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Luc Boutsen

@lucboutsen

Cognitive psychologist, interested in vision, attention, faces, objects, M/EEG, eyetracking, neuropsychology.

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Latest posts by Luc Boutsen @lucboutsen

saying you’ll stand up for attacks on science in the US while honouring the person responsible for the attacks is like handing out bandages to people who are being savaged by your pet dog, while doing nothing to restrain him

26.03.2025 07:30 πŸ‘ 327 πŸ” 104 πŸ’¬ 9 πŸ“Œ 5

Out today! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

05.08.2025 21:58 πŸ‘ 61 πŸ” 18 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 2

In Dutch / Flemish we say Only the sun rises for free (β€œVoor niks gaat de zon op”)

16.07.2025 23:56 πŸ‘ 25 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Given how intensely pressured academic careers are it is not surprising peer review systems and research outputs are at risk of becoming less thorough than expected. #slowscience

05.07.2025 13:00 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Excited to announce a call for papers for a new virtual special issue in Cortex on Concept Knowledge.

Our opening editorial, plus further information and guidance for authors can be found here:

www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...

21.06.2025 08:25 πŸ‘ 18 πŸ” 11 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

This is shocking behaviour by Wiley; the stated justification does not stand up.
I will not be doing any peer review for Wiley journals in future.

17.06.2025 08:44 πŸ‘ 55 πŸ” 22 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Well done, get better soon and enjoy your sabbatical!

11.06.2025 12:25 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The proportion of p-values between .01 and .05 declined in psychology over the last decade, a strengthening of credibility.

Papers with fewer fragile p-values are cited more. Higher ranked journals assoc. with > improvement, but not higher ranked universities.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

02.06.2025 10:56 πŸ‘ 151 πŸ” 56 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 16
NSF, NASA and NIH budgets per year, inflation adjusted from 2000-2025 along with the proposed cuts. NSF includes research component only. Massive cuts across all sectors, well below support spanning 25 years.

NSF, NASA and NIH budgets per year, inflation adjusted from 2000-2025 along with the proposed cuts. NSF includes research component only. Massive cuts across all sectors, well below support spanning 25 years.

How bad will it be? Catastrophic.

Proposed cuts to #NSF, #NIH, and #NASA will set the US R&D landscape back 25 yrs+, cause economic and job loss now, and undermine innovations to come.

But, this is the WH's *proposed* budget.

Speak up now before it is too late.

(inflation adjusted $-s below)

31.05.2025 02:50 πŸ‘ 2605 πŸ” 1369 πŸ’¬ 70 πŸ“Œ 125

Well, it's a while since I gave these talks, but i'm pleased that UKRN has now got them up online with a DOI:
Productivity and reproducibility: conflicting pressures on scientists? 10.52843/cassyni.504m8k
How current research practices are damaging science: 10.52843/cassyni.dwp8lw
Enjoy!

29.05.2025 09:47 πŸ‘ 21 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

If only a handful of Republicans in the Senate had the decency to caucus with Democrats and end this madness, not because they agree with capital D Democrats but because they valued lower case d democracy. The fact that this is so implausible is capital D Depressing.

22.05.2025 22:06 πŸ‘ 21 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
A group of researchers standing outside a building. At first glance they look like different people because they have distinctive hairstyles and are wearing different clothes. But their faces are in fact identical and were generated by averaging many faces. This image illustrates how some people with face blindness (prosopagnosia) find it very difficult to tell faces apart despite seeing them clearly.

A group of researchers standing outside a building. At first glance they look like different people because they have distinctive hairstyles and are wearing different clothes. But their faces are in fact identical and were generated by averaging many faces. This image illustrates how some people with face blindness (prosopagnosia) find it very difficult to tell faces apart despite seeing them clearly.

New paper out. We asked 29 people with developmental #prosopagnosia (face blindness) what it was like living with the condition and also analysed their objective scores on lab tests of face recognition dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

01.05.2025 14:13 πŸ‘ 24 πŸ” 17 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1
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Against Language Barriers: A Call to Protect International Education in Dutch Academia

An open letter supporting the international bachelor’s psychology programs threatened for cuts. Proceeding with these cuts would damage some of the most important and impactful psychology departments globally. #supportdutchpsychology

openletter.earth/against-lang...

28.04.2025 22:46 πŸ‘ 71 πŸ” 58 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 6

Congratulations and best of luck! Keep that enthusiasm for working in academia, it can be tough but is worth it.

22.04.2025 21:35 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Harvard sued the Trump admin today πŸ’ͺ🏽πŸ₯³πŸ’―

www.harvard.edu/research-fun...

