Will Harrison
@willjharrison.bsky.social
Vision scientists and horror film enthusiast.
I also lecture at the University of the Sunshine Coast when I'm not at the beach.
I also lecture at the University of the Sunshine Coast when I'm not at the beach.
Reposted by Will Harrison
Please repost! I am looking for a PhD candidate in the area of Computational Cognitive Neuroscience to start in early 2026.
The position is funded as part of the Excellence Cluster "The Adaptive Mind" at @jlugiessen.bsky.social.
Please apply here until Nov 25:
www.uni-giessen.de/de/ueber-uns...
The position is funded as part of the Excellence Cluster "The Adaptive Mind" at @jlugiessen.bsky.social.
Please apply here until Nov 25:
www.uni-giessen.de/de/ueber-uns...
November 4, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Please repost! I am looking for a PhD candidate in the area of Computational Cognitive Neuroscience to start in early 2026.
The position is funded as part of the Excellence Cluster "The Adaptive Mind" at @jlugiessen.bsky.social.
Please apply here until Nov 25:
www.uni-giessen.de/de/ueber-uns...
The position is funded as part of the Excellence Cluster "The Adaptive Mind" at @jlugiessen.bsky.social.
Please apply here until Nov 25:
www.uni-giessen.de/de/ueber-uns...
Reposted by Will Harrison
This is wild!
Introducing CorText: a framework that fuses brain data directly into a large language model, allowing for interactive neural readout using natural language.
tl;dr: you can now chat with a brain scan 🧠💬
1/n
tl;dr: you can now chat with a brain scan 🧠💬
1/n
November 3, 2025 at 6:12 PM
This is wild!
Reposted by Will Harrison
A reminder that the original Hallowe'en jack o' lanterns date back to 18th century Ireland if not earlier, were based on a shady boozy blacksmith called Stingy Jack who cheated the devil & was trapped between 2 worlds, were carved from turnips and looked like this:
October 31, 2025 at 7:59 AM
A reminder that the original Hallowe'en jack o' lanterns date back to 18th century Ireland if not earlier, were based on a shady boozy blacksmith called Stingy Jack who cheated the devil & was trapped between 2 worlds, were carved from turnips and looked like this:
Great thread and I wanna throw in my two cents too: increasing N does not increase the chance of a false positive per se (theoretically it'll always be alpha).
However, increasing N, particularly with lots of DVs, makes very small confounds more likely to produce a statistically significant result.
However, increasing N, particularly with lots of DVs, makes very small confounds more likely to produce a statistically significant result.
There still seems to be a lot of confusion about significance testing in psych. No, p-values *don’t* become useless at large N. This flawed point also used to be framed as "too much power". But power isn't the problem – it's 1) unbalanced error rates and 2) the (lack of a) SESOI. 1/ >
But here's, the thing, p values and significance become useless at such large sample sizes. When you're dividing the coefficient by the SE and the sample size is in the tens of thousands, EVERYTHING IS SIGNIFICANT. All you're testing is whether the coefficient is different than zero.
November 1, 2025 at 12:56 AM
Great thread and I wanna throw in my two cents too: increasing N does not increase the chance of a false positive per se (theoretically it'll always be alpha).
However, increasing N, particularly with lots of DVs, makes very small confounds more likely to produce a statistically significant result.
However, increasing N, particularly with lots of DVs, makes very small confounds more likely to produce a statistically significant result.
Reposted by Will Harrison
*I* would never say this of course, but SOME people might say it's almost like university managements are in on the grift.
Maybe the thing that gives me a pulse-pounding throbbing headache is when I think of how techbros sold ChatGPT to universities as ‘revolutionizing’ higher education and our institutions just forked over money without even asking for actual evidence
When people learn with ChatGPT instead of following their own searches, they end up knowing less, caring less, and producing worse advice, even when the facts are the same.
Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
October 28, 2025 at 9:09 PM
*I* would never say this of course, but SOME people might say it's almost like university managements are in on the grift.
Huge career highlight for me: I got to chat about the psychological science of horror movies with legendary actor John Jarratt, and about how he created his iconic role in Wolf Creek.
