Ashley Thomas
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ashleyjthomas.bsky.social
Ashley Thomas
@ashleyjthomas.bsky.social
1.6K followers 940 following 160 posts
Assistant Professor she/her. I study how people think about social relationships. Usually with babies and kids.
ashleyjthomas.com
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ashleyjthomas.bsky.social
Oops -- we should have included a pre-print, but here it is! osf.io/preprints/ps... Abstract core knowledge may shape the basins of cultural attraction: romantic kissing as a case study
January 6, 2026 at 9:48 PM
Reposted by Ashley Thomas
shirleybwang.bsky.social
Yale Psychology is accepting applications for the Susan Nolen-Hoeksema postdoctoral fellowship! Open to a broad range of areas in psychology, and applicants should identify 1 or more potential faculty mentors.

Apply by Feb 1, 2026: apply.interfolio.com/178435
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
December 4, 2025 at 1:26 AM
ashleyjthomas.bsky.social
Hossein was supposed to come to my lab as a grad student but couldn’t because of the travel ban. I had a blast writing this paper with him, but it was bittersweet knowing he should have been in person with us. ❤️ check out 🧵below. part of a special issue on kissing led by Deb Lieberman.
hsamani.bsky.social Hossein Samani @hsamani.bsky.social · 4d
This paper is like a souvenir of one of the most frantic and meaningful periods of my life — started during a war and travel bans and now published amid social protests in my home country.
Many thanks to @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social for her amazing warmth and support throughout this journey!
hsamani.bsky.social Hossein Samani @hsamani.bsky.social · 4d
1/ Romantic kissing 👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨 is common across cultures—but NOT universal.

Of note, societies with little contact seem to “reinvent” it.

We argue this is b/c kissing sits in a cultural basin of attraction carved by our early‑emerging understanding of intimacy. 🧵

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
January 3, 2026 at 6:26 PM
Reposted by Ashley Thomas
mekline.bsky.social
This is a fundraising post!

An anonymous donor is matching contributions to Children Helping Science up to 100K through the end of the year - if it's in your giving budget, please consider supporting open science infrastructure!

giving.mit.edu/search/node/...

Details below...
Fund Search Results | Giving to MIT
giving.mit.edu
December 8, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Reposted by Ashley Thomas
drlarisa.bsky.social
Thank you to Christina Steele for sharing her work with @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social in lab meeting today! Christina shared neat findings on implicit attitudes toward interracial couples, building on her prior work on development of understanding about relationships. Interesting & important project!
watermark02.silverchair.com
December 5, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Reposted by Ashley Thomas
smellosopher.bsky.social
Listening to Rachna Reddy's interview @rad-institute.bsky.social podcast about her work on chimp development, adolescence, and sociality. Fascinating research!
www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/news-and-ide...
Episode 502: Chimp Change—What Great Ape Adolescence Reveals About Us | Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University
www.radcliffe.harvard.edu
November 24, 2025 at 10:31 AM
Reposted by Ashley Thomas
christophvoelter.bsky.social
Fully funded #PhDposition in Comparative Cultural Psychology @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social.
We will use touchscreen experiments & eyetracking to study mental simulations in nonhuman apes & human children across different cultures.

All info here: www.eva.mpg.de/career/posit...
Please share / apply!🙏
Positions available - Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
www.eva.mpg.de
November 13, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Reposted by Ashley Thomas
ashleyjthomas.bsky.social
Interested in understanding how young humans think about social relationships? I am reading PhD applications this year! **Please note**, that Harvard now requires the GRE. More information here: www.ashleyjthomas.com/workwithme
WANT TO WORK WITH ME? | Mysite
www.ashleyjthomas.com
October 6, 2025 at 8:55 PM
ashleyjthomas.bsky.social
Three robot costumes, large medium and small A family one child frowning a small child in a robot costume not looking
November 1, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Reposted by Ashley Thomas
emilymsanford.bsky.social
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” 🧵
Chimpanzees rationally revise their beliefs
The selective revision of beliefs in light of new evidence has been considered one of the hallmarks of human-level rationality. However, tests of this ability in other species are lacking. We examined...
www.science.org
October 30, 2025 at 6:23 PM
ashleyjthomas.bsky.social
Interested in understanding how young humans think about social relationships? I am reading PhD applications this year! **Please note**, that Harvard now requires the GRE. More information here: www.ashleyjthomas.com/workwithme
WANT TO WORK WITH ME? | Mysite
www.ashleyjthomas.com
October 6, 2025 at 8:55 PM
ashleyjthomas.bsky.social
Interested in applying to graduate programs or research positions in psychology? Want more information and feedback on your submission materials? Then Harvard’s Prospective Ph.D. & RA Event in Psychology (PPREP) Is for you!! psychology.fas.harvard.edu/pprep
More info in the link!! Please retweet!
PPREP Program | Department of Psychology
psychology.fas.harvard.edu
September 5, 2025 at 2:00 AM
Reposted by Ashley Thomas
setayeshradkani.bsky.social
🚨Out in PNAS🚨
with @joshtenenbaum.bsky.social & @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social

