1st book review! “Lombrozo unpacks the psychology of explanations in rich detail and sharply analyzes how explaining can help and hinder…The result is a fresh, engrossing take on an important aspect of human behavior.” 😀 www.publishersweekly.com/9780063395008

Why We Ask Why: The Science of Explanation and the Human Drive to Understand by Tania Lombrozo

People explain what they experience, feel, and encounter in order to understand the present and anticipate the future, according...

publishersweekly.com

What do rubber ducks have to do with learning and AI? You can find out in my TEDx talk, released today as an Editor’s Pick at the YouTube TED Channel! www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbiy...

How you can learn in a world of information overload | Tania Lombrozo | TEDxNewEngland

YouTube video by TEDx Talks

youtube.com

🚨 HEADS UP: If you haven't submitted a comment on the OMB proposal yet, there's still time - but it's running out! There are only 5 days left to push back against Russell Vought's attempt to give political appointees unprecedented control over federal research funding. Take Action: zurl.co/w6DcW

Philosophers! Craig Callender and I are circulating an open letter calling for better COI disclosure in our journals. If tech companies fund and employ philosophers working on AI, we need to know and to be thinking about the impacts 1 docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Open Letter about Industry Funding and Disclosure in Philosophy

*For full list of signatories, updated every few hours, please click here.* In recent years, philosophical writing on areas such as climate change, technology, misinformation, and artificial intellige...

docs.google.com

I wrote a book! It's called WHY WE ASK WHY, and it's about the human drive to explain, combining psychology, philosophy, and stories. It will be released on October 6, but it's currently available for pre-order from Barnes & Noble at 25% off with code PREORDER25.

Do LLMs *understand* language? Do educational AI agents *understand* the material they teach (or their students)? Claims about what AI systems do or don't understand are pervasive, but assessing them requires an account of MACHINE UNDERSTANDING

I am thrilled to announce that this framework is out! Who is responsible for inequality? @tanialombrozo.bsky.social and I show that answers depend on whether people are judging causes or obligations, and the past vs the future. doi.org/10.1177/1745...

This is an amazing book - highly recommend for experts and casual readers alike!

Griffiths Computational Cognitive Science Lab@cocoscilab.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Excited to announce a new book telling the story of mathematical approaches to studying the mind, from the origins of cognitive science to modern AI! The Laws of Thought will be published in February and is available for pre-order now.

🚨🚨🚨 Our 52nd Annual Meeting will be held from June 18–20, 2026 at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, with a pre-conference on Mental Control and Agency held at JHU on June 17 🚨🚨🚨 We are currently inviting submissions of papers (talks and posters)!

Glad and sad to see this series, which echoes the theme of lost science I wrote about below & does something to make it less invisible www.northjersey.com/story/opinio...

Carl Zimmer@carlzimmer.com · 11mo ago

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

Thank you to @anahidmodrek.bsky.social for visiting with my FAQs about Life seminar this week! We read her fabulous work with @tanialombrozo.bsky.social showing positive effects of explaining on test scores & appreciated chatting with her about this research: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1...

Allow Me to Explain: Benefits of Explaining Extend to Distal Academic Performance

How does the act of explaining influence learning? Prior work has studied effects of explaining through a predominantly proximal lens, measuring short-term outcomes or manipulations within lab settin...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Visible light 🔆 or electromagnetic waves 📡: Which helps people understand better? In a new post for Character & Context (@spspnews.bsky.social), I dive into my work with @tanialombrozo.bsky.social on how jargon shapes scientific understanding. Check it out here! spsp.org/news/charact...

My lab at UCLA is hiring 1-2 PhD students this cycle! Join us to work at the intersection of cognitive science and AI applied to pressing societal challenges like climate change. More info about me: rachit-dubey.github.io My lab: ucla-cocopol.github.io Please help repost/spread the word!

We're hiring!!! Princeton Psych has an Assistant Prof search in cog neuro (joint with @princetonneuro.bsky.social). Apply apply apply! puwebp.princeton.edu/AcadHire/app...

SAVE SCIENCE FUNDING IN THE USA Here's a link to an American Physical Society tool for sending letters supporting science funding. Please do this ESPECIALLY if you live in a state/district with majority party members. Takes 2 minutes. www.aps.org/initiatives/...

