Ashley Watts
@ashleylwatts.bsky.social
Reposted by Ashley Watts
The New York Times reports that a group of “scientific” racists misused National Institute of Health data (that families were assured would be protected) to write bogus papers on supposed to biological racial differences. Gift link.
Genetic Data From Over 20,000 U.S. Children Misused for ‘Race Science’
www.nytimes.com
January 24, 2026 at 3:15 PM
The New York Times reports that a group of “scientific” racists misused National Institute of Health data (that families were assured would be protected) to write bogus papers on supposed to biological racial differences. Gift link.
Reposted by Ashley Watts
#AcademicSky
But also:
Wow. The speed with which scholars have turned epistemic authority over to black-box algorithms, created by Big Tech who stole content from scholars.... is truly staggering.
People, this should be a time of resistance, not capitulation.
But also:
Wow. The speed with which scholars have turned epistemic authority over to black-box algorithms, created by Big Tech who stole content from scholars.... is truly staggering.
People, this should be a time of resistance, not capitulation.
January 21, 2026 at 2:45 AM
#AcademicSky
But also:
Wow. The speed with which scholars have turned epistemic authority over to black-box algorithms, created by Big Tech who stole content from scholars.... is truly staggering.
People, this should be a time of resistance, not capitulation.
But also:
Wow. The speed with which scholars have turned epistemic authority over to black-box algorithms, created by Big Tech who stole content from scholars.... is truly staggering.
People, this should be a time of resistance, not capitulation.
Reposted by Ashley Watts
I kept reading EMA studies claiming to test etiological theories of AUD, but I realized they never actually measured how people experience AUD in their daily lives. So we set out to see what we could learn with existing data.
1/19
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
1/19
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Seven Symptoms Over Nearly 4,000 Days: Item-Level Variability in the Psychometric Properties of Daily Alcohol Use Disorder Symptoms in Young Adult Drinkers - Kevin M. King, Dahyeon Kang, Megan E. Schu...
People experience symptoms of alcohol use disorders (AUD) in their daily lives, including more impairment-based symptoms (e.g., hazardous use, interpersonal pro...
journals.sagepub.com
January 19, 2026 at 8:21 PM
I kept reading EMA studies claiming to test etiological theories of AUD, but I realized they never actually measured how people experience AUD in their daily lives. So we set out to see what we could learn with existing data.
1/19
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
1/19
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Reposted by Ashley Watts
Writing is thinking
Outsourcing the entire task of writing to LLMs will deprive us of the essential creative task of interpreting our findings and generating a deeper theoretical understanding of the world.
Outsourcing the entire task of writing to LLMs will deprive us of the essential creative task of interpreting our findings and generating a deeper theoretical understanding of the world.
January 18, 2026 at 6:15 PM
Writing is thinking
Outsourcing the entire task of writing to LLMs will deprive us of the essential creative task of interpreting our findings and generating a deeper theoretical understanding of the world.
Outsourcing the entire task of writing to LLMs will deprive us of the essential creative task of interpreting our findings and generating a deeper theoretical understanding of the world.
Reposted by Ashley Watts
We still have an opening for a clinical psych postdoc to join our team. Interested applicants are welcome to email me directly for more information, and I’m happy to set up a time to chat. Please share!
We are looking for a clinical psych postdoc to join our team in 2025 or 2026 to help with studies of mood disorders and suicidal behavior in youth and families (using EEG 🧠 and EMA 📱 methods).
See www.moodemotionlab.com for more info on the lab and projects.
See www.moodemotionlab.com for more info on the lab and projects.
Mood, Emotion & Development Laboratory
The Mood, Emotion & Development Lab at Vanderbilt University is directed by Dr. Autumn Kujawa. Our research examines social and emotional development and the ways in which alterations in emotion contr...
www.moodemotionlab.com
January 9, 2026 at 11:18 PM
We still have an opening for a clinical psych postdoc to join our team. Interested applicants are welcome to email me directly for more information, and I’m happy to set up a time to chat. Please share!
