Paul Stillman
@stillman.bsky.social
Behavioral Scientist studying self-control and motivation. Assistant Professor at Boston University
Pinned
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
How do we succeed at self-control? In a new paper in @pnas.org with James Wilson, David Kalkstein, and Melissa Ferguson, we use mouse-tracking of ~47,000 decisions of long-term over short-term to show that 'willpower' is too narrow a conception of self-control www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
Reposted by Paul Stillman
#AcademicSky
#PrejudiceResearch scholars will want to check this out
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
#PrejudiceResearch scholars will want to check this out
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
November 27, 2025 at 1:44 PM
#AcademicSky
#PrejudiceResearch scholars will want to check this out
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
#PrejudiceResearch scholars will want to check this out
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Reposted by Paul Stillman
Happy to share our latest study published in PNAS.
Using data from 274,316 French students, we find that lower-SES students are less likely to wait for better university offers, even when waiting would lead to more prestigious or better-fit programs.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Using data from 274,316 French students, we find that lower-SES students are less likely to wait for better university offers, even when waiting would lead to more prestigious or better-fit programs.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Waiting time during admission procedures increases social inequalities in higher education | PNAS
Many domains in life require people to wait to access better outcomes, such as waiting
in line to access prized tickets for a show, waiting to obta...
www.pnas.org
November 26, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Happy to share our latest study published in PNAS.
Using data from 274,316 French students, we find that lower-SES students are less likely to wait for better university offers, even when waiting would lead to more prestigious or better-fit programs.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Using data from 274,316 French students, we find that lower-SES students are less likely to wait for better university offers, even when waiting would lead to more prestigious or better-fit programs.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Paul Stillman
Blog post: A Missing Heritability Update. Three legs and other problems. I follow up on the recent excellent post on the subject by @sashagusevposts.bsky.social. ericturkheimer.substack.com/p/missing-he...
Missing Heritability Revisited
Following up on Sasha
ericturkheimer.substack.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Blog post: A Missing Heritability Update. Three legs and other problems. I follow up on the recent excellent post on the subject by @sashagusevposts.bsky.social. ericturkheimer.substack.com/p/missing-he...
Reposted by Paul Stillman
clarence thomas has no jurisprudential argument, he just hates women and thinks the constitution doesn’t protect a varia suit
November 25, 2025 at 5:20 PM
clarence thomas has no jurisprudential argument, he just hates women and thinks the constitution doesn’t protect a varia suit
Reposted by Paul Stillman
"The high-income admissions advantage at Ivy-Plus colleges is driven by three factors: (1) preferences for children of alumni, (2) weight placed on non-academic credentials, and (3) athletic recruitment...The three factors...are uncorrelated or negatively correlated with post-college outcomes..."
Recently accepted by #QJE, “Diversifying Society’s Leaders? The Determinants and Causal Effects of Admission to Highly Selective Private Colleges,” by Chetty (@Oppinsights), Deming, and Friedman: doi.org/10.1093/qje/...
Diversifying Society’s Leaders? The Determinants and Causal Effects of Admission to Highly Selective Private Colleges*
Abstract. We use anonymized admissions data from several colleges linked to income tax records and SAT and ACT test scores to study the determinants and ca
doi.org
November 23, 2025 at 10:51 PM
"The high-income admissions advantage at Ivy-Plus colleges is driven by three factors: (1) preferences for children of alumni, (2) weight placed on non-academic credentials, and (3) athletic recruitment...The three factors...are uncorrelated or negatively correlated with post-college outcomes..."
A movie that takes place where you’re from
November 23, 2025 at 9:08 PM
A movie that takes place where you’re from
Reposted by Paul Stillman
🚨New WP🚨
Dialogues with our AI DebunkBot:
✔️Reduced belief in antisemitic conspiracy theories among believers
✔️Effect durable at 1+ month
✔️Improved attitudes towards Jews among initially negative participants
🟰Debunking works for deeply rooted, identity-linked conspiracies
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Dialogues with our AI DebunkBot:
✔️Reduced belief in antisemitic conspiracy theories among believers
✔️Effect durable at 1+ month
✔️Improved attitudes towards Jews among initially negative participants
🟰Debunking works for deeply rooted, identity-linked conspiracies
osf.io/preprints/ps...
November 22, 2025 at 3:23 PM
🚨New WP🚨
Dialogues with our AI DebunkBot:
✔️Reduced belief in antisemitic conspiracy theories among believers
✔️Effect durable at 1+ month
✔️Improved attitudes towards Jews among initially negative participants
🟰Debunking works for deeply rooted, identity-linked conspiracies
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Dialogues with our AI DebunkBot:
✔️Reduced belief in antisemitic conspiracy theories among believers
✔️Effect durable at 1+ month
✔️Improved attitudes towards Jews among initially negative participants
🟰Debunking works for deeply rooted, identity-linked conspiracies
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Paul Stillman
Some history of science grad student is going to have one hell of a dissertation about how Arthur Jensen wrecked two disciplines for half a century.
November 21, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Some history of science grad student is going to have one hell of a dissertation about how Arthur Jensen wrecked two disciplines for half a century.
