Simon van Baal
@svanbaal.bsky.social
Lecturer in Decision Making at University of Leeds. Main interests: time preferences, impulsivity, self-control. Incl applications like gambling, consumption/saving, difficult decisions. Check out the behavioural science feed I made, and tag #BehSci.
- Me: "write a small function that does one thing"
- LLM: would you like me to add a calculation for the answer to the ultimate question to life, the universe, and everything?
- Me: [deletes, includes print("42")].
- LLM: would you like me to add a calculation for the answer to the ultimate question to life, the universe, and everything?
- Me: [deletes, includes print("42")].
Vibe code is legacy code (quoting Steve Krouse) doi.org/10.59350/d3b...
Vibe code is legacy code
Quoting Steve Krouse
doi.org
August 5, 2025 at 10:36 AM
- Me: "write a small function that does one thing"
- LLM: would you like me to add a calculation for the answer to the ultimate question to life, the universe, and everything?
- Me: [deletes, includes print("42")].
- LLM: would you like me to add a calculation for the answer to the ultimate question to life, the universe, and everything?
- Me: [deletes, includes print("42")].
Reposted by Simon van Baal
Self-control in daily life is more than willpower — but how well do commonly used trait scales capture this recent, broader view on self-control?
New preprint with @kaihorstmann.bsky.social & @mhennecke.bsky.social: osf.io/preprints/ps...
Short summary below.
New preprint with @kaihorstmann.bsky.social & @mhennecke.bsky.social: osf.io/preprints/ps...
Short summary below.
OSF
osf.io
June 19, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Self-control in daily life is more than willpower — but how well do commonly used trait scales capture this recent, broader view on self-control?
New preprint with @kaihorstmann.bsky.social & @mhennecke.bsky.social: osf.io/preprints/ps...
Short summary below.
New preprint with @kaihorstmann.bsky.social & @mhennecke.bsky.social: osf.io/preprints/ps...
Short summary below.
So true. Good to avoid unnecessary suffering!
Friends don't let friends collect data without adding data validation.
From Rebekah Jacob 😉
From Rebekah Jacob 😉
July 25, 2025 at 4:05 PM
So true. Good to avoid unnecessary suffering!
Reposted by Simon van Baal
I'm happy to share our latest manuscript "Impediments to countering racist pseudoscience", coauthored with @gillianrbrown1.bsky.social @kztwyman.bsky.social & Marcus Feldman.
July 25, 2025 at 9:17 AM
I'm happy to share our latest manuscript "Impediments to countering racist pseudoscience", coauthored with @gillianrbrown1.bsky.social @kztwyman.bsky.social & Marcus Feldman.
Reposted by Simon van Baal
@madselk.bsky.social, @benansell.bsky.social, Laure Bokobza, @aslicansunar.bsky.social, @mhaslberger.bsky.social, and @jacobnyrup.bsky.social. 2025. ‘Why Is It so Hard to Counteract Wealth Inequality? Evidence from the United Kingdom’. World Politics. 77(3): 515–61. muse.jhu.edu/article/964464
July 14, 2025 at 8:51 AM
@madselk.bsky.social, @benansell.bsky.social, Laure Bokobza, @aslicansunar.bsky.social, @mhaslberger.bsky.social, and @jacobnyrup.bsky.social. 2025. ‘Why Is It so Hard to Counteract Wealth Inequality? Evidence from the United Kingdom’. World Politics. 77(3): 515–61. muse.jhu.edu/article/964464
Reposted by Simon van Baal
Sitting here bleary after another poor night's sleep, disinclined to engage in a day of cognitive effort, this chart from @jburnmurdoch.ft.com really strikes home on.ft.com/4eFZG4l
July 11, 2025 at 6:09 AM
Sitting here bleary after another poor night's sleep, disinclined to engage in a day of cognitive effort, this chart from @jburnmurdoch.ft.com really strikes home on.ft.com/4eFZG4l
Great PSA! To echo: please don't use the chat window (your research decisions are being made for you). Send me a message and I will happily provide you with code to prompt OpenAI's model endpoints and store the conversational context throughout.
Social scientists should not use chat interfaces when using LLMs in their research: they are impressively inefficient, and obscure/impose important methodological decisions that require thought.
THREAD🧵
THREAD🧵
July 8, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Great PSA! To echo: please don't use the chat window (your research decisions are being made for you). Send me a message and I will happily provide you with code to prompt OpenAI's model endpoints and store the conversational context throughout.
