Jon Freeman
@freemanjb.bsky.social
associate professor of psychology and social neuroscientist at columbia | person perception and social cognition | data equity | 🏳️🌈
Pinned
Jon Freeman
@freemanjb.bsky.social
· Sep 19
New findings from my lab in Nature Communications suggest that racial stereotypes can lead the brain's perceptual system to temporarily "see" weapons where they don't exist.
Led by: @dongwonoh.bsky.social
Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
(1/6)
Led by: @dongwonoh.bsky.social
Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
(1/6)
Reposted by Jon Freeman
I’m excited to share my 1st first-authored paper, “Distinct portions of superior temporal sulcus combine auditory representations with different visual streams” (with @mtfang.bsky.social and @steanze.bsky.social ), now out in The Journal of Neuroscience!
www.jneurosci.org/content/earl...
www.jneurosci.org/content/earl...
October 2, 2025 at 3:20 PM
I’m excited to share my 1st first-authored paper, “Distinct portions of superior temporal sulcus combine auditory representations with different visual streams” (with @mtfang.bsky.social and @steanze.bsky.social ), now out in The Journal of Neuroscience!
www.jneurosci.org/content/earl...
www.jneurosci.org/content/earl...
Refusing to release the requested data on how these questions performed undermines the Census Bureau’s scientific integrity and prevents accountability when LGBTQ+ communities are left invisible. (4/4)
September 23, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Refusing to release the requested data on how these questions performed undermines the Census Bureau’s scientific integrity and prevents accountability when LGBTQ+ communities are left invisible. (4/4)
Congress allocated $10 million, the Census Bureau tested nearly half a million households, and now the results are being unlawfully suppressed. (3/4)
September 23, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Congress allocated $10 million, the Census Bureau tested nearly half a million households, and now the results are being unlawfully suppressed. (3/4)
Policymakers, researchers, and multiple federal agencies requested this testing to help enforce civil rights and better understand and address disparities in health, education, employment, and other areas affecting LGBTQ+ Americans. (2/4)
September 23, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Policymakers, researchers, and multiple federal agencies requested this testing to help enforce civil rights and better understand and address disparities in health, education, employment, and other areas affecting LGBTQ+ Americans. (2/4)
Democracy Forward & I filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Census Bureau, seeking the release of data from its testing of sexual orientation & gender identity questions in the nation's most important annual demographic survey, key to upholding LGBTQ+ rights.
democracyforward.org/updates/sogi...
(1/4)
democracyforward.org/updates/sogi...
(1/4)
We’re suing the Census Bureau to force the release of critical LGBTQ+ data.
Failing to release the data = failing to include LGBTQ+ people from policy decisions impacting health care, housing, employment, education, and more resources.
So we're demanding accountability.
Failing to release the data = failing to include LGBTQ+ people from policy decisions impacting health care, housing, employment, education, and more resources.
So we're demanding accountability.
September 23, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Democracy Forward & I filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Census Bureau, seeking the release of data from its testing of sexual orientation & gender identity questions in the nation's most important annual demographic survey, key to upholding LGBTQ+ rights.
democracyforward.org/updates/sogi...
(1/4)
democracyforward.org/updates/sogi...
(1/4)
The results open a path for new interventions that don’t just target stereotypes but also attempt to recalibrate biased visual perception directly, with the hopes of mitigating such high-stakes misjudgments under stress and uncertainty.
(6/6)
(6/6)
September 19, 2025 at 3:19 PM
The results open a path for new interventions that don’t just target stereotypes but also attempt to recalibrate biased visual perception directly, with the hopes of mitigating such high-stakes misjudgments under stress and uncertainty.
(6/6)
(6/6)
While past work has generally assumed such weapon-identification biases involve an accurate perception of the object but then a racially biased impulse that is difficult to control, our findings suggest that part of the problem is a temporary visual distortion as well.
(5/6)
(5/6)
September 19, 2025 at 3:19 PM
While past work has generally assumed such weapon-identification biases involve an accurate perception of the object but then a racially biased impulse that is difficult to control, our findings suggest that part of the problem is a temporary visual distortion as well.
(5/6)
(5/6)
These neural representational shifts predicted subjects' delays in recognizing these tools as tools, rather than weapons, suggesting an initial tendency to perceive them as weapons.
(4/6)
(4/6)
September 19, 2025 at 3:19 PM
These neural representational shifts predicted subjects' delays in recognizing these tools as tools, rather than weapons, suggesting an initial tendency to perceive them as weapons.
(4/6)
(4/6)
Using neural decoding techniques, we find that when subjects saw a Black man’s face before an image of a tool, their brain’s object-processing regions shifted toward a weapon-like representation.
(3/6)
(3/6)
September 19, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Using neural decoding techniques, we find that when subjects saw a Black man’s face before an image of a tool, their brain’s object-processing regions shifted toward a weapon-like representation.
(3/6)
(3/6)
Unarmed Black people in the US are 3X more likely than unarmed White people to be shot and killed by police. In many tragic cases, unarmed Black men were holding innocuous objects like a wrench, wallet, or cell phone when fatally shot by an officer.
