Cambridge Psychology Department
@campsydept.bsky.social
Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge
🌟 We're getting ready to welcoming new students, researchers and professional services colleagues to our Department this autumn! 🍂 It's an exciting time to join our community! 🎉 The Department has been ranked #1 in the world in the 2026 Times Higher Education Subject Rankings for Psychology 🎉
🎓 Thank you to everyone who visited the Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge at our #UndergraduateOpenDays! It was a pleasure to welcome so many prospective students and their supporters to the Department. #Psychology #UniversityOfCambridge #CambridgeOpenDays #StudentExperience
A wonderful afternoon celebrating the end of the academic year! ☀️ It was great to see all our Department members come together for our Department Summer Party💃 Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make it such a lovely event🙌 Photo credit: Roberto Mecca – Imago ltd.
New podcast alert 🎧👶 The Baby Fact Check sees science communicator Greg Foot (BBC's Sliced Bread) investigate popular claims about babies and parenting, separating evidence from myth in an accessible and engaging way. #BabyFactCheck #Parenting #ChildDevelopment #Psychology
Welcome to The Baby Fact Check with Greg Foot - Trailer
YouTube video by The Baby Fact Check
youtube.com
🚨Important update from our own Prof @dtalmi.bsky.social on her project investigating the use of AI in university marking 👀 The results were discussed at a workshop by the @bpsofficial.bsky.social last week. Read this feature by @thetimes.com to learn more👉 www.thetimes.com/article/81c4...
Why AI can’t mark university essays: it’s fooled by flowery language
Research shows artificial intelligence tends to reward undergraduates’ verbosity rather than quality of thought
thetimes.com
Deborah Talmi@dtalmi.bsky.social · 3mo agoWe are pleased to share our report, based on an 18-month research project, exploring the use of AI in assessment of UG psych degrees. It brings together empirical findings on human-AI alignment and reflections from academics, students, and professional services. www.cam.ac.uk/stories/ai-u...
Very excited to have been featured on the BBC OneShow last night discussing our team's research at the @thembauk.bsky.social on cephalopod curiosity and intelligence! You can access the clip on Iplayer here: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis... @campsydept.bsky.social @leverhulme.ac.uk
Did you catch us on BBC One Show this bank holiday Monday? 👀 @cam.ac.uk's very own Dr @victorajuwon1.bsky.social shared his research on cuttlefish curiosity, in collaboration with the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth (@thembauk.bsky.social) Catch it here: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
The One Show - 04/05/2026
Comedian Ardal O’Hanlon and stars of Amandaland, Philippa Dunne and Samuel Anderson, join Roman Kemp and JB Gill on the sofa.
bbc.co.uk
From Bradford to Cambridge and back 💙 🧵1/2 We’re proud to celebrate our student Arcellia Sasu-Twum, featured in Cambridge to Careers. Her journey reflects key themes in psychology: resilience, identity, and self-belief. “You set your own path.” Link below👇
@profsanderlinden.bsky.social and his team uncovered real costs of creating a bot army. It's unnervingly low👀 Read @cam.ac.uk press release below👇 The story also featured in @reuters.com & @financialtimes.com The original article in @science.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Mapping the online manipulation economy
A market perspective on digital manipulation may help improve online trust and safety
science.org
University of Cambridge@cam.ac.uk · 8mo agoHow cheap is it to build a bot army? 🤖 Find out using the first global index to track real-time prices for verifying fake accounts on 500 platforms, from TikTok to Amazon 👇 https://bit.ly/44s9QSu
Looking for an interesting read over the winter holidays? ❄️📚 Try this new paper by @gregserapio.bsky.social &Co 👇 🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s42... Ask yourself, what is the personality of *your* favourite chat bot?🤔 #psychology #personality #ai #language #models #deepmind #cambridge
A psychometric framework for evaluating and shaping personality traits in large language models - Nature Machine Intelligence
Serapio-García, Safdari and colleagues develop a method based on psychometric tests to measure and validate personality-like traits in LLMs. Large, instruction-tuned models give reliable personality m...
