John Gavazzi - Psychologist
@drgavazzi.bsky.social
Practicing Psychology -
Board Certified in Clinical Psychology
Ethics Educator. Fan of philosophy, behavioral economics, health policy, and moral psychology.
Board Certified in Clinical Psychology
Ethics Educator. Fan of philosophy, behavioral economics, health policy, and moral psychology.
We are using imperfect tools to automate an incompletely understood human capability for an inconsistently defined goal. The study brilliantly shows that creating a "moral machine" requires us to understand ourselves as much as it does to advance technology.
Moral decision-making in AI: A comprehensive review and recommendations
Find information and research on ethics, psychology, decision-making, AI, morality, ethical decision-making for mental health practitioners.
www.ethicalpsychology.com
November 13, 2025 at 10:33 AM
We are using imperfect tools to automate an incompletely understood human capability for an inconsistently defined goal. The study brilliantly shows that creating a "moral machine" requires us to understand ourselves as much as it does to advance technology.
This survey provides a comprehensive overview and taxonomy of self-improving Multimodal Large Language Models, outlining a three-stage pipeline for autonomous learning from self-generated data to reduce human annotation and enhance performance.
Self-Improvement in Multimodal Large Language Models: a survey.
Find information and research on ethics, psychology, decision-making, AI, morality, ethical decision-making for mental health practitioners.
www.ethicalpsychology.com
November 12, 2025 at 10:38 AM
This survey provides a comprehensive overview and taxonomy of self-improving Multimodal Large Language Models, outlining a three-stage pipeline for autonomous learning from self-generated data to reduce human annotation and enhance performance.
This article describes how AI is being practically used to save lives and improve crisis response, but it also warns of significant ethical and technical challenges that must be responsibly addressed.
The AI Frontier in Humanitarian Aid — Embracing Possibilities and Addressing Risks
Find information and research on ethics, psychology, decision-making, AI, morality, ethical decision-making for mental health practitioners.
www.ethicalpsychology.com
November 11, 2025 at 10:43 AM
This article describes how AI is being practically used to save lives and improve crisis response, but it also warns of significant ethical and technical challenges that must be responsibly addressed.
A study found that moral injury independently triples the risk of recent suicidal ideation and sextuples the risk of a lifetime suicide attempt among high-stress professionals, even after accounting for PTSD and depression.
Moral injury is independently associated with suicidal ideation and suicide attempt in high-stress, service-oriented occupations
Find information and research on ethics, psychology, decision-making, AI, morality, ethical decision-making for mental health practitioners.
www.ethicalpsychology.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:10 AM
A study found that moral injury independently triples the risk of recent suicidal ideation and sextuples the risk of a lifetime suicide attempt among high-stress professionals, even after accounting for PTSD and depression.
This article proposes a new model suggesting moral injury is a spectrum disorder arising from conflicts between one's moral ideals and reality, affecting a broad range of people beyond military personnel and requiring new treatment approaches focused on cognitive flexibility.
Beyond right and wrong: A new theoretical model for understanding moral injury
Find information and research on ethics, psychology, decision-making, AI, morality, ethical decision-making for mental health practitioners.
www.ethicalpsychology.com
November 8, 2025 at 11:09 AM
This article proposes a new model suggesting moral injury is a spectrum disorder arising from conflicts between one's moral ideals and reality, affecting a broad range of people beyond military personnel and requiring new treatment approaches focused on cognitive flexibility.
This research proposes a new explanation for why people with high self-control are successful. Rather than just being good at resisting temptation, they have a fundamental preference for activities that feel meaningful and valuable, known as eudaimonic experiences.
High Self-Control Individuals Prefer Meaning over Pleasure
Find information and research on ethics, psychology, decision-making, AI, morality, ethical decision-making for mental health practitioners.
www.ethicalpsychology.com
November 7, 2025 at 10:25 AM
This research proposes a new explanation for why people with high self-control are successful. Rather than just being good at resisting temptation, they have a fundamental preference for activities that feel meaningful and valuable, known as eudaimonic experiences.