Reposted by Simon van Baal
WIRED loves Fairphone and everything it stands for—but people just aren’t buying its devices, and the few who have don’t need to upgrade. www.wired.com/story/fairph...
Fairphone Has a New Plan to Get You to Care
WIRED loves Fairphone and everything it stands for—but people just aren’t buying its devices, and the few who have don’t need to upgrade.
www.wired.com
June 29, 2025 at 11:04 AM
WIRED loves Fairphone and everything it stands for—but people just aren’t buying its devices, and the few who have don’t need to upgrade. www.wired.com/story/fairph...
Great article linked below. I was unaware journals could negotiate and inflate the metric by excluding article types. I suppose that is part of the reason why there are always a bunch of different article types. Yet another example of Goodhart's Law!
journals.plos.org/plosmedicine...
journals.plos.org/plosmedicine...
June 24, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Great article linked below. I was unaware journals could negotiate and inflate the metric by excluding article types. I suppose that is part of the reason why there are always a bunch of different article types. Yet another example of Goodhart's Law!
journals.plos.org/plosmedicine...
journals.plos.org/plosmedicine...
Reposted by Simon van Baal
Registration is open for the Summer School on Computational Decision Sciences, 8–12 Sept
Join us in London for a week of cutting-edge research on decision-making, AI, cognitive science and more!
(free, register by 11Aug)
center-decision-sciences.com/cds-summer-s...
#PsychSciSky 🧠 #neuroskyence🧪
Join us in London for a week of cutting-edge research on decision-making, AI, cognitive science and more!
(free, register by 11Aug)
center-decision-sciences.com/cds-summer-s...
#PsychSciSky 🧠 #neuroskyence🧪
CDS Summer School
Program Registration Schedule Directions 8th – 12th September, 2025 The Center for Decision Sciences will be hosting a summer school during the second week of September, 2025 and taking place…
center-decision-sciences.com
June 19, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Registration is open for the Summer School on Computational Decision Sciences, 8–12 Sept
Join us in London for a week of cutting-edge research on decision-making, AI, cognitive science and more!
(free, register by 11Aug)
center-decision-sciences.com/cds-summer-s...
#PsychSciSky 🧠 #neuroskyence🧪
Join us in London for a week of cutting-edge research on decision-making, AI, cognitive science and more!
(free, register by 11Aug)
center-decision-sciences.com/cds-summer-s...
#PsychSciSky 🧠 #neuroskyence🧪
Reposted by Simon van Baal
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
June 19, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
Reposted by Simon van Baal
#CDRLeeds 's Simon Baal @svanbaal.bsky.social and colleagues have received an AFSG Minor Exploratory Grant (afsg.org) to improve use of the Problem Gambling Severity Index. They'll attempt identifying different problematic gambling profiles using the score and natural language processing tools.
June 16, 2025 at 5:22 PM
#CDRLeeds 's Simon Baal @svanbaal.bsky.social and colleagues have received an AFSG Minor Exploratory Grant (afsg.org) to improve use of the Problem Gambling Severity Index. They'll attempt identifying different problematic gambling profiles using the score and natural language processing tools.
Reposted by Simon van Baal
New work by Sudeep Bhatia @sdpbht.bsky.social, Simon van Baal @svanbaal.bsky.social, Feiyi Wang, and @lukaszwalasek.bsky.social Lukasz Walasek -- now out in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
May 28, 2025 at 1:24 PM
New work by Sudeep Bhatia @sdpbht.bsky.social, Simon van Baal @svanbaal.bsky.social, Feiyi Wang, and @lukaszwalasek.bsky.social Lukasz Walasek -- now out in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Simon van Baal
Would you like to extract and exploit textual data from the internet? No matter whether you want to analyse product reviews, or political opinions, #CDRLeeds 4-day workshop Webtext2Insight will teach you how to do it. 9-12 June 2025 in Leeds. More info and registration: shorturl.at/JCiKT
May 20, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Would you like to extract and exploit textual data from the internet? No matter whether you want to analyse product reviews, or political opinions, #CDRLeeds 4-day workshop Webtext2Insight will teach you how to do it. 9-12 June 2025 in Leeds. More info and registration: shorturl.at/JCiKT
We're running a workshop - Webtext2Insight
Intro workshop: Scraping, NLP, and GenAI for Business & Research.
📅 Dates: 9-12 June
📍 Location: Leeds University Business School, UK
👩🏫 Instructors: @lukaszwalasek.bsky.social , @xingjiewei.bsky.social, and I.
💻 Python (AI tools: Hugging Face, OpenAI API)
Intro workshop: Scraping, NLP, and GenAI for Business & Research.