Reposted by Ashley Watts
While there is so much that is disturbing about this case study in the destruction of academic freedom, one high point is the refusal of the targeted professor to submit
![Dear Dr. Sweet,
I hereby submit my S 2026 syllabus for PHIL 111, Contemporary Moral Issues, for mandatory censorship review.
The syllabus has not changed much since I last taught the course. I have made some minor adjustments to the module on Race and Gender Ideology and to the lecture on Sexual Morality. These topics are commonly covered in this type of course nationwide, and the material is discussed in depth in the assigned textbook (Fiala and MacKinnon, 10th edition). I also ask my students to read a few passages from Plato (Aristophanes' myth of the split humans and Diotima's Ladder of Love).
Please note that my course does not "advocate" any ideology; I teach students how to structure and evaluate arguments commonly raised in discussions of contemporary moral issues.
If you interpret System Rule 08.01 §2.1(b) as prohibiting these topics, I would like to remind you that the U.S. Constitution protects my course content. Texas A&M is a public institution bound by the First Amendment. The Supreme Court has noted that academic freedom is "a special concern of the First Amendment, which does not tolerate laws that cast a pall of orthodoxy over the classroom" (Keyishian v. Board of Regents, 385 U.S. 589, 603 [1967]).
Another relevant precedent is Sweezy v. New Hampshire. Here is Chief Justice Earl Warren for the majority in 1957:
"The essentiality of freedom in the community of American universities is almost self-evident. No one should underestimate the vital role in a democracy that is played by those who guide and train our youth. To impose any straitjacket upon the intellectual leaders in our colleges and universities would imperil the future of our Nation. No field of education is so thoroughly comprehended by man that new discoveries cannot yet be made. Particularly is that true in the social sciences, where few, if any, principles are accepted as absolutes. Scholarship cannot flourish in an atmosphere of suspicion and distrust. Teachers and stu](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5pjg2eunftajrebw6bxtq44g/bafkreias47524bi4ukbmlqalsyb47xjavdti7dk2khrtcpgrfedietsnee@jpeg)
January 7, 2026 at 11:32 AM
While there is so much that is disturbing about this case study in the destruction of academic freedom, one high point is the refusal of the targeted professor to submit
Reposted by Ashley Watts
Just decline the peer review invitation.
What are you people even doing?
What are you people even doing?
More than half of researchers now use AI for peer review — often against guidance
A survey of 1,600 academics found that more than 50% have used artificial-intelligence tools while peer reviewing manuscripts.
www.nature.com
December 16, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Just decline the peer review invitation.
What are you people even doing?
What are you people even doing?
Reposted by Ashley Watts
Who gives a shit!!!!!!!!!!!!! Who cares!!! Eat whatever pie!!!
Apple pie is bad. This is not really debatable. So is key lime pie, while we’re on the topic. Pecan pie is the 🐐 tho.
November 26, 2025 at 1:13 AM
Who gives a shit!!!!!!!!!!!!! Who cares!!! Eat whatever pie!!!
Reposted by Ashley Watts
circling p-values right below .05 to infer something about the invalidity of inferences (or even research misconduct) is conceptually no different from calling p-values right above the threshold marginally significant. makes no sense to deride one of these practices while upholding the other.
November 23, 2025 at 5:56 PM
circling p-values right below .05 to infer something about the invalidity of inferences (or even research misconduct) is conceptually no different from calling p-values right above the threshold marginally significant. makes no sense to deride one of these practices while upholding the other.
Folks who are going to APS next summer: @olinotom.bsky.social and I are thinking of proposing a symposium on rethinking/reconceptualizing comorbidity (still finalizing a specific topic) and are looking for a couple of other folks to present. Anyone potentially interested? Feel free to DM!
November 11, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Folks who are going to APS next summer: @olinotom.bsky.social and I are thinking of proposing a symposium on rethinking/reconceptualizing comorbidity (still finalizing a specific topic) and are looking for a couple of other folks to present. Anyone potentially interested? Feel free to DM!
Re-upping since we're just over a week away from the deadline to apply to the TT asst prof position in our clinical area at Vanderbilt! Please consider applying if you're on the job market! RTs appreciated.
