Amitai Shenhav
@ashenhav.bsky.social
Associate Professor, Dept of Psychology, UC Berkeley.
PI of @shenhavlab.bsky.social
https://www.shenhavlab.org/
PI of @shenhavlab.bsky.social
https://www.shenhavlab.org/
Pinned
Amitai Shenhav
@ashenhav.bsky.social
· Sep 8
How to make a choice when the options suck | Amitai Shenhav | TEDxNewEngland
YouTube video by TEDx Talks
www.youtube.com
I'm happy to now be able to share a talk I gave at TEDx New England last Fall!
The talk is about our lab's work on what makes decisions costly, and how to make them less so.
I discuss lessons for all kinds of decisions, including getting people to vote.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeHg...
The talk is about our lab's work on what makes decisions costly, and how to make them less so.
I discuss lessons for all kinds of decisions, including getting people to vote.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeHg...
Reposted by Amitai Shenhav
I'm excited to announce that I had my first (co-authored) book published today! "The Rational Use of Cognitive Resources" with Falk Lieder and Tom Griffiths (@cocoscilab.bsky.social ). You can read it for free! (see thread)
February 18, 2026 at 1:05 AM
I'm excited to announce that I had my first (co-authored) book published today! "The Rational Use of Cognitive Resources" with Falk Lieder and Tom Griffiths (@cocoscilab.bsky.social ). You can read it for free! (see thread)
Reposted by Amitai Shenhav
New publication from Dr. Harrison Ritz! Published in Nature's Communications Psychology, this work challenges existing models of adaptive control in decision-making, revealing how misspecified models can create misleading findings. Important methodological insights
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Misspecified models create the appearance of adaptive control during value-based choice - Communications Psychology
In a new computational analysis of previous work, this study shows that a control-free mechanism better accounts for value-based decisions than an account that assumes top-down control invigorating th...
www.nature.com
February 14, 2026 at 10:41 PM
New publication from Dr. Harrison Ritz! Published in Nature's Communications Psychology, this work challenges existing models of adaptive control in decision-making, revealing how misspecified models can create misleading findings. Important methodological insights
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Reposted by Amitai Shenhav
I am looking to hire 2-3 post-docs over the course of the next few months to work on questions related to cognitive control in humans, broadly construed. EEG, TMS, DBS, sEEG, fMRI or related methodological experience preferred.
Apply here:
jobs.uiowa.edu/jobSearch/po...
Lab website: wessellab.org
Apply here:
jobs.uiowa.edu/jobSearch/po...
Lab website: wessellab.org
Postdoctoral Requisition Details - Jobs@UIOWA: Search and Apply for Jobs at The University of Iowa
Jobs@UIOWA: The official place to search and apply for jobs at The University of Iowa.
jobs.uiowa.edu
February 13, 2026 at 10:54 PM
I am looking to hire 2-3 post-docs over the course of the next few months to work on questions related to cognitive control in humans, broadly construed. EEG, TMS, DBS, sEEG, fMRI or related methodological experience preferred.
Apply here:
jobs.uiowa.edu/jobSearch/po...
Lab website: wessellab.org
Apply here:
jobs.uiowa.edu/jobSearch/po...
Lab website: wessellab.org
Reposted by Amitai Shenhav
I will be hiring a full-time pre-doctoral Research Professional to work with me at Chicago Booth.
Know someone interested in studying conversation and connection? Please help spread the word!
More details, including application instructions, are here: www.chicagobooth.edu/-/media/facu...
Know someone interested in studying conversation and connection? Please help spread the word!
More details, including application instructions, are here: www.chicagobooth.edu/-/media/facu...
www.chicagobooth.edu
February 13, 2026 at 5:51 PM
I will be hiring a full-time pre-doctoral Research Professional to work with me at Chicago Booth.
Know someone interested in studying conversation and connection? Please help spread the word!
More details, including application instructions, are here: www.chicagobooth.edu/-/media/facu...
Know someone interested in studying conversation and connection? Please help spread the word!
More details, including application instructions, are here: www.chicagobooth.edu/-/media/facu...
