Paul Maher
@paulmaher.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Limerick (UL)
Reposted by Paul Maher
Three preregistered experiments with prolific participants (N = 2,254) found no evidence for experimenter demand effects
osf.io/preprints/ps...
osf.io/preprints/ps...
November 12, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Three preregistered experiments with prolific participants (N = 2,254) found no evidence for experimenter demand effects
osf.io/preprints/ps...
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Paul Maher
Excellent chimeric face image showing off a left visual field bias for face processing - this image will tend to look more like John Travolta to observers, but the next one (see following post in this thread)... <1/2>
Respond with the same actor as a hero and villain.
November 4, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Excellent chimeric face image showing off a left visual field bias for face processing - this image will tend to look more like John Travolta to observers, but the next one (see following post in this thread)... <1/2>
🚨2 ERC-funded Postdocs🚨
IDENTITY ERROR combines computational & experimental approaches to model epistemic vulnerability. 2 posts are available in our supportive & interdisciplinary team.
Further details:
Computational: my.corehr.com/pls/esbsheul...
Social Psych: my.corehr.com/pls/esbsheul...
IDENTITY ERROR combines computational & experimental approaches to model epistemic vulnerability. 2 posts are available in our supportive & interdisciplinary team.
Further details:
Computational: my.corehr.com/pls/esbsheul...
Social Psych: my.corehr.com/pls/esbsheul...
October 13, 2025 at 10:46 AM
🚨2 ERC-funded Postdocs🚨
IDENTITY ERROR combines computational & experimental approaches to model epistemic vulnerability. 2 posts are available in our supportive & interdisciplinary team.
Further details:
Computational: my.corehr.com/pls/esbsheul...
Social Psych: my.corehr.com/pls/esbsheul...
IDENTITY ERROR combines computational & experimental approaches to model epistemic vulnerability. 2 posts are available in our supportive & interdisciplinary team.
Further details:
Computational: my.corehr.com/pls/esbsheul...
Social Psych: my.corehr.com/pls/esbsheul...
Reposted by Paul Maher
In this new Commentary in @natclimate.nature.com, I reflect on the recent focus on truth discernment in #misinfo research and argue that this outcome alone may not be beneficial to society if interventions do not improve behaviour and other outcomes because... 1/
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Truth discernment may not help to overcome misinformation
Nature Climate Change - Scientists increasingly assess interventions against misinformation mainly via truth discernment. However, pursuing truth discernment may not be sufficiently beneficial to...
www.nature.com
September 8, 2025 at 10:11 AM
In this new Commentary in @natclimate.nature.com, I reflect on the recent focus on truth discernment in #misinfo research and argue that this outcome alone may not be beneficial to society if interventions do not improve behaviour and other outcomes because... 1/
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Paul Maher
🟡 We are delighted to share that Social Psychological Bulletin has Impact Factor of 2.0!
🏅 Another big milestone for the once small and locally published journal - with more to come in the future.
@pspspl.bsky.social @psychopengold.bsky.social
🏅 Another big milestone for the once small and locally published journal - with more to come in the future.
@pspspl.bsky.social @psychopengold.bsky.social
August 7, 2025 at 11:18 AM
🟡 We are delighted to share that Social Psychological Bulletin has Impact Factor of 2.0!
🏅 Another big milestone for the once small and locally published journal - with more to come in the future.
@pspspl.bsky.social @psychopengold.bsky.social
🏅 Another big milestone for the once small and locally published journal - with more to come in the future.
@pspspl.bsky.social @psychopengold.bsky.social
Reposted by Paul Maher
Why is germ theory in the same air quotes as "miasma theory," I ask as a historian of medicine who is very very tired
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. apparently embraces the outdated "miasma theory" of disease instead of the widely accept "germ theory" of disease, which may help explain some of the actions he's been taking.
Ancient miasma theory may help explain Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s vaccine moves
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. apparently embraces the outdated "miasma theory" of disease instead of the widely accept "germ theory" of disease, which may help explain some of the actions he's been taking.
n.pr
June 15, 2025 at 3:18 AM
Why is germ theory in the same air quotes as "miasma theory," I ask as a historian of medicine who is very very tired
Reposted by Paul Maher
10 years work has led to this:
Social identity networks: People holding attitudes are a collective social identity information system & bipartite networks are a useful way to represent them. European Review of Social Psychology. @polpsyispp.bsky.social doi.org/10.1080/1046...
Social identity networks: People holding attitudes are a collective social identity information system & bipartite networks are a useful way to represent them. European Review of Social Psychology. @polpsyispp.bsky.social doi.org/10.1080/1046...
Social identity networks: People holding attitudes are a collective social identity information system and bipartite networks are a useful way to represent them
People holding attitudes are a social information system that can be modelled as a bipartite social identity network, where people are bound into groups via jointly held attitudes; and attitudes in...
doi.org
June 11, 2025 at 11:06 AM
10 years work has led to this:
Social identity networks: People holding attitudes are a collective social identity information system & bipartite networks are a useful way to represent them. European Review of Social Psychology. @polpsyispp.bsky.social doi.org/10.1080/1046...
