Can AI simulations of human research participants advance cognitive science? In @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social, @lmesseri.bsky.social & I analyze this vision. We show how “AI Surrogates” entrench practices that limit the generalizability of cognitive science while aspiring to do the opposite. 1/

Our lab’s first study is published in @pppl-journal.bsky.social! We review definitions used in psych & law to describe those wrongly involved in the legal system. doi.org/10.1037/law0000468 @gblancovelasco.com @carinacardoso.bsky.social @karlihamilton.bsky.social @kimberleyclow.bsky.social

*We are 3 days away from the SPSP Preconference submission deadline!* If your research breaks boundaries in social psychology or you are applying exciting methods to your research, apply today!! spsp.wufoo.com/forms/2026-p...

We're accepting abstract submissions for the Critical Psychology Preconference until Oct 23rd. Join us! spsp.wufoo.com/forms/2026-p...

Come join us!!

The Critical Perspectives in Psychology Preconference is back again for year two!! If your research breaks boundaries in mainstream social psych or you are applying exciting methods to your experimental research, our submissions are open! #SPSP2026

Join us on September 30 at 3 p.m. ET for a virtual discussion with legal experts and longtime Supreme Court watchers. They’ll break down some of the major cases on the Court's upcoming docket and explain what the outcomes could mean for the future of American democracy. RSVP: bit.ly/4nKeDFP

Supreme Court unanimously rejects the "moment-of-threat rule," which required courts to examine only the exact moment in which a police officer alleged that their safety had been threatened in determining whether they acted reasonably. Kagan's opinion makes clear that this idea is clearly absurd.

The Supreme Court's first and only decision today is Barnes v. Felix. Per Kagan, the court unanimously rejects the 5th Circuit's narrow approach to deadly force claims against police, holding that a proper analysis looks to the "totality of the circumstances." www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...

The Supreme Court’s emergency ruling blocked the Trump administration from removing supposed Venezuelan gang members without any legal process, @qjurecic.bsky.social writes. But it “also narrowed the path by which those detainees can contest their removal”:

Thank you all so much for having me!! It was a joy to share more about my research in psychology and law. If you want to learn more about legal judgment & decision making, intriguing Supreme Court cases and what “objectively reasonable” actually means to people, listen to this episode!

Scholarship is an expression of deep hope in the future — by writing things down, we hope that future generations can make some use of what we do. Writing today about the science of AI policy, I am citing a 1950s book on the role of scientists in labor unions. Thank you Milton Nadworny <3

Some good news: "The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation will increase its giving over the next two years in response to what it calls a 'crisis' prompted by the Trump administration’s freeze..." www.philanthropy.com/article/maca...

Congratulations to the newest class of APS Rising Stars ⭐! www.psychologicalscience.org/members/awar...

At @spspnews.bsky.social, many asked for guidelines on using LLMs in the social sciences. Our new paper in AMPPS addresses exactly that! We provide a primer for evaluating LLMs in social science research, focusing on methodological rigor, replicability, and validity: osf.io/preprints/ps...

First @spspnews.bsky.social symposium complete! I presented my work on differing gendered perceptions of East and South Asians. Really excited to continue this line of work as I wrap up my master’s thesis. Thank you to everyone who came to support! #SPSP2025

✨Starting in 30 minutes!✨ See you all there! @jadacopelandhayes.bsky.social @keturahragland.bsky.social

Happy SPSP Day to those who celebrate! I’m looking forward to starting this conference off sharing new research, “Right, Wrong or Reasonable? Morality in Legal Decision Making” in the Moral Pre conference!! #SPSP2025

Where the death penalty remains active, increasing jury diversity can increase reliability and help reduce the risk of wrongful convictions.

I'll be presenting 3 posters at SPSP2025 this weekend! ‼️Thursday Pre-Conferences: Social Psychology in Legal Contexts - 12:15-1pm 🚔 Psychology of Police Shows Advances in Cultural Psychology -3:30-4:45pm 🧬 Gene-Culture Studies ‼️Friday Poster Session B (9-10am) 😷 Asian Health Hazard Stereotype

Check out the amazing line up of speakers for the inaugural Critical Perspectives in Psychology Preconference! If you are going to #SPSP2025 you don’t want to miss this!!

Going to #spsp2025? Interested in what psychology can tell us about what works (or doesn't) to change policing? Join me @andreadittmann.bsky.social @calvinklai.bsky.social @spruill.bsky.social & Kyle Dobson very early next Saturday to find out.

A huge thank you to @spruill.bsky.social for sharing her research exploring the influence of legal language on Black and White Americans’ perceptions of police officers and police use-of-force. Truly thought-provoking work!

“To treat the symptoms of creative maladjustment would be to dull a necessary and noble pain that is an authentic moral response to injustice. For King, maladjustment to injustice is an illness with only one cure—justice.” Today’s very timely read.🤔 spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

You get introduced to some ppl so young & thru the lens of history. To you, they are a legend, an idea, a symbol of excellence, a commitment to Blackness and its humanity. And when they die, you are in profound disbelief. Both surprisingly and predictably, I forgot she was human.

