iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Michele Morningstar @profmorningstar.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

We have a newly minted PhD in the house! Please join me in congratulating Dr. @danielnault.bsky.social on his successful doctoral defence today! 🎓

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Tom Hollenstein @tomhollenstein.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

from this graph, that conclusion is totally unfounded. 2023-2026? Did it go up? Down? No idea*. "We do not know yet" is a wonderfully rigorous statement. Stop putting conclusion before data. *note, this critique is not specific to this particular instance

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The Kingstonist @kingstonist.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

“We're excited to really build a series that capitalizes [on] and shares knowledge within the Kingston community broadly. So we have so many curious folks with lots of different experiences," said Dr. Karalyn McRae. Details on the series and first lecture here: www.kingstonist.com/news/queens-...

kingstonist.com

Queen's professors launch new free speaker series to encourage learning for all ages

(Kingston, Ontario) Curious Minds Kingston is a new free speaker series created by Queen's University professors who aim to provide family-friendly lectures on a plethora of topics — from space to wil...

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Andrea Howard @drandreahoward.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Enjoyed talking to @psychscience.bsky.social about my group’s new(ish) paper for the Observer. I’ve talked about this on here at an earlier stage. In 4 studies, we found no evidence that asking young adults to cut back on their social media improves well-being. Small thread 🧵 follows:

psychologicalscience.org

For Young Adults, Limiting Social Media Use Doesn’t Improve Well-Being

What happens when young adults are asked to slash their social media use to 30 minutes a day? In a new set of studies, most did not follow through, and those who did cut back …

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Candice Odgers @candiceodgers.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Mike Males reminds us to look adult mental health and abuse within homes versus headlines if we want to really understand depression among girls. He also reminded me of the time I was called crazy for letting my child use social media. That was interesting... mikemales.substack.com/p/gee-our-to...

mikemales.substack.com

Gee. Our top authorities just can’t figure out why teenagers got more depressed during the 2010s. “It must be social media!”

“Elephant? I don’t see no elephant!” An update on political and “experts’” rampant obtusity on “teenage mental health.”

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Tom Hollenstein @tomhollenstein.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

One of the most important (often ignored, always misinterpreted) papers: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27929304/ With < full lifetime data, only 17% never had clinician confirmed Dx, so that number has to get closer to 0 for full lifespan. Everyone's "disordered"? What's "normal"? What's mental health?

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Enduring mental health: Prevalence and prediction - PubMed

We review epidemiological evidence indicating that most people will develop a diagnosable mental disorder, suggesting that only a minority experience enduring mental health. This minority has received...

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Candice Odgers @candiceodgers.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

A few thoughts on why I changed my mind about age-gating as a way to protect young people online, as France races forward with their plans to ban under 15s from social media open.substack.com/pub/candiceo...

open.substack.com

Why I Changed My Mind About Age-Gating and Social Media Bans

Last week I spoke with Amelia Gentleman at The Guardian about the growing movement to ban young people under the age of 16 from social media platforms.

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The Kingstonist @kingstonist.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

#ICYMI "Emotions are not weaknesses. They can... help us recognize when we feel secure, connected, and at peace, or when something in our lives needs to change," writes Resolve's Director of Community Services Tara Everitt in our latest op/ed. Read more here: www.kingstonist.com/mental-healt...

kingstonist.com

Opinion: Creating emotional safety – Kingston News

(Kingston, Ontario) From an early age, many of us learn that expressing emotions is not always safe.

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Timothy O'Leary @timothyoleary.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

I think the difficulty of understanding feedback loops underlies many big debates in science: Origin of life: "genes first" vs "metabolism first" (neither, it's a feedback loop) Development: "nature vs nurture" (neither, it's a feedback loop) Neuroscience: "brain vs behaviour" (you guessed it!)

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Tom Hollenstein @tomhollenstein.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

This looks awesome, @aidangcw.bsky.social ! So important. Agree it is deeper than just method. Ontological process. Can't wait to read it! thank you

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Tom Hollenstein @tomhollenstein.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Candice Odgers is the reasoned, evidence-based, and child-centric voice that EVERYONE needs to listen to. If you are TRULY concerned about youth, so many more effective things can be done to improve their lives. Banning phones is SUPREMELY stupid, and harmful. Thank you, Candice.