Punishment, even when intended to teach norms and change minds for the good, may backfire.

Our computational cognitive model explains why!

Paper: tinyurl.com/yc7fs4x7
News: tinyurl.com/3h3446wu

🧵
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
tinyurl.com
August 8, 2025 at 2:04 PM
ashleyjthomas.bsky.social
The lab feels so empty without our summer interns!
August 13, 2025 at 1:59 AM
Reposted by Ashley Thomas
adenaschachner.bsky.social
I and my lab are happy to be at #cogsci2025! Here's a shortcut to find work from the fabulous folks in my lab (and me) 😄
On Wednesday: Adena Schachner, talk: "Intuitive Archeology: Social reasoning from the physical world”, W ~10 am, Fourth Level (Pacific) Room A. Chaolan Lin & Adena Schachner, poster: "How children explore and detect augmented reality filters", W 10-11 am, Fourth level (Pacific) Room E. On Thursday: Amy Nguyễn, Rodney Tompkins & Adena Schachner, poster, "When walls talk: People make social inferences from towns’ protective features", Th 1:00-2:15, P1-T-194 On Saturday: Chaolan Lin & Adena Schachner, poster, "Perceived musicality in an android increases positive social attributions", Sat 1:00-2:15, P3-L-113 Shirley Liu, Craig McKenzie & Adena Schachner, poster, "When Default Options Explain Away Preferences: A Causal Reasoning Account of Mental State Reasoning from Default Options ", Sat 1:00-2:15, P3-L-11
July 30, 2025 at 1:13 AM
Reposted by Ashley Thomas
leonardlearnlab.bsky.social
The Learning Lab is heading to CogSci 2025 (@cogscisociety.bsky.social) to share our latest research! Come say hello!
July 28, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Reposted by Ashley Thomas
shariliu.bsky.social
Who's excited for #CogSci2025? 💭
Schedule for the LIU LAB at CogSci 2025 conference, featuring a variety of workshops and presentations. Wednesday, July 30 Workshop 1: "Putting it together: Interactions between domains of cognition" at 8:30 AM, presented by Shari Liu and Joseph Outa. Thursday, July 31 P1-C-24: "Surprise isn’t symmetrical: Adults’ looking suggests non-perceptual considerations during dishabituation" from 1:00 PM to 2:15 PM, presented by Qiong Cao, Anjie Cao, Gal Raz, Josh Tenenbaum, and Shari Liu. Friday, August 1 Lecture in Symposium 4: "Perceiving and reasoning jointly about the social and physical world" at 9:40 AM, presented by Shari Liu. P2-O-146: "Adults hold two parallel causal frameworks for reasoning about people’s minds, actions, and bodies" from 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM, presented by Joseph Outa and Shari Liu. Saturday, August 2 P3-B-15: "Who drew this? Children appreciate visual style differently than adults" from 1:00 PM to 2:15 PM, presented by Tal Boger, Chaz Firestone, and Shari Liu. P3-K-95: "Pushing people: the neural basis of social interaction perception" from 1:00 PM to 2:15 PM, presented by Minjae Kim, Miriam Hauptman, and Shari Liu. Talks 49: "Learning and Development 5" from 3:21 PM to 3:45 PM, presenting findings on individual differences in habituation and dishabituation, by Anjie Cao, Qiong Cao, Michael Frank, and Shari Liu. The schedule includes a call to attendees to "Come and say hi!" at the event.
July 28, 2025 at 12:46 AM
Reposted by Ashley Thomas
lindseypowell.bsky.social
The SoCal Lab is headed to #cogsci2025 this week! Here's where you can find us:
A list of the SoCal Lab's presentations at CogSci. In brief: Lindsey Powell is giving talks in Workshop 1 on July 30 at 9:30 am and in Symposium 1 on July 31. Tori Hennessy is giving a talk in the Development of Social Cognition 1 session on July 31. Bill Pepe is giving a talk in the Development of Social Cognition session on August 1. Coxi Jiang is giving a talk in the Emotion session on August 1. Rodney Tompkins is presenting a poster in Session 2 on August 1.
July 28, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Reposted by Ashley Thomas
brandonwoo.bsky.social
Looking forward to #CogSci2025! Anushka Laha and I will be sharing some of the first work from our lab
A visual with the presentations from the lab Brandon Woo Social engagement leads infants to represent people as individuals Development of Social Cognition I Thu, July 31 | 10:30 am to 12:00 pm PST Salon 6 Anushka Laha Young children spontaneously appreciate the perspectives of their social partners Virtual Poster Session 1 Thu, July 31 | 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm PST
July 28, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Reposted by Ashley Thomas
shariliu.bsky.social
If you are attending #CogSci2025 I hope you will consider attending our pre-conference workshop on July 29 - "Putting it Together: Interactions Between Domains of Cognition"
sites.google.com/view/cogsci2...
Domain Interactions | CogSci 2025
Organizers
sites.google.com
