Ketika Garg
@ketikagarg.bsky.social
Postdoc @ Caltech. Makes games and models and kadak chai ☕. Interested in individual decisions ↔️ Group behavior.
Enjoys books 📚 and podcasts 🎧on science & history. Spends too much time in etymology rabbit holes.
Also goes by Ket. ketikagarg.com 🇮🇳
Enjoys books 📚 and podcasts 🎧on science & history. Spends too much time in etymology rabbit holes.
Also goes by Ket. ketikagarg.com 🇮🇳
Pinned
Ketika Garg
@ketikagarg.bsky.social
· Dec 1
1st post on bsky - about bsky! I was fascinated with academic starter packs and made an interactive network to see academic communities and how they connect - a map of knowledge! link to an interactive & searchable network: ketikagarg.github.io/blueSkyAcade...
Reposted by Ketika Garg
Slides from my @mit.edu IDSS Distinguished Speaker seminar "Networks untangle gender differences in productivity and prominence among scientists" this week
I argue that collaboration networks act like unequally distributed (and gendered) social capital
aaronclauset.github.io/slides/Claus...
I argue that collaboration networks act like unequally distributed (and gendered) social capital
aaronclauset.github.io/slides/Claus...
November 6, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Slides from my @mit.edu IDSS Distinguished Speaker seminar "Networks untangle gender differences in productivity and prominence among scientists" this week
I argue that collaboration networks act like unequally distributed (and gendered) social capital
aaronclauset.github.io/slides/Claus...
I argue that collaboration networks act like unequally distributed (and gendered) social capital
aaronclauset.github.io/slides/Claus...
Reposted by Ketika Garg
Which processes underlie collective intelligence in naturalistic human groups?
In new work led by Valerii Chirkov, we show that payoff selectivity is key in transforming a group of individuals into an intelligent collective 🤝🧠
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY7n...
Preprint: osf.io/preprints/ps...
In new work led by Valerii Chirkov, we show that payoff selectivity is key in transforming a group of individuals into an intelligent collective 🤝🧠
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY7n...
Preprint: osf.io/preprints/ps...
First-Person Perspective of the Voluntary Payoff-Sharing (VP) Condition
YouTube video by Valerii Chirkov
www.youtube.com
October 15, 2025 at 7:26 AM
Which processes underlie collective intelligence in naturalistic human groups?
In new work led by Valerii Chirkov, we show that payoff selectivity is key in transforming a group of individuals into an intelligent collective 🤝🧠
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY7n...
Preprint: osf.io/preprints/ps...
In new work led by Valerii Chirkov, we show that payoff selectivity is key in transforming a group of individuals into an intelligent collective 🤝🧠
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY7n...
Preprint: osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Ketika Garg
Why do some ideas spread widely, while others fail to catch on?
Our new review paper on the PSYCHOLOGY OF VIRALITY is now out in @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social (it was led by @steverathje.bsky.social)
Read the full paper here: www.cell.com/trends/cogni...
Our new review paper on the PSYCHOLOGY OF VIRALITY is now out in @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social (it was led by @steverathje.bsky.social)
Read the full paper here: www.cell.com/trends/cogni...
October 7, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Why do some ideas spread widely, while others fail to catch on?
Our new review paper on the PSYCHOLOGY OF VIRALITY is now out in @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social (it was led by @steverathje.bsky.social)
Read the full paper here: www.cell.com/trends/cogni...
Our new review paper on the PSYCHOLOGY OF VIRALITY is now out in @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social (it was led by @steverathje.bsky.social)
Read the full paper here: www.cell.com/trends/cogni...
Reposted by Ketika Garg
Larger scientific teams produce more impactful breakthroughs + patents
I wrote a paper with 4 principles to optimize large scientific collaborations based on the science of cooperation & collective intelligence: osf.io/preprints/ps...
And a substack summary: powerofus.substack.com/p/four-princ...
I wrote a paper with 4 principles to optimize large scientific collaborations based on the science of cooperation & collective intelligence: osf.io/preprints/ps...
