New paper from the lab in honor of Warren Bickel's reinforcer pathology model and taking it one step further to consider the broader ecological contexts in which access to alcohol-free reinforcement might prevent return to heavy drinking following treatment. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Engagement in alcohol‐free activities, community‐level economic disadvantage, and heavy drinking following alcohol treatment

The reinforcer pathology model proposed by Warren Bickel and colleagues focuses on within-individual motivational processes involving overvaluation of smaller immediate rewards relative to larger del...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

New newsletter (yesterday) Can we believe this report that AI persuades people better than human experts, and what would it mean if we did? https://tomstafford.substack.com/p/ai-systems-out-persuade-expert-humans

AI systems out-persuade expert humans. Panic?

Quick review of a compelling new report

tomstafford.substack.com

📢 JOB OPPORTUNITY: We are recruiting a Research Assistant to join our Wellcome-funded project, 'A novel interdisciplinary approach to understanding how contextual factors influence alcohol consumption'. jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk/job/Research...

Looks like we've passed peak academia. www.ft.com/content/8097... via @data.ft.com

Wimsatt: Perhaps, just perhaps, the best explanation of a phenomenon at a given level is to be found at the same level. Kendler: Noone would seek to explain hypertension at the level of quarks. A few of my favourite papers on this topic of absurd biological reductionism: 🧵

Brent W. Roberts@bwroberts.bsky.social · 3mo ago

This...the fetishizing of unreplicable neuroscience in order to legitimize our work is self-defeating. We don't need to know that depression is in the brain (as opposed to what???) to know it is problematic. How much money have we wasted proving something like depression is "real"?

New in Addiction Research & Theory: Relapse in disordered gambling: a systematic review from a biopsychosocial perspective www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... Led by the uber-productive, Jamie Torrance

Relapse in disordered gambling: a systematic review from a biopsychosocial perspective

Relapse is common among individuals undergoing treatment for gambling disorder (GD). Understanding the biological, psychological, and social (biopsychosocial (BPS)) factors that influence relapse i...

tandfonline.com

I am currently facing redundancy from a lifetime teaching literature. I also like drinking (in moderation). It has long been my dream to open a combined bookshop/bar called Alcohol By Volumes.

Michael Druker 🇨🇦@mdruker.app · 3mo ago

Take a break from the discourse and quote this with a business you would want to start if you could afford to lose money on it

Are different desires (e.g., food, sleep, alcohol, cannabis) experienced and regulated the same way? We tested this question in a new preprint with Yang Liu, @minzlicht.bsky.social, @wilhelmhofmann.bsky.social, and @kevinmking.bsky.social: osf.io/preprints/ps...

If you like leisure centres, motorway service stations, and hemorrhaging money, you'll *love* Center Parcs.

Iran drops another LEGO (TACO) video to celebrate the “Art of the Deal” 😂🤣😅 This American humiliation is so f **€king satisfying to watch.

Some first-rate science writing: For this story, @jdrakephd.bsky.social carefully read our recent paper and then we spent a very fun 90 minutes or so talking on zoom. His article that gets right to the heart of our model, explains it clearly, and then explores why it will matter in the future.

The System That Decides What Science Gets Published Is Breaking Down

The peer review system that validates scientific research is trapped in a self-defeating cycle. A new mathematical model shows why—and what comes next.

forbes.com

Starring Richard Keys as Alan Partridge

As a Marine platoon leader in Vietnam, Mueller was shot and later returned to lead his platoon after his recovery. He received a Bronze Star for valor, a Purple Heart, 2 Navy/Marine Commendation medals, Republican of Vietnam Cross of Valor, and numerous other medals.

The Norwegian Consumer Council with an amazing video on enshittification and how to resist it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Up...