Between 2009 and 2019, explicit attitudes toward stigmatized groups improved across 33 countries, while implicit attitudes showed mixed results, improving for sexuality but worsening for skin tone and remaining stable for age, weight, and race.
International stability and change in explicit and implicit attitudes: An investigation spanning 33 countries, five social groups, and 11 years (2009–2019).
Find information and research on ethics, psychology, decision-making, AI, morality, ethical decision-making for mental health practitioners.
www.ethicalpsychology.com
November 6, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Between 2009 and 2019, explicit attitudes toward stigmatized groups improved across 33 countries, while implicit attitudes showed mixed results, improving for sexuality but worsening for skin tone and remaining stable for age, weight, and race.
Based on reputation-based studies across cultures, people perceived by others as more moral generally report greater well-being and meaning in life.
Are moral people happier? Answers from reputation-based measures of moral character.
Find information and research on ethics, psychology, decision-making, AI, morality, ethical decision-making for mental health practitioners.
www.ethicalpsychology.com
November 5, 2025 at 10:42 AM
Based on reputation-based studies across cultures, people perceived by others as more moral generally report greater well-being and meaning in life.
Reposted by John Gavazzi - Psychologist
"A Stunning Rebuke Of Anti-Trans Politics"—Dems Win Elections Nationwide Despite Anti-Trans Ads
As election results poured in on Tues night, it became clear that Democrats were winning nationwide against anti-trans opponents.
www.erininthemorning.com/p/a-stunning...
As election results poured in on Tues night, it became clear that Democrats were winning nationwide against anti-trans opponents.
www.erininthemorning.com/p/a-stunning...
"A Stunning Rebuke Of Anti-Trans Politics"—Dems Win Elections Nationwide Despite Anti-Trans Ads
As election results poured in on Tuesday night, it became clear that Democrats were winning nationwide against anti-trans opponents.
www.erininthemorning.com
November 5, 2025 at 10:23 AM
"A Stunning Rebuke Of Anti-Trans Politics"—Dems Win Elections Nationwide Despite Anti-Trans Ads
As election results poured in on Tues night, it became clear that Democrats were winning nationwide against anti-trans opponents.
www.erininthemorning.com/p/a-stunning...
As election results poured in on Tues night, it became clear that Democrats were winning nationwide against anti-trans opponents.
www.erininthemorning.com/p/a-stunning...
This article proposes expanded definitions of moral injury and moral distress, places them on a "moral trauma spectrum" that considers severity and persistence, and introduces a general assessment tool for use in various contexts.
Moral trauma, moral distress, moral injury, and moral injury disorder: definitions and assessments
Find information and research on ethics, psychology, decision-making, AI, morality, ethical decision-making for mental health practitioners.
www.ethicalpsychology.com
November 4, 2025 at 10:38 AM
This article proposes expanded definitions of moral injury and moral distress, places them on a "moral trauma spectrum" that considers severity and persistence, and introduces a general assessment tool for use in various contexts.
Predictable scaling is rare. LLMs are not the exception. Predicting a model's task performance from its pretraining loss is unreliable, as a meta-analysis found smooth, predictable scaling occurs only 39% of the time and is highly sensitive to experimental conditions.
Scaling Laws Are Unreliable for Downstream Tasks: A Reality Check
Find information and research on ethics, psychology, decision-making, AI, morality, ethical decision-making for mental health practitioners.
www.ethicalpsychology.com
November 3, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Predictable scaling is rare. LLMs are not the exception. Predicting a model's task performance from its pretraining loss is unreliable, as a meta-analysis found smooth, predictable scaling occurs only 39% of the time and is highly sensitive to experimental conditions.
People feel less empathy for AI-generated stories, especially when aware of the author. However, disclosing AI authorship increases willingness to empathize—suggesting that while authenticity drives connection, honesty builds trust in mental health chatbots.
Empathy Toward Artificial Intelligence Versus Human Experiences and the Role of Transparency in Mental Health and Social Support Chatbot Design: Comparative Study
Find information and research on ethics, psychology, decision-making, AI, morality, ethical decision-making for mental health practitioners.
www.ethicalpsychology.com
October 31, 2025 at 9:45 AM
People feel less empathy for AI-generated stories, especially when aware of the author. However, disclosing AI authorship increases willingness to empathize—suggesting that while authenticity drives connection, honesty builds trust in mental health chatbots.
