When people seek guidance from science, they expect it to work more than once. I have TWO new articles on commercial forces & proprietary models that make science less reliable, with pointers to communities and ideas that might help. This post offers a summary: citizensandtech.org/2026/07/comm...

New Studies: How Commercial Forces Make Science Less Reliable

Computational social science has been distorted by commercial forces, and AI is making it worse.

citizensandtech.org

New commentary at @natrevpsychol.nature.com with Alexis Palmer, @natematias.bsky.social, and @mjcrockett.bsky.social: Proprietary LLMs impede scientific transparency and reproducibility. 🧵👇 doi.org/10.1038/s441...

"[the rush to integrate LLMs into science is] like gold rushes in which rapid expansion predated a difficult reckoning with externalities" New article by @killianmcloughlin.bsky.social, Alexis Palmer, @mjcrockett.bsky.social & me. Follow Killian for what comes next! www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Nature Reviews Psychology@natrevpsychol.nature.com · 4w ago

Proprietary LLMs impede scientific transparency and reproducibility Comment by Killian L. McLoughlin, Alexis Palmer, J. Nathan Matias & M. J. Crockett Web: go.nature.com/4wDYqGI PDF: rdcu.be/ftzkM

📣 New paper @nathumbehav.nature.com: A reporting checklist for large language models in behavioural science www.nature.com/articles/s41...

✨New paper out @nature.com ✨ For 8 weeks around the 2024 US election, we randomly assigned 2,000 people to use social media algos we built ourselves. Do engagement-based algorithms amplify intergroup, moral & emotional (IME) content—and does that distort how we see political norms? 🧵🔗 👇

1/ New @Nature! We study how powerful institutions shape the information environment for LLMs. Commercial LLM training is opaque, so we trace a path from state-coordinated media -> training data -> model responses.

🚨NEW DISINFO PAPER🚨 TLDR; disinformation circulates as narratives, not false facts. This paper took five years (!!!) and a rotating cast of collaborators and GRAs. Our case studies include the pee tape, and we have an entire appendix justifying that. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Disinformation as Cultural Narrative: Conceptualizing Disinformation as Cross-Platform, Identity-Affirming, Cathartic Stories

Rather than framing disinformation as false facts which can be countered by true facts, we propose a model of disinformation as narrative by tracing three case studies of successful disinformation ...

tandfonline.com

🚀Introducing 𝐆𝐔𝐈𝐃𝐄-𝐋𝐋𝐌: A reporting checklist for using LLMs in behavioral & social science ✅GUIDE-LLM is a reporting checklist designed by 80+ experts to improve transparency, reproducibility & ethical accountability of LLM-based research 📄 llm-checklist.com

Since last year, the US has publicized a visa policy that targets & threatens people who study & report on online harms. Yesterday @knightcolumbia.org & @protectdemocracy.org filed a lawsuit challenging this censorship policy on behalf of @thecoalition.bsky.social knightcolumbia.org/content/tech...

Technology Researchers Challenge Trump Policy Threatening Deportation for Work on Social Media Platforms and Online Harms

knightcolumbia.org

Hi there social psychologists- excited to pop in on SPSP for a workshop in the use of AI in social science tomorrow morning with @mjcrockett.bsky.social @killianmcloughlin.bsky.social & Alexis Palmer. Ping me if you want to say hi!

Last year at SPSP we had some great discussions about research with LLMs. This time #spsp2026 we're back with a whole workshop! Friday 2/27 at 8am, + informal drinks at 6pm to continue the conversation More info, plus a chance to submit discussion topics, here: spsp2026.carrd.co

Ethical and Reproducible use of Large Language Models for Data Analysis | SPSP 2026 Professional

Ethical and Reproducible use of Large Language Models for Data Analysis | SPSP 2026 Professional

spsp2026.carrd.co

M.J. Crockett@mjcrockett.bsky.social · last yr.

Grateful for the chance to share my thoughts on responsible use of LLMs in psychology research @spspnews.bsky.social #spsp2025. Here's a summary of my presentation for those who missed it. Thanks to @ashwinia.bsky.social for organizing this panel! How should LLMs be used in psychology research? 🧵

Interested in why moral conflict is so common on social media? Join us at #SPSP 2026 for our symposium. We’ll present new findings on how platforms shape digital discourse and explore pathways toward healthier online environments 🗓 Saturday, the 28th | 9:30–10:40 AM 📍 Room E270, Level 2

Are you a grad student who wants to give a talk at Princeton’s psychology department (in-person or on Zoom)? Nominate yourself or someone you know: forms.gle/WN2ybYMuZiW3... Priority given to non-Ivy and URM students. International applicants welcome. Deadline is this Friday (Feb 6)!

Emerging Scholars in Psychological Science Speaker Nominations

Nominate yourself or another late-stage PhD student to speak at Princeton's Department of Psychology this academic semester (Spring 2026). The Emerging Scholars in Psychological Science (ESPS) talk ...

forms.gle

✨New preprint! Why do people express outrage online? In 4 studies we develop a taxonomy of online outrage motives, test what motives people report, what they infer for in- vs. out-partisans, and how motive inferences shape downstream intergroup consequences. Led by @felix-chenwei.bsky.social 🧵👇

New preprint! We developed new measurement tools to examine moralization in ~2B Twitter/X & Reddit posts and ~5M traditional media texts. Key finding: moralization increased markedly on social media from 2013-2021; more than traditional media; associated with multiple user dynamics 🧵👇

Grateful for the chance to share my thoughts on responsible use of LLMs in psychology research @spspnews.bsky.social #spsp2025. Here's a summary of my presentation for those who missed it. Thanks to @ashwinia.bsky.social for organizing this panel! How should LLMs be used in psychology research? 🧵

👀New preprint! In 3 prereg experiments we study how engagement-based algorithms amplify ingroup, moral and emotional (IME) content in ways that disrupt social norm learning (and test one solution!) w/ @joshcjackson.bsky.social and my amazing lab managers @merielcd.bsky.social & Silvan Baier 🧵👇

How politicians communicate shapes online discourse in ways we might overlook. Our new paper shows that their choice between a fact-based (evidence-driven) and a belief-based (sincerity-driven) honesty creates a "contagion" effect, influencing how users engage and respond. ⬇️(1/8)

Is it Bad to leave Twitter? No. Here are 7+ years of insights from my lab’s research that explain why. Featuring work w/ @williambrady.bsky.social @killianmcloughlin.bsky.social 🧵

New paper out in @ScienceMagazine! In 8 studies (multiple platforms, methods, time periods) we find: misinformation evokes more outrage than trustworthy news, when it does it's shared more + ppl are less likely to read before sharing. w/ @killianmcl1 @Klonick @mollycrockett 🧵👇

lol messed up the tags here...This is with: @mjcrockett.bsky.social @klonick.bsky.social @killianmcloughlin.bsky.social

William J. Brady@williambrady.bsky.social · 2y ago

New paper out in @ScienceMagazine! In 8 studies (multiple platforms, methods, time periods) we find: misinformation evokes more outrage than trustworthy news, when it does it's shared more + ppl are less likely to read before sharing. w/ @killianmcl1 @Klonick @mollycrockett 🧵👇