Ben Alderson-Day
@aldersonday.bsky.social
Psychology prof at Durham + interdisciplinary stuff (usually psychosis, inner speech, a bit of neurodiversity). Author of "Presence: The Strange Science of the Unseen Other" (MUP).
Chair of @theichr.bsky.social
Chair of @theichr.bsky.social
Pinned
Experiences of felt presence in first episode psychosis - Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia - Experiences of felt presence in first episode psychosis
www.nature.com
New from the band formerly known as Hearing the Voice...a short paper about felt presence and early psychosis.
We report some basic links to things like fear and quoted examples from our "Voices in Psychosis" study 1/3
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
We report some basic links to things like fear and quoted examples from our "Voices in Psychosis" study 1/3
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
🚨Call for papers: Computational markers of psychosis - From latent states to neurobiological mechanisms!
Special issue in Schizophrenia Bulletin🧠
Deadline extended to April 30, 2026
We are looking forward to your papers!!
Special issue in Schizophrenia Bulletin🧠
Deadline extended to April 30, 2026
We are looking forward to your papers!!
Thrilled to share that @cognemo.bsky.social and I are guest editors for a Schizophrenia Bulletin special issue on Computational markers of psychosis: From latent states to neurobiological mechanisms 🧠✨
If you’re working on this topic, we’d love to see your work!
academic.oup.com/schizophreni...
If you’re working on this topic, we’d love to see your work!
academic.oup.com/schizophreni...
December 19, 2025 at 9:16 PM
🚨Call for papers: Computational markers of psychosis - From latent states to neurobiological mechanisms!
Special issue in Schizophrenia Bulletin🧠
Deadline extended to April 30, 2026
We are looking forward to your papers!!
Special issue in Schizophrenia Bulletin🧠
Deadline extended to April 30, 2026
We are looking forward to your papers!!
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
Oh my god. It’s actually finally happened. Merry Christmas, everyone!
December 19, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Oh my god. It’s actually finally happened. Merry Christmas, everyone!
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
To everyone on Bluesky finding out about Walliams and despairing at the fact that "I read those books to my kids" I just want to reassure them that it's OK. He didn't write them.
December 19, 2025 at 5:22 PM
To everyone on Bluesky finding out about Walliams and despairing at the fact that "I read those books to my kids" I just want to reassure them that it's OK. He didn't write them.
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
ECR looking for a change in the New Year?
We are recruiting a new Lecturer in Psychology at @birkbeckpsychology.bsky.social !
If you’d like to talk about life in the Department, please do feel free to get in touch.
Deadline 8th Feb - More details below 👇
cis7.bbk.ac.uk/vacancy/lect...
We are recruiting a new Lecturer in Psychology at @birkbeckpsychology.bsky.social !
If you’d like to talk about life in the Department, please do feel free to get in touch.
Deadline 8th Feb - More details below 👇
cis7.bbk.ac.uk/vacancy/lect...
Lecturer in Psychology (2303) - Birkbeck, University of London
Birkbeck
cis7.bbk.ac.uk
December 19, 2025 at 3:08 PM
ECR looking for a change in the New Year?
We are recruiting a new Lecturer in Psychology at @birkbeckpsychology.bsky.social !
If you’d like to talk about life in the Department, please do feel free to get in touch.
Deadline 8th Feb - More details below 👇
cis7.bbk.ac.uk/vacancy/lect...
We are recruiting a new Lecturer in Psychology at @birkbeckpsychology.bsky.social !
If you’d like to talk about life in the Department, please do feel free to get in touch.
Deadline 8th Feb - More details below 👇
cis7.bbk.ac.uk/vacancy/lect...
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
🍇 New paper 🍇
Ever felt like someone was in the room when no one was there?
Together with @parkbmb.bsky.social @tatianabaxter.bsky.social we asked whether that might reflect misperceiving signals from our own beating heart - and if this relates to psychosis risk.
doi.org/10.1159/0005...
Ever felt like someone was in the room when no one was there?
Together with @parkbmb.bsky.social @tatianabaxter.bsky.social we asked whether that might reflect misperceiving signals from our own beating heart - and if this relates to psychosis risk.
doi.org/10.1159/0005...
