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Rebecca Merkley

@rebeccamerkley.bsky.social
386 followers 449 following 13 posts

Developmental cognitive scientist @carleton-cogsci.bsky.social studying how young kids develop mathematical thinking

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Reposted by Rebecca Merkley
Christina Bergmann @chbergma.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
What happens when we look closer at textbook findings about early infancy? Well, lots of questions arise. (Which imo makes science fun)
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Benjamin Riley @benjaminjriley.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Being on the Alpha beat has been a lot, but hearing these students describe what it means to them to be human is inspiring. Passion fuels everything. It’s certainly fueling my reporting.
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Canadian Paintings @canadianpaintings.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
The Ottawa River at Grenville, Que A.J. Casson 1966
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Raywat Deonandan 🍁🇨🇦 @deonandan.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Posted this morning by my good friend and celebrated writer Allan Stratton.
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The Transmitter @thetransmitter.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Infantile amnesia is not simply a story about forgetting the past. It is an opportunity to understand how memory itself is built, write @franklandlab.bsky.social, @sjo09.bsky.social, and Nicholas Turk-Browne. #neuroskyence www.thetransmitter.org/memory/infan...
thetransmitter.org
Infant memories: Lost but not gone?
Infantile amnesia is not simply a story about forgetting the past. It is an opportunity to understand how memory itself is built.
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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I am not worried, I am not overly concerned. I am, however, old.
Counting Crows, Autumn and Everything After, released 33 years ago, on 9/14/93
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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Jonathan Haidt beaming into Cabinet meetings does not bode well for good public policy on youth and online safety www.politico.com/newsletters/...
politico.com
Keep calm, Carney on
It’s that “Cabinet Planning Forum” time of year.
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Dorsa Amir @dorsaamir.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
✨A fun little reminder for everyone✨: Future You is not magically less busy. Future You is actually just as busy as Current You + also hates Past You for all the extra stuff you signed them up for.
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M.J. Crockett @mjcrockett.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
This summer I led a series of conversations in my lab about "AI" and our research. Some colleagues have shared "AI policies" for their labs and we discussed whether this would make sense for us. We decided it did not, and came up with a different approach. Please feel free to share & adapt!
zenodo.org
Crockett Lab Statement on AI and Scientific Research
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Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
This is about higher education but smaller class size is probably the simplest and most important improvement you could also make in K-12 education.
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Alison Gopnik @alisongopnik.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Thanks, but actually my favorite line didn't make it to the piece. Does Odysseus feel guilty about the Trojan war? Lots of discourse on this question even though he doesn't exist! Is he conscious? AI agents are fictive characters abstracted from text - like Odysseus.
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Ted McCormick @tedmccormick.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Trump's trade wars knocking up against Quebec language laws is the crossover event I, for one, have been waiting for
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Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 19/06/2026
But I was told it was inevitable.
reuters.com
Norway imposes near ban on AI in elementary school
Norway is imposing a near ban on the use of generative AI tools by elementary school pupils while also restricting their ​use in the education of older children to prevent a ‌negative impact on learni...
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Steve Saideman @smsaideman.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Dear @mark-carney.bsky.social, maybe consult a few international relations scholars first? Noting was gained, the deal does change the game by surrendering freedom of the seas for nothing. Most statements out of your government on this war have been wildly out of touch. Signed, a constituent.
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Kosta Boskovic @kostaboskovic.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
New paper with @drbarner.bsky.social out now in Developmental Psychology! Despite the importance of age in our social world, little is known about how children reason about it. Do children understand age as something distinct from size from an early age? 1/10 psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?d...
psycnet.apa.org
APA PsycNet
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Bodo Winter @bodowinter.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
New paper out. My favorite finding is the distributional semantic comparison of "hundred/thousand/million/billion etc." to indefinite hyperbolic numerals ("gazillion", "umpteen" etc.) ⬇️ And: Did you know that jigsaw puzzles are lying to you? 👀
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Scott Marek @smarek0502.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
What matters most for childhood brain organization? We analyzed 649 variables. The answer: Socioeconomics (SES); with brain patterns pointing at sleep & stress as drivers. Even brain-IQ associations were better explained by SES. In Science today: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
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Daniel MacPhee 🇨🇦 @d-macphee.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
“Gero and his colleagues show that two “matrilines”—independent, female-led groups—of sperm whales in Unit A appeared to cooperate to assist in the calf’s birth. This behavior has never been observed in such detail before in this species.” #Whales 🧪 #Birth www.scientificamerican.com/article/sper...
scientificamerican.com
Scientists saw a sperm whale giving birth. And then things got weird
Sperm whales are known to socialize, but scientists were stunned when they saw a group of sperm whales gather as one of them gave birth
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Daniel MacPhee 🇨🇦 @d-macphee.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
“Cutbacks to federal research could put a certain pressure on granting agencies, since there will be less money in the research ecosystem overall” Until Canada stops being last in G7 research spending in terms of %GDP, it’s all govt talk and no action. #Canada 🧪 universityaffairs.ca/news/federal...
universityaffairs.ca
Federal science cuts may have ripple effect on universities - University Affairs
Departmental belt-tightening in Budget 2025 adds to a long history of government reductions in scientific research.