And a substack summary: powerofus.substack.com/p/four-princ...
October 1, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Larger scientific teams produce more impactful breakthroughs + patents
I wrote a paper with 4 principles to optimize large scientific collaborations based on the science of cooperation & collective intelligence: osf.io/preprints/ps...
And a substack summary: powerofus.substack.com/p/four-princ...
I wrote a paper with 4 principles to optimize large scientific collaborations based on the science of cooperation & collective intelligence: osf.io/preprints/ps...
And a substack summary: powerofus.substack.com/p/four-princ...
Reposted by Ketika Garg
🚨New preprint🚨
osf.io/preprints/ps...
In a sample of ~2 billion comments, social media discourse becomes more negative over time
Archival and experimental findings suggest this is a byproduct of people trying to differentiate themselves
Led by @hongkai1.bsky.social in his 1st year (!) of his PhD
osf.io/preprints/ps...
In a sample of ~2 billion comments, social media discourse becomes more negative over time
Archival and experimental findings suggest this is a byproduct of people trying to differentiate themselves
Led by @hongkai1.bsky.social in his 1st year (!) of his PhD
September 26, 2025 at 8:30 PM
🚨New preprint🚨
osf.io/preprints/ps...
In a sample of ~2 billion comments, social media discourse becomes more negative over time
Archival and experimental findings suggest this is a byproduct of people trying to differentiate themselves
Led by @hongkai1.bsky.social in his 1st year (!) of his PhD
osf.io/preprints/ps...
In a sample of ~2 billion comments, social media discourse becomes more negative over time
Archival and experimental findings suggest this is a byproduct of people trying to differentiate themselves
Led by @hongkai1.bsky.social in his 1st year (!) of his PhD
Reposted by Ketika Garg
I am happy to announce that our project on risk and social learning is now in press at Psychological Review. Several new additions and revisions thanks to detailed feedback from colleagues and anonymous reviewers. osf.io/preprints/so...
@psmaldino.bsky.social @babeheim.bsky.social
@psmaldino.bsky.social @babeheim.bsky.social
September 27, 2025 at 12:14 AM
I am happy to announce that our project on risk and social learning is now in press at Psychological Review. Several new additions and revisions thanks to detailed feedback from colleagues and anonymous reviewers. osf.io/preprints/so...
@psmaldino.bsky.social @babeheim.bsky.social
@psmaldino.bsky.social @babeheim.bsky.social
Everytime I visit a European country that turned the world upside down, colonized millions and whatnot for *spice*, I just have one question: what did y'all do with that spice....???? Because it ain't in the food????
September 25, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Everytime I visit a European country that turned the world upside down, colonized millions and whatnot for *spice*, I just have one question: what did y'all do with that spice....???? Because it ain't in the food????
Reposted by Ketika Garg
Fun article about “outsider” scientists and their breakthroughs.
“Academia filters most funding, publishing, and hiring decisions through senior insiders, which favors ideas within existing paradigms.”
worksinprogress.co/issue/why-sc...
“Academia filters most funding, publishing, and hiring decisions through senior insiders, which favors ideas within existing paradigms.”
worksinprogress.co/issue/why-sc...
Why science needs outsiders - Works in Progress Magazine
Science has forgotten that the greatest breakthroughs often come from outsiders who are able to take a fresh perspective.
worksinprogress.co
September 19, 2025 at 4:29 AM
Fun article about “outsider” scientists and their breakthroughs.
“Academia filters most funding, publishing, and hiring decisions through senior insiders, which favors ideas within existing paradigms.”
worksinprogress.co/issue/why-sc...
“Academia filters most funding, publishing, and hiring decisions through senior insiders, which favors ideas within existing paradigms.”
worksinprogress.co/issue/why-sc...
Reposted by Ketika Garg
Can one bring together Reinforcement learning and Drift Diffusion models to understand collective foraging ?
Congrads to Jonathan Marienhagen , Lisa Blum Moyse and Dominik Deffner on this new study. Very happy that I was part of this collaboration.
