Lucy Lai
@lucylai.bsky.social
👩🏻🏫 asst teaching prof @ uc san diego
🧠 cognitive scientist
🧠 cognitive scientist
Pinned
Lucy Lai
@lucylai.bsky.social
· Jun 25
📢🚨I’m elated to share that I’ll be starting as a tenure-track 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗿 👩🏻🏫 in the Department of Cognitive Science at UC San Diego this July! ☀️ @ucsandiego.bsky.social 1/
#ucsd #newprofessor #womeninSTEM
#ucsd #newprofessor #womeninSTEM
i took on my first ug research student today. said i wasn't going to take any my first year but this guy (1) consistently showed up to office hours (2) read my papers and asked me about them (3) had some interesting ideas and (4) showed such genuine enthusiasm. how could i say no?! 🤩
November 5, 2025 at 10:06 PM
i took on my first ug research student today. said i wasn't going to take any my first year but this guy (1) consistently showed up to office hours (2) read my papers and asked me about them (3) had some interesting ideas and (4) showed such genuine enthusiasm. how could i say no?! 🤩
🚨📊ɴᴇᴡ ᴘᴀᴘᴇʀ!! When we learn a new skill—like tying shoelaces or making pasta—we often start with a series of deliberate steps. But eventually, those steps blend into a smooth, single unit: an action chunk. But why and when do we chunk? 👇
📰https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1lMMD2Hx2-9B8
📰https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1lMMD2Hx2-9B8
July 25, 2025 at 6:15 PM
🚨📊ɴᴇᴡ ᴘᴀᴘᴇʀ!! When we learn a new skill—like tying shoelaces or making pasta—we often start with a series of deliberate steps. But eventually, those steps blend into a smooth, single unit: an action chunk. But why and when do we chunk? 👇
📰https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1lMMD2Hx2-9B8
📰https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1lMMD2Hx2-9B8
I decided at age 5 that I wanted to be a teacher, and at 15 that I wanted to become a professor, so it feels surreal that this childhood dream is now a reality 🥹
I wrote a short reflection about how I got here, would love if you gave it a read! 📖: sabbatical.lucylai.com/p/becoming-p...
I wrote a short reflection about how I got here, would love if you gave it a read! 📖: sabbatical.lucylai.com/p/becoming-p...
becoming professor lai
fulfilling my childhood dreams
sabbatical.lucylai.com
June 27, 2025 at 12:12 AM
I decided at age 5 that I wanted to be a teacher, and at 15 that I wanted to become a professor, so it feels surreal that this childhood dream is now a reality 🥹
I wrote a short reflection about how I got here, would love if you gave it a read! 📖: sabbatical.lucylai.com/p/becoming-p...
I wrote a short reflection about how I got here, would love if you gave it a read! 📖: sabbatical.lucylai.com/p/becoming-p...
📢🚨I’m elated to share that I’ll be starting as a tenure-track 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗿 👩🏻🏫 in the Department of Cognitive Science at UC San Diego this July! ☀️ @ucsandiego.bsky.social 1/
#ucsd #newprofessor #womeninSTEM
#ucsd #newprofessor #womeninSTEM
June 25, 2025 at 11:54 AM
📢🚨I’m elated to share that I’ll be starting as a tenure-track 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗿 👩🏻🏫 in the Department of Cognitive Science at UC San Diego this July! ☀️ @ucsandiego.bsky.social 1/
#ucsd #newprofessor #womeninSTEM
#ucsd #newprofessor #womeninSTEM
ok so i know that journals will probably never pay reviewers but can't they at least introduce some incentive structure where you get publication costs waived for every 3 reviews you do or something? maybe not feasible if everyone wants to submit to CNS but you can centralize the incentive system 🤔
April 30, 2025 at 2:21 AM
ok so i know that journals will probably never pay reviewers but can't they at least introduce some incentive structure where you get publication costs waived for every 3 reviews you do or something? maybe not feasible if everyone wants to submit to CNS but you can centralize the incentive system 🤔
great new work by @liushuze.bsky.social looking at how time and memory costs interact in policy compression :)
@lucylai.bsky.social, @gershbrain.bsky.social, Bilal Bari, and I have a new paper out in JEP:G!
We study the time and memory costs of policy compression—a resource-rational framework for decision making, focusing on how state-dependent our policies ought to be.
psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-...
We study the time and memory costs of policy compression—a resource-rational framework for decision making, focusing on how state-dependent our policies ought to be.
psycnet.apa.org/record/2026-...