A Day in the Life of an Ensh*ttificator

YouTube video by Forbrukerrådet - Norwegian Consumer Council

youtube.com

SARG's Ellen McGrane recently spoke with @afsguk.bsky.social about her research into gambling advertising during live sports. The interview explores the whistle-to-whistle ban, self-regulation, and the challenges of data collection and natural experiments in gambling research. #AddictionResearch

Advertising, Football and the Problem of Self-Regulation

In this month’s Member Spotlight, we caught up with Ellen McGrane, Research Associate in Alcohol and Public Health in the Sheffield Addictions Research Group at the University of Sheffield. Althoug…

afsg.org

Really looking forward to this - the conference and the city! Hope to see lots of colleagues there

Academic Forum for the Study of Gambling@afsguk.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Looking forward to seeing plenty of AFSG members at CAGR in May. This year's event will take place in the beautiful Finnish capital, Helsinki. Registrations are open now, so secure your ticket using the link below.

He's gone early

Pace of ecology drives the tempo of visual perception across the animal kingdom www.nature.com/articles/s41... - new paper with Clinton Haarlem, Cliodhna Hynes and colleagues Different species see the world as fast as they need to...

Pace of ecology drives the tempo of visual perception across the animal kingdom - Nature Ecology & Evolution

Using phylogenetic comparative methods across 237 species from disparate phyla, the authors show that species with fast-paced ecologies have higher temporal resolution of perception.

nature.com

The association between gambling frequency and risk of harm: Analysis using health survey data from England and Scotland

buff.ly

Love this!

Colin Gorrie@colingorrie.bsky.social · 6mo ago

If you liked this experiment, I published a full piece today in the same vein: a text that gets 100 years older with every section, from a modern blog post to a medieval chronicle. It's a single story spanning 1000 years of English. See how far you get. www.deadlanguagesociety.com/p/how-far-ba...

Please get him off LinkedIn...

Columnists are engaged in a doomed, never-ceasing quest to find something that makes them angry enough to become interesting to others.

General Boles@generalboles.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Please pray for Matthew. He went into a Greggs and the staff held him down and forced him to drink a woke beverage.

💯 Loads of excellent advice in this post #AcademicWriting #AcademicChatter

How To Review Efficiently and Fairly

Instead of Dry January, I’m going review free for January after having nearly 80 review requests last year. My New Year’s resolution was to have a healthier relationships with reviewing…

duckofminerva.com

How should public health respond to the rise of alcohol-free and low-alcohol drinks? New publication in the @bmj.com from @jholmessheff.bsky.social @niamhfitzgerald.bsky.social Inge Kersbergen and Nathan Critchlow. Really insightful, great work guys 🌟 www.bmj.com/content/392/...

How should public health respond to rise of alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks?

John Holmes and colleagues argue for a precautionary approach that is guided by public health interests and considers both risks and benefits Sales of alcohol-free and low alcohol (nolo) drinks have ...

bmj.com

Rethinking drug use and addiction 😍 A philosopher advocates for a more humane and context-informed approach Superb review by Cassandra Boness of Hanna Pickard's important book, provocatively titled: "What would you do alone in a cage with nothing but cocaine?" www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Rethinking drug use and addiction

A philosopher advocates for a more humane and context-informed approach

science.org

Competitively priced for loo roll, but not soft or absorbent enough. The perfect punctuation mark to my choice for who had the worst year on @quietriotpod.bsky.social.

Excellent article, reminding all of us of pioneering early work in gambling research - and reminding us how much there is still to do. www.sciencenews.org/article/bob-.... Roll on 2026…. @uofgussp.bsky.social @uofgsocsci.bsky.social

As gambling addiction spreads, one scientist’s work reveals timely insights

Psychiatrist Robert Custer spent his life convincing doctors that compulsive gambling was not an impulse control problem. Today, his research is foundational for diagnosis and treatment.

sciencenews.org

Rare footage of St Paul’s Cathedral testing its giant flamethrower

Your festive edition and TV guide is here 🎄 Feast your eyes on a tumultuous schedule, not unlike the year itself. Plus brilliant writing from all of your favourite columnists at The New World. Enjoy! 🗞️ Grab a copy at your local newsstand or subscribe 🔗 buff.ly/NWZsnYW