Aiyana Koka Willard
@aiyanakoka.bsky.social
Cultural Evolutionary Psychologist | Centre for Culture and Evolution | Brunel University London
Researcher of religion, religious decline, spiritual beliefs, and other worldviews
Researcher of religion, religious decline, spiritual beliefs, and other worldviews
Reposted by Aiyana Koka Willard
ACE Research Grant Alert 🚨!
CES will give out two awards of up to $3000 each to support early career research projects in cultural evolution. The award is open to applicants worldwide, with an application deadline of October 9th 2026, 9:00 AM AoE.
Applications: forms.gle/dsLdKQuNBH4W...
CES will give out two awards of up to $3000 each to support early career research projects in cultural evolution. The award is open to applicants worldwide, with an application deadline of October 9th 2026, 9:00 AM AoE.
Applications: forms.gle/dsLdKQuNBH4W...
ACE Early Career Research Grants
CES will give out two awards of up to $3000 each to support research projects in cultural evolution. To learn more about the Advancing Cultural Evolution (ACE) initiative, see here.
Deadline:
Appli...
forms.gle
September 14, 2026 at 7:58 AM
ACE Research Grant Alert 🚨!
CES will give out two awards of up to $3000 each to support early career research projects in cultural evolution. The award is open to applicants worldwide, with an application deadline of October 9th 2026, 9:00 AM AoE.
Applications: forms.gle/dsLdKQuNBH4W...
CES will give out two awards of up to $3000 each to support early career research projects in cultural evolution. The award is open to applicants worldwide, with an application deadline of October 9th 2026, 9:00 AM AoE.
Applications: forms.gle/dsLdKQuNBH4W...
I need to get this off my chest. Are Cumulative Link models only better ‘fitting’ models for Likert scales answers if you assume you are modelling the scale itself rather than the construct behind the scale? “Strongly agree” is not the highest possible belief, it’s just the highest option you gave.
August 18, 2026 at 3:25 PM
I need to get this off my chest. Are Cumulative Link models only better ‘fitting’ models for Likert scales answers if you assume you are modelling the scale itself rather than the construct behind the scale? “Strongly agree” is not the highest possible belief, it’s just the highest option you gave.
Reposted by Aiyana Koka Willard
☕ Coming to Brno for IACESR 2026?
We’ve curated a list of our favourite cafés around the city for those inevitable coffee breaks between sessions, or just in case the conference coffee isn’t quite to your taste. 😉
Explore the map here:
maps.app.goo.gl/9uvLTDDbqQSA...
See you in Brno!
#IACESR2026
We’ve curated a list of our favourite cafés around the city for those inevitable coffee breaks between sessions, or just in case the conference coffee isn’t quite to your taste. 😉
Explore the map here:
maps.app.goo.gl/9uvLTDDbqQSA...
See you in Brno!
#IACESR2026
IACESR 2026: Guide to Brno
maps.app.goo.gl
June 19, 2026 at 5:03 PM
☕ Coming to Brno for IACESR 2026?
We’ve curated a list of our favourite cafés around the city for those inevitable coffee breaks between sessions, or just in case the conference coffee isn’t quite to your taste. 😉
Explore the map here:
maps.app.goo.gl/9uvLTDDbqQSA...
See you in Brno!
#IACESR2026
We’ve curated a list of our favourite cafés around the city for those inevitable coffee breaks between sessions, or just in case the conference coffee isn’t quite to your taste. 😉
Explore the map here:
maps.app.goo.gl/9uvLTDDbqQSA...
See you in Brno!
#IACESR2026
I feel like I have entered a weird alternate universe where instead of trying to convince psychologist that experiments aren’t the only way to show causation, I am now trying to convince reviewers that DAGs are not required to illustrate causation in an experimental design.
Condition ➡️ DV 🤷♀️
Condition ➡️ DV 🤷♀️
June 19, 2026 at 8:34 AM
I feel like I have entered a weird alternate universe where instead of trying to convince psychologist that experiments aren’t the only way to show causation, I am now trying to convince reviewers that DAGs are not required to illustrate causation in an experimental design.
Condition ➡️ DV 🤷♀️
Condition ➡️ DV 🤷♀️
Reposted by Aiyana Koka Willard
New paper out! 🎉
“Godlessness in the Land of Gods: Unravelling Atheism in a Hindu Context”
We interviewed 75 Hindus across caste groups and two linguistic communities in India and found that atheism is far from uniform.
🔗: secularismandnonreligion.org/articles/10....
@aiyanakoka.bsky.social
“Godlessness in the Land of Gods: Unravelling Atheism in a Hindu Context”
We interviewed 75 Hindus across caste groups and two linguistic communities in India and found that atheism is far from uniform.
