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Wed 19 Feb 15:00: The Microtargeting Manipulation Machine

Psychology Talks - Wed, 19/02/2025 - 12:07
The Microtargeting Manipulation Machine

In this talk, I examine the use of psychological microtargeting, which uses inferred personality traits from online behavior to customize manipulative messages. I begin by highlighting the opaque nature of such targeting and my approach to reverse-engineer these algorithms to detect and potentially alert users to targeted ads (Simchon et al., 2023). Next, I show that microtargeted political ads, even those generated by AI, are markedly more effective than non-microtargeted ones. This underscores both the persuasive power of AI-driven microtargeting and the ethical issues it raises due to its potential for large-scale use (Simchon et al., 2024). Finally, I explore the effectiveness of warning signals against these targeted ads and find that despite the implementation of such interventions, the persuasive power of targeted messages persists, raising urgent needs for robust regulatory responses (Carrella, Simchon, et al., 2025).

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Fri 14 Mar 12:00: : Scratching Beneath the Surface of Pan Communication: Intentions, Representations and Joint Attention The host for this talk is Mirjana Bozic

Psychology Talks - Wed, 12/02/2025 - 16:26
: Scratching Beneath the Surface of Pan Communication: Intentions, Representations and Joint Attention

Despite important similarities having been found between human and animal communication systems, surprisingly little research effort has focussed on whether the cognitive mechanisms underpinning these behaviours are also similar. If comparative research is going to help elucidate the evolutionary origins of human language we need to consider whether seemingly homologous traits are underpinned by similar mechanisms. In terms of vocal production, it is highly debated whether signal production in non-human primates is the result of reflexive processes, or under intentional control. I will present data from a snake presentation experiment with wild chimpanzees that shows that two types of alarm calls meet several behavioural markers for intentional production. In terms of reception of vocal signals, there is some evidence that conspecific alarm calls evoke mental representations in listeners, however the nature of any representations (object or affect based) remains difficult to determine. I will present recent work with Kanzi, the language competent bonobo, that shows he reliably matched bonobo alarm calls to lexigrams (arbitrary symbols) denoting both ‘snake’ as an object-based representation and ‘scare’ as an affect-based representation, indicating that these conspecific calls evoke both object-based and affect-based representations in this bonobo. Finally, I will ask whether joint attention, which is so important for language acquisition and communication in humans is unique to our species. I will present data from stimulus presentation experiments with human infants, wild chimpanzees and wild crested macaques to show that joint attention does occur in our closest living relatives, albeit at a much lower rate than in humans.

The host for this talk is Mirjana Bozic

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Fri 23 May 16:30: To be confirmed The host for this talk is Sarah-Jayne Blakemore

Psychology Talks - Wed, 12/02/2025 - 15:55
To be confirmed

Abstract not available

The host for this talk is Sarah-Jayne Blakemore

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Fri 14 Mar 12:00: : Scratching Beneath the Surface of Pan Communication: Intentions, Representations and Joint Attention The host for this talk is Mirjana Bozic

Psychology Talks - Wed, 12/02/2025 - 15:32
: Scratching Beneath the Surface of Pan Communication: Intentions, Representations and Joint Attention

Abstract not available

The host for this talk is Mirjana Bozic

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Wed 19 Feb 15:00: The Microtargeting Manipulation Machine

Psychology Talks - Tue, 11/02/2025 - 11:57
The Microtargeting Manipulation Machine

In this talk, I examine the use of psychological microtargeting, which uses inferred personality traits from online behavior to customize manipulative messages. I begin by highlighting the opaque nature of such targeting and my approach to reverse-engineer these algorithms to detect and potentially alert users to targeted ads (Simchon et al., 2023). Next, I show that microtargeted political ads, even those generated by AI, are markedly more effective than non-microtargeted ones. This underscores both the persuasive power of AI-driven microtargeting and the ethical issues it raises due to its potential for large-scale use (Simchon et al., 2024). Finally, I explore the effectiveness of warning signals against these targeted ads and find that despite the implementation of such interventions, the persuasive power of targeted messages persists, raising urgent needs for robust regulatory responses (Carrella, Simchon, et al., 2025).