May 20, 2025 at 9:18 PM
ashleyjthomas.bsky.social
@brandonwoo.bsky.social @lizettepizza.bsky.social
ashleyjthomas.bsky.social Ashley Thomas @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social · Jul 19
Come see my lab at the Cognitive Science Society Conference #cogsci2025
Poster that feature talks from the Thomas Lab at the Cognitive Science Society. The Thomas Lab at CogSci 2025 July 31st Brandon woo Social Engagement Leads Infants to Represent People as Individuals Oral Talk Session: Development of Social Cognition 1 Time: 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM Location: Salon 6 Denise Lopez Flores Preliminary Evidence that Infants and Children Use Accents to Inform Relational Expectations Poster Session 1: (PL1-L-118) Time: 1:00 PM - 2:15 PM Location: Salon 8 Friday August 1st Emma Yu Children Expect Emotional Consolation to Occur in Close Relationships Oral Talk Session: Development of Social Cognition 2 Time: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM Location: Nob Hill B Min Feldman Do children use action frequency to infer social closeness? Poster Session 2: (P2-F-55) Time: 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM Location: Salon 8 Christina Steele Navigating Family Ties: Young Children's Cognitive Representations of the Family Network Oral Talk Session: Learning and Development 3 Time: 4:00PM - 5:30PM Location: Nob Hill D Hannah Hok Kim Written in Stone: Lay intuitions about the emergence and impact of formal rules Poster Session 2: (P2-H-77) Time: 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM Location: Salon 8 Saturday August 2 Lizette Pizza Do People Value Plants Over Non-Living Entities? Moral Considerations in Adults and Young Children Poster Session 3: (P3-P-158) Time: 1:00 PM - 2:15 PM Location: Salon 8 Megan Richardson Children's Expectations of Emotional Intimacy in Close Relationships Poster Session 3: (P3-R-165) Time: 1:00 PM - 2:15 PM Location: Salon 8 Mack Briscoe When to speak up: How children reason about group dynamics Poster Session 3: (P3-B-18) Time: 1:00 PM - 2:15 PM Location: Salon 8
July 19, 2025 at 2:31 AM
ashleyjthomas.bsky.social
Come see my lab at the Cognitive Science Society Conference #cogsci2025
Poster that feature talks from the Thomas Lab at the Cognitive Science Society. The Thomas Lab at CogSci 2025 July 31st Brandon woo Social Engagement Leads Infants to Represent People as Individuals Oral Talk Session: Development of Social Cognition 1 Time: 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM Location: Salon 6 Denise Lopez Flores Preliminary Evidence that Infants and Children Use Accents to Inform Relational Expectations Poster Session 1: (PL1-L-118) Time: 1:00 PM - 2:15 PM Location: Salon 8 Friday August 1st Emma Yu Children Expect Emotional Consolation to Occur in Close Relationships Oral Talk Session: Development of Social Cognition 2 Time: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM Location: Nob Hill B Min Feldman Do children use action frequency to infer social closeness? Poster Session 2: (P2-F-55) Time: 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM Location: Salon 8 Christina Steele Navigating Family Ties: Young Children's Cognitive Representations of the Family Network Oral Talk Session: Learning and Development 3 Time: 4:00PM - 5:30PM Location: Nob Hill D Hannah Hok Kim Written in Stone: Lay intuitions about the emergence and impact of formal rules Poster Session 2: (P2-H-77) Time: 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM Location: Salon 8 Saturday August 2 Lizette Pizza Do People Value Plants Over Non-Living Entities? Moral Considerations in Adults and Young Children Poster Session 3: (P3-P-158) Time: 1:00 PM - 2:15 PM Location: Salon 8 Megan Richardson Children's Expectations of Emotional Intimacy in Close Relationships Poster Session 3: (P3-R-165) Time: 1:00 PM - 2:15 PM Location: Salon 8 Mack Briscoe When to speak up: How children reason about group dynamics Poster Session 3: (P3-B-18) Time: 1:00 PM - 2:15 PM Location: Salon 8
July 19, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Reposted by Ashley Thomas
lindseypowell.bsky.social
New preprint! Led by Bill Pepe, with @brandonwoo.bsky.social and @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social. We asked if infants think helping and hindering stem from actors' dispositions (i.e. good/nice v bad/mean) or their social relationships, by testing expectations for future behavior: osf.io/preprints/ps...
OSF
osf.io
July 17, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Reposted by Ashley Thomas
nakedprimate.bsky.social
📣 Join the K/Creative Ape Team 🤓 2 PhDs on Creativity in Wild Chimpanzees & Bonobos; w myself & the v awesome @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social

