Finally out in TACL: 🌎EWoK (Elements of World Knowledge)🌎: A cognition-inspired framework for evaluating basic world knowledge in language models tl;dr: LLMs learn basic social concepts way easier than physical&spatial concepts Paper: direct.mit.edu/tacl/article... Website: ewok-core.github.io

⚡ Autumn 2025 Cooperation Colloquia ⚡ We are excited to announce the next run of Cooperation Colloquia. With @talbotmandrews.bsky.social, @setayeshradkani.bsky.social, @kris-smith.bsky.social, @alexmesoudi.com, & more. Every second Friday, 15:00 CE(S)T Sign up here: list.ku.dk/postorius/li...

@anagantman.bsky.social @jowylie.bsky.social and I are starting to study everyday revenge. Have you ever successfully gotten back at someone after being wronged? We would love to hear about it. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... #PsychSciSky #socialpsyc #cognition

Everyday Revenge

We are interested in stories of everyday revenge—cases where you successfully got back at someone after being wronged. Please think up an experience of when you took revenge and tell us about it. Pl...

docs.google.com

🚨Out in PNAS🚨 with @joshtenenbaum.bsky.social & @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social Punishment, even when intended to teach norms and change minds for the good, may backfire. Our computational cognitive model explains why! Paper: tinyurl.com/yc7fs4x7 News: tinyurl.com/3h3446wu 🧵

1. This Friday I hosted a workshop on morality with some fabulous humans who took take time out of their lives to talk about ideas with each other. Here is a thread with brief summaries of what folks presented in case you too would like to hear about their science: #PsychSciSky #SocialPsyc #DevPsyc

The Saxe Lab @ MIT is hiring! We seek one lab manager to start in summer 2025. Research in our lab focuses on social cognition (learn more on saxelab.mit.edu). Please apply at: tinyurl.com/saxe2025 (Job ID 31993). Review of applications starts on March 24, 2025. Sharing appreciated. Thank you!

Does poverty lead to risk taking or risk avoidance? Turns out, to both. Our new paper (with D. Nettle & W. Frankenhuis) in @royalsocietypublishing.org explains why, and conducts preregistered tests of our ‘desperation threshold’ model. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... A 🧵

New work in PNAS Nexus with @mlandauwells.bsky.social and @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social We ask: if two groups hold opposing beliefs, when does debunking by an authority lead to belief convergence and when does polarization persist? Paper: tinyurl.com/mr2e4kvx MIT News: tinyurl.com/3bud9z4f 🧵1/N

How rational inference about authority debunking can curtail, sustain, or spread belief polarization

Abstract. In polarized societies, divided subgroups of people have different perspectives on a range of topics. Aiming to reduce polarization, authorities

tinyurl.com

How do people interpret punitive events (differently) and what do they learn from it? Excited to present our work (with @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social) at #SPSP2024 and moral psychology preconference (in collaboration with Josh Tenenbaum) @spspnews.bsky.social