nature.com
Gates Cambridge@gatescambridge.bsky.social · 8mo agoGregory Serapio-García is co-first author on a paper which outlines a new personality test for AI #chatbots and shows how 'personality' can be manipulated - www.gatescambridge.org/about/news/p... @uniofcam.bsky.social @gatesfoundation.bsky.social @gregserapio.bsky.social
📍 Did you spot us on #BBC #InsideScience the other week? If not, do not worry! The episode is available for another 26 days: 🎧 bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... Featuring the fresh article by Greg Davis &Co on paying #attention to zebra stripes 🦓 Share your thoughts below👇 #Radio4 #vision #eyetracking
BBC Inside Science - Would our ancestors have benefited from early neanderthals making fire? - BBC Sounds
New evidence shows that early neanderthals made fire 350 thousand years before we thought.
bbc.co.uk
We are incredibly proud! Congratulations on this achievement!👏👏👏
School of Biological Sciences@cambridgebiosci.bsky.social · 8mo ago📣 Four exceptional researchers in the School of Biological Sciences have been awarded prestigious European Research Council (ERC) grants! Congratulations to all ERC awardees! @camzoology.bsky.social @pdncambridge.bsky.social @campsydept.bsky.social
🧵1/3 📢 BioSci researchers! Submit your abstract for the Research Café (theme: Biological Sciences Unleashed). 🗓️ 6 Feb 2026 📝 Deadline: 9 Jan 📍 Sainsbury Lab Share your work, connect across disciplines & spark new collabs. #cambridgeuniversity @cambridgebiosci.bsky.social
👏 Congratulations to our researchers @mmontagnese.bsky.social & Richard Bethlehem on securing the @acceleratescience.bsky.social funding for their exciting new #CogMap project 👏 Overwhelmed when looking through brainscans and at a loss what to look for? CogMap will be there to help you soon!🧠🗺️
Accelerate Programme for Scientific Discovery@acceleratescience.bsky.social · 8mo agoWe are delighted to announce the 2025 Accelerate – @c2d3.cam.ac.uk funded projects! 🎉 Projects will catalyse discoveries to accelerate scientific progress & create AI tools capable of delivering benefits for science & society. Find out more: bit.ly/4rpvSiy
How vivid are your memories?🤔 Tune in to learn more about the When Memories Come Alive project with Kasia Mojescik and Martha McGill 💃 🔗 eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A... 💡A truly collaborative interdisciplinary team ft the head of the @cambridgebiosci.bsky.social &Co
All in the Mind - Are there multiple subtypes of autism, and how vivid are your memories? - BBC Sounds
A new study suggests that autism’s genetic profile differs with age at diagnosis.
eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com
University of Cambridge@cam.ac.uk · 10mo agoDo you have a memory so vivid you can relive it? @campsydept.bsky.social and @durham.ac.uk are exploring how vivid human memories work across our lives – and how ideas about them have evolved over time. Your experiences could help us understand memory better. Take our survey: bit.ly/3J1FQ8y
Who's the good boy? 🐶🐦⬛ Our #ComparativeCognition Lab shares their insights into rooks' intelligence 👀⚙️ Watch what Prof Nicky Clayton and her team have been up to👉 youtu.be/aLy9e03mUhk @cambridgebiosci.bsky.social #cambridge #cambridgeuni #psychology #research #comparative #cognition #corvid
Can an old rook learn new tricks?
