Karlo Doroc
@karlodoroc.bsky.social
PhD Candidate in the Centre for Brain, Mind and Markets, University of Melbourne, views are my own.
P.S. if you're interested in the slides, there is a version of them up on my website: karlodoroc.com
karlodoroc.com
December 11, 2025 at 1:50 AM
P.S. if you're interested in the slides, there is a version of them up on my website: karlodoroc.com
Leaving with plenty of new ideas! Huge thanks to the organisers at @acnsau.bsky.social for such a seamless event.
#ACNS2025 #CognitiveNeuroscience #Ageing #BrainHealth #DecisionMaking #AcademicSky
#ACNS2025 #CognitiveNeuroscience #Ageing #BrainHealth #DecisionMaking #AcademicSky
December 11, 2025 at 1:50 AM
Leaving with plenty of new ideas! Huge thanks to the organisers at @acnsau.bsky.social for such a seamless event.
#ACNS2025 #CognitiveNeuroscience #Ageing #BrainHealth #DecisionMaking #AcademicSky
#ACNS2025 #CognitiveNeuroscience #Ageing #BrainHealth #DecisionMaking #AcademicSky
And Isaac Saywell on Parkinson's disease.
He broke down how variability in cognitive reserve and brain structure underlies cognitive performance.
He broke down how variability in cognitive reserve and brain structure underlies cognitive performance.
December 11, 2025 at 1:50 AM
And Isaac Saywell on Parkinson's disease.
He broke down how variability in cognitive reserve and brain structure underlies cognitive performance.
He broke down how variability in cognitive reserve and brain structure underlies cognitive performance.
Fascinating work from Elizabeth Fisher on psilocybin and decision-making. 🍄
She used computational modelling to understand post-acute decision dynamics in rats. Really interesting stuff, looking forward to seeing some similar work in humans!
She used computational modelling to understand post-acute decision dynamics in rats. Really interesting stuff, looking forward to seeing some similar work in humans!
December 11, 2025 at 1:50 AM
Fascinating work from Elizabeth Fisher on psilocybin and decision-making. 🍄
She used computational modelling to understand post-acute decision dynamics in rats. Really interesting stuff, looking forward to seeing some similar work in humans!
She used computational modelling to understand post-acute decision dynamics in rats. Really interesting stuff, looking forward to seeing some similar work in humans!
Reuben Rideaux gave a stellar keynote on brain efficiency. 🧠
He explored mechanisms like serial dependence and adaptive encoding—along with some great insights on how biological efficiency can inspire the next wave of AI. 🤖
He explored mechanisms like serial dependence and adaptive encoding—along with some great insights on how biological efficiency can inspire the next wave of AI. 🤖
December 11, 2025 at 1:50 AM
Reuben Rideaux gave a stellar keynote on brain efficiency. 🧠
He explored mechanisms like serial dependence and adaptive encoding—along with some great insights on how biological efficiency can inspire the next wave of AI. 🤖
He explored mechanisms like serial dependence and adaptive encoding—along with some great insights on how biological efficiency can inspire the next wave of AI. 🤖
First, Juan Pablo Franco with a poster on using fitness landscape analysis to measure the computational demands of optimization tasks.
Incredibly cool method to quantify computational hardness / demands (though I might be biased! 😉).
Incredibly cool method to quantify computational hardness / demands (though I might be biased! 😉).
December 11, 2025 at 1:50 AM
First, Juan Pablo Franco with a poster on using fitness landscape analysis to measure the computational demands of optimization tasks.
Incredibly cool method to quantify computational hardness / demands (though I might be biased! 😉).
Incredibly cool method to quantify computational hardness / demands (though I might be biased! 😉).
Check out this thread for a rundown bsky.app/profile/karl...
🚨 New in Communications Psychology: we investigate the causal link between acute stress and higher-order decision-making.
Using a task with multiple levels of complexity, we find stress impairs decision quality—but not in the way you might think. 📜
📄 www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Using a task with multiple levels of complexity, we find stress impairs decision quality—but not in the way you might think. 📜
📄 www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Acute stress impairs decision-making at varying levels of decision complexity - Communications Psychology
This study finds that acute stress alone has a surprisingly limited effect on decision-making, irrespective of the decision’s complexity. However, on decisions with experienced time pressure, acute st...
www.nature.com
December 9, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Check out this thread for a rundown bsky.app/profile/karl...
Huge thanks to my co-authors @carstenmurawski.bsky.social and Nitin Yadav, and the whole team in @unimelb-cbmm.bsky.social .
Data and code are available on OSF. Read the full open-access paper here: www.nature.com/articles/s44...
#DecisionMaking #Psychology #stress #Experiments #AcademicSky
Data and code are available on OSF. Read the full open-access paper here: www.nature.com/articles/s44...