I'm happy to announce that Vanderbilt Psychology's clinical area is hiring a TT asst prof this year! Please share with your networks and consider applying if you're on the market! Happy to (try to) answer questions about the search if you have them.
Link here: apply.interfolio.com/173316
Link here: apply.interfolio.com/173316
November 6, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Re-upping since we're just over a week away from the deadline to apply to the TT asst prof position in our clinical area at Vanderbilt! Please consider applying if you're on the job market! RTs appreciated.
Reposted by Ashley Watts
A moment of silence, please, for the "young men are all MAGA now" narrative.
(Source: www.nbcnews.com/politics/202...)
(Source: www.nbcnews.com/politics/202...)
November 5, 2025 at 1:18 AM
A moment of silence, please, for the "young men are all MAGA now" narrative.
(Source: www.nbcnews.com/politics/202...)
(Source: www.nbcnews.com/politics/202...)
Reposted by Ashley Watts
When people learn with ChatGPT instead of following their own searches, they end up knowing less, caring less, and producing worse advice, even when the facts are the same.
Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Experimental evidence of the effects of large language models versus web search on depth of learning
Abstract. The effects of using large language models (LLMs) versus traditional web search on depth of learning are explored. A theory is proposed that when
academic.oup.com
October 28, 2025 at 3:14 PM
When people learn with ChatGPT instead of following their own searches, they end up knowing less, caring less, and producing worse advice, even when the facts are the same.
Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Reposted by Ashley Watts
If the proponents of the "P" factor weren't all famous grey hairs, would we be talking about it all?
October 28, 2025 at 3:10 PM
If the proponents of the "P" factor weren't all famous grey hairs, would we be talking about it all?
Reposted by Ashley Watts
I'm going to start a thread with examples of how the NYT uses euphemism to painfully avoid saying that Trump is committing blatantly unconstitutional and lawless acts.
Let's start with this one... "stretched the limits of his spending powers"
Let's start with this one... "stretched the limits of his spending powers"
NEW: The White House is reprogramming billions in congressionally approved spending during the shutdown, aiming to pay troops, ICE agents and others who work on programs that fulfill the president's political agenda. Some of the money comes from Trump's tax cuts. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/u...
How Trump Played ‘Budgetary Twister’ to Pay Some Workers During the Shutdown
www.nytimes.com
October 22, 2025 at 12:44 AM
I'm going to start a thread with examples of how the NYT uses euphemism to painfully avoid saying that Trump is committing blatantly unconstitutional and lawless acts.
Let's start with this one... "stretched the limits of his spending powers"
Let's start with this one... "stretched the limits of his spending powers"
Reposted by Ashley Watts
Student governments of Vanderbilt, MIT, Brown, Dartmouth, Penn, UVA, and Arizona issued a joint statement condemning the Compact and stating that "Academic Freedom is not negotiable." www.instagram.com/p/DPm507ljBJ...
October 10, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Student governments of Vanderbilt, MIT, Brown, Dartmouth, Penn, UVA, and Arizona issued a joint statement condemning the Compact and stating that "Academic Freedom is not negotiable." www.instagram.com/p/DPm507ljBJ...
Reposted by Ashley Watts
Proud of my Vanderbilt colleagues for making it clear that our university should reject the proposed "Compact". As I state below - this deal is a devil's bargain and should be rejected in all forms. (And yay to MIT for their clear rejection today!)
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
October 10, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Proud of my Vanderbilt colleagues for making it clear that our university should reject the proposed "Compact". As I state below - this deal is a devil's bargain and should be rejected in all forms. (And yay to MIT for their clear rejection today!)