Really great analysis here showing twin studies greatly inflate estimates of genetic heritability of traits (and underestimate environmental contributions) AND that this is worse for cognitive/behavioral traits. Particularly important given that race-science people lean heavily on twin studies
I wrote a little bit about the "missing heritability" question and several recent studies that have brought it to a close. A short 🧵
The missing heritability question is now (mostly) answered
Not with a bang but with a whimper
theinfinitesimal.substack.com
November 22, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Really great analysis here showing twin studies greatly inflate estimates of genetic heritability of traits (and underestimate environmental contributions) AND that this is worse for cognitive/behavioral traits. Particularly important given that race-science people lean heavily on twin studies
Reposted by Paul Stillman
New paper in @cognitionjournal.bsky.social, where we show how attention impacts political choices. With an eye-tracking study, we find that people's votes aren't set in stone - they take longer to vote on divisive issues and can be swayed by gaze manipulations. authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...
ScienceDirect.com | Science, health and medical journals, full text articles and books.
authors.elsevier.com
November 21, 2025 at 6:21 PM
New paper in @cognitionjournal.bsky.social, where we show how attention impacts political choices. With an eye-tracking study, we find that people's votes aren't set in stone - they take longer to vote on divisive issues and can be swayed by gaze manipulations. authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...
Reposted by Paul Stillman
“The findings confirmed that, even when holding the facts and platform constant, learning from synthesized LLM responses led to shallower knowledge compared to gathering, interpreting and synthesizing information for oneself via standard web links.”
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
November 21, 2025 at 1:32 PM
“The findings confirmed that, even when holding the facts and platform constant, learning from synthesized LLM responses led to shallower knowledge compared to gathering, interpreting and synthesizing information for oneself via standard web links.”
Reposted by Paul Stillman
I'm excited to share that I’ll be reviewing PhD applications this cycle for students interested in working with me starting Summer/Fall 2026.
I’m especially looking for applicants excited about research on trust/persuasion, responses to historical harm, addressing inequality, and/or mindsets.
I’m especially looking for applicants excited about research on trust/persuasion, responses to historical harm, addressing inequality, and/or mindsets.
November 20, 2025 at 9:53 PM
I'm excited to share that I’ll be reviewing PhD applications this cycle for students interested in working with me starting Summer/Fall 2026.
I’m especially looking for applicants excited about research on trust/persuasion, responses to historical harm, addressing inequality, and/or mindsets.
I’m especially looking for applicants excited about research on trust/persuasion, responses to historical harm, addressing inequality, and/or mindsets.
Reposted by Paul Stillman
Yes, PINE Lab is accepting doctoral applications this cycle in Psychology! Apps due Dec 1! Interested in early life human neuroplasticity? how early pre- and post-natal experiences/exposures (promotional/adverse) shape malleable brains? Current research here: drive.google.com/file/d/1wFZj...
Laurel_Gabard-Durnam_Research Statement.pdf
drive.google.com
November 20, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Yes, PINE Lab is accepting doctoral applications this cycle in Psychology! Apps due Dec 1! Interested in early life human neuroplasticity? how early pre- and post-natal experiences/exposures (promotional/adverse) shape malleable brains? Current research here: drive.google.com/file/d/1wFZj...
Gonna channel @mtsw.bsky.social and say: “they hate universities and want to hurt them.”
If their racism towards foreign students can simultaneously damage universities and make it so only the wealthy can access higher education, that is, to them, killing three birds with one stone.
If their racism towards foreign students can simultaneously damage universities and make it so only the wealthy can access higher education, that is, to them, killing three birds with one stone.
They're so fucking stupid and don't realize it. The only reason many white students can afford graduate degrees is because foreign students pay for the programs and allow them to be economically efficient. Without foreign students, many programs will now simply collapse. Genius.
The White House just blasted this out under the headline "Good News You May Have Missed"
November 20, 2025 at 3:20 AM
Gonna channel @mtsw.bsky.social and say: “they hate universities and want to hurt them.”
If their racism towards foreign students can simultaneously damage universities and make it so only the wealthy can access higher education, that is, to them, killing three birds with one stone.
If their racism towards foreign students can simultaneously damage universities and make it so only the wealthy can access higher education, that is, to them, killing three birds with one stone.
Reposted by Paul Stillman
A thread on our recent paper (w/Raihan Alam @raihanalam) in PNAS on why punishment often fails and what it means for crime, cooperation, democracy, and the rule of law. I’m super excited for it, it’s the lab’s most extensive experimental work to date. Check it out! 1/
www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....
www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
November 19, 2025 at 11:40 PM
A thread on our recent paper (w/Raihan Alam @raihanalam) in PNAS on why punishment often fails and what it means for crime, cooperation, democracy, and the rule of law. I’m super excited for it, it’s the lab’s most extensive experimental work to date. Check it out! 1/
www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....
www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Paul Stillman
Reposted by Paul Stillman
Reposted by Paul Stillman
How do we succeed at self-control? In a new paper in @pnas.org with James Wilson, David Kalkstein, and Melissa Ferguson, we use mouse-tracking of ~47,000 decisions of long-term over short-term to show that 'willpower' is too narrow a conception of self-control www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
November 12, 2025 at 7:32 PM
How do we succeed at self-control? In a new paper in @pnas.org with James Wilson, David Kalkstein, and Melissa Ferguson, we use mouse-tracking of ~47,000 decisions of long-term over short-term to show that 'willpower' is too narrow a conception of self-control www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
Reposted by Paul Stillman
Today is Publication Day! 🎉
The Psychological Quest for Meaning is out!