#DecisionMaking #Psychology #stress #Experiments #AcademicSky
Acute stress impairs decision-making at varying levels of decision complexity - Communications Psychology
This study finds that acute stress alone has a surprisingly limited effect on decision-making, irrespective of the decision’s complexity. However, on decisions with experienced time pressure, acute st...
www.nature.com
December 4, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Huge thanks to my co-authors @carstenmurawski.bsky.social and Nitin Yadav, and the whole team in @unimelb-cbmm.bsky.social .
Data and code are available on OSF. Read the full open-access paper here: www.nature.com/articles/s44...
#DecisionMaking #Psychology #stress #Experiments #AcademicSky
Data and code are available on OSF. Read the full open-access paper here: www.nature.com/articles/s44...
#DecisionMaking #Psychology #stress #Experiments #AcademicSky
These findings highlight that stress is not a monolith. Its impact on higher order cognition is heavily moderated by resource constraints (time), even at relatively low levels of complexity.
Reducing time pressure may preserve our decision quality even when stress is high.
Reducing time pressure may preserve our decision quality even when stress is high.
December 4, 2025 at 2:21 AM
These findings highlight that stress is not a monolith. Its impact on higher order cognition is heavily moderated by resource constraints (time), even at relatively low levels of complexity.
Reducing time pressure may preserve our decision quality even when stress is high.
Reducing time pressure may preserve our decision quality even when stress is high.
Caveats: our most exciting results were exploratory findings and not explicitly designed for in the study. Confirmatory work will be needed that directly tests for the effects of time pressure, pessimism, and changes in attention. A larger, more diverse sample would also be nice!
December 4, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Caveats: our most exciting results were exploratory findings and not explicitly designed for in the study. Confirmatory work will be needed that directly tests for the effects of time pressure, pessimism, and changes in attention. A larger, more diverse sample would also be nice!
Eye-tracking data suggests altered attention as one potential mechanism.
Under stress + time pressure, gaze behaviour shifted:
👁️ More items visited
⏱️ Shorter dwell time per item
These gaze-related results are tentative, but warrant future investigation.
Under stress + time pressure, gaze behaviour shifted:
👁️ More items visited
⏱️ Shorter dwell time per item
These gaze-related results are tentative, but warrant future investigation.
December 4, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Eye-tracking data suggests altered attention as one potential mechanism.
Under stress + time pressure, gaze behaviour shifted:
👁️ More items visited
⏱️ Shorter dwell time per item
These gaze-related results are tentative, but warrant future investigation.
Under stress + time pressure, gaze behaviour shifted:
👁️ More items visited
⏱️ Shorter dwell time per item
These gaze-related results are tentative, but warrant future investigation.
What led to this? Under stress + time pressure, participants didn't become more random. They started to answer "No" more often.
They appeared to become more "pessimistic," incorrectly rejecting satisfiable instances (i.e., missing beneficial opportunities).
They appeared to become more "pessimistic," incorrectly rejecting satisfiable instances (i.e., missing beneficial opportunities).
December 4, 2025 at 2:21 AM
What led to this? Under stress + time pressure, participants didn't become more random. They started to answer "No" more often.
They appeared to become more "pessimistic," incorrectly rejecting satisfiable instances (i.e., missing beneficial opportunities).
They appeared to become more "pessimistic," incorrectly rejecting satisfiable instances (i.e., missing beneficial opportunities).
However, exploratory analyses revealed a critical moderator: time pressure.
Acute stress alone had no effect on decision quality. But under the joint effects of stress and timing out, we saw a sharp drop in accuracy.
Compared to control with no time pressure, a 16 p.p. drop!
Acute stress alone had no effect on decision quality. But under the joint effects of stress and timing out, we saw a sharp drop in accuracy.
Compared to control with no time pressure, a 16 p.p. drop!
December 4, 2025 at 2:21 AM
However, exploratory analyses revealed a critical moderator: time pressure.
Acute stress alone had no effect on decision quality. But under the joint effects of stress and timing out, we saw a sharp drop in accuracy.
Compared to control with no time pressure, a 16 p.p. drop!
Acute stress alone had no effect on decision quality. But under the joint effects of stress and timing out, we saw a sharp drop in accuracy.
Compared to control with no time pressure, a 16 p.p. drop!
The headline result: Higher cortisol levels (AUCi) predicted significantly lower decision accuracy and a higher probability of "timing out" (using the maximum time on a trial).
Surprisingly, among cortisol responders, this impairment was observed independently of complexity.
Surprisingly, among cortisol responders, this impairment was observed independently of complexity.
December 4, 2025 at 2:21 AM
The headline result: Higher cortisol levels (AUCi) predicted significantly lower decision accuracy and a higher probability of "timing out" (using the maximum time on a trial).
Surprisingly, among cortisol responders, this impairment was observed independently of complexity.
