Courtney Hilton
@courtneybhilton.bsky.social
studies how minds, music, and culture interact and evolve
ARC DECRA Fellow @unimelb.bsky.social • @psychunimelb.bsky.social • Complex Human Data Hub
ARC DECRA Fellow @unimelb.bsky.social • @psychunimelb.bsky.social • Complex Human Data Hub
Reposted by Courtney Hilton
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
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” 🧵
Reposted by Courtney Hilton
So proud to see our new paper out in PNAS spearheaded by @emilypigott.bsky.social She found a tiny 46,000 yr old Neanderthal bone at Starosele (Crimea). DNA work revealed long-distance connections across Eurasia, supported by stone tool evidence @heasvienna.bsky.social
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
October 29, 2025 at 9:17 AM
So proud to see our new paper out in PNAS spearheaded by @emilypigott.bsky.social She found a tiny 46,000 yr old Neanderthal bone at Starosele (Crimea). DNA work revealed long-distance connections across Eurasia, supported by stone tool evidence @heasvienna.bsky.social
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
At least working in the office late looks pretty 🌄
October 29, 2025 at 9:11 AM
At least working in the office late looks pretty 🌄
Reposted by Courtney Hilton
TLDR; The PSF has made the decision to put our community and our shared diversity, equity, and inclusion values ahead of seeking $1.5M in new revenue. Please read and share. pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-...
🧵
🧵
The official home of the Python Programming Language
www.python.org
October 27, 2025 at 2:47 PM
TLDR; The PSF has made the decision to put our community and our shared diversity, equity, and inclusion values ahead of seeking $1.5M in new revenue. Please read and share. pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-...
🧵
🧵
Made some art for some thank you cards and compiled them together into a video ✨
October 26, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Made some art for some thank you cards and compiled them together into a video ✨
Reposted by Courtney Hilton
Melbourne people! We're very lucky to have the one and only Alison Gopnik giving a talk here on November 11th at 6pm. Details below, open to the public, should be fabulous 😊
Space is limited so do be sure register!
alisongopnik.bsky.social
psychunimelb.bsky.social
Space is limited so do be sure register!
alisongopnik.bsky.social
psychunimelb.bsky.social
Alison Gopnik - Three Ages & Three Intelligences: Explore, Exploit, Empower
The Complex Human Data Hub presents Prof Alison Gopnik delivering the 2025 Pip Pattison Oration on her work in learning and development.
www.eventbrite.com.au
October 14, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Melbourne people! We're very lucky to have the one and only Alison Gopnik giving a talk here on November 11th at 6pm. Details below, open to the public, should be fabulous 😊
Space is limited so do be sure register!
alisongopnik.bsky.social
psychunimelb.bsky.social
Space is limited so do be sure register!
alisongopnik.bsky.social
psychunimelb.bsky.social
Reposted by Courtney Hilton
I'm starting to explore {simDAG}, a nifty #rstats package that has a nice API for specifying DAGs and then simulating data from them: robindenz1.github.io/simDAG/
Simulate Data from a DAG and Associated Node Information
Simulate complex data from a given directed acyclic graph and information about each individual node. Root nodes are simply sampled from the specified distribution. Child Nodes are simulated according...
