Kelly Donegan
@kellydonegan.bsky.social
Cognitive & Mental Health Researcher 🧠
Post-doc @ University of York | PhD @ Trinity College Dublin
➡️ https://sites.google.com/view/kellyrdonegan
Post-doc @ University of York | PhD @ Trinity College Dublin
➡️ https://sites.google.com/view/kellyrdonegan
Reposted by Kelly Donegan
Sookud and colleagues found that individuals with higher compulsivity and intrusive thoughts develop a less certain internal understanding of the external world, and this mediates the link between symptoms and goal-directed behaviors.
Impaired goal-directed planning in transdiagnostic compulsivity is explained by uncertainty about learned task structure
Diminished use of goal-directed (“model-based”) decision-making is a hallmark of transdiagnostic
compulsivity, promoting an over-reliance on inflexible and habitual behaviours. However,
the origin of ...
www.biologicalpsychiatrycnni.org
October 27, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Sookud and colleagues found that individuals with higher compulsivity and intrusive thoughts develop a less certain internal understanding of the external world, and this mediates the link between symptoms and goal-directed behaviors.
Reposted by Kelly Donegan
Really excited to have had the opportunity to write this article !
IU is one of my main research areas so I really enjoyed writing about this paper 😊
IU is one of my main research areas so I really enjoyed writing about this paper 😊
Preschoolers who find uncertainty hard to handle may be more prone to anxiety later in life, but it’s not that simple.
New research explores how intolerance of uncertainty at age 4 links to anxiety, depression & behaviour problems up to age 10.
#ChildMentalHealth #Anxiety #Uncertainty
🧵 THREAD
New research explores how intolerance of uncertainty at age 4 links to anxiety, depression & behaviour problems up to age 10.
#ChildMentalHealth #Anxiety #Uncertainty
🧵 THREAD
October 24, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Really excited to have had the opportunity to write this article !
IU is one of my main research areas so I really enjoyed writing about this paper 😊
IU is one of my main research areas so I really enjoyed writing about this paper 😊
Reposted by Kelly Donegan
JOB ALERT: I am offering a 4-year funded PhD opportunity. The position is specifically linked to the project “Assessing the balance between goal-directed and habitual processing through the course of learning". The project is about learning habits and include eye tracking and pupillometry...
October 23, 2025 at 1:14 PM
JOB ALERT: I am offering a 4-year funded PhD opportunity. The position is specifically linked to the project “Assessing the balance between goal-directed and habitual processing through the course of learning". The project is about learning habits and include eye tracking and pupillometry...
Reposted by Kelly Donegan
This article is now published in @plosone.org. journals.plos.org/plosone/arti... New analysis added: seemingly habitual responses are explained because contingency deg didn't work for some participants (in line with recent outcome dev results in our lab and in @clairegillan.bsky.social lab)
The degraded contingency test fails to detect habit induction in humans
In experimental psychology and behavioral neuroscience, habits are considered stimulus-response (S-R) associations formed through extended reward training. Accordingly, habits are assessed using one o...
journals.plos.org
October 16, 2025 at 7:31 AM
This article is now published in @plosone.org. journals.plos.org/plosone/arti... New analysis added: seemingly habitual responses are explained because contingency deg didn't work for some participants (in line with recent outcome dev results in our lab and in @clairegillan.bsky.social lab)
Reposted by Kelly Donegan
Taken together, our results advance our understanding of the dynamics of fun in realistic environments. They also emphasize the importance of using realistic, game-like environments together with highly-controlled experiments to advance our theories of human motivation & learning.
4/4
4/4
October 2, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Taken together, our results advance our understanding of the dynamics of fun in realistic environments. They also emphasize the importance of using realistic, game-like environments together with highly-controlled experiments to advance our theories of human motivation & learning.