📅 Dates: 9-12 June
📍 Location: Leeds University Business School, UK
👩🏫 Instructors: @lukaszwalasek.bsky.social , @xingjiewei.bsky.social, and I.
💻 Python (AI tools: Hugging Face, OpenAI API)
May 7, 2025 at 10:15 AM
We're running a workshop - Webtext2Insight
Intro workshop: Scraping, NLP, and GenAI for Business & Research.
📅 Dates: 9-12 June
📍 Location: Leeds University Business School, UK
👩🏫 Instructors: @lukaszwalasek.bsky.social , @xingjiewei.bsky.social, and I.
💻 Python (AI tools: Hugging Face, OpenAI API)
Intro workshop: Scraping, NLP, and GenAI for Business & Research.
📅 Dates: 9-12 June
📍 Location: Leeds University Business School, UK
👩🏫 Instructors: @lukaszwalasek.bsky.social , @xingjiewei.bsky.social, and I.
💻 Python (AI tools: Hugging Face, OpenAI API)
Pleased to announce that @sdpbht.bsky.social, @lukaszwalasek.bsky.social, Feiyi Wang and I published this work in @pnas.org last month. A particularly intricate project I'm thankful to have been part of! Going from unstructured text to an attribute repr. of decisions.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Computational analysis of 100 K choice dilemmas: Decision attributes, trade-off structures, and model-based prediction | PNAS
We present a dataset of over 100 K textual descriptions of real-life choice dilemmas,
obtained from social media posts and large-scale survey data....
www.pnas.org
May 6, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Pleased to announce that @sdpbht.bsky.social, @lukaszwalasek.bsky.social, Feiyi Wang and I published this work in @pnas.org last month. A particularly intricate project I'm thankful to have been part of! Going from unstructured text to an attribute repr. of decisions.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Simon van Baal
🧵New paper out in Cognition
Why do people moralize harmless carnal sins (e.g. gluttony, masturbation)?
@danielnettle.bsky.social & I find that these behaviors activate reciprocity-based moral judgment—no need for a distinct "purity" module.
50 days free link: authors.elsevier.com/a/1l18D2Hx2-...
Why do people moralize harmless carnal sins (e.g. gluttony, masturbation)?
@danielnettle.bsky.social & I find that these behaviors activate reciprocity-based moral judgment—no need for a distinct "purity" module.
50 days free link: authors.elsevier.com/a/1l18D2Hx2-...
May 6, 2025 at 9:45 AM
🧵New paper out in Cognition
Why do people moralize harmless carnal sins (e.g. gluttony, masturbation)?
@danielnettle.bsky.social & I find that these behaviors activate reciprocity-based moral judgment—no need for a distinct "purity" module.
50 days free link: authors.elsevier.com/a/1l18D2Hx2-...
Why do people moralize harmless carnal sins (e.g. gluttony, masturbation)?
@danielnettle.bsky.social & I find that these behaviors activate reciprocity-based moral judgment—no need for a distinct "purity" module.
50 days free link: authors.elsevier.com/a/1l18D2Hx2-...
Thrilled to share @lukaszwalasek.bsky.social, Philip Newall, and I were selected for an AFSG exploratory grant!
We'll study how gambling experiences relate to the main gambling harm measuring tool—the PGSI. Understanding the person behind PGSI scores will enable better harm detection/prevention.
We'll study how gambling experiences relate to the main gambling harm measuring tool—the PGSI. Understanding the person behind PGSI scores will enable better harm detection/prevention.
Delighted to announce the 2025 Exploratory Grant Award winners. Congratulations to @fieldmatt.bsky.social, @chris.themindlab.uk and @svanbaal.bsky.social.
To find out more about their work, visit: afsg.org/2025/04/30/e...
To find out more about their work, visit: afsg.org/2025/04/30/e...
Exploratory Grant Award Winners 2025
The Research Committee of the AFSG has recently confirmed the recipients for 2025’s major and minor exploratory grants. The funded projects will examine how to improve retention in NHS gambli…
afsg.org
April 30, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Thrilled to share @lukaszwalasek.bsky.social, Philip Newall, and I were selected for an AFSG exploratory grant!
We'll study how gambling experiences relate to the main gambling harm measuring tool—the PGSI. Understanding the person behind PGSI scores will enable better harm detection/prevention.
We'll study how gambling experiences relate to the main gambling harm measuring tool—the PGSI. Understanding the person behind PGSI scores will enable better harm detection/prevention.