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Jeff Greene @jeffgreene.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
🔥"Those who believe school can be reinvented seem to have a very limited understanding of school and even less consideration of students. Inevitably, they view learning as a problem of content delivery, failing to understand that learning is a social process, happening among and inside of people."
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Rohan Maitzen @rohanmaitzen.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
This is why in higher education you should not let your curriculum be driven by 'demand.' You need give students the precious opportunity to discover the things they don't already know they will be excited about.
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Jaclyn A. Siegel, PhD @jacasiegel.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Ever since I was a little girl, I knew that I wanted to answer 275 emails per day and argue with administrators. That’s why I chose a career in academia.
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Rhodri Cusack @rhodricusack.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
The Transmitter writes about @clionaod.bsky.social's work with @ainedineen.bsky.social, @annatruzzi.bsky.social, Graham King, @lorinanaci.bsky.social, Keelin Harrison, Enna-Louise D'Arcy, Jessica White, @chiarac.bsky.social, Tamrin Holloway, Anna Kravchenko, @diedrichsenjorn.bsky.social!
thetransmitter.org
Infant brain categorizes common objects by two months of age
Brain activity patterns in the ventral visual cortex appear to distinguish images across 12 categories, including birds and trees, fMRI scans suggest.
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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 24/02/2026
I understand why chatbot cheating happens but every time I read about it I want to gently remind everyone that the point of schoolwork is not for the submission to exist. Teachers are not just greedy for more essays or solved equations. The point is to do the work WITH YOUR OWN BRAIN, FOR LEARNING.
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Dr. Natasha Rajah, Ph.D. @mnrajah.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
Wondering if all this scrambling & time pressure to secure CERC & CI+RC candidates is going to bite Canadian Institutions in the butt… Though I am 💯 for attracting international talent & growing R&I in Canada, this whole approach & process has been problematic in so many ways: .. 1/
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 23/02/2026
AI is the new academic wife.
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 23/02/2026
Relevant to today's conversation about AI's inherent sexism, here's an email from cognitive psychologist and early AI theorist Roger Schank, arguing to Epstein that women can't be truly intelligent, because they care too much about what other people think.
To: Jeffrey epstein[jeevacation©gmail.com]
From: roger schank
Sent: Mon 1/4/2010 12:15:13 PM
Subject: there is a simpler explanation about women and intelligence
intelligence comes about in part from real focus (goal-directed
(this is why you have the absent minded professor caricature)
it is a rare woman who is not first and foremost focussed on what
thinking and feeling about her
hard to be brilliant if you are worrying if you look fat or why
hates you or why you dont own a kelly bag
roger schank
http://www.rogerschank.com/
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International Congress of Infant Studies @infantstudies.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
Nominate yourself or a peer for the ICIS board elections and be a catalyst for progress in our field. Together, let's build a future that inspires and empowers. Nominations and self nominations are accepted until February 28, 2026. #Infantstudies infantstudies.org/icis-electio...
Text against a blue and orange background: Accepting Board nominations - Nominate by February 28
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McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 23/02/2026
"There is, of course, some risk of corroding the very foundations of our university’s mission. But institutional survival requires adaptation. Our graduates must become 'AI-resilient and future-ready members of the workforce'… whatever that means." www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the...
mcsweeneys.net
The Next Innovation in Higher Education: Vibe-Teaching™
As the associate vice provost for the Office of Asynchronous Online Courses for Student-Centered High-Impact Learning (OAOCSCHIL, an office we crea...
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Cassandra Lowe @cassandralowe.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
#priorities
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Blayne Haggart @bhaggart.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
In other news, the Carney government’s travel advisory to the United States remains unchanged: “Take normal security precautions.” Appeasement by any other name, and an abdication of the government’s basic responsibilities to Canadians.
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Alexis Verger 🧬🧫🧪 @alexis-verger.cpesr.fr · 20/02/2026
starting March 1, 2026, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences are prohibited from using central government funds to pay Article Processing Charges for high-priced OA journals, specifically Nature Communications and Science Advances.