21.04.2025 21:14 πŸ‘ 1096 πŸ” 216 πŸ’¬ 32 πŸ“Œ 38

From random walk to guided search

20.04.2025 16:10 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I wonder what the cost benefit analysis of having an ID card looks like - if ever there was one.

18.04.2025 23:04 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Come back to B’ham Kim!

18.04.2025 22:59 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
A hand drawn graph showing the rise in global land temperatures published in 1938.

A hand drawn graph showing the rise in global land temperatures published in 1938.

87 years ago.

In April 1938, Guy Callendar published the first evidence from thermometer observations that the world’s land areas were warming.

He also linked the observed warming to the increase in atmospheric COβ‚‚ from burning coal.

87 years ago.

rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

17.04.2025 08:16 πŸ‘ 725 πŸ” 314 πŸ’¬ 16 πŸ“Œ 17

I guess Kiki can be edgy

05.04.2025 23:13 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Congratulations!

03.04.2025 17:43 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Today is the centenary of the birth of composer, conductor, writer, musical life creator Pierre Boulez (1925-2016). Here some essentials to get to know the man and his fascinating music

26.03.2025 17:07 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Royal Society honours pioneering scientists who were first female members A year-long series of events marks 80 years since admission of Marjory Stephenson and Kathleen Lonsdale in 1945

Royal Society honours pioneering scientists who were first female members
@royalsociety.org

www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

24.03.2025 15:34 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I’d say those are signs one needs professional help. Just a break won’t do.

24.03.2025 14:44 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Alexithymia may explain the genetic relationship between autism and sensory sensitivity - Translational Psychiatry Translational Psychiatry - Alexithymia may explain the genetic relationship between autism and sensory sensitivity

Exciting new study uncovering a genetic link between sensory sensitivity and #autism via #alexithymia
doi.org/10.1038/s413...
by Yorke et al. @proffrancescahappe.bsky.social and Geoff Bird

23.03.2025 17:28 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Vacancy β€” Postdoc Investigating Human Sources of Bias in AI Face Classification Models How are human ideologies and prejudices amplified by AI models? How do human biases get into AI model training data? And how does the output of such models influence the decisions and behaviors of use...

Postdoc opportunity in my lab at the University of Amsterdam!

Our project investigates human sources of bias in AI models of face classification & implications for users' behavior. Co-supervised by me and Prof Andreas Schuck.

More details here: bit.ly/4kOS8ir

Deadline is April 15. DM me with Qs!

13.03.2025 16:22 πŸ‘ 15 πŸ” 15 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 2
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Basis functions for complex social decisions in dorsomedial frontal cortex - Nature A study combining group decision-making tasks with fMRI shows that the brain’s dorsomedial prefrontal cortex uses basis functions, similar to those in the visual, motor and spatial domains, to re...

New paper β€œBasis functions for complex social decisions in dorsomedial prefrontal cortex” in @nature.com led by @mkwittmann.bsky.social with many others. We show basis functions code relations between people, similar to their role in other perceptual and motor domains www.nature.com/articles/s41...

13.03.2025 08:28 πŸ‘ 62 πŸ” 23 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 2
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Our paper in Nature (@mkwittmann.bsky.social et al.): the brain does not only process the *identity* of a person but primarily our *relationship* to them. Even on a neural level, who someone is *in relation to others* is key. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#PsychSciSky #socialpsyc #neuroskyence

12.03.2025 17:37 πŸ‘ 137 πŸ” 42 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1
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A body detection inversion effect revealed by a large-scale inattentional blindness experiment As a social species, humans preferentially attend to the faces and bodies of other people. Previous research revealed specialized cognitive mechanisms…

New Paper out in @Cognition with @peelen.bsky.social !πŸš¨πŸ“£
In a large-scale (N = 13539!) inattentional blindness experiment ran on naive museum visitors we demonstrate visual sensitivity to the πŸšΆβ€β™€οΈ upright human form πŸšΆβ€β™‚οΈ
@dondersinst.bsky.social

Open access link
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

12.03.2025 08:32 πŸ‘ 36 πŸ” 16 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1
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Scientists’ suit against top academic publishers lays bare deep frustration over unpaid peer review Researchers have sued six big academic publishers, arguing their practices are illegal and anticompetitive.

Per @statnews.com, a group of researchers has filed a lawsuit against 6 academic publishers, alleging antitrust violations.

"The need to confront what has been going on in the scientific publishing area is very overdue," said COS Sr. Director of Research Tim Errington.
πŸ—žοΈ: www.statnews.com/202...

10.03.2025 18:40 πŸ‘ 22 πŸ” 8 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0