Reposted by Amitai Shenhav
Join us in celebrating this year's award winners as they share their amazing work on Saturday, March 14th from 9:45am-10:45am at the SAS 2026 Awards Symposium! 🏆
#SAS2026
#SAS2026
February 13, 2026 at 5:40 PM
Join us in celebrating this year's award winners as they share their amazing work on Saturday, March 14th from 9:45am-10:45am at the SAS 2026 Awards Symposium! 🏆
#SAS2026
#SAS2026
Reposted by Amitai Shenhav
My lab at UW Madison is hiring a new lab manager! I’m looking for a motivated and detail-oriented person to help run the lab’s day-to-day, including our ongoing neuroimaging and behavioral studies. This is especially well suited for graduating undergrads thinking about grad school. Link below
February 12, 2026 at 6:21 PM
My lab at UW Madison is hiring a new lab manager! I’m looking for a motivated and detail-oriented person to help run the lab’s day-to-day, including our ongoing neuroimaging and behavioral studies. This is especially well suited for graduating undergrads thinking about grad school. Link below
Reposted by Amitai Shenhav
New from SAS! We’re launching a Teaching Resource Repository and inviting members to share syllabi, slides, readings, and assignments. Help build a shared teaching hub for affective science—submit by Feb 15 (ongoing after!) #sas2026
February 12, 2026 at 11:55 PM
New from SAS! We’re launching a Teaching Resource Repository and inviting members to share syllabi, slides, readings, and assignments. Help build a shared teaching hub for affective science—submit by Feb 15 (ongoing after!) #sas2026
Reposted by Amitai Shenhav
👀Take a look at this year's invited speakers! Spread out across all 3 days of the conference, they will cover a range of topics from AI tools, interpersonal relationships, language, and how each intersects with affective science. Can't wait to see you all there!! #sas2026
February 10, 2026 at 1:05 AM
👀Take a look at this year's invited speakers! Spread out across all 3 days of the conference, they will cover a range of topics from AI tools, interpersonal relationships, language, and how each intersects with affective science. Can't wait to see you all there!! #sas2026
Reposted by Amitai Shenhav
RhetAI is an interdisciplinary group aiming to explore "the intersection of AI and Persuasion to foster safer technology" Their second summit is at UCI - if you're in southern California, please stop by! www.rhetai.com/register
February 9, 2026 at 4:20 PM
RhetAI is an interdisciplinary group aiming to explore "the intersection of AI and Persuasion to foster safer technology" Their second summit is at UCI - if you're in southern California, please stop by! www.rhetai.com/register
Reposted by Amitai Shenhav
My TEDxNewEngland talk is out!!!
By identifying commonalities among evolving systems, both living and nonliving, we can develop an expanded concept of evolution that describes the emergence of complex phenomena and reflects the creativity of the cosmos.
By identifying commonalities among evolving systems, both living and nonliving, we can develop an expanded concept of evolution that describes the emergence of complex phenomena and reflects the creativity of the cosmos.
How do non-living things ‘evolve’? | Michael Wong | TEDxNewEngland
YouTube video by TEDx Talks
www.youtube.com
February 8, 2026 at 5:58 PM
My TEDxNewEngland talk is out!!!
By identifying commonalities among evolving systems, both living and nonliving, we can develop an expanded concept of evolution that describes the emergence of complex phenomena and reflects the creativity of the cosmos.
By identifying commonalities among evolving systems, both living and nonliving, we can develop an expanded concept of evolution that describes the emergence of complex phenomena and reflects the creativity of the cosmos.
Reposted by Amitai Shenhav
This hasn't stopped in Los Angeles, it's just no longer "news" - the only reason this kidnapping was reported is be because it happened directly in front of an NPR journalist who writes on immigration.
NPR's Adrian Florido has been buying fruit from the same fruit-cart vendor in his LA neighborhood for years. On Tuesday, Florido was there when federal immigration agents whisked him away.
Reporter's Notebook: He was my fruit vendor for years. I saw immigration agents take him
NPR's Adrian Florido has been buying fruit from the same fruit-cart vendor in his LA neighborhood for years. On Tuesday, Florido was there when federal immigration agents whisked him away.
n.pr
February 7, 2026 at 5:20 PM
This hasn't stopped in Los Angeles, it's just no longer "news" - the only reason this kidnapping was reported is be because it happened directly in front of an NPR journalist who writes on immigration.
Reposted by Amitai Shenhav
Why I’m running for Congress: www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2026...
Why I'm running for Congress
Congress today is deeply polarized, ignores the priorities of voters, and fails to check the other two branches of government. But neither party, Democrats nor Republicans, is meeting our moment of ne...
www.dailyprincetonian.com
February 6, 2026 at 5:38 AM
Why I’m running for Congress: www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2026...
