When something doesn't work properly, can your dog tell if the object is broken or if you just don't know how to use it? I'm pleased to share my group @jhu.edu's first study with pet dogs (!!), now out in @plosone.org Led by Amalia Bastos: Do dog rationally infer the causes of failed actions? 1/4

Introducing “Pretend Battleship”: you’re told where all the ships are but then have to play like you never got that information. Could you do it? And what would your performance reveal about your understanding of your own mind? A joy to be part of this creative project led by @matanmazor.bsky.social

Very happy to see "Pretending not to know reveals a capacity for model-based self-simulation", a collaboration with @chazfirestone.bsky.social and @ianbphillips.bsky.social, out in Psych. Science! journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177... 🧵

❤️ the best news!! For Jorge, Duke, and the field as a whole. Jorge & his work are absolutely incredible, not least because he sets an example for the rest of us of how to do deep & impactful work across disciplines. Jealous of Duke phil+psych+neuro community for scoring such an excellent colleague!!

Imagination in bonobos! I am thrilled to share a new paper w/ Amalia Bastos, out now in @science.org We provide the first experimental evidence that a nonhuman animal can follow along a pretend scenario & track imaginary objects. Work w/ Kanzi, the bonobo, at Ape Initiative youtu.be/NUSHcQQz2Ko

happy "large boulder the size of a small boulder" day to all who celebrate

wait heated rivalry is making wolf parade popular again?? what can't this show do

my amazing colleagues write amazing books with amazing titles

course reviews are in! as always i skip to the most valuable feedback

rooted for the losing team in two of the most exciting sports moments of the year (ravens tonight and jays in the world series). crushed, but both were so awesome how sad can i be

So fun to see this out! Thanks to friends, family, and colleagues for the support (and hi mom) perception.jhu.edu/files/PDFs/2...

this reminds me that I should tell Jeremy Goodman that he was right and I was wrong about this, I tried to work on it for a while and the common knowledge case does create a ton of complications that don't arise for K-omega bsky.app/profile/jere...

We are seeking candidates for two tenured/tenure-track faculty positions: One in high-level vision, written language and/or conceptual representation apply.interfolio.com/178825 One in language apply.interfolio.com/178813 Please help us spread the word!

BDH has done a vastly better job than the NYT so far. (You wouldn't be surprised.)

heart is breaking for our beloved brown university and its community 💔

someone made an ames room for our department’s holiday party cookie decorating contest and it’s a travesty that it didn’t win

Love this work by @dillonplunkett.bsky.social and @jorge-morales.bsky.social! Representational momentum beyond motion 👇

When we see something that's moving, our memories about it end up projected forward in time: We remember it further along than it was. In a new paper in 𝘗𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, out today and led by @dillonplunkett.bsky.social, we demonstrate that this happens even when there is 𝙣𝙤 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙨𝙤𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧.🧵

my chocolate-for-A+ policy is working great this year! 10/10 would recommend

Thank you to the 2025 IJE cohort who helped improve manuscripts this year via our pre-external review process! Matthew O'Donohue: scholar.google.com.au/citations?us... Marcell Székely: scholar.google.com/citations?hl... Zekun Sun: zekun-sun.github.io

now i know how my closest collaborator got to be so wise

people are ragging on this listening age thing but mine got my actual age exactly right so i don’t see the problem?

The call for commentaries on our "Core Perception" paper is now live! We would love to know what you think about this new perspective on the nature of early emerging knowledge. Details here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal... Proposals due Dec 29!

I mostly make fun of posts like this, obviously, but I just have learned such an incredible amount from basically everyone in this department, and the vibes are great, and the work is so so good, I’m willing to compromise my Personal Brand on their behalf

Just gave a colloq there last month and can confirm, awesome group of scientists!

Can’t imagine there’s anyone on the fence about applying who cares what I think, but fwiw and imho: this is a *really* exciting and special department, so if you were waiting for the Noam chompers signature endorsement™️ to apply, here you go

Well this is exciting! The Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Johns Hopkins University (@jhu.edu) invites applications for a full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty member in Cognitive Psychology, in any area and at any rank! Application + more info: apply.interfolio.com/178146

people are saying that Zekun Sun's research is awesome. (people are right.) learn more about Zekun and her work here! zekun-sun.github.io

New paper from the lab, "Perceiving Event Structure in Brief Actions," now out in Cognitive Psychology :) Led by the inimitable Zekun Sun This was my lab's first foray into event cognition gift link: sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

knew european soccer was hard to follow, did not know it was also hard to parse

🚨🚨🚨 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)!

Are humans really the only rational animals? Our NEW PAPER 🎉 out in @science.org suggests otherwise! In a large collaboration led with my joint first author @hanna-schleihauf.bsky.social, we show that “Chimpanzees rationally revise their beliefs” 🧵

Amazing talk and visit by @laurasimonelewis.bsky.social!! Thank you for sharing your work with us here @jhu.edu

we were so innocent back then

we made it boys! (from the @chronicle.com)

OMG it's @chazfirestone.bsky.social !

showing the kiddos what brown university looks like! it’s where mommy and daddy met 🥰

Excited to head north this week for some talks! Come say hi if you're nearby :) Wednesday (11/12) @ Brown: events.brown.edu/copsy/event/... Thursday (11/13) @ MIT: bcs.mit.edu/events/collo...

Congratulations (and thank you) to @talboger.bsky.social, who lectured in front of nearly 500 @jhu.edu undergraduates today on the psychology of music! They didn’t see it coming, and then they loved it :)

So enjoyed hearing @ruizhegoh.bsky.social share his work on the perception of silence on the latest episode of @vox.com’s “unexplainable” podcast! 🤫 #poopoo open.spotify.com/episode/6V2a...

me: finding a recent and relevant Chaz phil vis paper that I had missed through zohran-posting

you: nobody reads papers anymore, how are we supposed to do any deep thinking together as a scholarly community me, an intellectual: have you seen this zohran mamdani sign generator

this is how my views will finally catch on

tfw the ceremony is scheduled at peak bedtime (thank you apa!! and everyone!!)

my team lost and it was still the best world series of all time

first he slaps chris rock, now this

What does postdiction show about the speed of consciousness? In this forth. piece in BBS, I respond to @smfleming.bsky.social + @matthiasmichel.bsky.social's claim that postdiction shows consciousness is slow -- too slow for its purpose to be online action guidance. 1/3 philpapers.org/rec/PHIPAT-14

new evidence for phenomenal consciousness just dropped! very interesting study by Makaela Natker, @chazfirestone.bsky.social, Howard Egeth, @ianbphillips.bsky.social

We tend to assume that we will see things right in front of us. "But if there is some big object casting light into our eyes, and we wouldn't see it because our attention is elsewhere—that's really fascinating!" says @chazfirestone.bsky.social. hub.jhu.edu/magazine/202...

Thank you @jhuartssciences.bsky.social magazine for featuring this work! This project — the largest ever study of inattentional blindness — was led by Makaela Nartker, in collaboration with Howard Egeth and (senior author) @ianbphillips.bsky.social