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Marc Malmdorf Andersen

@ndersen.bsky.social
439 followers 858 following 34 posts

Cognitive scientist, associate professor at Aarhus University. Predictive Processing, Emotion, Play, Recreational Fear, Cognitive Development.

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Reposted by Marc Malmdorf Andersen
Marc Malmdorf Andersen @ndersen.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Such a fun paper led by the amazing @roopekaaronen.net. We find that spinning tops are to be found, well, basically everywhere in the deep past. Perhaps this is because the spinning top is one of the most basic technologies that can defy our intuitions about physics - a fun/surprise generator!
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Marc Malmdorf Andersen @ndersen.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Such a fun paper led by the amazing @roopekaaronen.net. We find that spinning tops are to be found, well, basically everywhere in the deep past. Perhaps this is because the spinning top is one of the most basic technologies that can defy our intuitions about physics - a fun/surprise generator!
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Reposted by Marc Malmdorf Andersen
Marc Malmdorf Andersen @ndersen.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
Denmark is often portrayed as a fairly equal society, but when looking at the distribution of wealth a different picture emerges. The richest 1% of the population owns more wealth than the bottom 82% combined. Wealth tax is now being debated. #dkmedier #dkpol #dkvalg (oxfam.dk/publikatione...)
oxfam.dk
Ny analyse: Top 1 pct. har mere formue end 82 pct. af den danske befolkning
En ny opgørelse viser, at de rigeste cirka 48.000 mennesker i Danmark har lige så meget formue som 3,9 millioner danskere tilsammen.
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Marc Malmdorf Andersen @ndersen.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
Denmark is often portrayed as a fairly equal society, but when looking at the distribution of wealth a different picture emerges. The richest 1% of the population owns more wealth than the bottom 82% combined. Wealth tax is now being debated. #dkmedier #dkpol #dkvalg (oxfam.dk/publikatione...)
oxfam.dk
Ny analyse: Top 1 pct. har mere formue end 82 pct. af den danske befolkning
En ny opgørelse viser, at de rigeste cirka 48.000 mennesker i Danmark har lige så meget formue som 3,9 millioner danskere tilsammen.
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Marc Malmdorf Andersen @ndersen.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Bonobos pretend!
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Dr Icy Sedgwick @icysedgwick.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
I'm still collecting children's folklore for my next podcast theme, and I'm getting some amazing responses - monsters, urban legends, games, even a Tin God! Still time to add yours to this Google Form: forms.gle/D8mLW7q2um5Z...
forms.gle
Collecting Children's Lore!
February is going to be all about Children's Lore, which is defined as the folklore created, shared, and maintained by children. So it's not folklore about children, but rather spread by them! A lot...
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Reposted by Marc Malmdorf Andersen
Alison Gopnik @alisongopnik.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Really great new paper using agent-based modelling to show how an exploratory childhood can lead to innovation in the population at large. royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
royalsocietypublishing.org
The relationship between childhood exploration and population-level innovation in cultural evolution
Abstract. The societal effects of children’s learning in cultural evolution have been underexplored. Here, we investigate using agent-based models how a pr
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Marc Malmdorf Andersen @ndersen.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
"Combat both US tech capitulation and Enshittification at once." Thanks for these overviews @hansonmark.bsky.social and @parismarx.com 🙏
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Cedric Boeckx @cedricboeckx.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Very nice modeling work by a great team: @drelenamiu.bsky.social @ndersen.bsky.social @sheinalew.bsky.social @felixthehauskat.bsky.social 👇
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Elena Miu @elenamiu.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
"The relationship between childhood exploration and population-level innovation in cultural evolution" with @ndersen.bsky.social @sheinalew.bsky.social @felixthehauskat.bsky.social out in Proc B royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
royalsocietypublishing.org
The relationship between childhood exploration and population-level innovation in cultural evolution
Abstract. The societal effects of children’s learning in cultural evolution have been underexplored. Here, we investigate using agent-based models how a pr
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Marc Malmdorf Andersen @ndersen.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
🚨 🚨 Publication alert🚨 🚨 Great work led by the brilliant @drelenamiu.bsky.social. Using agent-based models, we show that age-structured learning (kids explore broadly; adults refine/exploit) boosts long-term cultural payoffs vs. using the same strategies in random order. shorturl.at/rdlhv
royalsocietypublishing.org
The relationship between childhood exploration and population-level innovation in cultural evolution
Abstract. The societal effects of children’s learning in cultural evolution have been underexplored. Here, we investigate using agent-based models how a pr
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Reposted by Marc Malmdorf Andersen
Ellen Roche @ellroche.bsky.social · 18/01/2026
New study from @ndersen.bsky.social and colleagues combines two of my favorite things - haunted houses and physiological synchrony research. "Scared together: heart rate synchrony and social closeness in a high-intensity horror setting." 👻❤️⚡❤️🧟
Scared together: heart rate synchrony and social closeness in a high-intensity horror setting.
