"a PRS is not an internal predisposition waiting to be realized; it is a risk estimate derived from a model constructed from population-level DNA associations without clearly defined biological mechanisms."

New commentary (with @jdmiller.bsky.social and @davidchester.bsky.social) in the Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science pushing back (again) on the use of “dark” in personality research. 1/2 psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?d...

1. Transparency is not one optional value among many in science. It is a first principle. Science must be evaluable. If we cannot determine the severity of the tests to which claims were subjected, we cannot determine the evidential value of the claims themselves. 3/8

Turns out empirically derived phenotypes (data-driven symptom sets) nested within traditional mental disorders can help reduce diagnostic heterogeneity! We learned so much cool and interesting stuff in this study. I could talk (/post) about it all day, but here’s a few highlights (🧵)

"For too long, the university has ignored the wisdom of the donor class and hired based on academic excellence. Regrettably, this has led to the underrepresentation of discredited viewpoints in elite higher education." www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/wer...

Me! I am one of those academics and you can be one too!

I'm fond of Ken Kendler's (2005) example that hearts are made up of elementary particles, but that doesn't necessarily mean we should go looking for explanations of heart disease at the level of electrons and quarks.

gotta love when a whole education system makes itself vulnerable by making a large number of institutions dependent on a proprietary lms whose continuity or reliability they have no control over *chef's kiss* now let's do it again, but bigger, with ai

I'm so happy to see this monster finally out - a preregistered metaanalysis of youth personality-psychopathology associations with a bonus preregistered independent replication metaanalysis! Years in the making, now out in Psychological Bulletin. psycnet.apa.org/record/2027-...

Selecting an effect size for power analysis is hard. Many researchers fall back on Cohen's thresholds, but they have no empirical basis and vary wildly by field. Our new paper offers a better option: field-specific effect size distributions built from meta-analytic data doi.org/10.3758/s134...

Don't be shy to take on a little two-week side project. These five months will be the most precious three years of your academic journey.

Tomorrow, I’m participating in the Big Sur marathon (11-mile distance) in support of the ALS Therapy Development Institute. My run group is also sponsored by Hoka! Our team of 10 has already raised over $30,000 for ALS research. Help us reach $35,000! 🙏 fundraisers.hakuapp.com/jaclyn-siegel

Recently, the accrediting body for U.S. medical schools quietly published updated standards that no longer explicitly require med schools to teach about health equity. In my piece, I argue that this rollback harms us all & that medical schools have an obligation to keep teaching this content.

I am so proud of the students and my fellow faculty @texastech.bsky.social speaking out against censorship pushed on us by system Education needs to be open. Diversity and inclusive science is the only way. Free speech #wreckem #ttu

The Developmental Origins of Behavioral Individuality - great review by Benjamin de Bivort www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

Postdoc available! There are two T32 positions at Minnesota focusing on developmental psychopathology, with a large selection of potential mentors. I could serve as primary mentor for someone interested in intersections with metascience and/or diversity. Apply now! drive.google.com/file/d/18SoO...

*This* is how you Wreck ‘em, Tech. I applaud TTU AAUP and am proud of my high school classmate Dr. Geiger!

Make It Myself xkcd.com/3233/

TTU just released a memo institutionalizing censorship. As a grad student researching gender minority mental health and suicide prevention at TTU, I see this as an attack on academic integrity & professional readiness. Sharing some/a lot of thoughts as I make sense of this mess🧵(opinions my own)

“Why aren’t college students protesting” stories are almost always wrong (they are protesting), omit crucial context (they were brutally punished for protesting before), and somehow suggest that 19 yr olds have more moral responsibility than elected officials three times their age

The Iowa Gambling Task is an extreme example of Jingle Fallacy and schmeasurement. In 100 articles we found 244 different ways of scoring it, 177 were never reused. Correlations between them range -.99 to .99. At the same time, we show meta-analyses combine these results as if they’re equivalent.

Motivated to share our PCAST report on the value of the social and behavioral sciences. Sigh… www.erichorvitz.com/pcastreports...

New paper, out this week in PLOS One, suggests that most close relationship self-report measures are primarily capturing relationship quality 🧵 journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

Journal link: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... (You can read the text here: www.researchgate.net/profile/Awai... )

🚨 New paper out in Current Directions in Psychological Science, with @matnoc.bsky.social! We review recent advances in digital & computational methods for understanding, predicting, and preventing suicide.