(2/6)
(2/6)
September 19, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Unarmed Black people in the US are 3X more likely than unarmed White people to be shot and killed by police. In many tragic cases, unarmed Black men were holding innocuous objects like a wrench, wallet, or cell phone when fatally shot by an officer.
(2/6)
(2/6)
New findings from my lab in Nature Communications suggest that racial stereotypes can lead the brain's perceptual system to temporarily "see" weapons where they don't exist.
Led by: @dongwonoh.bsky.social
Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
(1/6)
Led by: @dongwonoh.bsky.social
Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
(1/6)
September 19, 2025 at 3:19 PM
New findings from my lab in Nature Communications suggest that racial stereotypes can lead the brain's perceptual system to temporarily "see" weapons where they don't exist.
Led by: @dongwonoh.bsky.social
Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
(1/6)
Led by: @dongwonoh.bsky.social
Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
(1/6)
Reposted by Jon Freeman
Three @spspnews.bsky.social members will discuss their grant terminations and next steps, followed by Q&A, story sharing, and community discussion.
Moderator: Cynthia L. Pickett, Professor; Past SPSP President
Speakers: @lkfazio.bsky.social, @freemanjb.bsky.social, and @frankikung.bsky.social
Moderator: Cynthia L. Pickett, Professor; Past SPSP President
Speakers: @lkfazio.bsky.social, @freemanjb.bsky.social, and @frankikung.bsky.social
September 9, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Three @spspnews.bsky.social members will discuss their grant terminations and next steps, followed by Q&A, story sharing, and community discussion.
Moderator: Cynthia L. Pickett, Professor; Past SPSP President
Speakers: @lkfazio.bsky.social, @freemanjb.bsky.social, and @frankikung.bsky.social
Moderator: Cynthia L. Pickett, Professor; Past SPSP President
Speakers: @lkfazio.bsky.social, @freemanjb.bsky.social, and @frankikung.bsky.social
Reposted by Jon Freeman
The Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences (@fabbs.org) is searching for a short-term technology policy fellow. Great opportunity for a new PhD interested in policy, maybe before a research postdoc or faculty position:
fabbs.org/news/2025/08...
fabbs.org/news/2025/08...
We’re Hiring: Technology Policy Fellow – FABBS
Location: Washington, D.C. (hybrid) Salary: Approximately $7,000 per month Start Date: September 15, 2025 Duration: 3 months, with potential for longer Position
fabbs.org
August 15, 2025 at 3:05 PM
The Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences (@fabbs.org) is searching for a short-term technology policy fellow. Great opportunity for a new PhD interested in policy, maybe before a research postdoc or faculty position:
fabbs.org/news/2025/08...
fabbs.org/news/2025/08...
Reposted by Jon Freeman
First paper from my lab out @commspsychol.nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s44271-025-00275-w
Latent factor models are popular for mental representation of people, e.g. warmth & competence
But we show in naturalistic contexts, more complex representations are needed: high-dimensional networks
www.nature.com/articles/s44271-025-00275-w
Latent factor models are popular for mental representation of people, e.g. warmth & competence
But we show in naturalistic contexts, more complex representations are needed: high-dimensional networks
www.nature.com
July 8, 2025 at 1:37 AM
First paper from my lab out @commspsychol.nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s44271-025-00275-w
Latent factor models are popular for mental representation of people, e.g. warmth & competence
But we show in naturalistic contexts, more complex representations are needed: high-dimensional networks
www.nature.com/articles/s44271-025-00275-w
Latent factor models are popular for mental representation of people, e.g. warmth & competence
But we show in naturalistic contexts, more complex representations are needed: high-dimensional networks
Reposted by Jon Freeman
Paper in @pnas.org in which @d-melnikoff.bsky.social and I provide evidence for model-based effects on automatic evaluation. This was a super fun “adversarial” collaboration with 0 adversariality. It may have been nice to be right, but getting it right is nearly as nice: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
June 21, 2025 at 1:52 AM
Paper in @pnas.org in which @d-melnikoff.bsky.social and I provide evidence for model-based effects on automatic evaluation. This was a super fun “adversarial” collaboration with 0 adversariality. It may have been nice to be right, but getting it right is nearly as nice: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Curious for any reactions/feedback!
June 19, 2025 at 1:58 AM
Curious for any reactions/feedback!