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Candice Odgers @candiceodgers.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

The more often you hear something, the more likely you are to believe that it is true. But please, don't believe everything you hear about teens today. Science and how well they are doing, despite the suffering of adults around them, tells a different story.

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Pessimists Archive @pessimistsarc.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

In 1908 the Lancet called for an 18+ age limit on reading in bed for U.K. children.

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Andrea Howard @drandreahoward.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Canada is getting ready to ban social media for kids under 16. The quote going around by cabinet minister Marc Miller: "it's obvious why it's a priority. Kids are dying." Every death by suicide is a tragedy but the numbers don't support this claim. I pulled Statistics Canada data to illustrate: 🧵

Graph showing deaths by suicide among 10-14 year olds and 15-19 year olds in Canada, annually from 2000 to 2024. Neither death rates nor actual countable deaths are increasing over time, and for the older group, the year 2024 was the lowest number of deaths by suicide this century.

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paolo @paolopalma.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

There's a few things I want to say about this, but I'll stay in my research lane (and in theme with #Pride): The effects of social media on mental health is mixed. But we know that social media can be an avenue for 2SLGBTQ+ kids to find community and support where it otherwise does not exist.

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Dr. Rachel Kowert @drkowert.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

A brilliant rebuttal to that NYT opinion piece from earlier in the week (Yes, THAT one) "We don’t need fewer games – we need better ones, and a deeper commitment to designing learning experiences that invite students to not simply respond, but to think" www.gamesforchange.org/blog_posts/t...

gamesforchange.org

The Problem Isn’t Screens. It’s That We’ve Turned Learning Into a Game No One Wants to Play - Games for Change

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Andrea Howard @drandreahoward.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Really great #SRA2026 roundtable session this morning by @mitchprinstein.bsky.social , @evatelzer.bsky.social , Brinleigh Murphy-Reuter and Sunny Liu all about advancing responsible social media research. Heartening to hear so many thoughtful perspectives, and no moral panic about teens and screens!

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DSEC Lab @dseclab.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

The DSEC Lab is in Pittsburgh for #SAS2026! 🎉 We’re excited to present some of the latest findings from the lab and to learn from the incredible work being shared by others at the conference! Our team will be presenting on Friday and Saturday, so stay tuned for some conference highlights!

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Chris Ferguson @cjferguson1111.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

In my essay today for @spectator I argue that #socialmedia bans such as in place in Australia, and being considered in the UK are doomed to fail. The evidence just isn't there that they would help. spectator.com/article/ther...

spectator.com

There is no evidence that social media harms children’s mental health

Far from ‘drowning in evidence’, real researchers – not pop psychologists – are scouring a great desert looking for puddles

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Colby Vorland @colbyvorland.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

Lazy Scholar is available on Chrome: chromewebstore.google.com/detail/lazy-... and Firefox: addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo...

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Tom Hollenstein @tomhollenstein.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

Agreed, Andrea. That direction is never considered by the pre-convinced crowd. aaannnndd....PANAS is not a wellbeing measure. Feeling negative emotions is NORMAL. Please please please MAKE THE SCHLOCK STOP!

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Michele Morningstar @profmorningstar.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

@affectscience.bsky.social notices are out! 🎉 If you’re going to #SAS2026, consider attending its very first Developmental Affective Science pre-conference too! @eriknook.bsky.social and I hope to see you there. 🤞🏻 Spread the word!

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Candice Odgers @candiceodgers.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

If only adults could pay attention to something other than teenagers’ phones…

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Mark Sabbagh @marksabbagh.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Our department is hiring! We’re looking for a new colleague (Assoc/Full) in Social/Affective Neuroscience to join us at Queen’s starting July 2026. Amazing people, great facilities, supportive community. Please share!! Full ad here: www.queensu.ca/psychology/n...

queensu.ca

Employment Opportunities | Department of Psychology

Available Positions Position Title Position Details Posting Date Closing Date Queen's University National Scholar (QNS) Senior Faculty Position in Social and/or Affective Neuroscience, Department of P...