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
Reposted by Ashley Watts
The Vanderbilt University Faculty Senate has adopted a resolution recommending the school reject a recent offer from the Trump administration.
https://www.nashvillepost.com/politics/vanderbilt-faculty-senate-opposes-white-house-compact/article_924875c3-36fc-43fb-a318-aeae000ef377.html
https://www.nashvillepost.com/politics/vanderbilt-faculty-senate-opposes-white-house-compact/article_924875c3-36fc-43fb-a318-aeae000ef377.html
Vanderbilt faculty senate opposes White House compact
University members approve resolution recommending university reject Trump deal
www.nashvillepost.com
October 10, 2025 at 8:36 PM
The Vanderbilt University Faculty Senate has adopted a resolution recommending the school reject a recent offer from the Trump administration.
https://www.nashvillepost.com/politics/vanderbilt-faculty-senate-opposes-white-house-compact/article_924875c3-36fc-43fb-a318-aeae000ef377.html
https://www.nashvillepost.com/politics/vanderbilt-faculty-senate-opposes-white-house-compact/article_924875c3-36fc-43fb-a318-aeae000ef377.html
Reposted by Ashley Watts
"American civil society has more than enough financial and organizational muscle to stop this authoritarian offensive. But it requires collective resolve. And it requires leadership, which has been in painfully short supply."
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Harvard Must Take a Stand Against Trump’s Compact | Opinion | The Harvard Crimson
Harvard, rather than quietly pursuing its own appeasement strategy, should lead the way to preserve academic freedom and democracy.
www.thecrimson.com
October 9, 2025 at 12:13 PM
"American civil society has more than enough financial and organizational muscle to stop this authoritarian offensive. But it requires collective resolve. And it requires leadership, which has been in painfully short supply."
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Reposted by Ashley Watts
⚡️ NYT Editorial Board: “Blame Trump when your energy bills go up… Rather than trying to put oil companies out of business, Mr. Trump is going after clean energy, and Americans will face higher bills as a result.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/o...
October 9, 2025 at 12:31 PM
⚡️ NYT Editorial Board: “Blame Trump when your energy bills go up… Rather than trying to put oil companies out of business, Mr. Trump is going after clean energy, and Americans will face higher bills as a result.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/o...
Reposted by Ashley Watts
A strong statement from the Dartmouth President regarding the "Compact"
president.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/10...
1/2
president.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/10...
1/2
Response to the ‘Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education’ | Office of the President
president.dartmouth.edu
October 4, 2025 at 5:45 PM
A strong statement from the Dartmouth President regarding the "Compact"
president.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/10...
1/2
president.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/10...
1/2
I've said it once, and I'll say it again: Open science discussions that are largely hostile and condescending toward non-adopters will not motivate behavior change. Are we doing altruism, or antagonism?
Signed, someone who practices open science
Signed, someone who practices open science
October 2, 2025 at 10:15 PM
I've said it once, and I'll say it again: Open science discussions that are largely hostile and condescending toward non-adopters will not motivate behavior change. Are we doing altruism, or antagonism?
Signed, someone who practices open science
Signed, someone who practices open science
Reposted by Ashley Watts
here are some helpful steps for academics who are considering creating genAI images to use for lab branding:
1. don't
1. don't
September 29, 2025 at 12:07 AM
here are some helpful steps for academics who are considering creating genAI images to use for lab branding:
1. don't
1. don't
Reposted by Ashley Watts
Vanderbilt University's Peabody College is hiring a TT Assistant Prof in Clinical Psychology (child/family focus) with expertise in AI methods (ML, NLP, LLMs, CV).
📅 Review begins Nov 15, 2025
👉 apply.interfolio.com/174418
Please share!
📅 Review begins Nov 15, 2025
👉 apply.interfolio.com/174418
Please share!
September 25, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Vanderbilt University's Peabody College is hiring a TT Assistant Prof in Clinical Psychology (child/family focus) with expertise in AI methods (ML, NLP, LLMs, CV).
📅 Review begins Nov 15, 2025
👉 apply.interfolio.com/174418
Please share!
📅 Review begins Nov 15, 2025
👉 apply.interfolio.com/174418
Please share!
Reposted by Ashley Watts
I’m at the Garbage concert with @ashleylwatts.bsky.social and Shirley Manson just mentioned Britney and this is the crossover I needed 😭
September 11, 2025 at 2:54 AM
I’m at the Garbage concert with @ashleylwatts.bsky.social and Shirley Manson just mentioned Britney and this is the crossover I needed 😭