Social identity networks: People holding attitudes are a collective social identity information system & bipartite networks are a useful way to represent them. European Review of Social Psychology. @polpsyispp.bsky.social doi.org/10.1080/1046...
Reposted by Paul Maher
Psychological inoculation is a very popular intervention against online misinfo, but it hasn't been tested using real-world outcomes in realistic scenarios.
In a new paper just published in PNAS Nexus, this is what we did: academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Short version: It didn't really work.
In a new paper just published in PNAS Nexus, this is what we did: academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Short version: It didn't really work.
June 5, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Psychological inoculation is a very popular intervention against online misinfo, but it hasn't been tested using real-world outcomes in realistic scenarios.
In a new paper just published in PNAS Nexus, this is what we did: academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Short version: It didn't really work.
In a new paper just published in PNAS Nexus, this is what we did: academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Short version: It didn't really work.
Reposted by Paul Maher
“The self-categorization model of mental health….predicts that intervention will be more likely to succeed where it helps to repair a particular component of the social self-system: inclusivity, positivity, or context sensitivity.”
Open Access: doi.org/10.1037/rev0...
#SocialPsyc #AcademicSky 🧪
Open Access: doi.org/10.1037/rev0...
#SocialPsyc #AcademicSky 🧪
May 30, 2025 at 10:28 AM
“The self-categorization model of mental health….predicts that intervention will be more likely to succeed where it helps to repair a particular component of the social self-system: inclusivity, positivity, or context sensitivity.”
Open Access: doi.org/10.1037/rev0...
#SocialPsyc #AcademicSky 🧪
Open Access: doi.org/10.1037/rev0...
#SocialPsyc #AcademicSky 🧪
Reposted by Paul Maher
We are hiring an Assistant Professor in Psychology for a permanent post!
Salary scale is €47,955 - €65,244 p.a.
Closing date is Noon Irish time on Friday, 30th May
More information at www.ul.ie/vacancies
Informal enquiries to eric.igou@ul.ie
Salary scale is €47,955 - €65,244 p.a.
Closing date is Noon Irish time on Friday, 30th May
More information at www.ul.ie/vacancies
Informal enquiries to eric.igou@ul.ie
Join the team in UL
www.ul.ie
May 14, 2025 at 8:11 AM
We are hiring an Assistant Professor in Psychology for a permanent post!
Salary scale is €47,955 - €65,244 p.a.
Closing date is Noon Irish time on Friday, 30th May
More information at www.ul.ie/vacancies
Informal enquiries to eric.igou@ul.ie
Salary scale is €47,955 - €65,244 p.a.
Closing date is Noon Irish time on Friday, 30th May
More information at www.ul.ie/vacancies
Informal enquiries to eric.igou@ul.ie
Reposted by Paul Maher
5. Today, we are facing disinformation campaigns around science and medicine. These are coming from within our own government and are being carried out on a massive scale.
Researchers who study these dynamics are being harassed; funding is gone; universities are scared to hire in this area.
Researchers who study these dynamics are being harassed; funding is gone; universities are scared to hire in this area.
Don't stand for political bullying of disinformation scholars | Editorial
Among the targets of House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan is the co-founder of the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public.
www.seattletimes.com
April 21, 2025 at 11:14 PM
5. Today, we are facing disinformation campaigns around science and medicine. These are coming from within our own government and are being carried out on a massive scale.
Researchers who study these dynamics are being harassed; funding is gone; universities are scared to hire in this area.
Researchers who study these dynamics are being harassed; funding is gone; universities are scared to hire in this area.
Reposted by Paul Maher
Is the consensus among mainstream journalists that the White House slandering a man they delivered into slavery using a crudely manipulated photo in the president’s grasp in the Oval Office is just not a very newsworthy event?
April 19, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Is the consensus among mainstream journalists that the White House slandering a man they delivered into slavery using a crudely manipulated photo in the president’s grasp in the Oval Office is just not a very newsworthy event?
Reposted by Paul Maher
Can confirm that my NSF grant "How False Beliefs Form & How to Correct Them" was cancelled today because it is "not in alignment with current NSF priorities" Shocking that understanding how people are misled by false information is now a forbidden topic. Our work will continue but at a smaller scale
NSF has posted an “update on priorities.”
They’re canceling all “DEI and misinformation/disinformation” grants.
And the guidance on how to fulfill the longstanding, legally mandated Broadening Participation requirement is utterly incoherent.
www.nsf.gov/updates-on-p...
They’re canceling all “DEI and misinformation/disinformation” grants.
And the guidance on how to fulfill the longstanding, legally mandated Broadening Participation requirement is utterly incoherent.
www.nsf.gov/updates-on-p...
