Elizabeth Bonawitz
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ebonawitz.bsky.social
Elizabeth Bonawitz
@ebonawitz.bsky.social
Assoc. Prof. Learning Sciences, Harvard GSE. Study learning in early childhood using computational modeling & empirical studies. Speaking for self only. She/her
Relevant also for tenure letter writers to consider...

*cough
*Women receive substantially lower "potential" ratings despite receiving higher performance ratings
*Differences in potential ratings account for half of the gender promotion gap
*Women’s lower potential ratings do not reflect future performance: women subsequently outperform male colleagues
Forthcoming in the AER: "“Potential” and the Gender Promotion Gap" by Alan Benson, Danielle Li, and Kelly Shue. www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
November 10, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Reposted by Elizabeth Bonawitz
It’s grad school application season, and I wanted to give some public advice.

Caveats:
-*-*-*-*


> These are my opinions, based on my experiences, they are not secret tricks or guarantees

> They are general guidelines, not meant to cover a host of idiosyncrasies and special cases
November 6, 2025 at 2:55 PM
The great battle between dog and bed-cushion rages on.

In terrible wars such as these, there are no victors.
November 4, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Reposted by Elizabeth Bonawitz
Come to the workshop at BUCLD @bucld.bsky.social, and bring a pen ✍🏻

www.bu.edu/bucld/
November 4, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Happy Halloween!

If you have to be in a car, drive safely out there tonight, folks.

Lots of kids and lions will be roaming the streets.
October 31, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Reposted by Elizabeth Bonawitz
I love kids. I have two of them. They’re amazing. However, kids are the absolute least self aware, clumsiest little puffins on the planet.

Please don’t drive tonight unless you have to, and if you do drive, drive super slow and pay 100% attention at all times.

Happy Halloween! 🎃 👻 💀

#PublicHealth
October 31, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Reposted by Elizabeth Bonawitz
MA residents:

If SNAP goes away, your EBT card still lets you use HIP to get fruits/vegetables: mass.gov/info-details...

You can still get Transitional/Emergency Economic Assistance: mass.gov/economic-ass...

This hotline gives access to other meal/pantry programs: projectbread.org/foodsource-h...
October 29, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Reposted by Elizabeth Bonawitz
In case you don't know already, the journal Open Mind has a Bluesky account that automatically posts new papers:
@openmindjournal.bsky.social

The journal is diamond open access (free to read, free to publish) thanks to the support of MIT Press, Harvard Library, & MIT Library.
October 24, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Reposted by Elizabeth Bonawitz
We're excited to announce that Cognitive Science at Dartmouth is recruiting PhD students to work collaboratively with me, Steven Frankland, and Fred Callaway. Come study the principles and mechanisms that enable us to understand, plan, and act in the world! Info: sites.dartmouth.edu/cogscigrad/
Cognitive Science Graduate Admissions – Information about graduate admissions from the cognitive science faculty
sites.dartmouth.edu
October 23, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Reposted by Elizabeth Bonawitz
academic paper titles :
October 21, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Reposted by Elizabeth Bonawitz
there's a lot of interest in making AI more "human like" --

but what about the flip side? when real humans seem like robots/puppets/NPCs?

nnnnnewwww pre-print:

"The Development Of Sensitivity To Automatic Behavior"

(by Bass, Bonawitz, & me)

doi.org/10.31234/osf...
October 20, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Reposted by Elizabeth Bonawitz
No Kings includes this guy
October 18, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Reposted by Elizabeth Bonawitz
😍 Boston, you are beautiful. #NoKings
October 18, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Thousands protesting here in Concord, MA -- No kings then, no kings now.

Daisy joins the Democratic spirit.
October 18, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Reposted by Elizabeth Bonawitz
This is gonna be fun. Build the FOMO. NoKings.org
October 18, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Reposted by Elizabeth Bonawitz
New preprint!

"Non-commitment in mental imagery is distinct from perceptual inattention, and supports hierarchical scene construction"

(by Li, Hammond, & me)

link: doi.org/10.31234/osf...

-- the title's a bit of a mouthful, but the nice thing is that it's a pretty decent summary
October 14, 2025 at 1:22 PM
eh, It wasn't that high up... and 4-year-olds can take it. 😜

But if you're looking for other good moments in the paper... I also recommend reading the acknowledgments closely.
October 15, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Presenting .... SUPER DOG!

Faster than a speeding ball! More powerful than a squeaker-toy! Able to leap medium-sized logs in a single bound!
October 14, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Reposted by Elizabeth Bonawitz
In serious fall mood over here. 🍁🍂

Chestnuts, pumpkins, walks in the forest, please!

youtu.be/DnKOzdEa80A?...
Billie Eilish - Bad Guy (Pumpkin Cover)
YouTube video by Pupsi
youtu.be
October 13, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Reposted by Elizabeth Bonawitz
📣 Calling 2nd-year grad students and their mentors:

You just abruptly lost the ability to apply for the NSF grad research fellowship.

Join ~900 others (and growing!) in signing @omfishient.bsky.social's petition to reverse that.

[Or reshare this petition if you're not directly impacted]
Petition to NSF to Restore Eligibility for the 2026 Graduate Research Fellowship Program Competition
laurenkuehne.github.io
October 1, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Reposted by Elizabeth Bonawitz
You can learn better by making your own predictions than by watching someone else's predictions, even if they are the same as yours. New computational approach to show the benefits of active/generative learning developed together with the fabulous @ebonawitz.bsky.social rdcu.be/eILdR
Do it yourself: discerning the effects of self-directed activity on conceptual learning
npj Science of Learning - Do it yourself: discerning the effects of self-directed activity on conceptual learning
rdcu.be
October 1, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Reposted by Elizabeth Bonawitz
September 28, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Reposted by Elizabeth Bonawitz
'Tylenol' is known in the civilised world as Paracetamol

2.4 million children born in Sweden between 1995 and 2019. Studied 186,000 children whose mothers were treated with paracetamol during pregnancy.

news.ki.se/no-link-betw...
No link between paracetamol use during pregnancy and autism or ADHD in children
In the largest epidemiologic study to date of the risk of giving birth to a child with autism, ADHD or intellectual disability following acetaminophen use during pregnancy, researchers found no associ...
news.ki.se
September 22, 2025 at 9:05 AM