Mike Frank
@mcxfrank.bsky.social
Cognitive scientist at Stanford. Open science advocate. Symbolic Systems Program director. Bluegrass picker, slow runner, dad. http://langcog.stanford.edu
Reposted by Mike Frank
What do kids choose to do when they think that someone will help them? What about when no one will help?
New paper: "Young children strategically adapt to unreliable social partners" - led by Kat Shannon, with @hyogweon.bsky.social and Willem Frankenhuis.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
New paper: "Young children strategically adapt to unreliable social partners" - led by Kat Shannon, with @hyogweon.bsky.social and Willem Frankenhuis.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
November 12, 2025 at 6:27 PM
What do kids choose to do when they think that someone will help them? What about when no one will help?
New paper: "Young children strategically adapt to unreliable social partners" - led by Kat Shannon, with @hyogweon.bsky.social and Willem Frankenhuis.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
New paper: "Young children strategically adapt to unreliable social partners" - led by Kat Shannon, with @hyogweon.bsky.social and Willem Frankenhuis.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Mike Frank
Hello bsky! Excited to share this paper as my very first post / repost :-) We show that children are sensitive to whether an adult offered promised help, and strategically consider this to decide what task to pursue (easy or hard?) and whether to explore vs. seek help!
What do kids choose to do when they think that someone will help them? What about when no one will help?
New paper: "Young children strategically adapt to unreliable social partners" - led by Kat Shannon, with @hyogweon.bsky.social and Willem Frankenhuis.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
New paper: "Young children strategically adapt to unreliable social partners" - led by Kat Shannon, with @hyogweon.bsky.social and Willem Frankenhuis.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
November 12, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Hello bsky! Excited to share this paper as my very first post / repost :-) We show that children are sensitive to whether an adult offered promised help, and strategically consider this to decide what task to pursue (easy or hard?) and whether to explore vs. seek help!
What do kids choose to do when they think that someone will help them? What about when no one will help?
New paper: "Young children strategically adapt to unreliable social partners" - led by Kat Shannon, with @hyogweon.bsky.social and Willem Frankenhuis.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
New paper: "Young children strategically adapt to unreliable social partners" - led by Kat Shannon, with @hyogweon.bsky.social and Willem Frankenhuis.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
November 12, 2025 at 6:27 PM
What do kids choose to do when they think that someone will help them? What about when no one will help?
New paper: "Young children strategically adapt to unreliable social partners" - led by Kat Shannon, with @hyogweon.bsky.social and Willem Frankenhuis.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
New paper: "Young children strategically adapt to unreliable social partners" - led by Kat Shannon, with @hyogweon.bsky.social and Willem Frankenhuis.
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Mike Frank
Feeling so proud of my 14!!! research assistants this week. Four submitted abstracts to MPA, our regional conference, yesterday and tomorrow 10 of them are joining me for a quarterly book club on @mcxfrank.bsky.social and colleagues’ fantastic Experimentology text (Chapters 1-4). What a good group.
November 6, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Feeling so proud of my 14!!! research assistants this week. Four submitted abstracts to MPA, our regional conference, yesterday and tomorrow 10 of them are joining me for a quarterly book club on @mcxfrank.bsky.social and colleagues’ fantastic Experimentology text (Chapters 1-4). What a good group.
Reposted by Mike Frank
#BUCLD50 Symposium: “Innateness is not a dirty word: Reframing the origins of language development”, by Shanley Allen, Marisa Casillas, Alejandrina Cristia, Michael C. Frank, Caroline Rowland, Leher Singh, and Paul Bloom!
Learn more at:
www.bu.edu/bucld/
#Innateness #LLM #LanguageDevelopment
Learn more at:
www.bu.edu/bucld/
#Innateness #LLM #LanguageDevelopment
October 19, 2025 at 9:25 PM
#BUCLD50 Symposium: “Innateness is not a dirty word: Reframing the origins of language development”, by Shanley Allen, Marisa Casillas, Alejandrina Cristia, Michael C. Frank, Caroline Rowland, Leher Singh, and Paul Bloom!
Learn more at:
www.bu.edu/bucld/
#Innateness #LLM #LanguageDevelopment
Learn more at:
www.bu.edu/bucld/
#Innateness #LLM #LanguageDevelopment
Reposted by Mike Frank
1/
Alright, this one’s been sitting in my drawer for a year now, after @mcxfrank.bsky.social and I got turned down for a public commentary.
But before I forget about it completely, here’s the preprint:
Can we harvest insights for rice theory from two state farms in China?
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Alright, this one’s been sitting in my drawer for a year now, after @mcxfrank.bsky.social and I got turned down for a public commentary.
But before I forget about it completely, here’s the preprint:
Can we harvest insights for rice theory from two state farms in China?
osf.io/preprints/ps...