The Role of Interoception in Felt Presence and Psychosis Risk
Abstract. Background: Felt presence (FP) – the sensation of someone nearby without sensory evidence – is common in healthy adults and related to psychosis risk. FP may arise from a misattribution of i...
doi.org
December 19, 2025 at 9:32 AM
🍇 New paper 🍇
Ever felt like someone was in the room when no one was there?
Together with @parkbmb.bsky.social @tatianabaxter.bsky.social we asked whether that might reflect misperceiving signals from our own beating heart - and if this relates to psychosis risk.
doi.org/10.1159/0005...
Ever felt like someone was in the room when no one was there?
Together with @parkbmb.bsky.social @tatianabaxter.bsky.social we asked whether that might reflect misperceiving signals from our own beating heart - and if this relates to psychosis risk.
doi.org/10.1159/0005...
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
Together with Don Robinaugh & a large team of interdisciplinary researchers, we just published a preprint on this topic: the importance of collaborations across disciplines to move forward mental health science. I hope you'll find it interesting, took a few years!
osf.io/preprints/ps...
osf.io/preprints/ps...
OSF
osf.io
December 19, 2025 at 8:18 AM
Together with Don Robinaugh & a large team of interdisciplinary researchers, we just published a preprint on this topic: the importance of collaborations across disciplines to move forward mental health science. I hope you'll find it interesting, took a few years!
osf.io/preprints/ps...
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
Very important piece.
"Whether or not OpenAI leaders intend to muddy the waters of science, grantwashing hinders technology safety ... It adds uncertainty and debate in areas where companies want to avoid liability and that uncertainty gives the appearance of science."
"Whether or not OpenAI leaders intend to muddy the waters of science, grantwashing hinders technology safety ... It adds uncertainty and debate in areas where companies want to avoid liability and that uncertainty gives the appearance of science."
Should scientists apply to OpenAI's fund for research on AI & mental health? Should policymakers consider it a credible safety effort?
Avriel Epps & I see it as "grantwashing," and it's an insult to anyone whose loved one's death involved chatbots. We explain:
www.techpolicy.press/beware-of-op...
Avriel Epps & I see it as "grantwashing," and it's an insult to anyone whose loved one's death involved chatbots. We explain:
www.techpolicy.press/beware-of-op...
Beware of OpenAI's 'Grantwashing' on AI Harms | TechPolicy.Press
J. Nathan Matias and Avriel Epps say OpenAI's announced research funding is the perfect corporate action to make sure we don't find answers for years.
www.techpolicy.press
December 18, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Very important piece.
"Whether or not OpenAI leaders intend to muddy the waters of science, grantwashing hinders technology safety ... It adds uncertainty and debate in areas where companies want to avoid liability and that uncertainty gives the appearance of science."
"Whether or not OpenAI leaders intend to muddy the waters of science, grantwashing hinders technology safety ... It adds uncertainty and debate in areas where companies want to avoid liability and that uncertainty gives the appearance of science."
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
You’re buying someone you love a book for Christmas. Or maybe you’re telling yourself you’ll give it to them but really you know it’s for you. I’m not judging. I am telling you that indie bookshops love you and Jeff Bezos doesn’t. Shop @bookshop-org-uk.bsky.social
uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
The Two Roberts
Check out The Two Roberts - <p><b>SHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION 2025</b><br /><b>A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK </b><br /><b>A BEST FICTION BOOK OF 2025 FOR THE <i>GUARDIAN</i>, THE <i...
uk.bookshop.org
December 1, 2025 at 11:44 AM
You’re buying someone you love a book for Christmas. Or maybe you’re telling yourself you’ll give it to them but really you know it’s for you. I’m not judging. I am telling you that indie bookshops love you and Jeff Bezos doesn’t. Shop @bookshop-org-uk.bsky.social
uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
It's the most wonderful time of the year...the annual book marketing joke!
How did Luke know what Darth Vader got him for Christmas?
He felt his Presence. In paperback - he already has the hardback but he's a completist so.
uk.bookshop.org/p/books/pres...
How did Luke know what Darth Vader got him for Christmas?
He felt his Presence. In paperback - he already has the hardback but he's a completist so.
uk.bookshop.org/p/books/pres...