robindenz1.github.io
October 13, 2025 at 4:14 PM
I'm starting to explore {simDAG}, a nifty #rstats package that has a nice API for specifying DAGs and then simulating data from them: robindenz1.github.io/simDAG/
Yay Australia, come here it's great—we have beaches, kangaroos, and democracy! 🦘
(I don't want to know what the increase is in people I am competing against for faculty positions in Australia now 😬)
(I don't want to know what the increase is in people I am competing against for faculty positions in Australia now 😬)
October 12, 2025 at 2:04 AM
Yay Australia, come here it's great—we have beaches, kangaroos, and democracy! 🦘
(I don't want to know what the increase is in people I am competing against for faculty positions in Australia now 😬)
(I don't want to know what the increase is in people I am competing against for faculty positions in Australia now 😬)
Reposted by Courtney Hilton
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
nyti.ms
October 8, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
In the ~3 months it takes to ship our things from Auckland to Melbourne (a 4 hour flight), of course, the earliest possible delivery date is the day after we fly out of town for 1.5 weeks 🤦
October 9, 2025 at 4:43 AM
In the ~3 months it takes to ship our things from Auckland to Melbourne (a 4 hour flight), of course, the earliest possible delivery date is the day after we fly out of town for 1.5 weeks 🤦
Reposted by Courtney Hilton
Thrilled to see this paper out! It's the culmination of a project begun in the depths of the pandemic with Sabrina Karjack and @zoengo.bsky.social . We continue our exploration of how children generalize when their episodic memory is not yet mature.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The dependence of children’s generalization on episodic memory varies with age and level of abstraction - Nature Communications
Children’s ability to generalize from episodic memories varies by both age and the level of abstraction. Here, the authors show that lower level generalization increasingly depends on episodic memory with age, whereas higher level generalization shows no such relationship.
www.nature.com
October 7, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Thrilled to see this paper out! It's the culmination of a project begun in the depths of the pandemic with Sabrina Karjack and @zoengo.bsky.social . We continue our exploration of how children generalize when their episodic memory is not yet mature.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Courtney Hilton
Macron remarks are notable- some quotes: "We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks that are controlled either by large American entrepreneurs or large Chinese companies, whose interests are not at all the survival or proper functioning of our democracies."
President Macron: “Europeans, let's wake up!
We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks.”
defenddemocracy.eu/macron-democ...
We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks.”
defenddemocracy.eu/macron-democ...
October 4, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Macron remarks are notable- some quotes: "We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks that are controlled either by large American entrepreneurs or large Chinese companies, whose interests are not at all the survival or proper functioning of our democracies."
Reposted by Courtney Hilton
Jane Goodall was my first childhood hero, as I loved animals as a kid and was inspired by her story. I still remember the National Geographic specials about her. RIP.
October 1, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Jane Goodall was my first childhood hero, as I loved animals as a kid and was inspired by her story. I still remember the National Geographic specials about her. RIP.
Reposted by Courtney Hilton
1. Bluesky doesn’t downrank links
2. You can choose your own algorithm from among thousands
3. The whole app is open source
This keeps it a free and open platform by design, leading to better click-throughs and traffic to your site.
We 💙 the open web.
2. You can choose your own algorithm from among thousands
3. The whole app is open source
This keeps it a free and open platform by design, leading to better click-throughs and traffic to your site.
We 💙 the open web.
September 21, 2025 at 12:08 PM
1. Bluesky doesn’t downrank links
2. You can choose your own algorithm from among thousands
3. The whole app is open source
This keeps it a free and open platform by design, leading to better click-throughs and traffic to your site.
We 💙 the open web.
2. You can choose your own algorithm from among thousands
3. The whole app is open source
This keeps it a free and open platform by design, leading to better click-throughs and traffic to your site.
We 💙 the open web.
Reposted by Courtney Hilton
"basic cognitive processes underlying explanatory reasoning give rise to a systematic inherence bias among practicing scientists—a tendency to explain phenomena in terms of their inherent properties rather than external factors"
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
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...
www.pnas.org
September 20, 2025 at 2:36 PM
"basic cognitive processes underlying explanatory reasoning give rise to a systematic inherence bias among practicing scientists—a tendency to explain phenomena in terms of their inherent properties rather than external factors"
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Hilarious and beautiful (free) film on Youtube. Pokes fun at extreme birdwatching (listing) but is actually more deeply about the joys of birding and being connected to nature ❤
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl-w...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl-w...
LISTERS: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching
YouTube video by owen reiser
www.youtube.com
September 21, 2025 at 12:58 AM
Hilarious and beautiful (free) film on Youtube. Pokes fun at extreme birdwatching (listing) but is actually more deeply about the joys of birding and being connected to nature ❤
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl-w...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl-w...