Reposted by Amitai Shenhav
Knowing that there are people actively working toward a better and more peaceful world gives me hope. This Friday, you can hear from some folks who have been carefully thinking about ways in which behavioral and neural sciences can contribute to peace building. www.neuropaz.com/en
Neuropaz 2026 | Hard Truths & Paths Forward
¡Llega Neuropaz 2023! No te la puedes perder. Infórmate aquí.
www.neuropaz.com
February 3, 2026 at 11:13 PM
Knowing that there are people actively working toward a better and more peaceful world gives me hope. This Friday, you can hear from some folks who have been carefully thinking about ways in which behavioral and neural sciences can contribute to peace building. www.neuropaz.com/en
Reposted by Amitai Shenhav
Excited to share our chapter "Breaking the Tug-of-War: What Neuroeconomics Can Gain by Moving Past Competition-Only Models" with Yi-Hsin Su, Romy Frömer, and @ashenhav.bsky.social, now out in the new volume, "Neuroeconomics: Core Topics and Current Directions"!
doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-02925-6_10
doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-02925-6_10
Breaking the Tug-of-War: What Neuroeconomics Can Gain by Moving Past Competition-Only Models
Popular models of decision-making characterize choice dynamics as a tug-of-war process, where evidence for competing options accumulates until a threshold is reached. While these models capture severa...
doi.org
February 5, 2026 at 7:48 AM
Excited to share our chapter "Breaking the Tug-of-War: What Neuroeconomics Can Gain by Moving Past Competition-Only Models" with Yi-Hsin Su, Romy Frömer, and @ashenhav.bsky.social, now out in the new volume, "Neuroeconomics: Core Topics and Current Directions"!
doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-02925-6_10
doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-02925-6_10
Critical reading (imho) if you are interested in the dynamics underlying decision-making, esp. if you (like us) had previously tended to view this through the lens of drift diffusion models (or softmax)!
@jasonleng.bsky.social, Sheen, & Romy do an amazing job tying together many disparate threads!
@jasonleng.bsky.social, Sheen, & Romy do an amazing job tying together many disparate threads!
If you’ve been taught to think of decisions as a tug-of-war 🪢 (e.g., DDM), our new chapter will try to convince you otherwise!
We show that these models miss key aspects of traditional choices, & prevent us from understanding non-traditional ones (e.g., whether/when/how many to choose).
🔗 below:
We show that these models miss key aspects of traditional choices, & prevent us from understanding non-traditional ones (e.g., whether/when/how many to choose).
🔗 below:
Excited to share our chapter "Breaking the Tug-of-War: What Neuroeconomics Can Gain by Moving Past Competition-Only Models" with Yi-Hsin Su, Romy Frömer, and @ashenhav.bsky.social, now out in the new volume, "Neuroeconomics: Core Topics and Current Directions"!
doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-02925-6_10
doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-02925-6_10
February 5, 2026 at 10:24 PM
Critical reading (imho) if you are interested in the dynamics underlying decision-making, esp. if you (like us) had previously tended to view this through the lens of drift diffusion models (or softmax)!
@jasonleng.bsky.social, Sheen, & Romy do an amazing job tying together many disparate threads!
@jasonleng.bsky.social, Sheen, & Romy do an amazing job tying together many disparate threads!
Reposted by Amitai Shenhav
💥New paper alert! Dyadic Decisions About Effort: How Caregivers Shape Young Children’s Persistence (with @reutshachnai.bsky.social)
One of my favorites! If you’re curious about what we’ve been up to in @leonardlearnlab.bsky.social, take a look!
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
One of my favorites! If you’re curious about what we’ve been up to in @leonardlearnlab.bsky.social, take a look!
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
February 3, 2026 at 1:49 PM
💥New paper alert! Dyadic Decisions About Effort: How Caregivers Shape Young Children’s Persistence (with @reutshachnai.bsky.social)
One of my favorites! If you’re curious about what we’ve been up to in @leonardlearnlab.bsky.social, take a look!
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
One of my favorites! If you’re curious about what we’ve been up to in @leonardlearnlab.bsky.social, take a look!
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Reposted by Amitai Shenhav
Our latest paper, spearheaded by @hritz.bsky.social and Romy Frömer, is now out in Communications Psychology!! 🎉🎉
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
See Harrison's excellent 🧵 below to learn more about what we found:
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
See Harrison's excellent 🧵 below to learn more about what we found:
February 3, 2026 at 11:45 PM
Our latest paper, spearheaded by @hritz.bsky.social and Romy Frömer, is now out in Communications Psychology!! 🎉🎉
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
See Harrison's excellent 🧵 below to learn more about what we found:
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
See Harrison's excellent 🧵 below to learn more about what we found:
Reposted by Amitai Shenhav
Final paper of my PhD 🤗
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
There is growing interest in how cognitive control may improve value-based decision making.
