Stephen Ferrigno
@sferrigno.bsky.social
Assistant Professor of Psychology at UW-Madison. PI, Cognitive Origins Lab, investigating the evolutionary and developmental origins of thought. He/Him. cognitiveoriginslab.psych.wisc.edu
Googling yourself is getting weird in the age of AI. Though I’m flattered Google now thinks I’m neurosurgeon David Paul (or that he is me).
November 7, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Googling yourself is getting weird in the age of AI. Though I’m flattered Google now thinks I’m neurosurgeon David Paul (or that he is me).
Reposted by Stephen Ferrigno
Very excited to share a new preprint that’s been brewing for a long time! This work was led by the exceptional @traceym.bsky.social, and made possible by a developmental + comparative + computational dream team.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
osf.io/preprints/ps...
OSF
osf.io
October 14, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Very excited to share a new preprint that’s been brewing for a long time! This work was led by the exceptional @traceym.bsky.social, and made possible by a developmental + comparative + computational dream team.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Stephen Ferrigno
Over the weekend ICE abducted an NIH contractor when he showed up to a courthouse for his green card hearing. He is documented. His wife is a citizen.
He is also member of the skeleton crew of animal care staff that works through a shutdown, to ensure the health and wellbeing of research animals.
He is also member of the skeleton crew of animal care staff that works through a shutdown, to ensure the health and wellbeing of research animals.
October 7, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Over the weekend ICE abducted an NIH contractor when he showed up to a courthouse for his green card hearing. He is documented. His wife is a citizen.
He is also member of the skeleton crew of animal care staff that works through a shutdown, to ensure the health and wellbeing of research animals.
He is also member of the skeleton crew of animal care staff that works through a shutdown, to ensure the health and wellbeing of research animals.
New work with @samcheyette.bsky.social & Susan Carey testing the memory architecture used when learning/producing center-embedded sequences. Adults don't use Push-Down Stacks as is often assumed, instead they rely on a Queue-like memory architecture onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Do Humans Use Push‐Down Stacks When Learning or Producing Center‐Embedded Sequences?
Complex sequences are ubiquitous in human mental life, structuring representations within many different cognitive domains—natural language, music, mathematics, and logic, to name a few. However, the....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
September 15, 2025 at 6:41 PM
New work with @samcheyette.bsky.social & Susan Carey testing the memory architecture used when learning/producing center-embedded sequences. Adults don't use Push-Down Stacks as is often assumed, instead they rely on a Queue-like memory architecture onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Another fun #cogsci2025 in the books! Thanks to everyone who stopped by the CO-Lab grad student posters! Alessanda Silva on Number-Space mappings & @elijahtramm.bsky.social on Hierarchical grammar learning in monkeys (and humans). Posters still available through Cog. Sci. or reach out for a copy.
August 4, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Another fun #cogsci2025 in the books! Thanks to everyone who stopped by the CO-Lab grad student posters! Alessanda Silva on Number-Space mappings & @elijahtramm.bsky.social on Hierarchical grammar learning in monkeys (and humans). Posters still available through Cog. Sci. or reach out for a copy.
Reposted by Stephen Ferrigno
#cogsci2025 was a blast! Many excellent conversations about inner speech and categorical representation!
August 3, 2025 at 8:01 PM
#cogsci2025 was a blast! Many excellent conversations about inner speech and categorical representation!
Reposted by Stephen Ferrigno
🚨 Neuro postdocs & grad students: Have a story to tell? Want to practice a talk before a conference or interview? Join our new seminar series on the Isthmus! All are welcome (from around the 🌎). Submit by Aug 20. Share your story (and this ad)!
(Ping me for Qs)
forms.gle/zpSTGWczxjqJ...
(Ping me for Qs)
forms.gle/zpSTGWczxjqJ...
July 16, 2025 at 6:33 PM
🚨 Neuro postdocs & grad students: Have a story to tell? Want to practice a talk before a conference or interview? Join our new seminar series on the Isthmus! All are welcome (from around the 🌎). Submit by Aug 20. Share your story (and this ad)!