APA PsycNet
psycnet.apa.org
April 14, 2025 at 7:42 AM
great new work by @liushuze.bsky.social looking at how time and memory costs interact in policy compression :)
🚨📢 so excited to be hosting this Global Summit on Open Problems in AI this April in Tokyo! 🇯🇵 we have an exciting line up of speakers from academia and industry. please share broadly! www.algopreneurship.ai
#AI #research #entrepreneurship #conference #japan #summit
#AI #research #entrepreneurship #conference #japan #summit
Algorithmic Innovation & Entrepreneurship
www.algopreneurship.ai
March 3, 2025 at 5:28 AM
🚨📢 so excited to be hosting this Global Summit on Open Problems in AI this April in Tokyo! 🇯🇵 we have an exciting line up of speakers from academia and industry. please share broadly! www.algopreneurship.ai
#AI #research #entrepreneurship #conference #japan #summit
#AI #research #entrepreneurship #conference #japan #summit
Reposted by Lucy Lai
New WP!
The illusory truth effect (repetition -> belief) is core to psych of beliefs, & thought to be a deep bias impacting misinfo, persuasion & advertising
Why would cognition include such a flaw? We argue it is a rational adaptation to high-quality info environments 🧵1/
The illusory truth effect (repetition -> belief) is core to psych of beliefs, & thought to be a deep bias impacting misinfo, persuasion & advertising
Why would cognition include such a flaw? We argue it is a rational adaptation to high-quality info environments 🧵1/
February 1, 2025 at 10:50 PM
New WP!
The illusory truth effect (repetition -> belief) is core to psych of beliefs, & thought to be a deep bias impacting misinfo, persuasion & advertising
Why would cognition include such a flaw? We argue it is a rational adaptation to high-quality info environments 🧵1/
The illusory truth effect (repetition -> belief) is core to psych of beliefs, & thought to be a deep bias impacting misinfo, persuasion & advertising
Why would cognition include such a flaw? We argue it is a rational adaptation to high-quality info environments 🧵1/
this is the travel grant that changed my life and career!!! i applied as a sophomore in college and it’s what introduced me to the field of computational neuroscience 😍 i highly recommend you share with your undergrads / apply yourself if you are one! happy to answer any questions about it
The Undergrad Travel Grant Program (deadline: Dec 6th) provides an opportunity for undergrads to learn more about comp systems neuro. It’s especially suited for students considering neuro graduate study!
Apply here:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
More info:
www.cosyne.org/travel-grants
Apply here:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
More info:
www.cosyne.org/travel-grants
Cosyne 2025 Undergraduate Travel Grant Program
docs.google.com
December 6, 2024 at 12:55 AM
this is the travel grant that changed my life and career!!! i applied as a sophomore in college and it’s what introduced me to the field of computational neuroscience 😍 i highly recommend you share with your undergrads / apply yourself if you are one! happy to answer any questions about it
congrats @bdanubius.bsky.social !!! well deserved 🥹🥳
Massively humbled to be on the 2025 Forbes Science 30 under 30 List
Huge thanks to my mentors, family, friends and collaborators — I would not be here with you all.
Now here's to living up to his honor in my next 30 years!
#ForbesUnder30
Huge thanks to my mentors, family, friends and collaborators — I would not be here with you all.
Now here's to living up to his honor in my next 30 years!
#ForbesUnder30
December 4, 2024 at 12:47 AM
congrats @bdanubius.bsky.social !!! well deserved 🥹🥳
Reposted by Lucy Lai
This is really cool work!
Happy to belatedly "announce" that our paper on nudging has been published in Psych Review! We understand nudges as changing the "meta-level decision-making problem", influencing people's choices by influencing what they think about it.
psycnet.apa.org/record/2024-...
psycnet.apa.org/record/2024-...
January 12, 2024 at 1:43 AM
This is really cool work!
apply to the FREE Okinawa Computational Neuroscience Summer School where you can hang out with cool people (incl. me!) at the beach 🏖️☀️ while learning computational neuroscience through lectures, tutorials, and independent projects!!! Deadline: Jan 31 groups.oist.jp/ocnc
January 11, 2024 at 2:03 AM
apply to the FREE Okinawa Computational Neuroscience Summer School where you can hang out with cool people (incl. me!) at the beach 🏖️☀️ while learning computational neuroscience through lectures, tutorials, and independent projects!!! Deadline: Jan 31 groups.oist.jp/ocnc
Reposted by Lucy Lai
Very cool article on the neuro of number perception (h/t @earlkmiller.bsky.social )
www.quantamagazine.org/why-the-huma...
www.quantamagazine.org/why-the-huma...
Why the Human Brain Perceives Small Numbers Better | Quanta Magazine
The discovery that the brain has different systems for representing small and large numbers provokes new questions about memory, attention and mathematics.
www.quantamagazine.org
December 18, 2023 at 9:50 PM
Very cool article on the neuro of number perception (h/t @earlkmiller.bsky.social )
www.quantamagazine.org/why-the-huma...
www.quantamagazine.org/why-the-huma...