“If you don’t understand yourself, you don’t understand anyone else.” -Nikki Giovanni 🤍🕊️✨

ICYMI: check out our october newsletter featuring @spruill.bsky.social ✨ the second marginalia science x boston college symposium is coming up; apply to be a speaker by oct 25 (more details and application link in the newsletter) t.co/CsK7PA9g9Q

A new analysis shows that the average U.S. Supreme Court justice serves more than twice as long as their counterparts in other major democracies. These longer terms don’t earn the United States better judicial performance, but they do come with costs.

“The Shop”

Finally, something like this is out in PSPR! Identities, ideologies, status quos... Exactly where these variables and their antecedents operate in predicting individual responses to political realities hadn't been starkly addressed in mainstream psychology until now. See: doi.org/10.1177/1088...

My people have arrived!! Welcome to these brilliant scholars & wonderful humans!✨ @keturahragland.bsky.social @marc-alessi.bsky.social @snsmith.bsky.social @jwroberson.bsky.social @callmedanny-7.bsky.social @chadedarby.bsky.social @mohammadwiswall.bsky.social

Want to make your research more rigorous and robust? Check out this great set of exercises by @juliafstrand.bsky.social designed to help prevent research mistakes in the lab — perfect for your next lab meeting! carleton-wp-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/site...

Tuesdays (1pmET/11amMT) I host a webinar w/ other experts in behavioral health & law on various #PsychLaw issues. It's free & providers get free CEUs! This week, Terrill Taylor discusses ways stigma for those w/ criminal legal involvement impacts wellness. Register: hsc-unm.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Nikki Giovanni: Why do we as black writers seem to be so hung up on the truth? James Baldwin: Because the responsibility of a writer is to excavate, because the act of writing is the intention of it, the root of it is liberation. “A Conversation.” [1971]

Kate Weisburd and I have a new empirical paper out in the Northwestern University Law Review! We ask: what do ordinary Americans believe about how Miranda rights are invoked? t.co/fjpjlJ4vUY 1/4

@spspnews.bsky.social @spspsc.bsky.social come join @kurtjgray.bsky.social @jackiemchen.bsky.social @erichehman.bsky.social and others to learn about Social Psychology in Legal Contexts at our preconference...we have a killer line up!

“Whereas the law seeks to provide fair process in a timely fashion, science seeks to discover truth over time. This means that what was once fair may become unfair; the justice of yesteryear may be unjust today.”

I am hoping to recruit a Ph.D. student to join our Social Injustice and Social Change research group at UC Santa Barbara in Fall 2025! You can more information about the position, about our team, and about our research on our website. sisc.psych.ucsb.edu/posts/recrui...

Whoa, this place is exploding! With everything going on last week, I forgot to share the latest episode of my social science podcast, "Opinion Science." Ep 101 featured an interview w/ Dr. Rich Petty, co-developer of the Elaboration Likelihood Model & all-around persuasion expert Links below...

Now that everyone is back on 🦋, it seems as good a time as any to remind people: I'm recruiting my first PhD student(s) this cycle! Deadline is December 1! Apply! We have lots of exciting and important work to do! Lab info: joelleforestier.com Program info: www.psychology.pitt.edu/social-program

This. This failure is the one I find myself returning to this past week. In the most progressive state in the U.S., we saw a distinct regression regarding the criminal legal system (see Prop. 36, as well). This should concern us all.

The starter pack I was looking for but couldn't find: Social psychologists who study diversity, equity, inclusivity, and related topics, broadly construed. DM me if you want to be added (or removed)! #PsychSci #socialpsyc go.bsky.app/MAoGLF4

Now more than ever community and support is needed. That’s why @sylviapperry.bsky.social and I are happy to solicit applications for the 3rd annual CASBS Summer Institute on Diversity. If you're a pre-tenure prof studying diversity, apply & repost! Apps due: Dec 11 casbs.stanford.edu/call-applica...

I will be reading applications for our PhD program this year. Our lab studies social cognition, attitude formation and change, and social learning and memory. For more information, please read this document: benedekkurdi.com/files/Kurdi_.... The deadline is December 1.

“Our struggle is not of a day, a week, a month, or a year. It is the struggle of a lifetime.” - John Lewis The work continues. May we persist on.

Rudy Giuliani must turn over control of his Manhattan penthouse apartment and luxury items to the two Black Georgia election workers he defamed, a judge ruled

Today is the second installment of our Meet the Editorial Board series. Meet Dr. Andrea Avila, J.D., Ph.D., one of our editorial fellows!

Being an Editorial Fellow with @pppl-journal.bsky.social has been an exciting and deeply enriching experience! It’s an honor having a hand in the advancement of our field of Psychology & Law. Applications are open for 2025 Fellows!!

Welcome to the account for PPPL! We are a unique journal published by the American Psychological Assn, providing a forum in which to critically evaluate the contributions of psychology & related disciplines to public policy & legal issues (& vice versa). We aim to post journal-related content often.