(Ping me for Qs)
forms.gle/zpSTGWczxjqJ...
(Ping me for Qs)
forms.gle/zpSTGWczxjqJ...
Reposted by Stephen Ferrigno
Researchers came from around the United States to showcase projects, ranging from modeling coastal hazards to teaching quantum information science, that were killed prematurely this spring by one of a half-dozen federal agencies. scim.ag/3Tv5iVC
Democrats stage a science fair of canceled grants to show what’s been lost
Partisan fight over Trump cuts heats up as Congress works on 2026 spending bills.
scim.ag
July 9, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Researchers came from around the United States to showcase projects, ranging from modeling coastal hazards to teaching quantum information science, that were killed prematurely this spring by one of a half-dozen federal agencies. scim.ag/3Tv5iVC
Reposted by Stephen Ferrigno
100% of Black people self censor at work. Its a job site not your personal safe space, snowflake.
June 22, 2025 at 7:54 PM
100% of Black people self censor at work. Its a job site not your personal safe space, snowflake.
Reposted by Stephen Ferrigno
🚨 CCCR has a new survey report out today! 🚨
"100 Days Under Trump: Public Reactions to Attacks on American Governance & Institutions"
The report draws on our Apr/May YouGov panel survey of US adults, following our Oct 2024 survey w/ recontacts + a sample refresh. 1/
cccr.wisc.edu/wp-content/u...
"100 Days Under Trump: Public Reactions to Attacks on American Governance & Institutions"
The report draws on our Apr/May YouGov panel survey of US adults, following our Oct 2024 survey w/ recontacts + a sample refresh. 1/
cccr.wisc.edu/wp-content/u...
June 17, 2025 at 3:22 PM
🚨 CCCR has a new survey report out today! 🚨
"100 Days Under Trump: Public Reactions to Attacks on American Governance & Institutions"
The report draws on our Apr/May YouGov panel survey of US adults, following our Oct 2024 survey w/ recontacts + a sample refresh. 1/
cccr.wisc.edu/wp-content/u...
"100 Days Under Trump: Public Reactions to Attacks on American Governance & Institutions"
The report draws on our Apr/May YouGov panel survey of US adults, following our Oct 2024 survey w/ recontacts + a sample refresh. 1/
cccr.wisc.edu/wp-content/u...
Reposted by Stephen Ferrigno
After already killing more than 1700 active grants related to politically charged topics, the National Institutes of Health has flagged another roughly 3200 grants for review and possible termination.
Exclusive: NIH documents reveal inconsistencies in grant terminations as agency reviews 3200 more
Evidence of agency’s uneven guidance to employees and role of DOGE could play into legal case against cuts
scim.ag
June 16, 2025 at 1:27 PM
After already killing more than 1700 active grants related to politically charged topics, the National Institutes of Health has flagged another roughly 3200 grants for review and possible termination.
Reposted by Stephen Ferrigno
📣📣 A recent paper by Nicholas A. Vest and colleagues:
Does Focusing on the Unit of Change Help Children Learn Growing Pattern Skills? www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
@nicholasvest.bsky.social
@marthaalibali.bsky.social
Does Focusing on the Unit of Change Help Children Learn Growing Pattern Skills? www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
@nicholasvest.bsky.social
@marthaalibali.bsky.social
Does Focusing on the Unit of Change Help Children Learn Growing Pattern Skills?
Children regularly encounter growing and decreasing patterns in songs, games, and daily routines. Over development, children learn to extend and abstract (i.e., recreate the pattern using different...
www.tandfonline.com
June 12, 2025 at 1:05 PM
📣📣 A recent paper by Nicholas A. Vest and colleagues:
Does Focusing on the Unit of Change Help Children Learn Growing Pattern Skills? www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
@nicholasvest.bsky.social
@marthaalibali.bsky.social
Does Focusing on the Unit of Change Help Children Learn Growing Pattern Skills? www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
@nicholasvest.bsky.social
@marthaalibali.bsky.social
The original was fantastic! Can't wait for my niece & nephew to get a couple years older. Nerdy bedtime stories for days!