Presence: The Strange Science of the Unseen Other
The Strange Science of the Unseen Other
uk.bookshop.org
December 18, 2025 at 3:44 PM
It's the most wonderful time of the year...the annual book marketing joke!
How did Luke know what Darth Vader got him for Christmas?
He felt his Presence. In paperback - he already has the hardback but he's a completist so.
uk.bookshop.org/p/books/pres...
How did Luke know what Darth Vader got him for Christmas?
He felt his Presence. In paperback - he already has the hardback but he's a completist so.
uk.bookshop.org/p/books/pres...
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
New job alert 💫 We’re hiring a 3-year postdoc for the NEPTUNE project to study the causal mechanisms of paranoia and social learning.
Work with us on experimental psychopharmacology (THC), social cognition, and psychosis 🧑🔬
Apply here: lnkd.in/gQqnNvjR](my.corehr.com/pls/kclrecru...)
Please RT :)
Work with us on experimental psychopharmacology (THC), social cognition, and psychosis 🧑🔬
Apply here: lnkd.in/gQqnNvjR](my.corehr.com/pls/kclrecru...)
Please RT :)
December 18, 2025 at 8:27 AM
New job alert 💫 We’re hiring a 3-year postdoc for the NEPTUNE project to study the causal mechanisms of paranoia and social learning.
Work with us on experimental psychopharmacology (THC), social cognition, and psychosis 🧑🔬
Apply here: lnkd.in/gQqnNvjR](my.corehr.com/pls/kclrecru...)
Please RT :)
Work with us on experimental psychopharmacology (THC), social cognition, and psychosis 🧑🔬
Apply here: lnkd.in/gQqnNvjR](my.corehr.com/pls/kclrecru...)
Please RT :)
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
"LLMs are structurally indifferent to truth" should be the first line any LLM spits out before they formulate a response to a prompt.
while i am not an academic i did see this coming and post about it on bluesky, which is why i am quoted in this article
December 17, 2025 at 9:52 PM
"LLMs are structurally indifferent to truth" should be the first line any LLM spits out before they formulate a response to a prompt.
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
Lots going on here that I agree with on non-fiction's struggles: Attention economy issues, templated unimaginative books, a very diverse category that doesn't always serve its readers or writers well to be grouped under, but fundamentally a vital human pursuit: www.theguardian.com/books/2025/d...
Are we falling out of love with nonfiction?
In the early 2020s, readers flocked to books to explain political turbulence. But is the world now too grim to read about – and are podcasters taking the place of authors?
www.theguardian.com
December 17, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Lots going on here that I agree with on non-fiction's struggles: Attention economy issues, templated unimaginative books, a very diverse category that doesn't always serve its readers or writers well to be grouped under, but fundamentally a vital human pursuit: www.theguardian.com/books/2025/d...
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
I wrote about new revelations about the influential study of a UFO doomsday group from the 1950s, and the book When Prophecy Fails. Come for the aliens, stay to ponder a difficult question: what do people do when they're confronted with inconsistency?
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
Is Cognitive Dissonance Actually a Thing?
A foundational 1956 study of the concept, focussed on a U.F.O. doomsday cult, has been all but debunked by new research.
www.newyorker.com
December 17, 2025 at 1:58 PM
I wrote about new revelations about the influential study of a UFO doomsday group from the 1950s, and the book When Prophecy Fails. Come for the aliens, stay to ponder a difficult question: what do people do when they're confronted with inconsistency?
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
Personally I prefer to work through my sense of professional underachievement the old-fashioned way, ie with a slim, cruelly revelatory memoir of my early childhood.
December 17, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Personally I prefer to work through my sense of professional underachievement the old-fashioned way, ie with a slim, cruelly revelatory memoir of my early childhood.
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
Fascinating (and depressing) piece on the complicated Oliver Sacks, whose writing on neurology captivated and inspired so many.
"Sacks wrote in his journal,
Guilt has been *much* greater since 'Hat' because of (among other things)
My lies,
falsification"
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
"Sacks wrote in his journal,
Guilt has been *much* greater since 'Hat' because of (among other things)
My lies,
falsification"
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Oliver Sacks Put Himself Into His Case Studies. What Was the Cost?
