Neil Bramley
@neilbramley.bsky.social
Cognitive Psychology Reader (Assoc. Prof) at Edinburgh Uni - Into causal cognition, active learning, compositionality & generalisation
Reposted by Neil Bramley
"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/...
Reposted by Neil Bramley
Q. Who aligns the aligners?
A. alignmentalignment.ai
Today I’m humbled to announce an epoch-defining event: the launch of the 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗜 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀.
A. alignmentalignment.ai
Today I’m humbled to announce an epoch-defining event: the launch of the 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗜 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀.
Center for the Alignment of AI Alignment Centers
We align the aligners
alignmentalignment.ai
September 11, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Q. Who aligns the aligners?
A. alignmentalignment.ai
Today I’m humbled to announce an epoch-defining event: the launch of the 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗜 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀.
A. alignmentalignment.ai
Today I’m humbled to announce an epoch-defining event: the launch of the 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗜 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀.
❤️
My Lab at the University of Edinburgh🇬🇧 has funded PhD positions for this cycle!
We study the computational principles of how people learn, reason, and communicate.
It's a new lab, and you will be playing a big role in shaping its culture and foundations.
Spread the words!
We study the computational principles of how people learn, reason, and communicate.
It's a new lab, and you will be playing a big role in shaping its culture and foundations.
Spread the words!
August 17, 2025 at 1:12 PM
❤️
Just out in Cognitive Psychology
Lossy encoding of distributions in judgment under uncertainty
By @tadegquillien.bsky.social , me & Chris Lucas
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
We find people's 'best guesses' sneakily encode distribution information that guesser & others can reconstruct later
Lossy encoding of distributions in judgment under uncertainty
By @tadegquillien.bsky.social , me & Chris Lucas
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
We find people's 'best guesses' sneakily encode distribution information that guesser & others can reconstruct later
Lossy encoding of distributions in judgment under uncertainty
People often make judgments about uncertain facts and events, for example ‘Germany will win the world cup’. Judgment under uncertainty is often studie…
www.sciencedirect.com
June 24, 2025 at 8:07 AM
Just out in Cognitive Psychology
Lossy encoding of distributions in judgment under uncertainty
By @tadegquillien.bsky.social , me & Chris Lucas
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
We find people's 'best guesses' sneakily encode distribution information that guesser & others can reconstruct later
Lossy encoding of distributions in judgment under uncertainty
By @tadegquillien.bsky.social , me & Chris Lucas
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
We find people's 'best guesses' sneakily encode distribution information that guesser & others can reconstruct later
Reposted by Neil Bramley
We often assume that specialized roles improve performance in multi-agent systems, but when does specialization emerge based on a given task and environment? 🧵👇
⭐️ New preprint w/ Ruaridh Mon-Williams, @neilbramley.bsky.social, Chris Lucas, @natvelali.bsky.social & @cocoscilab.bsky.social
⭐️ New preprint w/ Ruaridh Mon-Williams, @neilbramley.bsky.social, Chris Lucas, @natvelali.bsky.social & @cocoscilab.bsky.social
March 26, 2025 at 6:05 PM
We often assume that specialized roles improve performance in multi-agent systems, but when does specialization emerge based on a given task and environment? 🧵👇
⭐️ New preprint w/ Ruaridh Mon-Williams, @neilbramley.bsky.social, Chris Lucas, @natvelali.bsky.social & @cocoscilab.bsky.social
⭐️ New preprint w/ Ruaridh Mon-Williams, @neilbramley.bsky.social, Chris Lucas, @natvelali.bsky.social & @cocoscilab.bsky.social
Reposted by Neil Bramley
I'm very excited to share notes on Probabilistic AI that I have been writing with @arkrause.bsky.social 🥳
arxiv.org/pdf/2502.05244
These notes aim to give a graduate-level introduction to probabilistic ML + sequential decision-making.
I'm super glad to be able to share them with all of you now!
arxiv.org/pdf/2502.05244
These notes aim to give a graduate-level introduction to probabilistic ML + sequential decision-making.
I'm super glad to be able to share them with all of you now!
February 11, 2025 at 8:19 AM
I'm very excited to share notes on Probabilistic AI that I have been writing with @arkrause.bsky.social 🥳
arxiv.org/pdf/2502.05244
These notes aim to give a graduate-level introduction to probabilistic ML + sequential decision-making.
I'm super glad to be able to share them with all of you now!
arxiv.org/pdf/2502.05244
These notes aim to give a graduate-level introduction to probabilistic ML + sequential decision-making.
I'm super glad to be able to share them with all of you now!
Reposted by Neil Bramley
New book "Explanation in Biology" with Cambridge University Press is out & open access!