October 22, 2025 at 5:18 PM
1/
Alright, this one’s been sitting in my drawer for a year now, after @mcxfrank.bsky.social and I got turned down for a public commentary.
But before I forget about it completely, here’s the preprint:
Can we harvest insights for rice theory from two state farms in China?
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Alright, this one’s been sitting in my drawer for a year now, after @mcxfrank.bsky.social and I got turned down for a public commentary.
But before I forget about it completely, here’s the preprint:
Can we harvest insights for rice theory from two state farms in China?
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Mike Frank
The Causality in Cognition Lab at Stanford University is recruiting PhD students this cycle!
We are a supportive team who happened to wear bluesky appropriate colors for the lab photo (this wasn't planned). 💙
Lab info: cicl.stanford.edu
Application details: psychology.stanford.edu/admissions/p...
We are a supportive team who happened to wear bluesky appropriate colors for the lab photo (this wasn't planned). 💙
Lab info: cicl.stanford.edu
Application details: psychology.stanford.edu/admissions/p...
October 17, 2025 at 5:43 PM
The Causality in Cognition Lab at Stanford University is recruiting PhD students this cycle!
We are a supportive team who happened to wear bluesky appropriate colors for the lab photo (this wasn't planned). 💙
Lab info: cicl.stanford.edu
Application details: psychology.stanford.edu/admissions/p...
We are a supportive team who happened to wear bluesky appropriate colors for the lab photo (this wasn't planned). 💙
Lab info: cicl.stanford.edu
Application details: psychology.stanford.edu/admissions/p...
Reposted by Mike Frank
#statstab #434 Exposing omitted moderators: Explaining why effect sizes differ in the social sciences
Thoughts: Maybe our models are too simple to makdle the generalisable claims we want.
#bias #moderator #causalinference #heterogeneity #effect
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
Thoughts: Maybe our models are too simple to makdle the generalisable claims we want.
#bias #moderator #causalinference #heterogeneity #effect
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
Exposing omitted moderators: Explaining why effect sizes differ in the social sciences | PNAS
Policymakers increasingly rely on behavioral science in response to global challenges,
such as climate change or global health crises. But applicat...
doi.org
October 9, 2025 at 7:19 PM
#statstab #434 Exposing omitted moderators: Explaining why effect sizes differ in the social sciences
Thoughts: Maybe our models are too simple to makdle the generalisable claims we want.
#bias #moderator #causalinference #heterogeneity #effect
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
Thoughts: Maybe our models are too simple to makdle the generalisable claims we want.
#bias #moderator #causalinference #heterogeneity #effect
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
Reposted by Mike Frank
Reposted by Mike Frank
Happy to share that our BBS target article has been accepted: “Core Perception”: Re-imagining Precocious Reasoning as Sophisticated Perceiving
With Alon Hafri, @veroniqueizard.bsky.social, @chazfirestone.bsky.social & Brent Strickland
Read it here: doi.org/10.1017/S014...
A short thread [1/5]👇
With Alon Hafri, @veroniqueizard.bsky.social, @chazfirestone.bsky.social & Brent Strickland
Read it here: doi.org/10.1017/S014...
A short thread [1/5]👇
October 9, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Happy to share that our BBS target article has been accepted: “Core Perception”: Re-imagining Precocious Reasoning as Sophisticated Perceiving
With Alon Hafri, @veroniqueizard.bsky.social, @chazfirestone.bsky.social & Brent Strickland
Read it here: doi.org/10.1017/S014...
A short thread [1/5]👇
With Alon Hafri, @veroniqueizard.bsky.social, @chazfirestone.bsky.social & Brent Strickland
Read it here: doi.org/10.1017/S014...
A short thread [1/5]👇
Science fiction science, by the ever-thoughtful Iyad Rahwan: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The science fiction science method - Nature
The ‘science fiction science’ method simulates future technologies and collects quantitative data on the attitudes and behaviours of participants in various future scenarios, with the aim of predicting impacts of future technologies before they arrive.
www.nature.com
October 9, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Science fiction science, by the ever-thoughtful Iyad Rahwan: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
How do you measure early language development in languages where you don't have word lists?
New paper: Measuring children’s early vocabulary in low-resource languages using a Swadesh-style word list - led by @kachergis.bsky.social and @alvinwmtan.bsky.social
osf.io/njm7d_v1
New paper: Measuring children’s early vocabulary in low-resource languages using a Swadesh-style word list - led by @kachergis.bsky.social and @alvinwmtan.bsky.social
osf.io/njm7d_v1
October 9, 2025 at 3:34 PM
How do you measure early language development in languages where you don't have word lists?