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Ben Phillips @benphillips76.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
I don’t know who needs to hear Jesse Jackson leading the kids on Sesame Street in this beautiful call-and-response reminding them that every child is somebody, but here it is
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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
Girls don’t want flowers for Valentine’s Day. They want you to book them a shark research experience that raises money for science outreach! I can help. Let’s chat.
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Andrew Bahle @andrewbahle.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
Wow AI is so amazing we should use it for all our scientific diagrams
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Pam Davis-Kean, PhD @umpamdk.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
This is a great point about causality. The full thread and paper is worth the time to read. I posted this week about exactly the same issue. The discomfort of having null results is skewing the scientific literature and makes it hard to know where we need to focus our attention and research.
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Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
[extremely Metric voice] and all we get is fish disco fish funk fish rock and roll
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Daniel Ansari 🇨🇦 @numcog.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
New: "Effect of Artificial Intelligence on Learning: A Meta-Meta-Analysis" by Wagenmakers and colleagues revealing evidence for "severe publication bias and extreme between-study heterogeneity" in existing meta-analyses of the effects of AI on learning: osf.io/preprints/ps...
osf.io
OSF
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Rebecca Merkley @rebeccamerkley.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
Post a banger that's not in English. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y99U...
youtube.com
Yelle - Je Veux Te Voir
YouTube video by 100% Chanson Française
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Dr. Allison Master @allisonmaster.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
🚨New paper alert!🚨 Super proud of the work that went into this one, which includes a systematic review and MEGA-ANALYSIS of the development of sense of belonging in STEM education across Grades K-12, with special attention to gender differences. (1/N) link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
“I Felt Like I Completely Belonged in That Class”: Gender and the Development of Sense of Belonging in K-12 STEM Education - Educational Psychology Review
Educational Psychology Review - Sense of belonging is an important motivational belief that represents individuals’ sense of fit within an environment. However, many women report feeling a...
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Urvi Maheshwari ツ @urvi.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
By age 6, many children in the US believe that numbers are infinite, despite initially representing counting as a meaningless & finite chain of words. In a new paper w/ Jess Sullivan & @drbarner.bsky.social, we explored the basis for this conceptual change. 1/n www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Counting without end: A cross-linguistic exploration of infinity beliefs in English and Hindi learners
Recent studies (Cheung et al., 2017; Chu et al., 2020; Sullivan et al., 2023) argue that children may infer the existence of infinite magnitudes throu…
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Kevin M. Levin @civilwarmemory.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
Not at all surprised to learn that Bad Bunny has a historical adviser. His halftime show was a reminder that our history and culture are deeply intertwined with the rest of the western hemisphere. We should think of his performance as part of #America250. #SuperBowl news.wisc.edu/pop-star-bad...
news.wisc.edu
Pop star Bad Bunny needed a Puerto Rican history scholar. UW–Madison had just the one.
Bad Bunny collaborated with UW–Madison history professor Jorell Meléndez-Badillo on Puerto Rican narratives that accompany the new album “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS.”
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sparklingtortoise.bsky.social @sparklingtortoise.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Exciting new work published in Nature shows hyperconnectivity in a brain region called the somato-cognitive action network is "central to Parkinson's pathophysiology". This finding could massively improve Parkinson's treatments! www.scientificamerican.com/article/extr...
scientificamerican.com
Scientists discover brain network that may cause Parkinson’s disease
An “extraordinary” brain network discovery shows that Parkinson’s disease may not be a movement disorder after all
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Julia Leonard @julia-a-leonard.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
💥New paper alert! Dyadic Decisions About Effort: How Caregivers Shape Young Children’s Persistence (with @reutshachnai.bsky.social) One of my favorites! If you’re curious about what we’ve been up to in @leonardlearnlab.bsky.social, take a look! journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
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The Conversation Canada @ca.theconversation.com · 03/02/2026
Increasing math scores: Why Ontario needs early numeracy screening
theconversation.com
Increasing math scores: Why Ontario needs early numeracy screening
Educators in a research partnership have found that early math screening is a helpful teaching tool that helps educators target instruction to support children’s math learning.
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CantlonLab @cantlonlab.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
The thing that a lot of these guys have in common is that for them science is about personal brand-building and advancement of the self. Their norms serve their status competition, not a greater good.
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Markus Eichhorn @markuseichhorn.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
I dearly wish that, in the dark small hours of the night, my mind would not be filled with the songs from KPop Demon Hunters.
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Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
"Teaching with AI is not without value; it is a case study in how even well-meaning educators operating in good faith can become inadvertent agents of a pedagogical de-skilling and institutional dehumanization." This scathing book review really is worth reading.
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