The scientist was famous for linking healing with storytelling. Sometimes that meant reshaping patients’ reality.
www.newyorker.com
December 17, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Fascinating (and depressing) piece on the complicated Oliver Sacks, whose writing on neurology captivated and inspired so many.
"Sacks wrote in his journal,
Guilt has been *much* greater since 'Hat' because of (among other things)
My lies,
falsification"
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
"Sacks wrote in his journal,
Guilt has been *much* greater since 'Hat' because of (among other things)
My lies,
falsification"
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
Go @tamaregev! Tamar systematically characterized prosody-processing🧠areas using precision fMRI.
The overlap between the prosody and language areas connects beautifully with her computational findings of high mutual information between words and prosodic features! Such a cool research program. :)
The overlap between the prosody and language areas connects beautifully with her computational findings of high mutual information between words and prosodic features! Such a cool research program. :)
New preprint on prosody in the brain!
tinyurl.com/2ndswjwu
HeeSoKim NiharikaJhingan SaraSwords @hopekean.bsky.social @coltoncasto.bsky.social JenniferCole @evfedorenko.bsky.social
Prosody areas are distinct from pitch, speech, and multiple-demand areas, and partly overlap with lang+social areas→🧵
tinyurl.com/2ndswjwu
HeeSoKim NiharikaJhingan SaraSwords @hopekean.bsky.social @coltoncasto.bsky.social JenniferCole @evfedorenko.bsky.social
Prosody areas are distinct from pitch, speech, and multiple-demand areas, and partly overlap with lang+social areas→🧵
A distinct set of brain areas process prosody--the melody of speech
Human speech carries information beyond the words themselves: pitch, loudness, duration, and pauses--jointly referred to as 'prosody'--emphasize critical words, help group words into phrases, and conv...
tinyurl.com
December 16, 2025 at 2:41 AM
Go @tamaregev! Tamar systematically characterized prosody-processing🧠areas using precision fMRI.
The overlap between the prosody and language areas connects beautifully with her computational findings of high mutual information between words and prosodic features! Such a cool research program. :)
The overlap between the prosody and language areas connects beautifully with her computational findings of high mutual information between words and prosodic features! Such a cool research program. :)
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
🚨 The UK government just published a breakdown of the responses to its consultation on AI & copyright:
- 95% of respondents want AI companies to pay for their training data (made up of 88% saying strengthen copyright law, & 7% saying leave it as is)
🧵 1/2
- 95% of respondents want AI companies to pay for their training data (made up of 88% saying strengthen copyright law, & 7% saying leave it as is)
🧵 1/2
December 15, 2025 at 11:22 AM
🚨 The UK government just published a breakdown of the responses to its consultation on AI & copyright:
- 95% of respondents want AI companies to pay for their training data (made up of 88% saying strengthen copyright law, & 7% saying leave it as is)
🧵 1/2
- 95% of respondents want AI companies to pay for their training data (made up of 88% saying strengthen copyright law, & 7% saying leave it as is)
🧵 1/2
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
Humdinger of a preprint "When adjusting for lifetime ever-use of other substances, cannabis ever-use was no longer associated with PLEs, while methamphetamine use, cigarette use, and opioid use were associated with PLEs"
medrxiv.org/content/medrxiv/early/2025/12/02/2025.12.01.25341322.full.pdf
medrxiv.org/content/medrxiv/early/2025/12/02/2025.12.01.25341322.full.pdf
www.medrxiv.org
December 15, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Humdinger of a preprint "When adjusting for lifetime ever-use of other substances, cannabis ever-use was no longer associated with PLEs, while methamphetamine use, cigarette use, and opioid use were associated with PLEs"
medrxiv.org/content/medrxiv/early/2025/12/02/2025.12.01.25341322.full.pdf
medrxiv.org/content/medrxiv/early/2025/12/02/2025.12.01.25341322.full.pdf
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
📅Save the date! Our next Network seminar will be on "Hearing voices, suicidality, and AI-psychosis", March 20th 2026, Hybrid
This is a collaboration with @hearingvoicesmic.bsky.social and #ProjectEPIC
Find more info and registration here:
birminghamphenomenalnetwork.blogspot.com/2025/12/netw...
This is a collaboration with @hearingvoicesmic.bsky.social and #ProjectEPIC
Find more info and registration here:
birminghamphenomenalnetwork.blogspot.com/2025/12/netw...