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Thu 13 Feb 12:30: Evidence-based mental health and precision psychiatry: the example of antidepressants for depression

Psychology Talks - Mon, 10/02/2025 - 10:02
Evidence-based mental health and precision psychiatry: the example of antidepressants for depression

In mental health science, there has been frustratingly slow process in understanding and developing new treatments for anxiety, depression and psychosis, as well as in predicting which treatments will work for whom and in what contexts. To intervene early and deliver optimal and individualised care to patients, we need to develop safe and effective interventions that target specific symptoms and provide reliable predictions of clinical trajectories. Better use of existing evidence and digital shared decision-making tools are one way to improve efficiency in clinical care towards these ends. The PETRUSHKA trial aims to personalise antidepressant treatment in the real world settings, using both statistical and machine learning approaches and combining evidence synthesis with patients’ preferences.

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Fri 28 Feb 12:00: Insights into the Genetic Architecture of Neurodevelopmental Conditions and Traits from Large Cohorts The host for this talk is Varun Warrier

Psychology Talks - Thu, 06/02/2025 - 16:52
Insights into the Genetic Architecture of Neurodevelopmental Conditions and Traits from Large Cohorts

Abstract: Over the last fifteen years, high-throughput DNA sequencing of large patient cohorts has revolutionised the diagnosis and understanding of rare diseases, particularly rare neurodevelopmental conditions involving intellectual disability. Recent work in population-based cohorts such as UK Biobank has shown us that, contrary to earlier assumptions, the genetics of rare neurodevelopmental conditions overlaps with the genetics of cognitive ability, psychiatric disease and related traits in the general population. I will first discuss what we have learnt about the genetic architecture of neurodevelopmental conditions from the Deciphering Developmental Disorders study comprising over 13,000 patients. I will then present recent work on the common and rare genetic contributions to cognitive development from longitudinally-phenotyped birth cohorts and explain how this helps us make sense of observations from clinical studies.

The host for this talk is Varun Warrier

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Mon 10 Feb 12:30: Revealing the Spatial Pattern of Brain Hemodynamic Sensitivity to Healthy Aging through Sparse Dynamic Causal Model

Psychology Talks - Wed, 05/02/2025 - 10:58
Revealing the Spatial Pattern of Brain Hemodynamic Sensitivity to Healthy Aging through Sparse Dynamic Causal Model

Speaker: Dr Giorgia Baron, Department of Information Engineering, University of Padova, Italy.

Title: Revealing the Spatial Pattern of Brain Hemodynamic Sensitivity to Healthy Aging through Sparse Dynamic Causal Model.

Abstract: Age-related changes in the BOLD response could reflect neurovascular coupling modifications rather than simply impairments in neural functioning. In this study, we propose the use of a sparse dynamic causal model (sDCM) to decouple neuronal and vascular factors in the BOLD signal, with the aim of characterizing the whole-brain spatial pattern of hemodynamic sensitivity to healthy aging, as well as to test the role of hemodynamic features as independent predictors in an age-classification model. sDCM was applied to the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data of a cohort of 126 healthy individuals in a wide age range (31 females), providing reliable estimates of the hemodynamic response function (HRF) for each subject and each region of interest. Then, some features characterizing each HRF curve were extracted and used to fit a multivariate logistic regression model predicting the age class of each individual. Ultimately, we tested the final predictive model on an independent dataset of 338 healthy subjects (173 females) selected from the Human Connectome Project in Aging and Development cohorts. Our results entail the spatial heterogeneity of the age effects on the hemodynamic component, since its impact resulted to be strongly region- and population-specific, discouraging any space-invariant–corrective procedures that attempt to correct for vascular factors when carrying out functional studies involving groups with different ages. Moreover, we demonstrated that a strong interaction exists between certain right-hemisphere hemodynamic features and age, further supporting the essential role of the hemodynamic factor as an independent predictor of biological ageing rather than a simple confounding variable.