Surprisingly, among cortisol responders, this impairment was observed independently of complexity.
We used a within-subjects design (N=42). Participants underwent the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) in one session (stress) and placebo in another (control).
The intervention worked: significant increases in salivary cortisol (AUCi), negative affect, and pupil diam. under stress
The intervention worked: significant increases in salivary cortisol (AUCi), negative affect, and pupil diam. under stress
December 4, 2025 at 2:21 AM
We used a within-subjects design (N=42). Participants underwent the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) in one session (stress) and placebo in another (control).
The intervention worked: significant increases in salivary cortisol (AUCi), negative affect, and pupil diam. under stress
The intervention worked: significant increases in salivary cortisol (AUCi), negative affect, and pupil diam. under stress
The KDT is a combinatorial problem that is easy to explain, but challenging to solve. Tapping multiple cognitive processes, solving it has been shown to be equivalent to the standard consumer choice problem in economics. This makes it a great candidate to study decision-making.
December 4, 2025 at 2:21 AM
The KDT is a combinatorial problem that is easy to explain, but challenging to solve. Tapping multiple cognitive processes, solving it has been shown to be equivalent to the standard consumer choice problem in economics. This makes it a great candidate to study decision-making.
Most stress research uses simple cognitive tasks (e.g., N-back) or probabilistic tasks that may conflate DM-capacity with risk preferences.
To measure objective decision capacity, we used the Knapsack Decision Task (KDT).
✅ Theoretically grounded
✅ Can modulate complexity
To measure objective decision capacity, we used the Knapsack Decision Task (KDT).
✅ Theoretically grounded
✅ Can modulate complexity
December 4, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Most stress research uses simple cognitive tasks (e.g., N-back) or probabilistic tasks that may conflate DM-capacity with risk preferences.
To measure objective decision capacity, we used the Knapsack Decision Task (KDT).
✅ Theoretically grounded
✅ Can modulate complexity
To measure objective decision capacity, we used the Knapsack Decision Task (KDT).
✅ Theoretically grounded
✅ Can modulate complexity
Thanks to @monash-m3cs.bsky.social for organising a great event!
#Psychology #Philosophy #AcademicTwitter
#Psychology #Philosophy #AcademicTwitter
December 2, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Thanks to @monash-m3cs.bsky.social for organising a great event!
#Psychology #Philosophy #AcademicTwitter
#Psychology #Philosophy #AcademicTwitter
Also, Oliver Lack presented chatPsych. 🤖
It’s an exciting, easy-to-use open-source interface for deploying LLMs in experiments with precise hyperparameter control. If you are doing AI-based behavioural research, this looks like a game-changer.
It’s an exciting, easy-to-use open-source interface for deploying LLMs in experiments with precise hyperparameter control. If you are doing AI-based behavioural research, this looks like a game-changer.
December 2, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Also, Oliver Lack presented chatPsych. 🤖
It’s an exciting, easy-to-use open-source interface for deploying LLMs in experiments with precise hyperparameter control. If you are doing AI-based behavioural research, this looks like a game-changer.
It’s an exciting, easy-to-use open-source interface for deploying LLMs in experiments with precise hyperparameter control. If you are doing AI-based behavioural research, this looks like a game-changer.
Loved James Kirby's keynote on the science of compassion. ❤️
His 'Three Circles Scale' looks like a brilliant tool to help people (especially kids!) reflect on and communicate emotions.
Check it out here: research.psy.uq.edu.au/cmrg/three-c...
His 'Three Circles Scale' looks like a brilliant tool to help people (especially kids!) reflect on and communicate emotions.
Check it out here: research.psy.uq.edu.au/cmrg/three-c...
December 2, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Loved James Kirby's keynote on the science of compassion. ❤️
His 'Three Circles Scale' looks like a brilliant tool to help people (especially kids!) reflect on and communicate emotions.
Check it out here: research.psy.uq.edu.au/cmrg/three-c...
His 'Three Circles Scale' looks like a brilliant tool to help people (especially kids!) reflect on and communicate emotions.
Check it out here: research.psy.uq.edu.au/cmrg/three-c...
First, a brilliant keynote from Claire O'Callaghan on neuromodulatory systems. 🧠
A total masterclass in the incredible complexity underlying our behaviour — and some interesting discussion around the futility and excitement of working in this space in the Q&A!
A total masterclass in the incredible complexity underlying our behaviour — and some interesting discussion around the futility and excitement of working in this space in the Q&A!
December 2, 2025 at 9:08 PM
First, a brilliant keynote from Claire O'Callaghan on neuromodulatory systems. 🧠
A total masterclass in the incredible complexity underlying our behaviour — and some interesting discussion around the futility and excitement of working in this space in the Q&A!
A total masterclass in the incredible complexity underlying our behaviour — and some interesting discussion around the futility and excitement of working in this space in the Q&A!