#RecreationalFear
Article written by Thomas Fowles:
www.usc.edu.au/about/unisc-...
#RecreationalFear
Article written by Thomas Fowles:
www.usc.edu.au/about/unisc-...
Holy s**t, something bad is about to happen! The art vs the science of scary cinema
Dr Will Harrison and actor John Jarratt explore the psychological tricks used in Australian horror films Picnic at Hanging Rock and Wolf Creek, and why audiences want to be thrilled.
www.usc.edu.au
October 27, 2025 at 1:02 AM
Huge career highlight for me: I got to chat about the psychological science of horror movies with legendary actor John Jarratt, and about how he created his iconic role in Wolf Creek.
#RecreationalFear
Article written by Thomas Fowles:
www.usc.edu.au/about/unisc-...
#RecreationalFear
Article written by Thomas Fowles:
www.usc.edu.au/about/unisc-...
Reposted by Will Harrison
As this is my final PhD paper to be published, I want to give a special shout-out to my supervisors, @willjharrison.bsky.social and Jason. There’s no way to do them justice in 300 characters, so I’ve attached an excerpt from my thesis acknowledgements that still rings true today.
11/11
11/11
October 8, 2025 at 7:13 AM
As this is my final PhD paper to be published, I want to give a special shout-out to my supervisors, @willjharrison.bsky.social and Jason. There’s no way to do them justice in 300 characters, so I’ve attached an excerpt from my thesis acknowledgements that still rings true today.
11/11
11/11
The real pain won't be felt for another decade, not that I'm convinced the US will still exist then.
October 14, 2025 at 1:07 AM
The real pain won't be felt for another decade, not that I'm convinced the US will still exist then.
New paper looking at how manipulating a movie's static statistics can influence subsequent perceptual inference.
Thanks for reading if you've made it this far! I've had to skip a lot of the details, so if you're interested in learning more, feel free to have a read of the paper - here's the link again:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
10/10
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
10/10
Investigating orientation adaptation following naturalistic film viewing - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Investigating orientation adaptation following naturalistic film viewing
www.nature.com
September 29, 2025 at 11:19 PM
New paper looking at how manipulating a movie's static statistics can influence subsequent perceptual inference.
We got people to watch Casablanca after we manipulated the movie's image statistics in one of four ways. Emily came up with a cool way to probe people's orientation estimation during the movie. Paper now out - details in the thread 💪
The movie itself was filtered frame by frame to have contrast at a specified adaptor orientation at low spatial frequencies. We completed this process four times, so we could test different adaptor orientations (0, 45, 90, and 135).
2/10
2/10
September 29, 2025 at 10:03 PM
We got people to watch Casablanca after we manipulated the movie's image statistics in one of four ways. Emily came up with a cool way to probe people's orientation estimation during the movie. Paper now out - details in the thread 💪
Punny footnote:
"It is not entirely clear what prompted the cow connection. Informally we referred to this project as the multi-site overview of oscillations (MOO) which got the ball rolling, after which we decided to milk it for all it was worth."
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
"It is not entirely clear what prompted the cow connection. Informally we referred to this project as the multi-site overview of oscillations (MOO) which got the ball rolling, after which we decided to milk it for all it was worth."
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
How strong is the rhythm of perception? A registered replication of Hickok et al. (2015) | Royal Society Open Science
Our ability to predict upcoming events is a fundamental component of human cognition.
One way in which we do so is by exploiting temporal regularities in sensory signals:
the ticking of a clock, falli...
royalsocietypublishing.org
September 18, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Punny footnote:
"It is not entirely clear what prompted the cow connection. Informally we referred to this project as the multi-site overview of oscillations (MOO) which got the ball rolling, after which we decided to milk it for all it was worth."
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
"It is not entirely clear what prompted the cow connection. Informally we referred to this project as the multi-site overview of oscillations (MOO) which got the ball rolling, after which we decided to milk it for all it was worth."
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
I'm only just learning about splitapply in matlab:
au.mathworks.com/help/matlab/...
au.mathworks.com/help/matlab/...
au.mathworks.com
September 16, 2025 at 11:05 PM
I'm only just learning about splitapply in matlab:
au.mathworks.com/help/matlab/...
au.mathworks.com/help/matlab/...
