns out there isn't one answer—there are (at least) two. 🧵
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Jake Parker @jacob-a-parker.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
(New results!) Human inference behavior varies widely across individuals and tasks. Using the information bottleneck framework, we show that two distinct axes capture a substantial amount of individual variability across two classic inference tasks. Thread below 1/
biorxiv.org
An information-bottleneck theory of suboptimal human inference
Human inference is often suboptimal in ways that vary across individuals and tasks. We propose that this variability reflects information processing limits and develop a task-general application of th...
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Reposted by Jake Parker
Dhairyya Singh @dhairyyasingh.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
New preprint! Statistical structure skews object memory toward predictable successors. Model simulations show how this bias can arise from the backward expansion of hippocampal representations. w/co-first @codydong.bsky.social , @marlietandoc.bsky.social & @annaschapiro.bsky.social osf.io/yuxb6_v1
osf.io
OSF
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Reposted by Jake Parker
Camilla van Geen @cvg.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
excited to (finally!) share :) www.jneurosci.org/content/45/6...
jneurosci.org
Lesions to Different Regions of the Frontal Cortex Have Dissociable Effects on Voluntary Persistence in Humans
Deciding how long to keep waiting for uncertain future rewards is a complex problem. Previous research has shown that choosing to stop waiting results from an evaluative process that weighs the subjec...
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Reposted by Jake Parker
Penn NeuroKnow 🧠 @pennneuroknow.bsky.social · 10/05/2024
Despite centuries of scientific advancements, the inner workings of much of the brain remained a complete mystery. Learn about a groundbreaking set of experiments that changed this in this week's piece by Jake Parker. pennneuroknow.com/2024/05/07/t... #neuroskyence #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧪
pennneuroknow.com
The experiments that opened the brain’s black box
Despite centuries of scientific advancements, the inner workings of much of the brain remained a complete mystery. A groundbreaking set of experiments changed this.
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Reposted by Jake Parker
Penn NeuroKnow 🧠 @pennneuroknow.bsky.social · 09/01/2024
Our first post of 2024 might make you feel a little better next time you forget something. Read "Why forgetting might actually be good thing," by Jake Parker for an illuminating look at why we forget. pennneuroknow.com/2024/01/09/w... #neuroskyence #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧪
pennneuroknow.com
Why forgetting might actually be a good thing
Our tendency to forget names, passwords, and skills is a source of endless frustration. However, this forgetfulness might actually be crucial for optimal brain function.
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Reposted by Jake Parker
Liz Siefert @lizsiefert.bsky.social · 15/12/2023
New preprint! We use real-time TMR to show that sleep reactivation transforms object memories, enhancing certain features at the expense of others. W/ Sindhuja Uppuluri, Jianing Mu, @marlietandoc.bsky.social @jameswardantony.bsky.social @annaschapiro.bsky.social doi.org/10.1101/2023.12.14.571683
doi.org
Memory reactivation during sleep does not act holistically on object memory
bioRxiv - the preprint server for biology, operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a research and educational institution
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Jake Parker @jacob-a-parker.bsky.social · 12/11/2023
If you’d like to learn how suboptimal decision-making, choice variability, and individual differences can all reflect information-efficient inference, come to my poster at UU22 tomorrow, Monday morning from 8 am - 12 noon! #SfN23
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