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Marc Malmdorf Andersen @ndersen.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
Aaand, we're off! The annual Recreational Fear workshop “When Fear Is Fun 2025” kicks off with Corinna Perchtold-Stefan. Corinna is enlightening us on why the true crime genre has such a massive gender difference, in favour of women consumers. Stay tuned! @aiasdk.bsky.social @au.dk
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Jorge Morales @jorgemorales.me · 09/12/2025
When we see something that's moving, our memories about it end up projected forward in time: We remember it further along than it was. In a new paper in 𝘗𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, out today and led by @dillonplunkett.bsky.social, we demonstrate that this happens even when there is 𝙣𝙤 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙨𝙤𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧.🧵
subjectivitylab.org
Representational Momentum Transcends Motion
Dillon Plunkett & Jorge Morales (2025) Psychological Science
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David Richter @davidrichter.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
High-level visual surprise is rapidly integrated during perceptual inference! 🚨 New paper 🚨 out now in @cp-iscience.bsky.social with @paulapena.bsky.social and @mruz.bsky.social www.cell.com/iscience/ful... Summary 🧵 below 👇
cell.com
Rapid computation of high-level visual surprise
Health sciences
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Hanlu He @hanluhe.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
🫀 New preprint alert! 🌆 Thrilled to share the first paper of my PhD on heart-rate synchrony during social interactions in urban environments. @sinelabdtu.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Physical proximity, social familiarity, and acoustic environment modulate heart rate synchrony in real-world social interactions
Human social behaviour unfolds in complex real-world environments shaped by social and acoustic factors, yet markers of social engagement and connection remain elusive. Interpersonal physiological syn...
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Trends in Cognitive Sciences @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
Online Now: Shaping bodily self-awareness through thermosensory signals
dlvr.it
Shaping bodily self-awareness through thermosensory signals
Skin temperature and the ability to perceive warm and cold thermal stimuli (i.e., thermoception) are fundamental to human survival, influencing both our evolutionary history and early individual development. Interestingly, recent research has also started to uncover the role of these thermosensory signals in cognition. Such signals may contribute to the construction of our bodily self-awareness, and specifically the sense of body ownership, which is defined as the feeling that the body and its parts belong to us. This review examines how thermosensory signals travel from the skin to the brain and their impact on body ownership in both healthy and clinical populations. Furthermore, we propose mechanisms that may underlie this interaction and highlight potential clinical and societal applications.
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Lorijn Zaadnoordijk @lorijn.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
New paper alert: Beyond the Adult Mind: A Developmental Framework for Predictive Processing in Infancy! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #PsychSciSky #DevPsyc #CogPsyc #neuroskyence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Beyond the Adult Mind: A Developmental Framework for Predictive Processing in Infancy
In this paper, we argue that Predictive Processing cannot be a unifying account of cognition until it can explain infant development. We show why development is crucial for understanding human cognit...