@snf-fns.ch Uni Zurich @uniofstandrews.bsky.social @efp2026.bsky.social @ips-primatenews.bsky.social @primatesocietygb.bsky.social @primbehavecol.bsky.social 🐵🧪
two 4-year PhD positions in the Ape Behaviour & Ecology Group of the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Zurich, and the Wild Minds Lab of the School of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of St Andrews, to study wild chimpanzees and bonobos. The PhD candidates will work within the Creative Ape Project. The overall goal of the project is to enhance our understanding of the evolution of creativity, and to shed light on whether humans are a uniquely 'creative ape'. To do so we will apply a comparative approach, quantifying the creative capacities of wild non-human apes to investigate the underlying drivers that shape creative expression across species. The project explores four interconnected topics: i) Making mavericks, ii) Funny guys and arty-types, iii) Lone ape geniuses, and iv) Creative ape economies. We employ a comprehensive approach that leverages long-term datasets, new field data, detailed manual video-coding, bespoke automated deep-learning models, and advanced modelling, to extract rich information on the ways in which apes solve problems in their daily lives. Excellent collaborative, independent working and time management skills are essential. Previous field experience (incl. behavioural data collection) is required, and experience working in remote places under difficult living conditions is highly recommended. The project will require strong data management and data analysis skills, and 12-18 months of field work split into 2-3 periods. Please submit your application in a single PDF to kathelijne.koops@iea.uzh.ch and clh42@st-andrews.ac.uk – by 4th of August 2025. Feel free to get in touch if you have any inquiries about the positions. Applications should include: 1) cover letter stating your motivation and how your expertise fits the project (max. 1 page), 2) Curriculum Vitae, 3) copy of the highest degree obtained, 4) names and contact details of two referees, and 5) reprints of 1-2 selected publications A tiny chimpfant looks at the camera with surprise
July 2, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Reposted by Ashley Thomas
tomerullman.bsky.social
🎈 Out now: 🎈

"The capacity limits of moving objects in the imagination"

(by Balaban & me)

of interest to people thinking about the imagination, intuitive physics, mental simulation, capacity limits, and more

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
July 2, 2025 at 1:10 PM