Preprint here: osf.io/preprints/ps...
Congrads to Jonathan Marienhagen , Lisa Blum Moyse and Dominik Deffner on this new study. Very happy that I was part of this collaboration.
Preprint here: osf.io/preprints/ps...
September 16, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Can one bring together Reinforcement learning and Drift Diffusion models to understand collective foraging ?
Congrads to Jonathan Marienhagen , Lisa Blum Moyse and Dominik Deffner on this new study. Very happy that I was part of this collaboration.
Preprint here: osf.io/preprints/ps...
Congrads to Jonathan Marienhagen , Lisa Blum Moyse and Dominik Deffner on this new study. Very happy that I was part of this collaboration.
Preprint here: osf.io/preprints/ps...
Rituals as a stag hunt game?! To the top of the reading list! 🤩
First paper of the PD out!
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
We argue that we can think about the start of a new collective ritual as a Stag Hunt Game. But a frequency-independent payoff is needed to get it going. In our case, perceived miracles is such a mechanism!
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
We argue that we can think about the start of a new collective ritual as a Stag Hunt Game. But a frequency-independent payoff is needed to get it going. In our case, perceived miracles is such a mechanism!
The emergence of a new pilgrimage as an assurance game | Royal Society Open Science
Pilgrimage has received long-standing scholarly attention, but most theoretical work
focuses on how these rituals can be maintained, rather than the bigger puzzle of how
they emerge. Using empirical i...
royalsocietypublishing.org
September 10, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Rituals as a stag hunt game?! To the top of the reading list! 🤩
Reposted by Ketika Garg
The TiCS issue featuring our paper on "A timeline of cognitive costs in decision-making" is now available online 😄
Honored to have been a part of this awesome interdisciplinary mega-collab led by Christin Schulze (UNSW Sydney)
www.cell.com/trends/cogni...
Honored to have been a part of this awesome interdisciplinary mega-collab led by Christin Schulze (UNSW Sydney)
www.cell.com/trends/cogni...
A timeline of cognitive costs in decision-making
Recent research from economics, psychology, cognitive science, computer science, and
marketing is increasingly interested in the idea that people face cognitive costs
when making decisions. Reviewing ...
www.cell.com
September 3, 2025 at 12:15 AM
The TiCS issue featuring our paper on "A timeline of cognitive costs in decision-making" is now available online 😄
Honored to have been a part of this awesome interdisciplinary mega-collab led by Christin Schulze (UNSW Sydney)
www.cell.com/trends/cogni...
Honored to have been a part of this awesome interdisciplinary mega-collab led by Christin Schulze (UNSW Sydney)
www.cell.com/trends/cogni...
Reposted by Ketika Garg
New paper with @mujianing.bsky.social & @prestonlab.bsky.social! We propose a simple model for human memory of narratives: we uniformly sample incoming information at a constant rate. This explains behavioral data much better than variable-rate sampling triggered by event segmentation or surprisal.
Efficient uniform sampling explains non-uniform memory of narrative stories https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.31.667952v1
August 1, 2025 at 4:45 PM
New paper with @mujianing.bsky.social & @prestonlab.bsky.social! We propose a simple model for human memory of narratives: we uniformly sample incoming information at a constant rate. This explains behavioral data much better than variable-rate sampling triggered by event segmentation or surprisal.
Reposted by Ketika Garg
New preprint from @tobyhandfield.bsky.social and me!
We analyze authorship order norms from two perspectives: (1) why do disciplines have different norms and (2) do those different norms affect what kinds of collaborations take place.
arxiv.org/abs/2507.07364
We analyze authorship order norms from two perspectives: (1) why do disciplines have different norms and (2) do those different norms affect what kinds of collaborations take place.
arxiv.org/abs/2507.07364
The Evolution of Scientific Credit: When Authorship Norms Impede Collaboration
Scientific authorship norms vary dramatically across disciplines, from contribution-sensitive systems where first author is the greatest contributor and subsequent author order reflects relative input...
arxiv.org
July 14, 2025 at 3:38 PM
New preprint from @tobyhandfield.bsky.social and me!