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koenfucius @koenfucius.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
Not only many adults, but the vast majority of children too, from infancy through the teenage years, enjoy “recreational fear”—activities that are both scary and fun—new Danish study finds, with the nature and context of the activities evolving with age: buff.ly/AAfh2mt
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Marc Malmdorf Andersen @ndersen.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
Come join the wonderful CogSci dep at Aarhus Uni, Denmark! Fantastic students, wonderful colleagues, and great work/life balance! We are looking for applicants with teaching experience in the field of computational modelling of cognitive and/or social processes. international.au.dk/about/profil...
international.au.dk
Assistant Professor, Associate Professor or Full Professor of Cognitive Science - Vacancy at Aarhus University
Vacancy at School of Communication and Culture - Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics, Dept. of, Aarhus University
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Marc Malmdorf Andersen @ndersen.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Vicarious body maps bridge vision and touch in the human brain - Nature
A mode of brain organization that connects visual and bodily reference frames may translate raw sensory impressions into more abstract formats that are useful for action, social cognition and semantic...
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Interacting Minds Centre @interacting-minds.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
Come join the workshop on Recreational Fear at @aiasdk.bsky.social, @au.dk!
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Sarah Garfinkel @sarahgarf.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
** Recruiting a postdoc ** We are looking for a postdoc to work on emotion, mental health, and interoception, based in London at @ucl.ac.uk in my lab (Clinical and Affective Neuroscience). Part of a large Wellcome Grant (co-led with the brilliant @camillanord.bsky.social)
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Marc Malmdorf Andersen @ndersen.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
🎃👻 When Fear Is Fun 2025 🎃👻 Our 5th annual workshop on recreational fear is happening in Aarhus on Dec 12! Free participation, registration required. 🔗 Speakers + program: cc.au.dk/en/recreatio... 🔗 Register: event.au.dk/events/when-...
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Prof Neil Martin @thatneilmartin.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
In need of horror-based scholarship? I re-FEAR you to the workshop below....
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Marc Malmdorf Andersen @ndersen.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
🎃👻 When Fear Is Fun 2025 🎃👻 Our 5th annual workshop on recreational fear is happening in Aarhus on Dec 12! Free participation, registration required. 🔗 Speakers + program: cc.au.dk/en/recreatio... 🔗 Register: event.au.dk/events/when-...
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Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
Everything is a distraction from this.
theguardian.com
‘Change course now’: humanity has missed 1.5C climate target, says UN head
Exclusive: ‘Devastating consequences’ now inevitable but emissions cuts still vital, says António Guterres in sole interview before Cop30
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Dawei Bai @daweibai.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
Happy to share that our BBS target article has been accepted: “Core Perception”: Re-imagining Precocious Reasoning as Sophisticated Perceiving With Alon Hafri, @veroniqueizard.bsky.social, @chazfirestone.bsky.social & Brent Strickland Read it here: doi.org/10.1017/S014... A short thread [1/5]👇
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Marc Malmdorf Andersen @ndersen.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Hospital says toy MRI scanner helps save £150k
Children can play with the Kitten Scanner to prepare them for a real scan.
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Phil Corlett @philcorlett.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
somehow I missed this! Dopamine represents a domain-general teaching signal: www.science.org/doi/full/10....
science.org
Striatal dopamine signals errors in prediction across different informational domains
Dopamine reflects prediction errors not only about reward but also about valueless stimuli, challenging many current theories.
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Melanie Richter-Montpetit @mellimo.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
Academia.edu is changing its Terms and Conditions, and they're so outrageous (AI training; signing over ownership to them etc) I closed my account today. A thread with some practical tips if you want to delete your account (5 steps):
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Marc Malmdorf Andersen @ndersen.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
Danish Media covers our recent study (article in danish): videnskab.dk/kultur-samfu...
videnskab.dk
Alle børn opsøger det gode gys: Derfor må du ikke skærme dem fra det
Helt ned i et-årsalderen går børn af egen drift efter spændingen i rette doser, viser et nyt dansk studie.