Reposted by Courtney Hilton
At @ishe-society.bsky.social, we are looking for someone to review @mgurven.bsky.social new book, "Seven decades" for Human Ethology. It looks terribly interesting! DM/email for details (and to get a hard copy 😊)
@princetonupress.bsky.social
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
@princetonupress.bsky.social
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
Seven Decades
An anthropologist uncovers new evidence for the evolutionary origins of human longevity—and explains why growing old is an opportunity, not a burden
press.princeton.edu
September 17, 2025 at 5:28 AM
At @ishe-society.bsky.social, we are looking for someone to review @mgurven.bsky.social new book, "Seven decades" for Human Ethology. It looks terribly interesting! DM/email for details (and to get a hard copy 😊)
@princetonupress.bsky.social
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
@princetonupress.bsky.social
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
Reposted by Courtney Hilton
Hello 👋
We're the official #UniMelb account!
Follow us for news, updates and information about UniMelb. For now, enjoy the blue skies over our Parkville campus 💙
We're the official #UniMelb account!
Follow us for news, updates and information about UniMelb. For now, enjoy the blue skies over our Parkville campus 💙
September 16, 2025 at 5:00 AM
Hello 👋
We're the official #UniMelb account!
Follow us for news, updates and information about UniMelb. For now, enjoy the blue skies over our Parkville campus 💙
We're the official #UniMelb account!
Follow us for news, updates and information about UniMelb. For now, enjoy the blue skies over our Parkville campus 💙
Reposted by Courtney Hilton
New work with @samcheyette.bsky.social & Susan Carey testing the memory architecture used when learning/producing center-embedded sequences. Adults don't use Push-Down Stacks as is often assumed, instead they rely on a Queue-like memory architecture onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Do Humans Use Push‐Down Stacks When Learning or Producing Center‐Embedded Sequences?
Complex sequences are ubiquitous in human mental life, structuring representations within many different cognitive domains—natural language, music, mathematics, and logic, to name a few. However, the....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
September 15, 2025 at 6:41 PM
New work with @samcheyette.bsky.social & Susan Carey testing the memory architecture used when learning/producing center-embedded sequences. Adults don't use Push-Down Stacks as is often assumed, instead they rely on a Queue-like memory architecture onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Courtney Hilton
Oxford Biology is growing 📢
We’re appointing 3 Associate Professors in:
🌱 Plant Sciences
🦉 Animal Behaviour
🔬 Molecular Cell Biology
3 fields. 3 opportunities. One new home for Oxford Biology.
Learn more 👉 bit.ly/41S2Tc7
Apply now 👉 bit.ly/488CNW3
We’re appointing 3 Associate Professors in:
🌱 Plant Sciences
🦉 Animal Behaviour
🔬 Molecular Cell Biology
3 fields. 3 opportunities. One new home for Oxford Biology.
Learn more 👉 bit.ly/41S2Tc7
Apply now 👉 bit.ly/488CNW3
September 15, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Oxford Biology is growing 📢
We’re appointing 3 Associate Professors in:
🌱 Plant Sciences
🦉 Animal Behaviour
🔬 Molecular Cell Biology
3 fields. 3 opportunities. One new home for Oxford Biology.
Learn more 👉 bit.ly/41S2Tc7
Apply now 👉 bit.ly/488CNW3
We’re appointing 3 Associate Professors in:
🌱 Plant Sciences
🦉 Animal Behaviour
🔬 Molecular Cell Biology
3 fields. 3 opportunities. One new home for Oxford Biology.
Learn more 👉 bit.ly/41S2Tc7
Apply now 👉 bit.ly/488CNW3
Reposted by Courtney Hilton
💙New paper!💙
How is knowledge transmitted across generations in a foraging society?
With @danielredhead.bsky.social
we found: In BaYaka foragers, long-term skills pass in smaller, sparser networks, while short-term food info circulates broadly & reciprocally
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
How is knowledge transmitted across generations in a foraging society?