AN IMMENSE WORLD: YOUNG READERS EDITION is out today! 🥳
I’m really grateful to AnnMarie Anderson for adapting it, Rebecca Mills for illustrating, Tom Russell for shepherding, and Rose Eveleth for reading the audiobook.
(And it’s dedicated to Typo.)
bookshop.org/p/books/an-i...
I’m really grateful to AnnMarie Anderson for adapting it, Rebecca Mills for illustrating, Tom Russell for shepherding, and Rose Eveleth for reading the audiobook.
(And it’s dedicated to Typo.)
bookshop.org/p/books/an-i...
An Immense World (Young Readers Edition): How Animals Sense Earth's Amazing Secrets
How Animals Sense Earth's Amazing Secrets
bookshop.org
May 13, 2025 at 6:18 PM
The original was fantastic! Can't wait for my niece & nephew to get a couple years older. Nerdy bedtime stories for days!
Reposted by Stephen Ferrigno
Well the NIH has cancelled the Women's Health Initiative, the largest study of women in history
It has been running continuously since 1991 and has provided massive key knowledge about diseases in women
Unreal
www.science.org/content/arti...
It has been running continuously since 1991 and has provided massive key knowledge about diseases in women
Unreal
www.science.org/content/arti...
NIH cancels its first and largest study centered on women
The Women’s Health Initiative has produced numerous influential findings
www.science.org
April 23, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Well the NIH has cancelled the Women's Health Initiative, the largest study of women in history
It has been running continuously since 1991 and has provided massive key knowledge about diseases in women
Unreal
www.science.org/content/arti...
It has been running continuously since 1991 and has provided massive key knowledge about diseases in women
Unreal
www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Stephen Ferrigno
📣Now hiring! I'm looking to recruit a full-time Research Specialist (Lab Manager) to join the Social and Moral Learning Lab at UW Madison starting this summer! Apply here: jobs.wisc.edu/jobs/researc... (application deadline March 21, 2025)
March 11, 2025 at 8:51 PM
📣Now hiring! I'm looking to recruit a full-time Research Specialist (Lab Manager) to join the Social and Moral Learning Lab at UW Madison starting this summer! Apply here: jobs.wisc.edu/jobs/researc... (application deadline March 21, 2025)
Reposted by Stephen Ferrigno
Are humans the only species that communicates when a collaborator is missing information?
In @pnas.org, Luke Townrow and I show that our closest relatives, bonobos, can track when a partner is knowledgeable or ignorant, and tailor communication accordingly
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
In @pnas.org, Luke Townrow and I show that our closest relatives, bonobos, can track when a partner is knowledgeable or ignorant, and tailor communication accordingly
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
February 3, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Are humans the only species that communicates when a collaborator is missing information?
In @pnas.org, Luke Townrow and I show that our closest relatives, bonobos, can track when a partner is knowledgeable or ignorant, and tailor communication accordingly
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
In @pnas.org, Luke Townrow and I show that our closest relatives, bonobos, can track when a partner is knowledgeable or ignorant, and tailor communication accordingly
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Excited to be part of this Cog Sci preconference workshop on compositionality in Math & Non-linguistic reasoning next week. Virtual and free to attend! Sign up here: framaforms.org/compositiona...
June 20, 2024 at 5:03 PM
Excited to be part of this Cog Sci preconference workshop on compositionality in Math & Non-linguistic reasoning next week. Virtual and free to attend! Sign up here: framaforms.org/compositiona...
Our fantastic lab manager Sydney Buffonge presented her first poster at a national conference this past weekend at #CDS2024! Congrats Sydney!