4/4
4/4
Reposted by Kelly Donegan
🚨 I am over the moon 🌓 to announce that I am joining University College Dublin @ucddublin.bsky.social as an Assistant Professor this fall to start the Uncertain Mind (UMI) lab 💫
I am looking for PhD/Postdoc candidates to join (more below 👇 ). Please RT as the deadline is pretty soon 🙏
I am looking for PhD/Postdoc candidates to join (more below 👇 ). Please RT as the deadline is pretty soon 🙏
September 24, 2025 at 3:18 PM
🚨 I am over the moon 🌓 to announce that I am joining University College Dublin @ucddublin.bsky.social as an Assistant Professor this fall to start the Uncertain Mind (UMI) lab 💫
I am looking for PhD/Postdoc candidates to join (more below 👇 ). Please RT as the deadline is pretty soon 🙏
I am looking for PhD/Postdoc candidates to join (more below 👇 ). Please RT as the deadline is pretty soon 🙏
Reposted by Kelly Donegan
New qualitative paper! A foray into gastric interception. @lucysta02475610.bsky.social ran a LOT of focus groups, across groups with eating disorders, gastric disorders and neither, to understand how people experience the sensations from their GI system. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
"I feel full with shame": A qualitative perspective on gastric interoceptive sensibility
“Am I hungry? Did I overeat at lunch?” Gastric interoception - the sensing, interpretation, and regulation of signals from the gastrointestinal system…
www.sciencedirect.com
September 13, 2025 at 7:03 AM
New qualitative paper! A foray into gastric interception. @lucysta02475610.bsky.social ran a LOT of focus groups, across groups with eating disorders, gastric disorders and neither, to understand how people experience the sensations from their GI system. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
B2B Cognition & Mental Health Lab talks, with unintention twinning titles 🎭
Me: The promise and pitfalls of 📱/ real-life data
Alex: The promise and pitfalls of computational modelling 🧮
📍Centre for Decision Science Summer School
@alexandrapike.bsky.social
Me: The promise and pitfalls of 📱/ real-life data
Alex: The promise and pitfalls of computational modelling 🧮
📍Centre for Decision Science Summer School
@alexandrapike.bsky.social
September 11, 2025 at 1:50 PM
B2B Cognition & Mental Health Lab talks, with unintention twinning titles 🎭
Me: The promise and pitfalls of 📱/ real-life data
Alex: The promise and pitfalls of computational modelling 🧮
📍Centre for Decision Science Summer School
@alexandrapike.bsky.social
Me: The promise and pitfalls of 📱/ real-life data
Alex: The promise and pitfalls of computational modelling 🧮
📍Centre for Decision Science Summer School
@alexandrapike.bsky.social
Reposted by Kelly Donegan
🚨New pre-print out! 🍂
Using daily gamified smartphone 📱 tracking, we found that reductions in both self- and decision-making confidence precede when people are likely to report experiencing symptoms of OCD.
www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7...
Using daily gamified smartphone 📱 tracking, we found that reductions in both self- and decision-making confidence precede when people are likely to report experiencing symptoms of OCD.
www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7...
Metacognitive antecedents to states of mental ill-health: Drops in confidence precede symptoms of OCD
Mental health symptoms, like those in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), show pronounced fluctuations over time. However, little is known about the underlying factors driving these fluctuations. Whi...
www.researchsquare.com
September 11, 2025 at 9:08 AM
🚨New pre-print out! 🍂
Using daily gamified smartphone 📱 tracking, we found that reductions in both self- and decision-making confidence precede when people are likely to report experiencing symptoms of OCD.
www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7...
Using daily gamified smartphone 📱 tracking, we found that reductions in both self- and decision-making confidence precede when people are likely to report experiencing symptoms of OCD.
www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7...
Reposted by Kelly Donegan
I'm looking for ~25 more people with a gastrointestinal disorder to complete an online survey on interoception. You can find this survey here: sites.google.com/york.ac.uk/l...