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Tom Hollenstein @tomhollenstein.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

So...my undergrad thesis student is doing a quality analysis of studies found in meta-analyses. She identified a few and we contacted the authors to request their effect sizes and other variables for the studies in their papers. Here's what happened: scientiapsychiatrica.com/index.php/Sc...

scientiapsychiatrica.com

The Impact of Social Media on Adolescent Mental Health: A Meta-Analysis | Scientia Psychiatrica

Introduction: The proliferation of social media has raised significant concerns about its potential effects on the mental health of adolescents. This meta-analysis aims to provide a comprehensive asse...

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Andrew Heiss @andrew.heiss.phd · 19/08/2025

Updating my comparative public admin seminar class—which was decimated by AI last year—to maybe be a little more LLM-proof by adding a 20–30 minute start-of-class writing & discussion activity. Will it work? Who knows! Full details and PDF here: governancef25.classes.andrewheiss.com/assignment/c...

Worksheet called "Check-in and warm-up" with these questions:

1. Name and date
2. Check in asking about attendance and preparation with readings
3. Write 1–2 paragraphs about (1) what you most want to talk about from the readings today, and (2) why.
4. Write 1–2 paragraphs connecting this week’s topic and readings to a recent or current event.

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Candice Odgers @candiceodgers.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

Not surprisingly I have lots of thoughts on this. But in a nutshell, Yes, we should support teachers and no students should not be on their phones in class (unless they are integrated into the class plan or supporting learning), but, most teachers and schools had already solved this problem...

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Candice Odgers @candiceodgers.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

with phones in backpacks, lockers, or in holders at the back of the room. So the bans are doing little to change access to phones, are costing us lot of money (with these bizarre yonder pouches), time, and resources and are not solving any of the real problems that young people are facing - so...

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Candice Odgers @candiceodgers.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

the danger is that adults claim victory and believe they have saved the children, when in reality they have just kicked down an already open door and did nothing to support youth mental health (oh, and by the way, we are in the midst of an adult mental health crisis but keep pointing only at youth)

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Isabela @isabelagranic.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

More details on [the program here](liminal-learning.com/program). Liminal Learning is a nonprofit, aiming to provide 30% of its places on scholarship over its lifetime.

liminal-learning.com

Liminal Learning

Liminal Learning offers a comprehensive “world-readiness” program that prepares young people (ages ~18–24 years) to thrive. Young people need strong friendships, a sense of agency, and trusted mentors...

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Isabela @isabelagranic.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

The yearlong program helps young people find their way in work, study, and life. We start with a weeklong retreat in the wilderness (Quest), and continues with online and offline programming. Check out some of the testimonials from our last cohort: liminallearning.substack.com

liminallearning.substack.com

The Liminal Post | Liminal Learning | Substack

News and community updates from Liminal Learning — a collective launch into purposeful adulthood. Click to read The Liminal Post, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.

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Isabela @isabelagranic.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

We've got 5 scholarship places open for Liminal Learning's next cohort, starting October 19: liminal-learning.com/upcoming-que...!

liminal-learning.com

Liminal Learning — Quests

A communal launch into purpose-driven adulthood. Immersive communal experiences built on evolutionary principles of play and experimentation.

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Vera Vine @veravine.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

‼️Academic job alert‼️ Our dept at Queen's University (Canada!) is looking to hire a TT assistant prof in clinical psychology... Applications due end of Sept! Re-posts very much appreciated www.queensu.ca/psychology/n...

queensu.ca

Employment Opportunities | Department of Psychology

Available Positions Position Title Position Details Posting Date Closing Date Assistant Professor - Tenure-Track Appointment in Psychology

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Daniel Ansari 🇨🇦 @numcog.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

Graduate students who have an offer to study in the US but are reconsidering or have been denied entry or current grad students who want to leave, then consider coming to Western University in Canada. Our University just launched a US-CAN Doctoral Excellence Program : grad.uwo.ca/finances/wes...

grad.uwo.ca

US-CAN Doctoral Excellence Award

Western University, in vibrant London, Ontario, delivers an academic and student experience second to none.