We analyze authorship order norms from two perspectives: (1) why do disciplines have different norms and (2) do those different norms affect what kinds of collaborations take place.
arxiv.org/abs/2507.07364
We analyze authorship order norms from two perspectives: (1) why do disciplines have different norms and (2) do those different norms affect what kinds of collaborations take place.
arxiv.org/abs/2507.07364
Reposted by Ketika Garg
Just 1 week left to apply! 🙏 Pls share with anyone you think might be interested. If there are any Q's, get in touch!
👉 3x PhD position: hmc-lab.com/ERC_PhDs.html
👉 2yr Postdoc position: hmc-lab.com/ERC_Postdoc....
👉 3x PhD position: hmc-lab.com/ERC_PhDs.html
👉 2yr Postdoc position: hmc-lab.com/ERC_Postdoc....
July 1, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Just 1 week left to apply! 🙏 Pls share with anyone you think might be interested. If there are any Q's, get in touch!
👉 3x PhD position: hmc-lab.com/ERC_PhDs.html
👉 2yr Postdoc position: hmc-lab.com/ERC_Postdoc....
👉 3x PhD position: hmc-lab.com/ERC_PhDs.html
👉 2yr Postdoc position: hmc-lab.com/ERC_Postdoc....
Reposted by Ketika Garg
A few months ago, Nature published how-to guide for using ChatGPT to write your peer reviews in 30 minutes.
This is, of course, a horrible idea. Here’s my response with @jbakcoleman.bsky.social .
This is, of course, a horrible idea. Here’s my response with @jbakcoleman.bsky.social .
AI, peer review and the human activity of science
When researchers cede their scientific judgement to machines, we lose something important.
www.nature.com
June 25, 2025 at 1:01 PM
A few months ago, Nature published how-to guide for using ChatGPT to write your peer reviews in 30 minutes.
This is, of course, a horrible idea. Here’s my response with @jbakcoleman.bsky.social .
This is, of course, a horrible idea. Here’s my response with @jbakcoleman.bsky.social .
this is BEAUTIFUL!
Explore Wikipedia through a data map. Pages are grouped by semantic similarity, for topic clusters.
Hover to see details, zoom to explore more fine-grained topics, click to go to a page. Search by page
name to find interesting starting points for exploration.
lmcinnes.github.io/datamapplot_...
Hover to see details, zoom to explore more fine-grained topics, click to go to a page. Search by page
name to find interesting starting points for exploration.
lmcinnes.github.io/datamapplot_...
June 23, 2025 at 11:49 AM
this is BEAUTIFUL!
Reposted by Ketika Garg
Super excited for our CogSci paper on the dynamics of conversation led by @helen-schmidt.bsky.social and @clairebergey.bsky.social !
🗣️ New paper alert! Ever wonder how strangers navigate the messy world of casual conversation? We analyzed 200+ video calls to uncover the hidden structure behind "idle talk" – and found it's way more systematic than you'd think!
Thread 👇
Thread 👇
June 21, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Super excited for our CogSci paper on the dynamics of conversation led by @helen-schmidt.bsky.social and @clairebergey.bsky.social !
Reposted by Ketika Garg
New paper!
Managing speed-accuracy tradeoffs is an important part of commonsense psychology. But how do we do it in groups, where no single person controls decision speed?
The two teams below need to make a decision — and it probably feels obvious that the green team will take longer.
But why?
Managing speed-accuracy tradeoffs is an important part of commonsense psychology. But how do we do it in groups, where no single person controls decision speed?
The two teams below need to make a decision — and it probably feels obvious that the green team will take longer.
But why?
June 19, 2025 at 6:37 PM
New paper!
Managing speed-accuracy tradeoffs is an important part of commonsense psychology. But how do we do it in groups, where no single person controls decision speed?
The two teams below need to make a decision — and it probably feels obvious that the green team will take longer.
But why?
Managing speed-accuracy tradeoffs is an important part of commonsense psychology. But how do we do it in groups, where no single person controls decision speed?