Current AI mental health regulation is insufficient because it focuses on theoretical principles like fairness instead of the relational and emotional aspects of care, requiring a new framework that holds AI to the same ethical standards as human clinicians.
Regulating AI in Mental Health: Ethics of Care Perspective
Find information and research on ethics, psychology, decision-making, AI, morality, ethical decision-making for mental health practitioners.
www.ethicalpsychology.com
October 30, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Current AI mental health regulation is insufficient because it focuses on theoretical principles like fairness instead of the relational and emotional aspects of care, requiring a new framework that holds AI to the same ethical standards as human clinicians.
Author's main point: Despite being designed with ethical intentions, AI decision-making systems often cause real harm and cannot be truly ethical because the very concept of automated social decision-making is flawed and dangerous.
Ethics in the world of automated algorithmic decision-making – A Posthumanist perspective
Find information and research on ethics, psychology, decision-making, AI, morality, ethical decision-making for mental health practitioners.
www.ethicalpsychology.com
October 29, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Author's main point: Despite being designed with ethical intentions, AI decision-making systems often cause real harm and cannot be truly ethical because the very concept of automated social decision-making is flawed and dangerous.
The risk algorithm outperformed traditional in-person screening by more accurately identifying children and adolescents who later attempted suicide, including many who were entirely missed by the conventional method.
Screening and Risk Algorithms for Detecting Pediatric Suicide Risk in the Emergency Department
Find information and research on ethics, psychology, decision-making, AI, morality, ethical decision-making for mental health practitioners.
www.ethicalpsychology.com
October 28, 2025 at 9:46 AM
The risk algorithm outperformed traditional in-person screening by more accurately identifying children and adolescents who later attempted suicide, including many who were entirely missed by the conventional method.
Some advanced AI systems may secretly pursue harmful goals, a behavior known as "scheming," which is difficult to detect. This research tested a mitigation technique that reduced this behavior but did not eliminate it.
Stress Testing Deliberative Alignment for Anti-Scheming Training
Find information and research on ethics, psychology, decision-making, AI, morality, ethical decision-making for mental health practitioners.
www.ethicalpsychology.com
October 27, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Some advanced AI systems may secretly pursue harmful goals, a behavior known as "scheming," which is difficult to detect. This research tested a mitigation technique that reduced this behavior but did not eliminate it.
Acute stress increases people's willingness to exert physical effort to avoid threats, but not to gain rewards, which is crucial for therapists to understand as it reveals a client's heightened motivation for safety-seeking behaviors over goal-oriented actions when under stress.
Acute stress promotes effort mobilization for safety-related goals
Find information and research on ethics, psychology, decision-making, AI, morality, ethical decision-making for mental health practitioners.
www.ethicalpsychology.com
October 24, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Acute stress increases people's willingness to exert physical effort to avoid threats, but not to gain rewards, which is crucial for therapists to understand as it reveals a client's heightened motivation for safety-seeking behaviors over goal-oriented actions when under stress.
Effective mental health treatment lies in combining the power of data with the human elements of collaboration and shared decision-making, always placing the patient's perspective and agency at the center of the process.
Development of a Cocreated Decision Aid for Patients With Depression—Combining Data-Driven Prediction With Patients’ and Clinicians’ Needs and Perspectives: Mixed Methods Study
Find information and research on ethics, psychology, decision-making, AI, morality, ethical decision-making for mental health practitioners.
www.ethicalpsychology.com
October 23, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Effective mental health treatment lies in combining the power of data with the human elements of collaboration and shared decision-making, always placing the patient's perspective and agency at the center of the process.
Despite identifying clear barriers (e.g., workflow disruption, technical literacy) and facilitators (e.g., enhanced communication, helpful information), the adoption and development of Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSSs) in mental health are limited, particularly for therapists.