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Julia M. Rohrer @dingdingpeng.the100.ci · 07/07/2025

It's a distinction from @kph3k.bsky.social's Genetic Lottery. I used it before even without talking about genetics; it catches a lot of the misconceptions that student have about what it means to call something a cause. Those misconceptions also led to a blog post: www.the100.ci/2024/06/26/s...

Thick and Thin Causation In the course of ordinary social science and medicine, we are quite comfortable calling something a cause, even when (a) we don’t understand the mechanisms by which the cause exerts its effects, (b) the cause is probabilistically but not deterministically associated with effects, and (c) the cause is of uncertain portability across time and space. “All” that is required to assert that you have identified a cause is to demonstrate evidence that the average outcome for a group of people would have been different if they had experienced X instead of Not-X. And the most convincing evidence that you know what might have been is to assign people randomly to X or Not-X. (The word “all” is in scare quotes here, because as any scientist of human behavior and society knows, actually isolating the variable of interest from the web of potential confounds, so that one can make an inference about causation, turns out to be an incredibly difficult and delicate operation.) I’m going to call this a “thin” model of causation.22 We can contrast the “thin” model of causation with the type of “thick” causation we see in monogenic genetic disorders or chromosomal abnormalities. Take Down’s syndrome, for instance. Down’s syndrome is defined by a single, deterministic, portable cause. To have three copies of chromosome 21, instead of two, is the necessary, sufficient, and sole cause of Down’s syndrome. The causal relationship between having three copies of chromosome 21 and Down’s is one-to-one, with the result that forward and reverse inferences work equally well. The cause of Down’s is chromosome 21 trisomy; the effect of chromosome 21 trisomy is Down’s. Having three copies of chromosome 21 doesn’t raise your probability of having Down’s; it is deterministic of the condition. And this causal relationship operates as a “law of nature,” in the sense that we expect the trisomy-Down’s relationship to operate more or less in the same way, regardless of the social mili…

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Candice Odgers @candiceodgers.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

…yes, AND we have also known that young people with mental health problems often report spending more time gaming and online. Instead of calling them addicted because of it, we should ask what they are searching for and what we can do to help them find what they need.

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The Kingstonist @kingstonist.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

#ICYMI The non-profit organization Liminal Learning is an educational response to the challenges faced by young people as they navigate towards adulthood, according to Kevin Bowers, co-founder and teacher at LCVI. #YouthSupport #YGK Learn more: www.kingstonist.com/news/liminal...

kingstonist.com

Liminal Learning aims to help young people 'thrive in a world of flux' – Kingston News

(Kingston, Ontario) A new venture, based partly in Kingston, is aiming to support young adults in their journey toward independence, or “purposeful adulthood."

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Isabela @isabelagranic.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

Thrilled to share how Liminal Learning is helping young people launch into adulthood. Here, I explain the rationale of our hybrid (offline/online) learning model. www.youtube.com/watch?v=47nS... If you're interested in joining us on a Quest, get in touch here: liminal-learning.com/upcoming-que...

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Tom Hollenstein @tomhollenstein.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

Visionary, timely, effective, AND based on well-known developmental principles! Youth need something else beside multiple choice and status quo if they are going to thrive and work collectively on solutions we/they desparately need over the next generation. Highly recommend. 5 stars

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Isabela @isabelagranic.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

HELLO! Here's what I've been up to for the last 2 years! If you're 18-24 years old, come join us for a Quest! Liminal Learning is preparing young people to thrive in a world in flux, together. We are focused on collective flourishing and it shows 🥰. Come see what's on offer: liminal-learning.com

liminal-learning.com

Liminal Learning — Home

A communal launch into purpose-driven adulthood. Immersive communal experiences built on evolutionary principles of play and experimentation.

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