We think it's important to view impressions not so much as drawing on a fixed low-dimensional structure but as emerging in a combinatorial fashion out of the dynamics of a high-dimensional space. This approach may also be valuable for thinking about other dimensional models in social cognition (8/8)
June 18, 2025 at 9:58 PM
We think it's important to view impressions not so much as drawing on a fixed low-dimensional structure but as emerging in a combinatorial fashion out of the dynamics of a high-dimensional space. This approach may also be valuable for thinking about other dimensional models in social cognition (8/8)
The model can explain growing findings:
▪️cross-cultural & individual perceiver variation
▪️variation by targets' race/gender/groups
And makes novel predictions:
▪️"proximal" vs. "distal" traits in cascades (competent → intelligent → creative)
▪️earlier activation of putatively latent dimensions (7/8)
▪️cross-cultural & individual perceiver variation
▪️variation by targets' race/gender/groups
And makes novel predictions:
▪️"proximal" vs. "distal" traits in cascades (competent → intelligent → creative)
▪️earlier activation of putatively latent dimensions (7/8)
June 18, 2025 at 9:58 PM
The model can explain growing findings:
▪️cross-cultural & individual perceiver variation
▪️variation by targets' race/gender/groups
And makes novel predictions:
▪️"proximal" vs. "distal" traits in cascades (competent → intelligent → creative)
▪️earlier activation of putatively latent dimensions (7/8)
▪️cross-cultural & individual perceiver variation
▪️variation by targets' race/gender/groups
And makes novel predictions:
▪️"proximal" vs. "distal" traits in cascades (competent → intelligent → creative)
▪️earlier activation of putatively latent dimensions (7/8)
In the model, the structure of trait relationships (e.g., trustworthiness–dominance) can change due to targets or context and cultural and individual learning. Top-down factors—like goals, stereotypes, or attention—reshape the attractor landscape, influencing which traits become most stable. (6/8)
June 18, 2025 at 9:58 PM
In the model, the structure of trait relationships (e.g., trustworthiness–dominance) can change due to targets or context and cultural and individual learning. Top-down factors—like goals, stereotypes, or attention—reshape the attractor landscape, influencing which traits become most stable. (6/8)
Here the trustworthiness/warmth dimension isn’t a latent mechanism or have a privileged functional/cognitive status—it’s an emergent pattern from correlated traits. That’s why it appears in PCA or factor analysis. But we argue that it’s only a mere snapshot of a fluid, high-dimensional space (5/8)
June 18, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Here the trustworthiness/warmth dimension isn’t a latent mechanism or have a privileged functional/cognitive status—it’s an emergent pattern from correlated traits. That’s why it appears in PCA or factor analysis. But we argue that it’s only a mere snapshot of a fluid, high-dimensional space (5/8)
How does it work? You encounter another person. Features trigger many trait concepts (e.g., sociable, caring, competent), which activate each other or compete, influenced by top-down goals & higher-order processes. The network settles into a stable neural pattern, resulting in impressions. (4/8)
June 18, 2025 at 9:58 PM
How does it work? You encounter another person. Features trigger many trait concepts (e.g., sociable, caring, competent), which activate each other or compete, influenced by top-down goals & higher-order processes. The network settles into a stable neural pattern, resulting in impressions. (4/8)
Instead, using attractor neural networks, we propose a high-dimensional model. In the brain, social impressions would operate as dynamic trajectories in a neural-state space that can be shaped by sensory cues, conceptual associations, and higher-order social cognition.
(3/8)
(3/8)
June 18, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Instead, using attractor neural networks, we propose a high-dimensional model. In the brain, social impressions would operate as dynamic trajectories in a neural-state space that can be shaped by sensory cues, conceptual associations, and higher-order social cognition.
(3/8)
(3/8)
How do we infer countless traits? Models have treated trait perception like color vision: impressions arise from combinations of, e.g., “red” (trustworthy), “green” (dominant), & "blue" (youthful). But unlike color, there’s no evidence for this, and we question the value of latent dimensions (2/8)
June 18, 2025 at 9:58 PM
How do we infer countless traits? Models have treated trait perception like color vision: impressions arise from combinations of, e.g., “red” (trustworthy), “green” (dominant), & "blue" (youthful). But unlike color, there’s no evidence for this, and we question the value of latent dimensions (2/8)
In a TiCS paper, @chujunlin.bsky.social & I propose a high-dimensional model of social impressions.
Existing models focus on 2–4 latent dimensions (e.g. trustworthy/warm), but they often fall apart across different contexts, cultures, & perceivers. We need a paradigm shift.
shorturl.at/7GD1n (1/8)
Existing models focus on 2–4 latent dimensions (e.g. trustworthy/warm), but they often fall apart across different contexts, cultures, & perceivers. We need a paradigm shift.
shorturl.at/7GD1n (1/8)
A high-dimensional model of social impressions
People form social impressions from visual cues such as faces, which are argued by
various models to arise from some limited set of fixed dimensions (e.g., trustworthiness
and dominance). We argue tha...
www.cell.com
June 18, 2025 at 9:58 PM
In a TiCS paper, @chujunlin.bsky.social & I propose a high-dimensional model of social impressions.
Existing models focus on 2–4 latent dimensions (e.g. trustworthy/warm), but they often fall apart across different contexts, cultures, & perceivers. We need a paradigm shift.
shorturl.at/7GD1n (1/8)
Existing models focus on 2–4 latent dimensions (e.g. trustworthy/warm), but they often fall apart across different contexts, cultures, & perceivers. We need a paradigm shift.
shorturl.at/7GD1n (1/8)