Support Federal Science Funding: A Call to Action

The American Physical Society is a nonprofit membership organization working to advance physics by fostering a vibrant, inclusive, and global community dedicated to science and society.

aps.org

I am privileged to announce the publication of the Anti-Autocracy Handbook: sks.to/autocracy 1/12

Laypeople often learn about science from expert explanations & those explanations often contain JARGON. Does jargon make explanations better or worse? In a paper out today in Nature Human Behaviour, @cruzf.bsky.social and I find that jargon can support illusions of understanding...

President Trump’s FY26 budget for #NSF will slash funding for the agency by 56.9% and funding for Social, Behavioral, and Economic sciences by 67.6% These cuts will end US STEM leadership, weaken national security, and set-back individual prosperity and well-being.

🎊 New preprint 🎊 w/ Tania Lombrozo Why do people engage in collective actions, even when they believe their actions won't make a difference? Based on evidence from the 2024 election and a hypothetical election, we find that *moral* responsibility, not causal, drives voting osf.io/preprints/ps...

Please join @asliozyurek.bsky.social, @tanialombrozo.bsky.social, Hannah Rohde and me **this Wednesday 12pm eastern**. What does the future of cogsci in higher ed look like? I promise it's not all bad news!! Register below!

Cognitive Science Society@cogscisociety.bsky.social · last yr.

We're launching a new webinar series! Cognitive Science: Perspectives for Higher Education ✨ Join us May 7🗓️ to hear about the future of #CogSci education, from interdisciplinary challenges to innovative teaching and research. Learn more and register at cognitivesciencesociety.org/higher-educa...

Want an explanation for the destruction of health and medicine in our country that's completely understandable? Send this far and wide! Please share!! Accurate, simple, and comprehensive, John Oliver describes what's happening to NIH (+others) and medicine better than I can youtu.be/8H34jcpEsFs

RFK Jr. & HHS: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

YouTube video by LastWeekTonight

youtu.be

Unfortunately, the NSF grant that supports our work has been terminated. This is a setback, but our mission has not changed. We will continue to work hard on making cognitive science a more inclusive field. Stay tuned for upcoming events.

Are you interested in research experience before applying to PhD programs? Or just want to learn more about cognitive science? Consider joining my lab as a lab manager (joint w/the Griffiths Lab). We will begin reviewing applications one week from today: cognition.princeton.edu/news/2025/op...

Here in Princeton, NJ, a town of about 30,000 people, the crowd at the #HandsOff protest. Appeared to be about 1300-1500 people, as high as 5% of the population. It's the largest event I have seen in this public space.

“Without the support of my community, I would have never pursued a career in science”, writes Chantal Valdivia-Moreno from Chula Vista, CA 🥑. Now research cuts threaten that community: its health, economy & children’s futures. 🧪🏠 @talvaldivia.bsky.social www.thestarnews.com/we-owe-it-to...

"Fostering Appropriate Reliance on LLMs" received an Honorable Mention at #CHI2025! This work is also the last chapter of my dissertation, so the recognition feels more special🏅🎓😊 🎉 to the team @jennwv.bsky.social @qveraliao.bsky.social @tanialombrozo.bsky.social Olga Russakovsky

Sunnie S. Y. Kim ☀️@sunniesuhyoung.bsky.social · last yr.

Appropriate reliance is key to safe and successful user interactions with LLMs. But what shapes user reliance on LLMs, and how can we foster appropriate reliance? In our #CHI2025 paper, we explore these questions through two user studies. 1/7

For every caregiver exasperated by a child’s incessant questions, there’s a communicator who’d be thrilled to stimulate that kind of curiosity. Psychologist @tanialombrozo.bsky.social, researcher Daniel Silva Luna & ScienceCounts share insights on what makes people curious publuu.com/flip-book/68...

"Every citizen and officeholder who cares about the strength of our country ... should demand a stop to the government’s unwarranted intrusion on academic freedom at Columbia." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

The Cost of the Government’s Attack on Columbia

American universities have given the country prosperity and security. The Trump administration’s attack on academic freedom endangers all of that.

theatlantic.com

If you identify as a Jewish member of the academic community, and are appalled by the actions being taken in the name of defending our community, please consider signing this letter (which can be done anonymously) and also sharing it with others: forms.gle/prnRbq69a6YN...

Open letter in response to federal funding cuts at Columbia

On March 7th, the Trump administration announced the immediate cancellation of approximately $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University. This includes funding from the Departm...

forms.gle

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