🙏
🙏
Lucy Stafford - Take part in my research
⬇️Scroll down for links to the BODY experiment and the online surveys.⬇️
sites.google.com
July 31, 2025 at 8:22 AM
I'm looking for ~25 more people with a gastrointestinal disorder to complete an online survey on interoception. You can find this survey here: sites.google.com/york.ac.uk/l...
🙏
🙏
🚨PREPRINT ALERT🚨
Why do some people get stuck doing things that no longer make sense, or are even harmful? Our new study shows compulsivity isn’t just about weakened goal-directed control; people high in compulsivity also form stronger habits
📄: osf.io/preprints/ps...
#PaperFairy #Habits #CogSci
Why do some people get stuck doing things that no longer make sense, or are even harmful? Our new study shows compulsivity isn’t just about weakened goal-directed control; people high in compulsivity also form stronger habits
📄: osf.io/preprints/ps...
#PaperFairy #Habits #CogSci
OSF
osf.io
July 28, 2025 at 1:53 PM
🚨PREPRINT ALERT🚨
Why do some people get stuck doing things that no longer make sense, or are even harmful? Our new study shows compulsivity isn’t just about weakened goal-directed control; people high in compulsivity also form stronger habits
📄: osf.io/preprints/ps...
#PaperFairy #Habits #CogSci
Why do some people get stuck doing things that no longer make sense, or are even harmful? Our new study shows compulsivity isn’t just about weakened goal-directed control; people high in compulsivity also form stronger habits
📄: osf.io/preprints/ps...
#PaperFairy #Habits #CogSci
Reposted by Kelly Donegan
New preprint! Habits should get stronger with more practice, right? Well, this crucial result has been difficult to reproduce in human labs. In an instant classic, de Wit (2018) showed 5 failures in obtaining more evidence of habits in conditions with more training -as compared to little trained
Habits Need Time: Evidence of Habit-like Behavior After Short Training Likely Reflects Failures in Habit Testing: https://osf.io/zh39t
July 24, 2025 at 8:57 AM
New preprint! Habits should get stronger with more practice, right? Well, this crucial result has been difficult to reproduce in human labs. In an instant classic, de Wit (2018) showed 5 failures in obtaining more evidence of habits in conditions with more training -as compared to little trained
I promise I missed the #CPConf2025 Travel Award photo because I was boarding my ✈️ and NOT due to punting 🛶 .. Grateful for the opportunity to present my work 📱, met up with friends & eat delicious german apple cake
July 17, 2025 at 3:22 PM
I promise I missed the #CPConf2025 Travel Award photo because I was boarding my ✈️ and NOT due to punting 🛶 .. Grateful for the opportunity to present my work 📱, met up with friends & eat delicious german apple cake
Come to my fan-tastic poster at #CPConf2025 🪭 Poster 35 to find out all things habits, gamification or to get a quick cool down 🥵
July 15, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Come to my fan-tastic poster at #CPConf2025 🪭 Poster 35 to find out all things habits, gamification or to get a quick cool down 🥵
Reposted by Kelly Donegan
What does this tell us? At least some of the implicit assumptions when advocating for the use of computational models in psychiatry are not met for these popular tasks and computational models -> limiting utility.
July 10, 2025 at 11:07 AM
What does this tell us? At least some of the implicit assumptions when advocating for the use of computational models in psychiatry are not met for these popular tasks and computational models -> limiting utility.
Reposted by Kelly Donegan
🚨 New paper alert!
Do time constraints reveal habitual behaviour? 🤔 We directly compared two major paradigms in the habit research field (Outcome Devaluation vs Response Remapping) under identical training and forced-response conditions 🧠 ⏲️ ⌨️
preprint: osf.io/preprints/ps...
Do time constraints reveal habitual behaviour? 🤔 We directly compared two major paradigms in the habit research field (Outcome Devaluation vs Response Remapping) under identical training and forced-response conditions 🧠 ⏲️ ⌨️
preprint: osf.io/preprints/ps...