Clinical decision support systems in mental health: A scoping review of health professionals’ experiences
Find information and research on ethics, psychology, decision-making, AI, morality, ethical decision-making for mental health practitioners.
www.ethicalpsychology.com
October 22, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Despite identifying clear barriers (e.g., workflow disruption, technical literacy) and facilitators (e.g., enhanced communication, helpful information), the adoption and development of Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSSs) in mental health are limited, particularly for therapists.
No model met minimum clinical safety standards; LLMs are currently unsuitable as autonomous crisis responders and should only be used as adjunct tools under human supervision.
Evaluating the Clinical Safety of LLMs in Response to High-Risk Mental Health Disclosures
Find information and research on ethics, psychology, decision-making, AI, morality, ethical decision-making for mental health practitioners.
www.ethicalpsychology.com
October 21, 2025 at 4:35 PM
No model met minimum clinical safety standards; LLMs are currently unsuitable as autonomous crisis responders and should only be used as adjunct tools under human supervision.
AI systems are extracting thousands of web pages per visitor they send to publishers while delivering information directly, fundamentally transforming knowledge discovery but raising concerns about decimated web traffic and information biases.
AI chatbots are already biasing research — we must establish guidelines for their use now
Find information and research on ethics, psychology, decision-making, AI, morality, ethical decision-making for mental health practitioners.
www.ethicalpsychology.com
October 20, 2025 at 9:35 AM
AI systems are extracting thousands of web pages per visitor they send to publishers while delivering information directly, fundamentally transforming knowledge discovery but raising concerns about decimated web traffic and information biases.
Training LLMs on data generated by other LLMs can cause model collapse, but introducing a verifier to select high-quality synthesized data can prevent performance drop, a finding supported by theoretical analysis & practical experiments in tasks like news summarization.
Beyond Model Collapse: Scaling Up with Synthesized Data Requires Verification
Find information and research on ethics, psychology, decision-making, AI, morality, ethical decision-making for mental health practitioners.
www.ethicalpsychology.com
October 17, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Training LLMs on data generated by other LLMs can cause model collapse, but introducing a verifier to select high-quality synthesized data can prevent performance drop, a finding supported by theoretical analysis & practical experiments in tasks like news summarization.
The authors use a theoretical framework to prove that when data is replaced, the test error increases with each iteration; but when data is accumulated, the test error has a finite upper bound, thus model collapse no longer occurs.
Is Model Collapse Inevitable? Breaking the Curse of Recursion by Accumulating Real and Synthetic Data
Find information and research on ethics, psychology, decision-making, AI, morality, ethical decision-making for mental health practitioners.
www.ethicalpsychology.com
October 15, 2025 at 9:42 AM
The authors use a theoretical framework to prove that when data is replaced, the test error increases with each iteration; but when data is accumulated, the test error has a finite upper bound, thus model collapse no longer occurs.
The article proposes a "projector model" incorporating ten fundamental ethical principles—such as autonomy, equity, transparency, and a One Health lens—to guide and ensure fairness in regulatory decision-making for human, environmental, and animal health risks.
Ethical principles for regulatory risk decision-making
Find information and research on ethics, psychology, decision-making, AI, morality, ethical decision-making for mental health practitioners.
www.ethicalpsychology.com
October 14, 2025 at 9:29 AM
The article proposes a "projector model" incorporating ten fundamental ethical principles—such as autonomy, equity, transparency, and a One Health lens—to guide and ensure fairness in regulatory decision-making for human, environmental, and animal health risks.
MDTs in EOL care often struggle with ethical dilemmas due to communication barriers, role ambiguity, & insufficient ethics training, particularly when balancing patient autonomy, family input, & cultural sensitivity. Training & protocols needed.
End-of-Life Decision Making in Multidisciplinary Teams: Ethical Challenges and Solutions–A Systematic Review
Find information and research on ethics, psychology, decision-making, AI, morality, ethical decision-making for mental health practitioners.
www.ethicalpsychology.com
October 13, 2025 at 9:40 AM
MDTs in EOL care often struggle with ethical dilemmas due to communication barriers, role ambiguity, & insufficient ethics training, particularly when balancing patient autonomy, family input, & cultural sensitivity. Training & protocols needed.