🔗: secularismandnonreligion.org/articles/10....
@aiyanakoka.bsky.social
Godlessness in the Land of Gods: Unravelling Atheism in a Hindu Context | Secularism and Nonreligion
secularismandnonreligion.org
June 15, 2026 at 7:25 PM
New paper out! 🎉
“Godlessness in the Land of Gods: Unravelling Atheism in a Hindu Context”
We interviewed 75 Hindus across caste groups and two linguistic communities in India and found that atheism is far from uniform.
🔗: secularismandnonreligion.org/articles/10....
@aiyanakoka.bsky.social
“Godlessness in the Land of Gods: Unravelling Atheism in a Hindu Context”
We interviewed 75 Hindus across caste groups and two linguistic communities in India and found that atheism is far from uniform.
🔗: secularismandnonreligion.org/articles/10....
@aiyanakoka.bsky.social
One of the many things I love about London: on a train full of anime cosplayers today and there is a sizeable grey area where I am not sure if they are cosplaying or just your standard eccentric Londoners 🧚
May 24, 2026 at 10:46 AM
One of the many things I love about London: on a train full of anime cosplayers today and there is a sizeable grey area where I am not sure if they are cosplaying or just your standard eccentric Londoners 🧚
I have not watched this because I hate watching videos of myself. So let me know how it is 😂
🎥 Introducing Brunel Psychology’s new YouTube channel 🤩
because obviously what the internet needed was academics doing 40-minute deep dives. You’re welcome.
Daniel sits down with Brunel’s @aiyanakoka.bsky.social to talk religion, gods and why humans are so committed to meaning-making 🧠✨
because obviously what the internet needed was academics doing 40-minute deep dives. You’re welcome.
Daniel sits down with Brunel’s @aiyanakoka.bsky.social to talk religion, gods and why humans are so committed to meaning-making 🧠✨
"Is society better without religion?" - Dr Aiyana Willard | Ask A Psychologist
YouTube video by Psychology @ Brunel
www.youtube.com
May 22, 2026 at 7:44 PM
I have not watched this because I hate watching videos of myself. So let me know how it is 😂
Watching Casablanca and in Casablanca. 🎥🇲🇦
May 17, 2026 at 9:23 PM
Watching Casablanca and in Casablanca. 🎥🇲🇦
I got THE BEST swag from @twaring.bsky.social at CES
May 13, 2026 at 8:09 AM
I got THE BEST swag from @twaring.bsky.social at CES
Reposted by Aiyana Koka Willard
🏆 John J. McGraw Award – IACESR 2026
We are delighted to announce this year’s awardees:
🎓Carmen María Callizo Romero — Religiosity, Not Size, Predicts Abstract Cognition in Sacred Spaces
🎓 Radim Chvaja — Is God Perceived as More Moralizing During War? Evidence from Ukraine
#IACESR2026
We are delighted to announce this year’s awardees:
🎓Carmen María Callizo Romero — Religiosity, Not Size, Predicts Abstract Cognition in Sacred Spaces
🎓 Radim Chvaja — Is God Perceived as More Moralizing During War? Evidence from Ukraine
#IACESR2026
May 2, 2026 at 5:25 PM
🏆 John J. McGraw Award – IACESR 2026
We are delighted to announce this year’s awardees:
🎓Carmen María Callizo Romero — Religiosity, Not Size, Predicts Abstract Cognition in Sacred Spaces
🎓 Radim Chvaja — Is God Perceived as More Moralizing During War? Evidence from Ukraine
#IACESR2026
We are delighted to announce this year’s awardees:
🎓Carmen María Callizo Romero — Religiosity, Not Size, Predicts Abstract Cognition in Sacred Spaces
🎓 Radim Chvaja — Is God Perceived as More Moralizing During War? Evidence from Ukraine
#IACESR2026
Free to a good home. Good at making tiny rodent friends she doesn’t hurt, but rather very gently gifts you live and running around in the middle of the night. Will wake you up so you can meet her new friend(s).
May 6, 2026 at 7:49 AM
Free to a good home. Good at making tiny rodent friends she doesn’t hurt, but rather very gently gifts you live and running around in the middle of the night. Will wake you up so you can meet her new friend(s).
Reposted by Aiyana Koka Willard
1/ 📢 We’re hiring at Brunel Psychology!
We have ✨TWO sparkling ✨ new permanent roles in Clinical Psychology as we grow our clinical provision, including our new MSc in Clinical Psychology launching this September.
Come and help shape what we’re building 👇
@brunelgradschool.bsky.social 🧪
We have ✨TWO sparkling ✨ new permanent roles in Clinical Psychology as we grow our clinical provision, including our new MSc in Clinical Psychology launching this September.