OSF
osf.io
July 8, 2025 at 9:55 AM
🚨 New paper alert!
Do time constraints reveal habitual behaviour? 🤔 We directly compared two major paradigms in the habit research field (Outcome Devaluation vs Response Remapping) under identical training and forced-response conditions 🧠 ⏲️ ⌨️
preprint: osf.io/preprints/ps...
Do time constraints reveal habitual behaviour? 🤔 We directly compared two major paradigms in the habit research field (Outcome Devaluation vs Response Remapping) under identical training and forced-response conditions 🧠 ⏲️ ⌨️
preprint: osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Kelly Donegan
Me: "What did you learn at journal club today?"
Intern: "That one day I'm going to publish a paper, and a bunch of people are going to sit around a table and rip it apart."
Intern: "That one day I'm going to publish a paper, and a bunch of people are going to sit around a table and rip it apart."
June 24, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Me: "What did you learn at journal club today?"
Intern: "That one day I'm going to publish a paper, and a bunch of people are going to sit around a table and rip it apart."
Intern: "That one day I'm going to publish a paper, and a bunch of people are going to sit around a table and rip it apart."
Reposted by Kelly Donegan
The way we feel affects the way we think. Can we find evidence for this in real-world mood and cognitive performance? For a few weeks, we followed people through their daily lives on their smartphones to answer this question! 📱🌍🧠 #neuroskyence
osf.io/preprints/ps...
osf.io/preprints/ps...
OSF
osf.io
June 19, 2025 at 11:18 AM
The way we feel affects the way we think. Can we find evidence for this in real-world mood and cognitive performance? For a few weeks, we followed people through their daily lives on their smartphones to answer this question! 📱🌍🧠 #neuroskyence
osf.io/preprints/ps...
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Kelly Donegan
Very happy to see this published open-access in Behavior Research Methods now 🤗
#neuroskyence
doi.org/10.3758/s134...
#neuroskyence
doi.org/10.3758/s134...
June 18, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Very happy to see this published open-access in Behavior Research Methods now 🤗
#neuroskyence
doi.org/10.3758/s134...
#neuroskyence
doi.org/10.3758/s134...
Touched down in the motherland 🇮🇪 for #RLDM2025 Excited to be apart of this explosive line-up 💥
My 🎯? To cram in as many 👾-related puns as possible
My 🎯? To cram in as many 👾-related puns as possible
Are you coming to @rldmdublin2025.bsky.social #RLDM2025?
Join our workshop on Gamification in Computational and Cognitive Neuroscience with an amazing speaker lineup! 🎮👾🧠💫
w/ @ondrejzika.bsky.social @ingrdmrtn.bsky.social
Join our workshop on Gamification in Computational and Cognitive Neuroscience with an amazing speaker lineup! 🎮👾🧠💫
w/ @ondrejzika.bsky.social @ingrdmrtn.bsky.social
June 10, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Touched down in the motherland 🇮🇪 for #RLDM2025 Excited to be apart of this explosive line-up 💥
My 🎯? To cram in as many 👾-related puns as possible
My 🎯? To cram in as many 👾-related puns as possible
Reposted by Kelly Donegan
If you’re at @rldmdublin2025.bsky.social next week, consider joining our workshop on real-world RL!
You can sign up to our mailing list for updates here, even if you don’t attend:
sites.google.com/view/rlinthe...
You can sign up to our mailing list for updates here, even if you don’t attend:
sites.google.com/view/rlinthe...
Excited to co-host a workshop at @rldmdublin2025.bsky.social with @danmirea.bsky.social & @anadasilvapinho.bsky.social next week!
We will be exploring applications of reinforcement learning to real-world data 🌳 Sign up to our mailing list to receive updates: sites.google.com/view/rlinthe...
We will be exploring applications of reinforcement learning to real-world data 🌳 Sign up to our mailing list to receive updates: sites.google.com/view/rlinthe...