March 26, 2024 at 4:29 PM
Our fantastic lab manager Sydney Buffonge presented her first poster at a national conference this past weekend at #CDS2024! Congrats Sydney!
Come join the Cognitive Origins Lab at UW-Madison! We are hiring two full time lab managers to start this summer! One specializing in child development and one in non-human primate cognition. Application links below.
March 20, 2024 at 8:16 PM
Come join the Cognitive Origins Lab at UW-Madison! We are hiring two full time lab managers to start this summer! One specializing in child development and one in non-human primate cognition. Application links below.
Reposted by Stephen Ferrigno
New episode!!
A conversation w/ Laura Lewis & @chriskrupenye.bsky.social about social memory in great apes.
Humans remember familiar faces for decades. But is this ability unique to our species, or is it part of our deeper primate heritage?
Listen: disi.org/social-memor...
A conversation w/ Laura Lewis & @chriskrupenye.bsky.social about social memory in great apes.
Humans remember familiar faces for decades. But is this ability unique to our species, or is it part of our deeper primate heritage?
Listen: disi.org/social-memor...
March 11, 2024 at 6:46 PM
New episode!!
A conversation w/ Laura Lewis & @chriskrupenye.bsky.social about social memory in great apes.
Humans remember familiar faces for decades. But is this ability unique to our species, or is it part of our deeper primate heritage?
Listen: disi.org/social-memor...
A conversation w/ Laura Lewis & @chriskrupenye.bsky.social about social memory in great apes.
Humans remember familiar faces for decades. But is this ability unique to our species, or is it part of our deeper primate heritage?
Listen: disi.org/social-memor...
Reposted by Stephen Ferrigno
Anyone teaching 2-sample t tests in Intro Stats? Here's the dataset you've been looking for.
www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/...
#stats #AcademicSky #EduSky 🧪
www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/...
#stats #AcademicSky #EduSky 🧪
Travis Kelce stats with and without Taylor Swift: How much better is Chiefs star with his girlfriend...
Kelce has been much more productive when Swift has been in the stands, and that bodes well for the Chiefs in Super Bowl 58.
www.sportingnews.com
February 7, 2024 at 1:37 PM
Anyone teaching 2-sample t tests in Intro Stats? Here's the dataset you've been looking for.
www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/...
#stats #AcademicSky #EduSky 🧪
www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/...
#stats #AcademicSky #EduSky 🧪
Came across this gem when looking for an old paper. Still one of the most memorable experiences in my grad career, but @cantlonlab.bsky.social handled it like an absolute boss!
December 13, 2023 at 5:54 PM
Came across this gem when looking for an old paper. Still one of the most memorable experiences in my grad career, but @cantlonlab.bsky.social handled it like an absolute boss!
Reposted by Stephen Ferrigno
New postdoc opportunity to work jointly with @cantlonlab.bsky.social and me to understand cognition across species, age, and culture! cmu.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/CMU/job/Pitt...
November 15, 2023 at 5:26 PM
New postdoc opportunity to work jointly with @cantlonlab.bsky.social and me to understand cognition across species, age, and culture! cmu.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/CMU/job/Pitt...
The Cognitive Origins Lab at UW-Madison is recruiting graduate students to start in Fall 2024. Interesting in how infant monkeys and/or children learn concepts related to number, sequencing, or logic? Apply here: psych.wisc.edu/graduate-pro...
October 18, 2023 at 7:45 PM
The Cognitive Origins Lab at UW-Madison is recruiting graduate students to start in Fall 2024. Interesting in how infant monkeys and/or children learn concepts related to number, sequencing, or logic? Apply here: psych.wisc.edu/graduate-pro...
The @WiSciFest was a blast! Featuring our amazing RAs teaching students about what you and monkeys have in common, live calves, and e-race cars!
October 18, 2023 at 5:33 PM
The @WiSciFest was a blast! Featuring our amazing RAs teaching students about what you and monkeys have in common, live calves, and e-race cars!