New paper: Measuring children’s early vocabulary in low-resource languages using a Swadesh-style word list - led by @kachergis.bsky.social and @alvinwmtan.bsky.social
osf.io/njm7d_v1
New paper: Measuring children’s early vocabulary in low-resource languages using a Swadesh-style word list - led by @kachergis.bsky.social and @alvinwmtan.bsky.social
osf.io/njm7d_v1
Reposted by Mike Frank
Thrilled to see this paper out! It's the culmination of a project begun in the depths of the pandemic with Sabrina Karjack and @zoengo.bsky.social . We continue our exploration of how children generalize when their episodic memory is not yet mature.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The dependence of children’s generalization on episodic memory varies with age and level of abstraction - Nature Communications
Children’s ability to generalize from episodic memories varies by both age and the level of abstraction. Here, the authors show that lower level generalization increasingly depends on episodic memory with age, whereas higher level generalization shows no such relationship.
www.nature.com
October 7, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Thrilled to see this paper out! It's the culmination of a project begun in the depths of the pandemic with Sabrina Karjack and @zoengo.bsky.social . We continue our exploration of how children generalize when their episodic memory is not yet mature.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Mike Frank
A key hypothesis in the history of linguistics is that different constructions share underlying structure. We take advantage of recent advances in mechanistic interpretability to test this hypothesis in Language Models.
New work with @kmahowald.bsky.social and @cgpotts.bsky.social!
🧵👇!
New work with @kmahowald.bsky.social and @cgpotts.bsky.social!
🧵👇!
May 27, 2025 at 2:33 PM
A key hypothesis in the history of linguistics is that different constructions share underlying structure. We take advantage of recent advances in mechanistic interpretability to test this hypothesis in Language Models.
New work with @kmahowald.bsky.social and @cgpotts.bsky.social!
🧵👇!
New work with @kmahowald.bsky.social and @cgpotts.bsky.social!
🧵👇!
Great analogy! I think a lot about transfer between music teaching and university teaching (and vice versa).
Something about learning the drums as a middle-aged lady:
It’s boosting my empathy for my students in my chemistry classes. 🥁🧪
I already play the piano, but even still— learning a new instrument requires so much practice and getting comfortable with not being good at something.
It’s boosting my empathy for my students in my chemistry classes. 🥁🧪
I already play the piano, but even still— learning a new instrument requires so much practice and getting comfortable with not being good at something.
October 1, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Great analogy! I think a lot about transfer between music teaching and university teaching (and vice versa).
Anyone know what the best recent evidence on the Yerkes-Dodson law is? Thanks in advance!
September 30, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Anyone know what the best recent evidence on the Yerkes-Dodson law is? Thanks in advance!
Reposted by Mike Frank
Totally agree with Mikes description of this project as a wild journey, utterly joyous true collaboration, and satisfying first step for quantitative predictive rational model of habituation.
Not the first time I’ve suggested a “first step” in research that required a whole PhD to complete. 😉
Not the first time I’ve suggested a “first step” in research that required a whole PhD to complete. 😉
Ever wonder how habituation works? Here's our attempt to understand:
A stimulus-computable rational model of visual habituation in infants and adults doi.org/10.7554/eLif...
This is the thesis of two wonderful students: @anjiecao.bsky.social @galraz.bsky.social, w/ @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social
A stimulus-computable rational model of visual habituation in infants and adults doi.org/10.7554/eLif...
This is the thesis of two wonderful students: @anjiecao.bsky.social @galraz.bsky.social, w/ @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social
September 30, 2025 at 2:01 AM
Totally agree with Mikes description of this project as a wild journey, utterly joyous true collaboration, and satisfying first step for quantitative predictive rational model of habituation.
Not the first time I’ve suggested a “first step” in research that required a whole PhD to complete. 😉
Not the first time I’ve suggested a “first step” in research that required a whole PhD to complete. 😉
Ever wonder how habituation works? Here's our attempt to understand:
A stimulus-computable rational model of visual habituation in infants and adults doi.org/10.7554/eLif...
This is the thesis of two wonderful students: @anjiecao.bsky.social @galraz.bsky.social, w/ @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social
A stimulus-computable rational model of visual habituation in infants and adults doi.org/10.7554/eLif...
This is the thesis of two wonderful students: @anjiecao.bsky.social @galraz.bsky.social, w/ @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social
September 29, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Ever wonder how habituation works? Here's our attempt to understand:
A stimulus-computable rational model of visual habituation in infants and adults doi.org/10.7554/eLif...
This is the thesis of two wonderful students: @anjiecao.bsky.social @galraz.bsky.social, w/ @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social
A stimulus-computable rational model of visual habituation in infants and adults doi.org/10.7554/eLif...
This is the thesis of two wonderful students: @anjiecao.bsky.social @galraz.bsky.social, w/ @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social
GPT or BERT, why not both? arxiv.org/pdf/2410.24159
Winner of second BabyLM competition uses a clever and hilariously simple hack - align BERT and GPT so you can use both. Seems to be very efficient for learning from child-scale data.