Covers (1) causal explanation & (2) non-causal/mathematical explanation in life sciences--bio, neuro, etc 🌿🧬🧠
Introduction to philosophical work on scientific explanation!
www.cambridge.org/core/element...
Covers (1) causal explanation & (2) non-causal/mathematical explanation in life sciences--bio, neuro, etc 🌿🧬🧠
Introduction to philosophical work on scientific explanation!
www.cambridge.org/core/element...
January 21, 2025 at 3:23 PM
New book "Explanation in Biology" with Cambridge University Press is out & open access!
Covers (1) causal explanation & (2) non-causal/mathematical explanation in life sciences--bio, neuro, etc 🌿🧬🧠
Introduction to philosophical work on scientific explanation!
www.cambridge.org/core/element...
Covers (1) causal explanation & (2) non-causal/mathematical explanation in life sciences--bio, neuro, etc 🌿🧬🧠
Introduction to philosophical work on scientific explanation!
www.cambridge.org/core/element...
Reposted by Neil Bramley
New paper in #ProcB with @alexmesoudi.com, @jfbonnefon.bsky.social, @rmcelreath.bsky.social and Rob Boyd.
We investigate how social learning shapes the way we explore and show that it can even preserve useless theories! 🧵👇
We investigate how social learning shapes the way we explore and show that it can even preserve useless theories! 🧵👇
January 29, 2025 at 9:34 AM
New paper in #ProcB with @alexmesoudi.com, @jfbonnefon.bsky.social, @rmcelreath.bsky.social and Rob Boyd.
We investigate how social learning shapes the way we explore and show that it can even preserve useless theories! 🧵👇
We investigate how social learning shapes the way we explore and show that it can even preserve useless theories! 🧵👇
Reposted by Neil Bramley
Our paper on if you can incentivize rule induction in humans with money is finally out (answer is: it appears to be a very weak/0-ish effect in contrast to the huge effect of financial incentives on rote, repetitive tasks). credit to pamop, ben newell & dan bartels psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...
APA PsycNet
psycnet.apa.org
January 21, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Our paper on if you can incentivize rule induction in humans with money is finally out (answer is: it appears to be a very weak/0-ish effect in contrast to the huge effect of financial incentives on rote, repetitive tasks). credit to pamop, ben newell & dan bartels psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...
Reposted by Neil Bramley
New preprint with @neilbramley.bsky.social and Chris Lucas:
We argue that causal judgments are supported by richer mental representations than traditionally assumed, and that this hypothesis can help solve some puzzles about causation.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
We argue that causal judgments are supported by richer mental representations than traditionally assumed, and that this hypothesis can help solve some puzzles about causation.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
OSF
osf.io
January 16, 2025 at 4:54 PM
New preprint with @neilbramley.bsky.social and Chris Lucas:
We argue that causal judgments are supported by richer mental representations than traditionally assumed, and that this hypothesis can help solve some puzzles about causation.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
We argue that causal judgments are supported by richer mental representations than traditionally assumed, and that this hypothesis can help solve some puzzles about causation.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Neil Bramley
We're on the lookout for passionate minds to join us as reviewers for #CogSci2025. This is your chance to be among the first to check out groundbreaking research while playing a crucial role in shaping the future of #CogSci
Visit cognitivesciencesociety.org/submissions/ and fill out the form!
Visit cognitivesciencesociety.org/submissions/ and fill out the form!
December 4, 2024 at 4:52 PM
We're on the lookout for passionate minds to join us as reviewers for #CogSci2025. This is your chance to be among the first to check out groundbreaking research while playing a crucial role in shaping the future of #CogSci
Visit cognitivesciencesociety.org/submissions/ and fill out the form!
Visit cognitivesciencesociety.org/submissions/ and fill out the form!
Reposted by Neil Bramley
CogSci2025 poster has landed, in both “wow the future looks bright for CogSci” mode, and also “our theories will make you think and possibly write poetry mode”. @neilbramley.bsky.social @carenwalker.bsky.social @cogscisociety.bsky.social
November 25, 2024 at 4:12 PM
CogSci2025 poster has landed, in both “wow the future looks bright for CogSci” mode, and also “our theories will make you think and possibly write poetry mode”. @neilbramley.bsky.social @carenwalker.bsky.social @cogscisociety.bsky.social
"Local search and the evolution of world models" (psyarxiv.com/e9p8k/). New paper forthcoming in TopiCS with Bonan Zhao, Tadeg Quillien & Chris Lucas
psyarxiv.com
October 5, 2023 at 2:12 PM
"Local search and the evolution of world models" (psyarxiv.com/e9p8k/). New paper forthcoming in TopiCS with Bonan Zhao, Tadeg Quillien & Chris Lucas