YouTube video by Cambridge University
youtu.be
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University of Cambridge@cam.ac.uk · 11mo agoA short, relatable message about a migrant worker boosted positivity toward EU #immigration by 20 points among UK voters. The latest @campsydept.bsky.social #research suggests that pro-immigration arguments can be effective for the UK electorate 👇 https://bit.ly/3HYkEQi
🤔No plans this eve? Join in to listen to an exciting discussion panel!👇
Cambridge Neuroscience@camneuro.bsky.social · 11mo agoJoin us for a Public Panel discussion on Current & Future Treatments for Dementia, featuring experts in the field 🧠 No need to register - just come along and spread the word! 📍West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge 🗓️11th Sep 5-6:30pm BST web: neuroscience.cam.ac.uk Sponsored by Beckman Coulter
Teenagers are especially sensitive to loneliness, new #research has found. But when social reconnection isn’t possible, this can drive them to seeking harmful rewards like alcohol or drugs. Study by @campsydept.bsky.social @sjblakemore.bsky.social @livia-tomova.bsky.social https://bit.ly/464WGKS
Teen loneliness triggers ‘reward seeking’ behaviour
A study has found that adolescents become highly motivated to seek rewards after just a few hours of social isolation. This may be beneficial in driving them
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What value could #AI offer in university assessment and marking? Find out how Dr Deborah Talmi, experimental psychologist at the @campsydept.bsky.social, is leading our AI-deas project to develop a new framework for the role of #AI in #studentevaluation. ➡️ ai.cam.ac.uk/blog/the-fut...
🎙️Lunch-break podcast idea! Catch Dr Amy Milton on #BBC #Radio4 very own The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry—exploring all things memory from consolidation to implanted memories 🧠✨ 🎧Listen now: bbc.co.uk/programmes/m... #Psychology #Neuroscience #Memory #BBCSounds @cambridgebiosci.bsky.social
BBC Radio 4 - Curious Cases, Series 23, Memory Swap
Hannah Fry and Dara Ó Briain probe the science of memory.
bbc.co.uk
Join our #NewBONDS study at #Cambridge #Babylab ✨ Expectant and young parents are invited take part investigating what effect early interactions have on developing brain🔎🧠🐣 📨Get in touch to learn more! #developmental #psychology #neuroscience #research #family #interaction
How can AI fast-track the search for better Alzheimer’s treatments? Zoe Kourtzi from @campsydept.bsky.social used AI to reanalyse a clinical trial and found a group of patients who responded – showing 46% slower cognitive decline. Find out more 👇 bit.ly/3GPUgHu
🚨 Funded PhD @mrccbu.bsky.social! Work with top minds — @duncanastle.bsky.social & @sjblakemore.bsky.social on the impact of #developmental differences on #education!🧠📚 A month to apply ⏰ For details see👇 🔗 drive.google.com/file/d/1RIvg... Newnham-based 👩🎓💅 #psychology #cambridge #research
drive.google.com
🙌 #CamFest2025 🙌 Paul Bays, Prof of #Computation and #Cognition, on the nature of #visual #illusions 😵💫 📖Start with this interview 👉 bit.ly/3DEKc2v 🚶♂️Come for the talk in person this Sunday, March 30th 👉 www.festival.cam.ac.uk/events/seein... @cambridgefestival.bsky.social @uniofcam.bsky.social
Cambridge Festival Speaker Spotlight: Professor Paul Bays
Paul Bays is a Professor of Computation and Cognition in the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge. He investigates the nature of the internal representations our brains construct an...
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🌸Cambridge Festival 2025 is upon us🌸 📆Come join the Department of #Psychology for the #Family Weekend (March 29-30) 🔗For details, have a look on the website: www.festival.cam.ac.uk/events 🔎 Enter "Psychology" and "Old Cavendish" to see our events! @cambridgefestival #CamFest2025
Events
festival.cam.ac.uk
Hear more from our Department from Amy Milton 🙌
School of Biological Sciences@cambridgebiosci.bsky.social · last yr.We are continuing to celebrate the Women in Leadership across the School of Biological Sciences who are contributing to our excellent research and education. Here are some more inspiring quotes from our amazing leaders! #IWD2025 #InternationalWomensDay
Read the testimonies by the brilliant women of @cambridgeuni.bsky.social's #SBS, including our Department's Becky Lawson (#PALlab) 🌷♀️✊
School of Biological Sciences@cambridgebiosci.bsky.social · last yr.Happy International Women’s Day! Today we are celebrating the Women in Leadership across the School of Biological Sciences driving Research and Education Strategy. Read their reflections on the importance of involving women in leadership teams. #IWD2025 #InternationalWomensDay