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Dorsa Amir @dorsaamir.bsky.social · 25/01/2025
Does the culture you grow up in shape the way you see the world? In a new Psych Review paper, @chazfirestone.bsky.social & I tackle this centuries-old question using the Müller-Lyer illusion as a case study. Come think through one of history's mysteries with us🧵(1/13):
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Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science (SIPS) @improvingpsych.org · 15/08/2025
PsyArXiv is seeking new moderators to help combat an increase in AI submissions! If you've ever posted a preprint to PsyArXiv, please consider joining. Minimum commitment 1h/month, there's a training session this Monday @ 1pm ET. More info here: forms.gle/9LB1rEtxHAeZ... #PsychSciSky
forms.gle
Expression of Interest in Serving as a PsyArXiv Moderator
As you might have heard, PsyArXiv is having some issues with an increase in low-quality submissions, ranging from AI generated manuscripts to inflate citation metrics, incoherent or nonsensical docume...
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tal boger @talboger.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
On the left is a rabbit. On the right is an elephant. But guess what: They’re the *same image*, rotated 90°! In @currentbiology.bsky.social, @chazfirestone.bsky.social & I show how these images—known as “visual anagrams”—can help solve a longstanding problem in cognitive science. bit.ly/45BVnCZ
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Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
AI slop and the destruction of knowledge irisvanrooijcogsci.com/2025/08/12/a...
irisvanrooijcogsci.com
AI slop and the destruction of knowledge
This week I was looking for info on what cognitive scientists mean when they speak of ‘domain-general’ cognition. I was curious, because the nuances are relevant for something I am researching at t…
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Marc Malmdorf Andersen @ndersen.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
🧟‍♂️🚨 Publication alert! 🚨🧟‍♀️ Holy moly, I'm thrilled to announce our new paper in Emotion! We explored how recreational fear, physiological synchrony, and social closeness interact in a high-intensity haunted house setting. 1/5 🧵 Link: psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?d...
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Marc Malmdorf Andersen @ndersen.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
🧟‍♂️🚨 Publication alert! 🚨🧟‍♀️ Holy moly, I'm thrilled to announce our new paper in Emotion! We explored how recreational fear, physiological synchrony, and social closeness interact in a high-intensity haunted house setting. 1/5 🧵 Link: psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?d...
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Tess Forest @tessforest.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
Happy to share "The Dynamics of Caregiver Unpredictability Shape Moment-to-Moment Infant Looking During Dyadic Interaction," out now in Child Development thanks to a large team of people I worked on this with! srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirec...
srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
<em>Child Development</em> | SRCD Journal | Wiley Online Library
Cognitive development is associated with how predictable caregivers are, but the mechanisms driving this are unclear. One possibility is caregiver predictability initially shapes how infants gather i...
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Dorsa Amir @dorsaamir.bsky.social · 19/07/2025
This was such a fun conversation about childhood, play, and agency across cultures. Thanks for having @sheinalew.bsky.social & I on the show!
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Marc Malmdorf Andersen @ndersen.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
🚨 Kids LOVE fear?!🚨 Our new study led by Mihaela Taranu from the Recreational Fear Lab uncovers something surprising: Children across all ages actively seek out scary experiences - for fun! 📄 doi.org/10.1007/s105... [1/🧵]
doi.org
Recreational Fear Across Childhood. A Cross-Sectional Study of Scary Activities that Children Enjoy - Child Psychiatry & Human Development
This study investigated the prevalence of children’s engagement in recreational fear activities — i.e., playful engagement with scary stimuli where both fear and enjoyment are experienced. A detailed ...