Aimed at researchers, but we hope it is readable for anyone interested in how humans make sense of their lives.
Guilford Press is offering 15% off with code AU2E:
www.guilford.com/books/The-Ps...
The Psychological Quest for Meaning is out!
Aimed at researchers, but we hope it is readable for anyone interested in how humans make sense of their lives.
Guilford Press is offering 15% off with code AU2E:
www.guilford.com/books/The-Ps...
November 17, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Today is Publication Day! 🎉
The Psychological Quest for Meaning is out!
Aimed at researchers, but we hope it is readable for anyone interested in how humans make sense of their lives.
Guilford Press is offering 15% off with code AU2E:
www.guilford.com/books/The-Ps...
The Psychological Quest for Meaning is out!
Aimed at researchers, but we hope it is readable for anyone interested in how humans make sense of their lives.
Guilford Press is offering 15% off with code AU2E:
www.guilford.com/books/The-Ps...
Marketing departments did this until very recently (I did hotel-room interviews in 2017). Only thing that ended it was the pandemic shifting first-round interviews to zoom (and so far it doesn’t seem like they are coming back). Kind of a surreal experience tbh
If you are not in academia, you might not know this, but job interviews used to be held at conferences IN HOTEL ROOMS. Women candidates in a hotel room alone with often all-male committees. People sitting on beds! The horror stories I've heard.
I thing I sometimes thing about is that university departments were still doing job interviews in hotel rooms in the mid aughts
November 16, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Marketing departments did this until very recently (I did hotel-room interviews in 2017). Only thing that ended it was the pandemic shifting first-round interviews to zoom (and so far it doesn’t seem like they are coming back). Kind of a surreal experience tbh
Reposted by Paul Stillman
imagine being hit on by gross old Larry Summers when you just wanted professional advice and then finding out he was getting advice on how to hit on you from Jeffrey fucking Epstein
one of the grossest things I’ve ever read
one of the grossest things I’ve ever read
The emails have Summers reporting to Epstein about his attempts to date a Harvard economics student & to hit on her during a seminar she was giving.
November 16, 2025 at 2:18 AM
imagine being hit on by gross old Larry Summers when you just wanted professional advice and then finding out he was getting advice on how to hit on you from Jeffrey fucking Epstein
one of the grossest things I’ve ever read
one of the grossest things I’ve ever read
Reposted by Paul Stillman
Using this approach, we find evidence for *both* impulse inhibition and dynamic competition. Notably, however, impulse inhibition occurs much less frequently (in only 26% of successful self-control decisions) and seems to be characteristic of impatient and present-focused individuals
November 12, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Using this approach, we find evidence for *both* impulse inhibition and dynamic competition. Notably, however, impulse inhibition occurs much less frequently (in only 26% of successful self-control decisions) and seems to be characteristic of impatient and present-focused individuals
How do we succeed at self-control? In a new paper in @pnas.org with James Wilson, David Kalkstein, and Melissa Ferguson, we use mouse-tracking of ~47,000 decisions of long-term over short-term to show that 'willpower' is too narrow a conception of self-control www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
November 12, 2025 at 7:32 PM
How do we succeed at self-control? In a new paper in @pnas.org with James Wilson, David Kalkstein, and Melissa Ferguson, we use mouse-tracking of ~47,000 decisions of long-term over short-term to show that 'willpower' is too narrow a conception of self-control www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
Kaleb Horton was my favorite living writer and now he’s gone. His writing could make you feel things deep in your core in a way that was truly unique. Just an immeasurable loss.
If you’re not familiar, Luke here gives a touching tribute.
If you’re not familiar, Luke here gives a touching tribute.
Put together some thoughts here.
In an earlier time he would have been the kind of writer being paid $5 a word by magazines to go write about whatever he pleased. And no one would be pissed off or jealous about it either.
www.welcometohellworld.com/life-is-a-pr...
In an earlier time he would have been the kind of writer being paid $5 a word by magazines to go write about whatever he pleased. And no one would be pissed off or jealous about it either.
www.welcometohellworld.com/life-is-a-pr...
September 27, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Kaleb Horton was my favorite living writer and now he’s gone. His writing could make you feel things deep in your core in a way that was truly unique. Just an immeasurable loss.
If you’re not familiar, Luke here gives a touching tribute.
If you’re not familiar, Luke here gives a touching tribute.
Reposted by Paul Stillman
I wrote about George Harrison. www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
George Harrison's Quiet Love Affair With Formula One
Just another guy at the track, The Beatle could shed fame, and just be himself
www.rollingstone.com
April 2, 2025 at 1:18 PM
I wrote about George Harrison. www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...