Reposted by Lucy Lai
Excited to see this work out! Work on automatic shaping of animal behavior (and artificial agents), led by the amazing @gautamreddy.bsky.social #neuroscience #psychscisky 🧪
Adaptive algorithms for shaping behavior
bioRxiv - the preprint server for biology, operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a research and educational institution
www.biorxiv.org
December 5, 2023 at 8:36 PM
Excited to see this work out! Work on automatic shaping of animal behavior (and artificial agents), led by the amazing @gautamreddy.bsky.social #neuroscience #psychscisky 🧪
should I cite chatGPT if it truly helped me start and finish my most recent project in three months? 🤔
entering a glorious era of my phd where chatGPT writes my code for me
November 29, 2023 at 10:32 PM
should I cite chatGPT if it truly helped me start and finish my most recent project in three months? 🤔
looks like the place to be 👀
We are excited to announce the 2024 Computational Psychiatry Conference! Back one year later by popular demand - this time in Minneapolis, Minnesota July 16-18. www.cpconf.org
November 29, 2023 at 10:30 PM
looks like the place to be 👀
🧵 1/8 🚨 New #preprint alert! 🚨 This new study by @gershbrain.bsky.social and I is the first to directly test the predictions of our policy compression model, which describes how capacity-limited agents trade reward for simpler policies to reduce cognitive cost psyarxiv.com/rnz72
psyarxiv.com
November 29, 2023 at 12:17 PM
🧵 1/8 🚨 New #preprint alert! 🚨 This new study by @gershbrain.bsky.social and I is the first to directly test the predictions of our policy compression model, which describes how capacity-limited agents trade reward for simpler policies to reduce cognitive cost psyarxiv.com/rnz72
Reposted by Lucy Lai
Apply by Dec 1 to the UCSD Cognitive Science PhD program: cogsci.ucsd.edu/graduates/ph.... We have an incredible community working on language + cognition + development here - if that's up your alley, check us out! I'll also be considering applications to join my new lab opening in Fall 2024 (!!)
November 20, 2023 at 8:24 PM
Apply by Dec 1 to the UCSD Cognitive Science PhD program: cogsci.ucsd.edu/graduates/ph.... We have an incredible community working on language + cognition + development here - if that's up your alley, check us out! I'll also be considering applications to join my new lab opening in Fall 2024 (!!)
Reposted by Lucy Lai
I'm an advisor for Applied Math undergrads with an application area in Psychology. It turns out that they are interested in math and psych, but often don't realize that there is any overlap between the two! So I put together a short reading list:
gershmanlab.com/docs/Mathema...
gershmanlab.com/docs/Mathema...
November 7, 2023 at 11:43 AM
I'm an advisor for Applied Math undergrads with an application area in Psychology. It turns out that they are interested in math and psych, but often don't realize that there is any overlap between the two! So I put together a short reading list:
gershmanlab.com/docs/Mathema...
gershmanlab.com/docs/Mathema...
@gershbrain.bsky.social nice to find u here in the open skies! everyone has migrated!
November 11, 2023 at 11:17 AM
@gershbrain.bsky.social nice to find u here in the open skies! everyone has migrated!
Reposted by Lucy Lai
Please encourage any psych, cog, and/or neuroscience undergrads wanting an intensive, immersive, supportive, and *paid* summer research experience to apply! WashU’s ENDURE program is world class, and my lab would be delighted to support a mentored research project 🙂
endure.wustl.edu/apply/
endure.wustl.edu/apply/
November 3, 2023 at 3:09 AM
Please encourage any psych, cog, and/or neuroscience undergrads wanting an intensive, immersive, supportive, and *paid* summer research experience to apply! WashU’s ENDURE program is world class, and my lab would be delighted to support a mentored research project 🙂
endure.wustl.edu/apply/
endure.wustl.edu/apply/
Reposted by Lucy Lai
The Kempner Institute at Harvard just launched a post-bac program for students interested in the study of intelligence:
www.harvard.edu/kempner-inst...
www.harvard.edu/kempner-inst...
November 3, 2023 at 8:05 PM
The Kempner Institute at Harvard just launched a post-bac program for students interested in the study of intelligence:
www.harvard.edu/kempner-inst...
www.harvard.edu/kempner-inst...
entering a glorious era of my phd where chatGPT writes my code for me
August 8, 2023 at 4:51 AM
entering a glorious era of my phd where chatGPT writes my code for me
me three!!
Same, hi!
If neuroscience folks are out there, give me a follow!
August 7, 2023 at 7:56 AM
me three!!