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Marc Malmdorf Andersen @ndersen.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
🚨 Kids LOVE fear?!🚨 Our new study led by Mihaela Taranu from the Recreational Fear Lab uncovers something surprising: Children across all ages actively seek out scary experiences - for fun! 📄 doi.org/10.1007/s105... [1/🧵]
doi.org
Recreational Fear Across Childhood. A Cross-Sectional Study of Scary Activities that Children Enjoy - Child Psychiatry & Human Development
This study investigated the prevalence of children’s engagement in recreational fear activities — i.e., playful engagement with scary stimuli where both fear and enjoyment are experienced. A detailed ...
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Reposted by Marc Malmdorf Andersen
Riccardo Fusaroli @fusaroli.eurosky.social · 09/05/2025
Our daily lives are packed w complex behaviours: reading a novel & piecing together the plot; negotiating decisions w family... How do we build mathematical models of the underlying cognitive mechanisms? Our new preprint osf.io/d2v54_v1 argues for a community approach A 🧵 1/
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Mette Terp Hoybye @mettehoybye.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
Now is the time to go write 📝 your application for this exciting postdoc position in our project exploring how the shift from animal to human-based research models shapes science and society 🔬🌍 Deadline Monday Apr 27 www.au.dk/om/stillinge... @interacting-minds.bsky.social
au.dk
Postdoc in medical anthropology/STS - Ledig stilling på Aarhus Universitet
Ledig stilling ved Institut for Klinisk Medicin - Interacting Minds Centre (IMC), Aarhus Universitet
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Marc Malmdorf Andersen @ndersen.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Exclusive: a Nature analysis signals the beginnings of a US science brain drain
A trawl of job views and application data suggests jobseekers are looking abroad as the Trump administration’s cuts to science take hold.
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Joël Billieux @joelbillieux.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
Our registered exploratory pilot programme using offline tabletop role-playing games hashtag #TTRPG to mitigate social anxiety and reduce problematic involvement in online video games has just been published at Royal Society Open Science @royalsociety.org royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
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Marc Malmdorf Andersen @ndersen.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
Thrilled to share the publication of "Can playing Dungeons & Dragons be good for you?" led by the brilliant @joelbillieux.bsky.social and his fantastic team. I was lucky to play a small part in this epic quest. 🎲🐉🧟‍♀️🔥⚔️ Link: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... #DnD #MentalHealth #TTRPG
doi.org
Can playing Dungeons and Dragons be good for you? A registered exploratory pilot programme using offline tabletop role-playing games to mitigate social anxiety and reduce problematic involvement in mu...
Gamers with poor self-concept, high social anxiety and high loneliness are more at risk of problematic involvement in video games, such as massively multiplayer online role-playing games. There is a r...
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Marc Malmdorf Andersen @ndersen.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
Thrilled to share the publication of "Can playing Dungeons & Dragons be good for you?" led by the brilliant @joelbillieux.bsky.social and his fantastic team. I was lucky to play a small part in this epic quest. 🎲🐉🧟‍♀️🔥⚔️ Link: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... #DnD #MentalHealth #TTRPG
doi.org
Can playing Dungeons and Dragons be good for you? A registered exploratory pilot programme using offline tabletop role-playing games to mitigate social anxiety and reduce problematic involvement in mu...
Gamers with poor self-concept, high social anxiety and high loneliness are more at risk of problematic involvement in video games, such as massively multiplayer online role-playing games. There is a r...
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Cedric Boeckx @cedricboeckx.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
Very cool modelling work by @drelenamiu.bsky.social @ndersen.bsky.social @sheinalew.bsky.social @felixthehauskat.bsky.social, on how childhood exploration drives population-level innovation in cultural evolution (C.O.I: I have a horse in that race: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36845441/)
biorxiv.org
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Elena Miu @elenamiu.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
New pre-print out with @ndersen.bsky.social @sheinalew.bsky.social @felixthehauskat.bsky.social on how childhood exploration drives population-level innovation in cultural evolution www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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