Stand Up For Science Founder & CEO Colette Delawalla states three demands: 1. Remove RFK Jr. 2. Reinstate the American Dream of Science. 3. Science should be driven by scientists not political appointees. Join the fight! standupforscience.net/march7

In the March cover story for Psychiatric Times, I provide an overview of the proposed changes to the future DSM, accompanied by some personal commentary and suggestions of my own. www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/the-fut...

We shouldn't be basing higher ed decisions solely on numbers like these because higher ed isn't a business, but we *definitely* shouldn't let people use 'run higher ed like a business' as a pitch and then bury the numbers that show they're killing profitable programs.

Paper on statistical power necessary for interaction effects doi.org/10.1177/2515...

Everything is on fire, but let me take a second to send good vibes to everyone awaiting Match Day this week. Y’all have worked so hard, and no matter what Friday brings, you will be ok.

New preprint! We investigate the risk of algorithmic bias (across race/ethnicity, gender, and their intersection) in machine learning models predicting suicide attempts across 3 clinical settings in over 1.2 million patients. osf.io/preprints/ps...

New viewpoint article, "It is time to take chronic suicidal ideation seriously", with Evan Kleiman and @katieleedg.bsky.social now published in Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science! psycnet.apa.org/record/2027-...

Recent paper to read on this: By @jinxungoh.bsky.social and team. drive.google.com/file/d/1_MbT...

"They say they're coming to save us from some evil? They're talking about our neighbors who take care of us ... Alex was murdered while he was helping. Mr Rogers said look for the helpers, & right now the helpers have a target on our forehead ... Mr Rogers would be here right now too, so I'm here."

My specific experience is with NIH, but I’ll stand up and say it: The people who work at NIH are together one of the great wonders of the world. US biomedical science, cancer cures, dementia research all are built on their talent and dedication.

so this is a crime against humanity not a study we all agree right

want new content for your conservation of matter slides? I caught my toddler claiming that we could give our cat "more food" by spreading out his existing food in his bowl to cover a wider area. youtube.com/shorts/DJBdV...

If you're an educator and feel anything from disgust to discomfort with AI please consider joining.

We are excited to announce our partnership with @inclivio.com's software for #SAS2026. We’re counting down to the conference with a series of posts. Enter a drawing for 3 EMA study licenses by liking (1 point) and reposting (3 points)! #SAS #AffectiveScience #EMA #EmotionDynamics

I don’t mean to sound extreme, but I don’t think we should have torture camps for people with criminal records either.

My boss did that already: academic.oup.com/ije/article/...

I really hope you read this entire essay because it addresses the flaw in your rationale and you should at least contend with it: news.chanda.science/archive/know...

New paper! We show how diet culture & weight stigma are baked into eating disorder treatment—leading to missed diagnoses in higher-weight people, BMI-based denial of care, thin-centric programs, and clinicians unintentionally reinforcing fear of weight gain. www.jandonline.org/action/showP...

My dad abhors any negative comments about immigrants. Asked him recently why he’s so strong on it: ‘Because we’re always happy to take the rich and clever ones. Which means it’s not about disliking immigrants. It’s about disliking the poor and vulnerable. And that’s a bad human instinct.’

I mean we are absolutely in a place now where the only solution to this information disorder is for everyone to constantly evaluate the source of information. Never trust a chatbot, but also don't believe a video unless you know and trust where it comes from. Unfortunately... that's a lot of work.

My wife is going to be teaching Intro to Counseling/Intro to Psychotherapy next semester. Does anyone have slides they'd be willing to share with her?

Another reminder that if you got students who wanna do a social psych PhD focusing on identities (specifically Asian, Latine, MENA Americans), I’m recruiting! I’m hustling hard here so pls send people my way 😅 see website for details www.pbandjlab.com

The 'Dark Triad' may be popular, but more importantly, it is irresponsible, moralizing, trivializing, and ultimately, replaceable: A rejoinder to Borraz-Leon, Rantala, and Jonason (2025): https://osf.io/u86th

“While the AI industry claims its models can “think,” “reason,” and “learn,” their supposed achievements rest on marketing hype and stolen intellectual labor. In reality, AI erodes academic freedom, weakens critical reading, and subordinates the pursuit of knowledge to corporate interests.”