Come and help shape what we’re building 👇
@brunelgradschool.bsky.social 🧪
May 2, 2026 at 11:47 AM
1/ 📢 We’re hiring at Brunel Psychology!
We have ✨TWO sparkling ✨ new permanent roles in Clinical Psychology as we grow our clinical provision, including our new MSc in Clinical Psychology launching this September.
Come and help shape what we’re building 👇
@brunelgradschool.bsky.social 🧪
We have ✨TWO sparkling ✨ new permanent roles in Clinical Psychology as we grow our clinical provision, including our new MSc in Clinical Psychology launching this September.
Come and help shape what we’re building 👇
@brunelgradschool.bsky.social 🧪
Happy Beltane! 🌸🌷There are at least 1000 pagans here for a 7am ritual.
May 1, 2026 at 6:37 AM
Happy Beltane! 🌸🌷There are at least 1000 pagans here for a 7am ritual.
I don’t know if you know this, but @ferylbadiani.bsky.social is awesome. Well deserve award!
The Cultural Evolution Society is delighted to announce that Feryl Badiani (She/Her), LEVYNA, Masaryk University, is the recipient of the 2026 CES Richerson Award for Outstanding Doctoral Research.
Please join us in congratulating Feryl on this well-deserved recognition!
Please join us in congratulating Feryl on this well-deserved recognition!
April 30, 2026 at 8:22 PM
I don’t know if you know this, but @ferylbadiani.bsky.social is awesome. Well deserve award!
There are people going to the moon and I am super excited about that! The moon! 🚀🌒 ✨ (I am just here to be excited).
April 7, 2026 at 9:01 AM
There are people going to the moon and I am super excited about that! The moon! 🚀🌒 ✨ (I am just here to be excited).
Reposted by Aiyana Koka Willard
How does religious conflict reshape moral cognition across cultures?
We're hiring a postdoc to help answer that question using computational modeling (DDM, RL) across 20 countries.
www.phil.muni.cz/en/careers/a...
#Postdoc #CognitiveScience #ComputationalModeling #MoralPsychology
We're hiring a postdoc to help answer that question using computational modeling (DDM, RL) across 20 countries.
www.phil.muni.cz/en/careers/a...
#Postdoc #CognitiveScience #ComputationalModeling #MoralPsychology
April 1, 2026 at 11:29 AM
How does religious conflict reshape moral cognition across cultures?
We're hiring a postdoc to help answer that question using computational modeling (DDM, RL) across 20 countries.
www.phil.muni.cz/en/careers/a...
#Postdoc #CognitiveScience #ComputationalModeling #MoralPsychology
We're hiring a postdoc to help answer that question using computational modeling (DDM, RL) across 20 countries.
www.phil.muni.cz/en/careers/a...
#Postdoc #CognitiveScience #ComputationalModeling #MoralPsychology
One of the finding in this now retracted report was that among 18-24 yo men 21% went to church regularly (up from 4%). If 1 in 5 young men started going to church if would not first be noticed as a surprising finding in a survey. It would have been noticed in church pews.
Update: Today, opt-in online pollster YouGov revealed that bogus respondents biased their 2024 religion survey. Based on this survey, Bible Society's 2025 The Quiet Revival report claimed a massive surge of churchgoing in England and Wales. The report has now been retracted.
March 27, 2026 at 1:43 PM
One of the finding in this now retracted report was that among 18-24 yo men 21% went to church regularly (up from 4%). If 1 in 5 young men started going to church if would not first be noticed as a surprising finding in a survey. It would have been noticed in church pews.
Reposted by Aiyana Koka Willard
We are proud to introduce Quentin Atkinson as one of our keynote speakers at IACESR 2026. His talk explores how the relationship between religiosity and conservative attitudes varies across cultural contexts and measures.
📅 1–3 July 2026 | Masaryk University
More info: iacesr.com/conferences/
📅 1–3 July 2026 | Masaryk University
More info: iacesr.com/conferences/
March 12, 2026 at 1:57 PM
We are proud to introduce Quentin Atkinson as one of our keynote speakers at IACESR 2026. His talk explores how the relationship between religiosity and conservative attitudes varies across cultural contexts and measures.
📅 1–3 July 2026 | Masaryk University
More info: iacesr.com/conferences/
📅 1–3 July 2026 | Masaryk University
More info: iacesr.com/conferences/
Reposted by Aiyana Koka Willard
Reposted by Aiyana Koka Willard
Larisa Solomon will present “God Concepts Across Development.”