Reposted by Will Harrison
Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia:
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n
September 6, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia:
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n
Why everyone needs to understand signal detection theory (or at least sensitivity versus specificity).
About two-thirds of patients who were flagged by the AI stethoscope as potentially having heart failure did not actually have it.
AI stethoscope can detect heart issues in 15 seconds, UK doctors find
About two-thirds of patients who were flagged by the AI stethoscope as potentially having heart failure did not actually have it.
l.euronews.com
September 3, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Why everyone needs to understand signal detection theory (or at least sensitivity versus specificity).
Reposted by Will Harrison
🤖📰 Effective YESTERDAY: China has mandated a digital watermark for all AI-generated content.
www.cac.gov.cn/2025-03/14/c...
Translating in 🧵.
www.cac.gov.cn/2025-03/14/c...
Translating in 🧵.
September 2, 2025 at 6:48 PM
🤖📰 Effective YESTERDAY: China has mandated a digital watermark for all AI-generated content.
www.cac.gov.cn/2025-03/14/c...
Translating in 🧵.
www.cac.gov.cn/2025-03/14/c...
Translating in 🧵.
Reposted by Will Harrison
How does the prefrontal cortex flexibly adapt to different cognitive demands? New research from @benhamedlab.bsky.social shows that the prefrontal cortex flexibly encodes task identity and adjusts sensory processing based on the current task’s demands.🧪
#Neuroscience
plos.io/41p9iLw
#Neuroscience
plos.io/41p9iLw
The prefrontal cortex encodes task-identity information and flexibly adjusts its sensory processes as a function of the specific ongoing task
Does the prefrontal cortex represent only specific task parameters, or does it also hold a higher-order representation of task identity? This study shows that the prefrontal cortex flexibly encodes ta...
plos.io
August 27, 2025 at 1:06 PM
How does the prefrontal cortex flexibly adapt to different cognitive demands? New research from @benhamedlab.bsky.social shows that the prefrontal cortex flexibly encodes task identity and adjusts sensory processing based on the current task’s demands.🧪
#Neuroscience
plos.io/41p9iLw
#Neuroscience
plos.io/41p9iLw
Reposted by Will Harrison
It’s not just what you read—it’s whether you chose to read it.
In our new paper out at QJEP 🎉 we show that:
👉 Having a choice over what you read makes reading more enjoyable
👉 …and makes people willing to pay more for books
In our new paper out at QJEP 🎉 we show that:
👉 Having a choice over what you read makes reading more enjoyable
👉 …and makes people willing to pay more for books
EXPRESS: Providing choice enhances reading motivation - Amrita Bains, Carina Spaulding, Jessie Ricketts, Saloni Krishnan, 2025
Multiple literacy programmes embed choice of reading material into their programmes, as this is believed to enhance motivation for reading. Yet, this practice h...
doi.org
August 26, 2025 at 7:04 AM
It’s not just what you read—it’s whether you chose to read it.
In our new paper out at QJEP 🎉 we show that:
👉 Having a choice over what you read makes reading more enjoyable
👉 …and makes people willing to pay more for books
In our new paper out at QJEP 🎉 we show that:
👉 Having a choice over what you read makes reading more enjoyable
👉 …and makes people willing to pay more for books
🤯🤯🤯
🫣🫣🫣
🫣🫣🫣
We just released a paper on using AI to autonomously conduct scientific research, from idea conception and (human) data collection to manuscript generation. We offer 3 example studies in cog psych. I think it indicates the current capacity of AI in autonomous research.
www.arxiv.org/abs/2508.13421
www.arxiv.org/abs/2508.13421
Virtuous Machines: Towards Artificial General Science
Artificial intelligence systems are transforming scientific discovery by accelerating specific research tasks, from protein structure prediction to materials design, yet remain confined to narrow doma...