Network Seminar: "Hearing voices, suicidality, and AI-psychosis", 20th March, Birmingham and Online
Location In person: Assembly Room, The Exchange, 3 Centenary Square, Birmingham, B1 2DR. Online: Teams meeting. Date and time 20th March 202...
birminghamphenomenalnetwork.blogspot.com
December 15, 2025 at 11:39 AM
📅Save the date! Our next Network seminar will be on "Hearing voices, suicidality, and AI-psychosis", March 20th 2026, Hybrid
This is a collaboration with @hearingvoicesmic.bsky.social and #ProjectEPIC
Find more info and registration here:
birminghamphenomenalnetwork.blogspot.com/2025/12/netw...
This is a collaboration with @hearingvoicesmic.bsky.social and #ProjectEPIC
Find more info and registration here:
birminghamphenomenalnetwork.blogspot.com/2025/12/netw...
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
They used to "laugh and call him names." Now they're all dead
December 14, 2025 at 1:55 PM
They used to "laugh and call him names." Now they're all dead
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
New paper with Junyi Chu, Tomer Ullman et al showing that kids think more difficulty is more fun!
Fun isn't easy: Children selectively manipulate task difficulty when “playing for fun” versus “playing to win”. psycnet.apa.org/record/2027-...
Fun isn't easy: Children selectively manipulate task difficulty when “playing for fun” versus “playing to win”. psycnet.apa.org/record/2027-...
APA PsycNet
psycnet.apa.org
December 14, 2025 at 2:37 PM
New paper with Junyi Chu, Tomer Ullman et al showing that kids think more difficulty is more fun!
Fun isn't easy: Children selectively manipulate task difficulty when “playing for fun” versus “playing to win”. psycnet.apa.org/record/2027-...
Fun isn't easy: Children selectively manipulate task difficulty when “playing for fun” versus “playing to win”. psycnet.apa.org/record/2027-...
Look it's @coreenanne.bsky.social! @durhamimh.bsky.social
This #UKDisabilityHistoryMonth we're celebrating our Disability History Series, a selection of works exploring global perspectives on disability across society, culture, and time.
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/series/disab...
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/series/disab...
December 14, 2025 at 9:18 AM
Look it's @coreenanne.bsky.social! @durhamimh.bsky.social
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
Four worthy winners of the @bpsofficial.bsky.social Book Award - all books we have covered www.bps.org.uk/psychologist...
Congratulations @ginarippon.bsky.social @lawbender.bsky.social @columbiaup.bsky.social Roxanne Khan, Laura Scarrone Bonhomme, Dr Michael Beattie and Skye Davies.
Congratulations @ginarippon.bsky.social @lawbender.bsky.social @columbiaup.bsky.social Roxanne Khan, Laura Scarrone Bonhomme, Dr Michael Beattie and Skye Davies.
‘Not just another book…’ | BPS
Ella Rhodes reports on the winners of the 2025 British Psychological Society Book Award, and coverage in The Psychologist…
www.bps.org.uk
December 12, 2025 at 9:16 AM
Four worthy winners of the @bpsofficial.bsky.social Book Award - all books we have covered www.bps.org.uk/psychologist...
Congratulations @ginarippon.bsky.social @lawbender.bsky.social @columbiaup.bsky.social Roxanne Khan, Laura Scarrone Bonhomme, Dr Michael Beattie and Skye Davies.
Congratulations @ginarippon.bsky.social @lawbender.bsky.social @columbiaup.bsky.social Roxanne Khan, Laura Scarrone Bonhomme, Dr Michael Beattie and Skye Davies.
Reposted by Ben Alderson-Day
New preprint: Empathy, Thick and Thin
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
It is perhaps foolhardy to attempt to say something new about a topic as widely studied as empathy. I tried anyway! 1/
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
It is perhaps foolhardy to attempt to say something new about a topic as widely studied as empathy. I tried anyway! 1/
December 11, 2025 at 8:50 PM
New preprint: Empathy, Thick and Thin
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
It is perhaps foolhardy to attempt to say something new about a topic as widely studied as empathy. I tried anyway! 1/
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
It is perhaps foolhardy to attempt to say something new about a topic as widely studied as empathy. I tried anyway! 1/