June 5, 2025 at 4:42 PM
If you’re at @rldmdublin2025.bsky.social next week, consider joining our workshop on real-world RL!
You can sign up to our mailing list for updates here, even if you don’t attend:
sites.google.com/view/rlinthe...
You can sign up to our mailing list for updates here, even if you don’t attend:
sites.google.com/view/rlinthe...
& that’s a wrap! 💫 4 amazing years done at this wonderful lab 🧠📱
Ending on a high having passed my PhD-viva 👩🏻🎓 Endless thank yous to (AWOL) @clairegillan.bsky.social & the lab for all their support (& attention to detail 🎈💞🎀🌸) and to @tobiasuhauser.bsky.social & Sonia Bishop for examining
Ending on a high having passed my PhD-viva 👩🏻🎓 Endless thank yous to (AWOL) @clairegillan.bsky.social & the lab for all their support (& attention to detail 🎈💞🎀🌸) and to @tobiasuhauser.bsky.social & Sonia Bishop for examining
May 15, 2025 at 4:50 PM
& that’s a wrap! 💫 4 amazing years done at this wonderful lab 🧠📱
Ending on a high having passed my PhD-viva 👩🏻🎓 Endless thank yous to (AWOL) @clairegillan.bsky.social & the lab for all their support (& attention to detail 🎈💞🎀🌸) and to @tobiasuhauser.bsky.social & Sonia Bishop for examining
Ending on a high having passed my PhD-viva 👩🏻🎓 Endless thank yous to (AWOL) @clairegillan.bsky.social & the lab for all their support (& attention to detail 🎈💞🎀🌸) and to @tobiasuhauser.bsky.social & Sonia Bishop for examining
Reposted by Kelly Donegan
🚨💫🤖 RLDM Workshop announcement:
"Game on: Leveraging Gamification in Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience"
Contributed talks submissions now OPEN: shorturl.at/0p0Jd
Looking forward to seeing you in Dublin!
w/ @luiantaverra.bsky.social & @ingrdmrtn.bsky.social
"Game on: Leveraging Gamification in Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience"
Contributed talks submissions now OPEN: shorturl.at/0p0Jd
Looking forward to seeing you in Dublin!
w/ @luiantaverra.bsky.social & @ingrdmrtn.bsky.social
April 28, 2025 at 2:58 PM
#HELP anyone know of any external travel grants supporting ECR to attend a european-based conference ? 🥺🤞🏻 (in that awkward phase between PhD & postdoc with no 💸😓)
#ECR #travelgrant #psych #comppsych #cogpsych
#ECR #travelgrant #psych #comppsych #cogpsych
April 9, 2025 at 12:07 PM
#HELP anyone know of any external travel grants supporting ECR to attend a european-based conference ? 🥺🤞🏻 (in that awkward phase between PhD & postdoc with no 💸😓)
#ECR #travelgrant #psych #comppsych #cogpsych
#ECR #travelgrant #psych #comppsych #cogpsych
A super review paper about variability in decision-making, by an even super human 🥹 👏🏼 @jduffy9.bsky.social
In life, 3 things are certain: death, taxes, and decision-making variability🧠. Our review tinyurl.com/4dcwafc4 explores how computational models 💻 explain variability, their limits, and recent advances. A thread🧵👇
@redmondoconnell.bsky.social @neuromurphy.bsky.social Mark Bellgrove (not on Bluesky)
@redmondoconnell.bsky.social @neuromurphy.bsky.social Mark Bellgrove (not on Bluesky)
Disentangling sources of variability in decision-making - Nature Reviews Neuroscience
Identifying the psychological and neurobiological processes underpinning intra-individual variations in choice behaviour presents a formidable challenge. In this Review, Duffy et al. discuss how algor...
www.nature.com
March 24, 2025 at 10:24 PM
A super review paper about variability in decision-making, by an even super human 🥹 👏🏼 @jduffy9.bsky.social