However, we find that a recent paper overestimated the role of control in their task, leading to erroneous interpretations of dACC recordings.
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
There is growing interest in how cognitive control may improve value-based decision making.
However, we find that a recent paper overestimated the role of control in their task, leading to erroneous interpretations of dACC recordings.
Misspecified models create the appearance of adaptive control during value-based choice - Communications Psychology
In a new computational analysis of previous work, this study shows that a control-free mechanism better accounts for value-based decisions than an account that assumes top-down control invigorating th...
www.nature.com
February 3, 2026 at 10:59 PM
Final paper of my PhD 🤗
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
There is growing interest in how cognitive control may improve value-based decision making.
However, we find that a recent paper overestimated the role of control in their task, leading to erroneous interpretations of dACC recordings.
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
There is growing interest in how cognitive control may improve value-based decision making.
However, we find that a recent paper overestimated the role of control in their task, leading to erroneous interpretations of dACC recordings.
Reposted by Amitai Shenhav
News from central Jersey: I'm running to represent New Jersey's 12th Congressional District.
By entering the fray, I hope to bring ideas of repairing our frayed republic. Not only to defend it in 2026, but to build something stronger, for generations to come!
samwang.substack.com/p/entering-t...
By entering the fray, I hope to bring ideas of repairing our frayed republic. Not only to defend it in 2026, but to build something stronger, for generations to come!
samwang.substack.com/p/entering-t...
February 4, 2026 at 3:00 AM
News from central Jersey: I'm running to represent New Jersey's 12th Congressional District.
By entering the fray, I hope to bring ideas of repairing our frayed republic. Not only to defend it in 2026, but to build something stronger, for generations to come!
samwang.substack.com/p/entering-t...
By entering the fray, I hope to bring ideas of repairing our frayed republic. Not only to defend it in 2026, but to build something stronger, for generations to come!
samwang.substack.com/p/entering-t...
Reposted by Amitai Shenhav
First was an interesting talk by @ashenhav.bsky.social on an affect-centered account of motivated behavior at @motcogmeet.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9Ph... (2/10)
The Affective Gradient Hypothesis: An Affect-Centered Account of Motivated Behavior - Amitai Shenhav
YouTube video by motcogmeet
www.youtube.com
January 31, 2026 at 3:54 AM
First was an interesting talk by @ashenhav.bsky.social on an affect-centered account of motivated behavior at @motcogmeet.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9Ph... (2/10)
Reposted by Amitai Shenhav
Don't forget to register for SAS 2026! While you can still register up til the day of the conference, you get the best rates with the early bird special 🐥🦜🐦⬛ #SAS2026
January 30, 2026 at 2:48 PM
Don't forget to register for SAS 2026! While you can still register up til the day of the conference, you get the best rates with the early bird special 🐥🦜🐦⬛ #SAS2026
Reposted by Amitai Shenhav
🚨Thrilled to share I am able to hire someone (PhD preferred) with coding expertise to work on our HAPPE software for EEG! Knowledge of Matlab, Python, and EEG signal processing required. Enthusiasm for teaching/mentoring, collaboration, and developmental science preferred!
January 29, 2026 at 2:00 AM
🚨Thrilled to share I am able to hire someone (PhD preferred) with coding expertise to work on our HAPPE software for EEG! Knowledge of Matlab, Python, and EEG signal processing required. Enthusiasm for teaching/mentoring, collaboration, and developmental science preferred!
Reposted by Amitai Shenhav
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Stay free
Stay free
Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen
youtu.be
January 28, 2026 at 5:02 PM
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Stay free
Stay free
Reposted by Amitai Shenhav
Have a data set, skill, analytical technique, or specialized piece of equipment that you're eager to use, but need help to fill in the missing pieces? Sign up for the Collaboration Fair build community & foster innovative research. Submit by 02/13/26: bit.ly/4q2DeGK
January 26, 2026 at 3:04 PM
Have a data set, skill, analytical technique, or specialized piece of equipment that you're eager to use, but need help to fill in the missing pieces? Sign up for the Collaboration Fair build community & foster innovative research. Submit by 02/13/26: bit.ly/4q2DeGK
Reposted by Amitai Shenhav
YouGov is out with a new poll after ICE killed another person in Minnesota today. Abolishing ICE is now +5 among all adults, and **+12 among independents**
substack.com/@gelliottmor...
substack.com/@gelliottmor...
January 25, 2026 at 2:10 AM
YouGov is out with a new poll after ICE killed another person in Minnesota today. Abolishing ICE is now +5 among all adults, and **+12 among independents**
substack.com/@gelliottmor...
substack.com/@gelliottmor...