Her talk brings together different schools of psychology to show how concepts of God change across age, highlighting differences in how children and adults distinguish human and divine minds, and the mechanisms underlying these shifts.
Her talk brings together different schools of psychology to show how concepts of God change across age, highlighting differences in how children and adults distinguish human and divine minds, and the mechanisms underlying these shifts.
March 20, 2026 at 1:36 PM
Larisa Solomon will present “God Concepts Across Development.”
Her talk brings together different schools of psychology to show how concepts of God change across age, highlighting differences in how children and adults distinguish human and divine minds, and the mechanisms underlying these shifts.
Her talk brings together different schools of psychology to show how concepts of God change across age, highlighting differences in how children and adults distinguish human and divine minds, and the mechanisms underlying these shifts.
Reposted by Aiyana Koka Willard
🌍🧠 Shared Horizons Seminar at @brunelpsy.bsky.social
We’re excited to welcome Prof Quentin Atkinson (University of Auckland) to Brunel for a talk on:
“The history of the world’s languages and why it matters for psychologists.”
📅 25 March 2026
🕑 14:00–16:00
📍 ESGW 111 + online
We’re excited to welcome Prof Quentin Atkinson (University of Auckland) to Brunel for a talk on:
“The history of the world’s languages and why it matters for psychologists.”
📅 25 March 2026
🕑 14:00–16:00
📍 ESGW 111 + online
March 13, 2026 at 3:26 PM
🌍🧠 Shared Horizons Seminar at @brunelpsy.bsky.social
We’re excited to welcome Prof Quentin Atkinson (University of Auckland) to Brunel for a talk on:
“The history of the world’s languages and why it matters for psychologists.”
📅 25 March 2026
🕑 14:00–16:00
📍 ESGW 111 + online
We’re excited to welcome Prof Quentin Atkinson (University of Auckland) to Brunel for a talk on:
“The history of the world’s languages and why it matters for psychologists.”
📅 25 March 2026
🕑 14:00–16:00
📍 ESGW 111 + online
Absolutely this. Power is an important concept to understand but power analysis for a sample size is almost always a random guess and it’s weird that we pretend it isn’t.
My own take on power analyses: I'm good with "we had xx power to detect effects as big as xx" but find "we made a pseudo-random guess about an effect size & determined that we need a sample of N=[some highly specific number]" to be too close to cosplay for me.
Power After the Results are Known (PARKing) floggingpvalues.blog/2026/03/13/p...
March 14, 2026 at 9:16 PM
Absolutely this. Power is an important concept to understand but power analysis for a sample size is almost always a random guess and it’s weird that we pretend it isn’t.
This is my time to shine.
I like how typos in manuscripts are no longer considered evidence of sloppiness, and have turned instead into luxury signals of hand-crafted writing by a human master wordsmith who keeps to the traditional ways
March 11, 2026 at 10:12 PM
This is my time to shine.
Reposted by Aiyana Koka Willard
IACESR 2026 – 10th Biennial Meeting
We’re excited to announce our keynote speakers:
Will Gervais • Rebekah Richert • Quentin Atkinson • Larisa Heiphetz Solomon
📍 Brno, Czech Republic
📅 1–3 July 2026 | Masaryk University
Registration open soon. Stay tuned.
#IACESR2026 #CognitiveScienceOfReligion
We’re excited to announce our keynote speakers:
Will Gervais • Rebekah Richert • Quentin Atkinson • Larisa Heiphetz Solomon
📍 Brno, Czech Republic
📅 1–3 July 2026 | Masaryk University
Registration open soon. Stay tuned.
#IACESR2026 #CognitiveScienceOfReligion
March 5, 2026 at 2:53 PM
IACESR 2026 – 10th Biennial Meeting
We’re excited to announce our keynote speakers:
Will Gervais • Rebekah Richert • Quentin Atkinson • Larisa Heiphetz Solomon
📍 Brno, Czech Republic
📅 1–3 July 2026 | Masaryk University
Registration open soon. Stay tuned.
#IACESR2026 #CognitiveScienceOfReligion
We’re excited to announce our keynote speakers:
Will Gervais • Rebekah Richert • Quentin Atkinson • Larisa Heiphetz Solomon
📍 Brno, Czech Republic
📅 1–3 July 2026 | Masaryk University
Registration open soon. Stay tuned.
#IACESR2026 #CognitiveScienceOfReligion
Can we all just agree that if your evolutionary theory of humans posits we all evolved to have the social values of 1950s American it’s probably wrong? Thanks.
March 3, 2026 at 10:39 AM
Can we all just agree that if your evolutionary theory of humans posits we all evolved to have the social values of 1950s American it’s probably wrong? Thanks.