See the published paper here: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1940-23.2024

Bio: Giorgia Baron earned her master’s degree in Bioengineering in September 2020 from the University of Padua. Her master’s thesis focused on applying a sparse Dynamic Causal Modeling (DCM) algorithm to analyze stroke-induced alterations in whole-brain directed connectivity using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data, which earned her an award from the National Group of Bioengineering in 2021. She later pursued a Ph.D. in Information Engineering, specializing in Bioengineering, at the University of Padua, focusing on the intricate mechanisms of human brain function through dynamic causal modeling of resting-state fMRI data. Currently, as a post-doctoral researcher at the Neuropsychology Laboratory of IRCCS San Camillo, she investigates neuroimaging data from patients with stroke, Parkinson’s disease, and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to better understand their cognitive correlations.

Venue: MRC CBU West Wing Seminar Room and Zoom https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82385113580?pwd=RmxIUmphQW9Ud1JBby9nTDQzR0NRdz09 (Meeting ID: 823 8511 3580; Passcode: 299077)

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Thu 13 Feb 12:30: Title to be confirmed

Psychology Talks - Mon, 03/02/2025 - 10:54
Title to be confirmed

Abstract not available

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Thu 20 Feb 12:30: Half term break (no talk)

Psychology Talks - Mon, 03/02/2025 - 10:53
Half term break (no talk)

Abstract not available

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Thu 06 Feb 12:30: Adverse Childhood Experiences and Psychosocial Adaptation in Emerging adulthood: The FACE Project

Psychology Talks - Mon, 03/02/2025 - 10:48
Adverse Childhood Experiences and Psychosocial Adaptation in Emerging adulthood: The FACE Project

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), such as child maltreatment and bullying, are well-established risk factors for biopsychosocial health across the lifespan. However, the pathways linking ACEs to various negative outcomes remain less clear. The FACE longitudinal epidemiological study aims to identify the mechanisms through which ACEs contribute to later psychosocial difficulties, with a particular focus on emotion regulation and social information processing/social skills. Additionally, the study examines service use and barriers to professional help-seeking among young people with and without ACEs. The sample consists of 2,500 Swiss emerging adults from a randomly selected population.

The second component of the project is the FACE intervention study, which focuses on developing and evaluating a guided self-help app for emerging adults with a history of ACEs. The intervention provides psychoeducational content on ACEs, their consequences, and related risk and resilience factors. It specifically targets emotion regulation and social biases/social skills as potential key mechanisms influencing psychosocial adaptation, using a crossover design. The app is designed to enhance resilience, well-being, self-efficacy for coping with emotions, and social problem-solving.

The talk will present preliminary findings from both the epidemiological and intervention studies and explore their clinical implications for the design of self-help apps.

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Thu 27 Feb 14:00: Why do some people remain cognitively able in old age? Investigating Cognitive Reserve in the CamCAN sample

Psychology Talks - Fri, 31/01/2025 - 08:53
Why do some people remain cognitively able in old age? Investigating Cognitive Reserve in the CamCAN sample

Abstract not available

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Wed 05 Feb 15:00: Conspiracy beliefs and interpersonal relationships

Psychology Talks - Wed, 29/01/2025 - 09:18
Conspiracy beliefs and interpersonal relationships

Anecdotal reports in the media and on forums such as Reddit’s r/QAnonCasualties suggest that relationships can suffer when one person in the relationship believes in conspiracy theories. People commonly report having “lost” a loved one who has fallen down a “rabbit hole” of false beliefs. However, despite all the anecdotal evidence, very little empirical research has examined the consequences of conspiracy theories for people’s interpersonal relationships. In this talk, we present three lines of research in which we address this issue. First, we report the results of a qualitative study in which respondents described their broken relationships with close others who believe in conspiracy theories. We next report a set of cross-sectional and experimental studies in which we found that people perceived their existing relationships, and anticipated their future relationships, to be less satisfactory with conspiracy believers compared to conspiracy non-believers. Finally, we report a set of experimental studies using fictitious dating profiles, in which participants reported a lower likelihood of starting new relationships with conspiracy believers compared to conspiracy non-believers. Overall, these findings suggest that conspiracy beliefs can be detrimental for people’s interpersonal relationships. We highlight the need for further research on this topic and discuss potential factors that could prevent relationships being eroded by conspiracy beliefs.