The two teams below need to make a decision — and it probably feels obvious that the green team will take longer.
But why?
Reposted by Ketika Garg
People not only form social networks, they construct mental maps of them. People think about the ties between other people, including ties among individuals to whom they are not themselves directly connected. These “cognitive social networks” have rarely been studied. 1/
June 16, 2025 at 4:22 PM
People not only form social networks, they construct mental maps of them. People think about the ties between other people, including ties among individuals to whom they are not themselves directly connected. These “cognitive social networks” have rarely been studied. 1/
Reposted by Ketika Garg
🚀Join our team @tuda.bsky.social ! 🚀
I'm looking for 3 PhDs & 1 Postdoc for my @erc.europa.eu project “C4: Compositional Compression in Cognition and Culture” to study learning across individuals, teams, and cultural timescales
👉 PhD: hmc-lab.com/ERC_PhDs.html
👉 Postdoc: hmc-lab.com/ERC_Postdoc....
I'm looking for 3 PhDs & 1 Postdoc for my @erc.europa.eu project “C4: Compositional Compression in Cognition and Culture” to study learning across individuals, teams, and cultural timescales
👉 PhD: hmc-lab.com/ERC_PhDs.html
👉 Postdoc: hmc-lab.com/ERC_Postdoc....
June 11, 2025 at 8:00 AM
🚀Join our team @tuda.bsky.social ! 🚀
I'm looking for 3 PhDs & 1 Postdoc for my @erc.europa.eu project “C4: Compositional Compression in Cognition and Culture” to study learning across individuals, teams, and cultural timescales
👉 PhD: hmc-lab.com/ERC_PhDs.html
👉 Postdoc: hmc-lab.com/ERC_Postdoc....
I'm looking for 3 PhDs & 1 Postdoc for my @erc.europa.eu project “C4: Compositional Compression in Cognition and Culture” to study learning across individuals, teams, and cultural timescales
👉 PhD: hmc-lab.com/ERC_PhDs.html
👉 Postdoc: hmc-lab.com/ERC_Postdoc....
Reposted by Ketika Garg
🚀 Our last paper on leadership dynamics in open-source software teams has been featured in the Editor's highlights at @natcomms.nature.com
www.nature.com/collections/...
www.nature.com/collections/...
Applied physics and mathematics
The highlights include but are not limited to the research areas of electronics, optoelectronics, computing technologies and theories, soft matter physics, ...
www.nature.com
June 11, 2025 at 11:33 AM
🚀 Our last paper on leadership dynamics in open-source software teams has been featured in the Editor's highlights at @natcomms.nature.com
www.nature.com/collections/...
www.nature.com/collections/...
Reposted by Ketika Garg
This is fantastic, causal work demonstrating the basal ganglia’s role in explore-exploit decision making www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Basal ganglia deep brain stimulation restores cognitive flexibility and exploration-exploitation balance disrupted by NMDA-R antagonism - Nature Communications
Deep brain stimulation of the basal ganglia restores cognitive flexibility and rebalances exploration disrupted by NMDA receptor antagonism in nonhuman primates, offering insights into the neural basi...
www.nature.com
June 6, 2025 at 12:43 PM
This is fantastic, causal work demonstrating the basal ganglia’s role in explore-exploit decision making www.nature.com/articles/s41...
"One obvious lesson from all this is that, rather plausibly, we today have some convictions and conceits that educated people of the future will label as crackpottery."
Consider reading my new piece on the history and science of the nasogenital cure! Incidentally, that's not exactly what the theory was and not quite what the episode reveals. Bizarre tales sound rather less bizarre in context - possibly, our own tales in our own context, too.
One woman’s nose and two men’s hubris and a bizarre tale of 19th century science gone wrong. This nasogenital theory tried to link nasal shape to sexual health and reveals how medicine can be shaped more by bias than fact buff.ly/TwZjyJ6
June 6, 2025 at 12:42 PM
"One obvious lesson from all this is that, rather plausibly, we today have some convictions and conceits that educated people of the future will label as crackpottery."