Interesting new work on fatigue and self-control! We must keep developing our understanding of when lapses of self-control are likely to occur. The replication failure of ego depletion still leaves a lot to explore.
🎉new pre-print on self-control and fatigue🎉
In this experiment (N = 312), we show how mental fatigue impairs task persistence and performance.
Small thread on why this makes sense and what social psychology can learn from sports science.
#PsychSciSky #psychsky #AcademicSky
osf.io/preprints/os...
In this experiment (N = 312), we show how mental fatigue impairs task persistence and performance.
Small thread on why this makes sense and what social psychology can learn from sports science.
#PsychSciSky #psychsky #AcademicSky
osf.io/preprints/os...
OSF
osf.io
March 19, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Interesting new work on fatigue and self-control! We must keep developing our understanding of when lapses of self-control are likely to occur. The replication failure of ego depletion still leaves a lot to explore.
Reposted by Simon van Baal
A new amazing episode of the Minds Matter podcast - built enviromenment and well-being!
#philosophy
#neuroskyence
#philosophy
#neuroskyence
Have you ever wondered how the built environment effects your mood? 💭🏘️ Is it true that red rooms make you angry? 😡 This week we sit down with Dr. Isabella Bower to discuss her on research on how the built environment can impact our mental health 🌇
(links in 🧵)
@monash-m3cs.bsky.social
(links in 🧵)
@monash-m3cs.bsky.social
March 19, 2025 at 10:08 AM
A new amazing episode of the Minds Matter podcast - built enviromenment and well-being!
#philosophy
#neuroskyence
#philosophy
#neuroskyence
Reposted by Simon van Baal
Participant Recruitment!
Looking for workers within the healthcare sector to take part in a 15-minute survey about workers' health and engagement in workplace mental health support (Prize draw to win up to £150 worth of shopping vouchers).
Survey link -
warwick.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
Looking for workers within the healthcare sector to take part in a 15-minute survey about workers' health and engagement in workplace mental health support (Prize draw to win up to £150 worth of shopping vouchers).
Survey link -
warwick.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
March 17, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Participant Recruitment!
Looking for workers within the healthcare sector to take part in a 15-minute survey about workers' health and engagement in workplace mental health support (Prize draw to win up to £150 worth of shopping vouchers).
Survey link -
warwick.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
Looking for workers within the healthcare sector to take part in a 15-minute survey about workers' health and engagement in workplace mental health support (Prize draw to win up to £150 worth of shopping vouchers).
Survey link -
warwick.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
🚨 Out in Decision: are you interested in research on impulsivity, self-control, or time preferences, but are not quite sure how they fit together - look no further! @lukaszwalasek.bsky.social @hohwy.bsky.social A. Verdejo-Garcia and I offer a conceptual analysis with empirical evidence.
#behsci
#behsci
March 14, 2025 at 12:36 PM
🚨 Out in Decision: are you interested in research on impulsivity, self-control, or time preferences, but are not quite sure how they fit together - look no further! @lukaszwalasek.bsky.social @hohwy.bsky.social A. Verdejo-Garcia and I offer a conceptual analysis with empirical evidence.
#behsci
#behsci
@lukaszwalasek.bsky.social, Philip Newall and I wrote a blog about our recent paper on the lived experiences of gambling harm. The discussions on online gambling fora are striking. From gambling operators reopening accounts after closure to ruined marriages.
March 13, 2025 at 1:03 PM
@lukaszwalasek.bsky.social, Philip Newall and I wrote a blog about our recent paper on the lived experiences of gambling harm. The discussions on online gambling fora are striking. From gambling operators reopening accounts after closure to ruined marriages.
@lukaszwalasek.bsky.social, @hohwy.bsky.social, Antonio Verdejo-Garcia and I published an article in Decision on the relationships between time preferences, impulsivity, and self-control. We were invited by the APA to write a non-technical snippet about it here:
www.growkudos.com/publications...
www.growkudos.com/publications...
Are impatient people impulsive and patient people self-controlled?
Academic research often frames impatience as a result of our impulses and patience as a sign of self-control. We trace this connection back to a 1970s explanation of why we fail to control ourselves: ...
www.growkudos.com
March 2, 2025 at 5:46 PM
@lukaszwalasek.bsky.social, @hohwy.bsky.social, Antonio Verdejo-Garcia and I published an article in Decision on the relationships between time preferences, impulsivity, and self-control. We were invited by the APA to write a non-technical snippet about it here:
www.growkudos.com/publications...
www.growkudos.com/publications...