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Wed 29 Jan 13:00: CANCELLED: How do we protect the democratic information environment in an AI-powered world? Tackling online harms with computational social science and AI

Psychology Talks - Wed, 29/01/2025 - 09:14
CANCELLED: How do we protect the democratic information environment in an AI-powered world? Tackling online harms with computational social science and AI

THIS TALK IS CANCELLED

2023-2024 was a peak year of concern over AI safety, highlighted at the UK AI Safety Summit in Bletchley Park, the creation of AI safety institutes across the world, and concerns raised by technology experts over AI-powered threats to democracy and existential risks brought by the fast pace of AI development. This talk will scrutinise the claims that have been made regarding threats from AI to democratic life in an online world. It will report research that suggests that hype over AI is having its own independent effect, that targeted political persuasion may be less effective than has been claimed, that smaller models can be as persuasive as larger models and that AI itself may be part of the solution to AI-powered harms. Research suggests that the real threats to society and democracy may come from long-running shifts in the information environment, where people start mistrusting all information and are increasingly fearful of expressing political opinions in online settings. AI and computational social science researchers will need to find new ways of understanding, measuring and mitigating these threats.

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Tue 18 Mar 16:00: Development and plasticity of control and control beliefs In-person: Ground Floor Seminar Room, Old Cavendish Building, Free School Lane / Teams Meeting ID: 359 964 811 470, Passcode: F6gXFU

Psychology Talks - Tue, 28/01/2025 - 16:29
Development and plasticity of control and control beliefs

Abstract to follow

In-person: Ground Floor Seminar Room, Old Cavendish Building, Free School Lane / Teams Meeting ID: 359 964 811 470, Passcode: F6gXFU

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Tue 04 Mar 16:00: The nature-nurture debate in education: implications for narrowing attainment gaps In-person: Ground Floor Seminar Room, Old Cavendish Building, Free School Lane / Teams Meeting ID: 376 812 611 469, Passcode: ToLLAZ

Psychology Talks - Tue, 28/01/2025 - 16:28
The nature-nurture debate in education: implications for narrowing attainment gaps

Abstract to follow

In-person: Ground Floor Seminar Room, Old Cavendish Building, Free School Lane / Teams Meeting ID: 376 812 611 469, Passcode: ToLLAZ

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Tue 18 Feb 16:00: From Womb to the World: Foetal sensory abilities and their post-birth effects In-person: Ground Floor Seminar Room, Old Cavendish Building, Free School Lane / Teams Meeting ID: 398 571 318 847, Passcode: sSeBfY

Psychology Talks - Tue, 28/01/2025 - 16:25
From Womb to the World: Foetal sensory abilities and their post-birth effects

Abstract:

The foetal environment is the initial setting where a foetus begins to learn about its surroundings. In the womb, a foetus is exposed to a range of stimuli, including flavours, sounds, and light, all of which are perceived through their developing sensory abilities.

By the last trimester of pregnancy, a foetus can sense touch, hear, see, taste, and smell. These perceptions are often observable as orofacial and touch behaviours via 4D ultrasonography. During this critical period of maximum neuroplasticity, such experiences provide essential opportunities for the foetus to learn about the outside world.

This seminar will specifically focus on the development of chemosensory and auditory perceptions in the womb and examine how this adaptive mechanism influences and shapes postnatal behaviours.

Speaker bio:

Dr. Beyza Üstün-Elayan completed her PhD in Developmental Psychology at Durham University. Her research interests include fetal-infant sensory development, early mother-infant interactions and wellbeing, and facial expressions. Beyza currently works as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Cambridge BabyLab, Department of Psychology, and is involved in the PIPKIN Perinatal Imaging Partnership with Families study (www.pipkinstudy.com).

Her research in PIPKIN focuses on the transnatal continuum from prenatal to postnatal life, specifically investigating how fetal auditory experiences influence post-birth behaviours and development.

In-person: Ground Floor Seminar Room, Old Cavendish Building, Free School Lane / Teams Meeting ID: 398 571 318 847, Passcode: sSeBfY

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Tue 04 Feb 16:00: Starting Big: the importance of whole-to-part learning in language acquisition In-person: Ground Floor Seminar Room, Old Cavendish Building, Free School Lane / Teams Meeting ID: 367 176 561 755, Passcode: gnqyNo

Psychology Talks - Tue, 28/01/2025 - 16:16
Starting Big: the importance of whole-to-part learning in language acquisition

Abstract:

Why are children better language learners than adults despite being worse at a range of other cognitive tasks? Understanding this can shed new light on the process of first language acquisition and how it differs from that of second language learning, while also providing us with additional tools for teaching second languages effectively.