Updates on NSF Priorities
www.nsf.gov
April 18, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Can confirm that my NSF grant "How False Beliefs Form & How to Correct Them" was cancelled today because it is "not in alignment with current NSF priorities" Shocking that understanding how people are misled by false information is now a forbidden topic. Our work will continue but at a smaller scale
Reposted by Paul Maher
Sigh
another day, another colleague falls foul of post-hoc power calculation requests by a grant reviewer
@lakens.bsky.social 's blog page comes in handy for this nonsense
#episky
daniellakens.blogspot.com/2014/12/obse...
another day, another colleague falls foul of post-hoc power calculation requests by a grant reviewer
@lakens.bsky.social 's blog page comes in handy for this nonsense
#episky
daniellakens.blogspot.com/2014/12/obse...
Observed power, and what to do if your editor asks for post-hoc power analyses
This blog post is now included in the paper "Sample size justification" available at PsyArXiv. Observed power (or post-hoc power) is th...
daniellakens.blogspot.com
February 18, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Sigh
another day, another colleague falls foul of post-hoc power calculation requests by a grant reviewer
@lakens.bsky.social 's blog page comes in handy for this nonsense
#episky
daniellakens.blogspot.com/2014/12/obse...
another day, another colleague falls foul of post-hoc power calculation requests by a grant reviewer
@lakens.bsky.social 's blog page comes in handy for this nonsense
#episky
daniellakens.blogspot.com/2014/12/obse...
Reposted by Paul Maher
I wrote about the biggest paradox of 21st century governance: that the democratization of information production is killing democracy. Trump’s America is the canary in the coal mine for how badly things can break when voters inhabit different realities from a steady diet of informational sludge.
The Democratization of Information Production is Killing Democracy
The way we receive information about our world is unlike any previous generations of humanity. Paradoxically, it's destroying democracy—and Trump's America is the main canary in the coal mine.
www.forkingpaths.co
January 30, 2025 at 12:54 PM
I wrote about the biggest paradox of 21st century governance: that the democratization of information production is killing democracy. Trump’s America is the canary in the coal mine for how badly things can break when voters inhabit different realities from a steady diet of informational sludge.
Reposted by Paul Maher
Does the culture you grow up in shape the way you see the world? In a new Psych Review paper, @chazfirestone.bsky.social & I tackle this centuries-old question using the Müller-Lyer illusion as a case study. Come think through one of history's mysteries with us🧵(1/13):
January 25, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Does the culture you grow up in shape the way you see the world? In a new Psych Review paper, @chazfirestone.bsky.social & I tackle this centuries-old question using the Müller-Lyer illusion as a case study. Come think through one of history's mysteries with us🧵(1/13):
Reposted by Paul Maher
As I wrote last week: "As other information sources fall, Wikipedia’s stubborn independence becomes more vital than ever. The attacks from [the right] aren't just about an online encyclopedia — they're part of a broader assault on any information source that refuses to be controlled."
Scoop: I obtained a confidential presentation outlining how a major conservative think tanks plans to go after volunteer editors on Wikipedia who it says are "abusing their position" and promoting antisemitism
forward.com/news/686797/...
forward.com/news/686797/...
Scoop: Heritage Foundation plans to ‘identify and target’ Wikipedia editors
The conservative think tank told prospective donors that the project was part of its work to combat antisemitism.
forward.com
January 8, 2025 at 12:49 AM
As I wrote last week: "As other information sources fall, Wikipedia’s stubborn independence becomes more vital than ever. The attacks from [the right] aren't just about an online encyclopedia — they're part of a broader assault on any information source that refuses to be controlled."
Reposted by Paul Maher
How is this production technology?
Here's Google Gemini potentially getting someone killed. Ten energy drinks is typically 1600-3000 mg of caffeine.
Here's Google Gemini potentially getting someone killed. Ten energy drinks is typically 1600-3000 mg of caffeine.
January 11, 2025 at 9:17 PM
How is this production technology?
Here's Google Gemini potentially getting someone killed. Ten energy drinks is typically 1600-3000 mg of caffeine.
Here's Google Gemini potentially getting someone killed. Ten energy drinks is typically 1600-3000 mg of caffeine.
Reposted by Paul Maher
Campaign Gist: Building a Wall
The six constituencies with the greatest risk of far-right gains and the best candidates in each place to vote for to block them.
https://www.thegist.ie/campaign-gist-building-a-wall/
The six constituencies with the greatest risk of far-right gains and the best candidates in each place to vote for to block them.
https://www.thegist.ie/campaign-gist-building-a-wall/
November 20, 2024 at 2:52 AM
Campaign Gist: Building a Wall
The six constituencies with the greatest risk of far-right gains and the best candidates in each place to vote for to block them.
https://www.thegist.ie/campaign-gist-building-a-wall/
The six constituencies with the greatest risk of far-right gains and the best candidates in each place to vote for to block them.
https://www.thegist.ie/campaign-gist-building-a-wall/