www.arxiv.org
August 25, 2025 at 7:05 AM
🤯🤯🤯
🫣🫣🫣
🫣🫣🫣
Reposted by Will Harrison
The Flemingos are back in action for ECVP this week in Mainz with talks, posters, and even a keynote from our fearless leader. We're all very much looking forward to this year's program! 🦩
#ecvp2025 @ecvp.bsky.social
#ecvp2025 @ecvp.bsky.social
August 25, 2025 at 4:55 AM
The Flemingos are back in action for ECVP this week in Mainz with talks, posters, and even a keynote from our fearless leader. We're all very much looking forward to this year's program! 🦩
#ecvp2025 @ecvp.bsky.social
#ecvp2025 @ecvp.bsky.social
Reposted by Will Harrison
We are seeking people currently living in Australia to participate in virtual (i.e. over Zoom) focus groups. People under the age of 18 will need parental consent to participate. Follow the link to learn more: redcap.link/lzdud5ot
August 25, 2025 at 6:35 AM
We are seeking people currently living in Australia to participate in virtual (i.e. over Zoom) focus groups. People under the age of 18 will need parental consent to participate. Follow the link to learn more: redcap.link/lzdud5ot
Reposted by Will Harrison
Excited to finally have in my hands a copy of our new book Statistics for Psychology Using R: A Linear Models Perspective (written with Alasdair Clarke, not on bsky) !!
📘 www.mheducation.co.uk/statistics-f...
#PsychSciSky #neuroskyence #statistics #statssky
@rhulpsychology.bsky.social
📘 www.mheducation.co.uk/statistics-f...
#PsychSciSky #neuroskyence #statistics #statssky
@rhulpsychology.bsky.social
August 21, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Excited to finally have in my hands a copy of our new book Statistics for Psychology Using R: A Linear Models Perspective (written with Alasdair Clarke, not on bsky) !!
📘 www.mheducation.co.uk/statistics-f...
#PsychSciSky #neuroskyence #statistics #statssky
@rhulpsychology.bsky.social
📘 www.mheducation.co.uk/statistics-f...
#PsychSciSky #neuroskyence #statistics #statssky
@rhulpsychology.bsky.social
Reposted by Will Harrison
I often find myself saying "what a time to be alive" but friends, today, defector.com/it-took-many...
It Took Many Years And Billions Of Dollars, But Microsoft Finally Invented A Calculator That Is Wrong Sometimes | Defector
It’s not AI winter just yet, though there is a distinct chill in the air. Meta is shaking up and downsizing its artificial intelligence division. A new report out of MIT finds that 95 percent of compa...
defector.com
August 20, 2025 at 4:46 PM
I often find myself saying "what a time to be alive" but friends, today, defector.com/it-took-many...
Very cool manipulation. Any predictions about group differences in interoception between smokers vs non-smokers?
The breathing task: our device adds tiny, controlled resistance to each breath.
We modelled respiratory sensitivity (i.e., the just noticable resistance) and precision (i.e., slope), and metacognition (how well confidence tracks accuracy).
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
We modelled respiratory sensitivity (i.e., the just noticable resistance) and precision (i.e., slope), and metacognition (how well confidence tracks accuracy).
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
The respiratory resistance sensitivity task: An automated method for quantifying respiratory interoception and metacognition
The ability to sense, monitor, and control respiration – e.g., respiratory interoception (henceforth, respiroception) is a core homeostatic ability. B…
www.sciencedirect.com
August 12, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Very cool manipulation. Any predictions about group differences in interoception between smokers vs non-smokers?
Reposted by Will Harrison
Really interesting work! As you didn't ask them to imagine while reading, your results suggest to me they generated spontaneous visual representation and, together with the contrast fixation dur/subj experience, they seem in line with our spontaneous imagery condition in www.cell.com/current-biol...
Sensory representations in primary visual cortex are not sufficient for subjective imagery
Cabbai et al. test whether sensory representations in primary visual cortex (V1) can
be dissociated from subjective mental imagery. They find that V1 representations can
occur without subjective exper...
www.cell.com
April 14, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Really interesting work! As you didn't ask them to imagine while reading, your results suggest to me they generated spontaneous visual representation and, together with the contrast fixation dur/subj experience, they seem in line with our spontaneous imagery condition in www.cell.com/current-biol...
wow ChatGPT 5 really working at the level of a PhD
August 12, 2025 at 1:56 AM
wow ChatGPT 5 really working at the level of a PhD