Many accounts focus on the cognitive or neurological differences between children and adults, which are in many ways irreversible. In my work, I focus instead on the way prior knowledge impacts the linguistic building blocks that children and adults use during learning, and how those early building blocks impact learning outcomes.

I propose and test the Starting Big Hypothesis: the idea that children’s advantage is related to their greater engagement with whole-to-part learning. Specifically, I propose that children rely on both single words and multiword units during learning, while adults do so less (because of their prior knowledge of words), and that this difference can explain (some of) adults’ difficulty in learning the grammatical relations between words. I draw on developmental, psycholinguistic and computational findings to show that multiword units are integral building blocks in language; that such units are facilitative for learning certain grammatical relations; and that adult learners rely on them less than children, a pattern that can explain differences between L1 and L2 learning.

I will end by discussing implications for models of L1 and L2 learning and the possible role of whole-to-part learning in the emergence of linguistic structure.

Speaker bio:

Prof. Arnon has a PhD in Linguistics and Cognitive Science (2011, Stanford University), and is currently a Full Professor of Psychology at the Hebrew University. Her research program, which lies on the interaction of Linguistics, Psychology, and Cognitive Science, focuses on understanding human’s unique ability to learn, use, and develop language, and more specifically, on understanding how children acquire language, how they differ from adults in doing so, and how learnability pressures shape the emergence and structure of human language.

Prof. Arnon has worked extensively on first language acquisition, developing a novel framework for understanding why children are better language learners than adults, with applied implications for human and machine learning (The Starting Big Approach, see Arnon, 2021 for a review). In her current projects, she asks whether learning pressures and constraints can explain why languages look the way they do, how language evolved, and how insights from child learning can be used to study non-human communication.

In-person: Ground Floor Seminar Room, Old Cavendish Building, Free School Lane / Teams Meeting ID: 367 176 561 755, Passcode: gnqyNo

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Mon 17 Mar 12:30: Model-free and model-based methods for estimating neural timescales

Psychology Talks - Wed, 22/01/2025 - 14:55
Model-free and model-based methods for estimating neural timescales

Speaker: Roxana Zeraati, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Germany.

Title: Model-free and model-based methods for estimating neural timescales

Abstract: Ongoing neural activity unfolds across a wide range of timescales that are suggested to reflect the diversity of behavioral timescales. However, to gain a holistic understanding of how neural timescales relate to behavior and cognitive function we need to develop analysis methods to precisely estimate neural timescales from limited data recorded during cognitive tasks. In this talk, I will first give an overview of neural timescales and various findings relating them to behavior. Then, I will dive into different model-free and model-based methods for estimating timescales. In particular, I will present our recent model-based Bayesian method that estimates timescales using generative models, allowing for unbiased estimation of timescales from short experimental recordings. Such methods based on generative models can be adopted for estimating timescales across different data modalities, by incorporating various mechanistic assumptions and data features.

Bio: Roxana Zeraati has a background in physics and biomedical engineering. She completed her PhD at the University of Tübingen working with Anna Levina and Tatiana Engel. Currently, she is a postdoctoral researcher in Peter Dayan’s lab at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics.

Venue: MRC CBU West Wing Seminar Room and Zoom https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82385113580?pwd=RmxIUmphQW9Ud1JBby9nTDQzR0NRdz09 (Meeting ID: 823 8511 3580; Passcode: 299077)

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Mon 31 Mar 12:30: Artefacts in MEG data

Psychology Talks - Wed, 22/01/2025 - 11:58
Artefacts in MEG data

Abstract: TBC

Venue: MRC CBU West Wing Seminar Room and Zoom https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82385113580?pwd=RmxIUmphQW9Ud1JBby9nTDQzR0NRdz09 (Meeting ID: 823 8511 3580; Passcode: 299077)

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