With @danielredhead.bsky.social
we found: In BaYaka foragers, long-term skills pass in smaller, sparser networks, while short-term food info circulates broadly & reciprocally
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Transmission networks of long-term and short-term knowledge in a foraging society
Abstract. Cultural transmission across generations is key to cumulative cultural evolution. While several mechanisms—such as vertical, horizontal, and obli
academic.oup.com
September 14, 2025 at 7:52 AM
💙New paper!💙
How is knowledge transmitted across generations in a foraging society?
With @danielredhead.bsky.social
we found: In BaYaka foragers, long-term skills pass in smaller, sparser networks, while short-term food info circulates broadly & reciprocally
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
How is knowledge transmitted across generations in a foraging society?
With @danielredhead.bsky.social
we found: In BaYaka foragers, long-term skills pass in smaller, sparser networks, while short-term food info circulates broadly & reciprocally
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Reposted by Courtney Hilton
We are delighted to announce that the CES2026 conference website is now live! We invite you to submit your presentation proposals using the link on the webpage, deadline November 16th:
airess.fgses-um6p.ma/ces2026
airess.fgses-um6p.ma/ces2026
Cultural Evolution Society 2026 Conference | Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique - FGSES
airess.fgses-um6p.ma
September 13, 2025 at 3:01 AM
We are delighted to announce that the CES2026 conference website is now live! We invite you to submit your presentation proposals using the link on the webpage, deadline November 16th:
airess.fgses-um6p.ma/ces2026
airess.fgses-um6p.ma/ces2026
Reposted by Courtney Hilton
I am beyond excited to announce that ggplot2 4.0.0 has just landed on CRAN.
It's not every day we have a new major #ggplot2 release but it is a fitting 18 year birthday present for the package.
Get an overview of the release in this blog post and be on the lookout for more in-depth posts #rstats
It's not every day we have a new major #ggplot2 release but it is a fitting 18 year birthday present for the package.
Get an overview of the release in this blog post and be on the lookout for more in-depth posts #rstats
ggplot2 4.0.0
A new major version of ggplot2 has been released on CRAN. Find out what is new here.
www.tidyverse.org
September 11, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Reposted by Courtney Hilton
@durhampsych.bsky.social current has 5 (FIVE!!) PhD studentships being advertised!
3 to work with me on children as agents of cultural evolution
2 to work with @drboothroyd.bsky.social on examining school-based body image interventions.
Please share and apply!
www.durham.ac.uk/departments/...
3 to work with me on children as agents of cultural evolution
2 to work with @drboothroyd.bsky.social on examining school-based body image interventions.
Please share and apply!
www.durham.ac.uk/departments/...
Fees and Funding - Durham University
www.durham.ac.uk
September 11, 2025 at 9:12 AM
@durhampsych.bsky.social current has 5 (FIVE!!) PhD studentships being advertised!
3 to work with me on children as agents of cultural evolution
2 to work with @drboothroyd.bsky.social on examining school-based body image interventions.
Please share and apply!
www.durham.ac.uk/departments/...
3 to work with me on children as agents of cultural evolution
2 to work with @drboothroyd.bsky.social on examining school-based body image interventions.
Please share and apply!
www.durham.ac.uk/departments/...
Reposted by Courtney Hilton
Australia is home to approx 24,000 species of native plants 🌿
This #BiodiversityMonth, we’re celebrating the beauty and diversity of native flora — from orchids to mistletoes.
Our guide books are your companions for exploring them: www.publish.csiro.au/PlantsAndFun...
This #BiodiversityMonth, we’re celebrating the beauty and diversity of native flora — from orchids to mistletoes.
Our guide books are your companions for exploring them: www.publish.csiro.au/PlantsAndFun...
September 11, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Australia is home to approx 24,000 species of native plants 🌿
This #BiodiversityMonth, we’re celebrating the beauty and diversity of native flora — from orchids to mistletoes.
Our guide books are your companions for exploring them: www.publish.csiro.au/PlantsAndFun...
This #BiodiversityMonth, we’re celebrating the beauty and diversity of native flora — from orchids to mistletoes.
Our guide books are your companions for exploring them: www.publish.csiro.au/PlantsAndFun...