Winner of second BabyLM competition uses a clever and hilariously simple hack - align BERT and GPT so you can use both. Seems to be very efficient for learning from child-scale data.
arxiv.org
September 26, 2025 at 9:47 PM
GPT or BERT, why not both? arxiv.org/pdf/2410.24159
Winner of second BabyLM competition uses a clever and hilariously simple hack - align BERT and GPT so you can use both. Seems to be very efficient for learning from child-scale data.
Winner of second BabyLM competition uses a clever and hilariously simple hack - align BERT and GPT so you can use both. Seems to be very efficient for learning from child-scale data.
Reposted by Mike Frank
I’m hiring!! 🎉 Looking for a full-time Lab Manager to help launch the Minds, Experiences, and Language Lab at Stanford. We’ll use all-day language recording, eye tracking, & neuroimaging to study how kids & families navigate unequal structural constraints. Please share:
phxc1b.rfer.us/STANFORDWcqUYo
phxc1b.rfer.us/STANFORDWcqUYo
Research Coordinator, Minds, Experiences, and Language Lab in Graduate School of Education, Stanford, California, United States
The Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE) seeks a full-time Research Coordinator (acting lab manager) to help launch and coordinate the Minds,.....
phxc1b.rfer.us
September 15, 2025 at 6:57 PM
I’m hiring!! 🎉 Looking for a full-time Lab Manager to help launch the Minds, Experiences, and Language Lab at Stanford. We’ll use all-day language recording, eye tracking, & neuroimaging to study how kids & families navigate unequal structural constraints. Please share:
phxc1b.rfer.us/STANFORDWcqUYo
phxc1b.rfer.us/STANFORDWcqUYo
A first blogpost from the LEVANTE team, introducing our global project perspective.
A good intro if you're interested in learning more about cross-cultural developmental data collection using LEVANTE.
levante-network.org/global-colla...
A good intro if you're interested in learning more about cross-cultural developmental data collection using LEVANTE.
levante-network.org/global-colla...
Global Collaboration to Capture Variability in Child Development - Levante
Ensuring that children around the world can flourish is one of the most important goals of our time. Developmental science has made major strides in understanding how children grow, learn, and thrive ...
levante-network.org
September 15, 2025 at 11:54 PM
A first blogpost from the LEVANTE team, introducing our global project perspective.
A good intro if you're interested in learning more about cross-cultural developmental data collection using LEVANTE.
levante-network.org/global-colla...
A good intro if you're interested in learning more about cross-cultural developmental data collection using LEVANTE.
levante-network.org/global-colla...
Reposted by Mike Frank
I reviewed If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies, a new book with an old argument for why AI will kill us all. To put it mildly, I didn't like it www.newscientist.com/article/2495...
No, AI isn’t going to kill us all, despite what this new book says
The arguments made by AI safety researchers Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares in If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies are superficially appealing but fatally flawed, says Jacob Aron
www.newscientist.com
September 8, 2025 at 4:31 PM
I reviewed If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies, a new book with an old argument for why AI will kill us all. To put it mildly, I didn't like it www.newscientist.com/article/2495...
Reposted by Mike Frank
The Item Response Warehouse is a new data resource for psychometricians interested in developing methods using bigger and more diverse sets of instruments: itemresponsewarehouse.org
New paper out now at BRM: doi.org/10.3758/s134...
New paper out now at BRM: doi.org/10.3758/s134...
September 8, 2025 at 3:28 AM
The Item Response Warehouse is a new data resource for psychometricians interested in developing methods using bigger and more diverse sets of instruments: itemresponsewarehouse.org
New paper out now at BRM: doi.org/10.3758/s134...
New paper out now at BRM: doi.org/10.3758/s134...
Reposted by Mike Frank
thanks for curating and share this database! looks amazing!
The Item Response Warehouse is a new data resource for psychometricians interested in developing methods using bigger and more diverse sets of instruments: itemresponsewarehouse.org
New paper out now at BRM: doi.org/10.3758/s134...
New paper out now at BRM: doi.org/10.3758/s134...
September 8, 2025 at 3:32 AM
thanks for curating and share this database! looks amazing!
The Item Response Warehouse is a new data resource for psychometricians interested in developing methods using bigger and more diverse sets of instruments: itemresponsewarehouse.org
New paper out now at BRM: doi.org/10.3758/s134...
New paper out now at BRM: doi.org/10.3758/s134...
September 8, 2025 at 3:28 AM
The Item Response Warehouse is a new data resource for psychometricians interested in developing methods using bigger and more diverse sets of instruments: itemresponsewarehouse.org
New paper out now at BRM: doi.org/10.3758/s134...
New paper out now at BRM: doi.org/10.3758/s134...