Joe Barnby
@joebarnby.com
Assoc. Professor & AI+ Senior Fellow @ KCL & UWA | PI @ socrlab.net
Computation, representation, and social cognition in biological 🧠 and artificial 🤖 intelligence
Computation, representation, and social cognition in biological 🧠 and artificial 🤖 intelligence
Pinned
Joe Barnby
@joebarnby.com
· 3d
@nitalon.bsky.social , @reuth-mirsky.bsky.social , @stefansarkadi.bsky.social and I have been putting together a book!
📖 *Theory of Mind in Natural and Artificial Intelligence*
coming out early next year 🧵
📖 *Theory of Mind in Natural and Artificial Intelligence*
coming out early next year 🧵
Happy to say this is now published @natcomms.nature.com 🎉
Across 2 task types, 2 countries, and 3 samples we find the corpus callosum is important for metacognitive efficiency.
We also show this effect is unlikely to be explained by perceptual or IQ difficulties.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Across 2 task types, 2 countries, and 3 samples we find the corpus callosum is important for metacognitive efficiency.
We also show this effect is unlikely to be explained by perceptual or IQ difficulties.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
October 12, 2026 at 6:30 AM
Happy to say this is now published @natcomms.nature.com 🎉
Across 2 task types, 2 countries, and 3 samples we find the corpus callosum is important for metacognitive efficiency.
We also show this effect is unlikely to be explained by perceptual or IQ difficulties.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Across 2 task types, 2 countries, and 3 samples we find the corpus callosum is important for metacognitive efficiency.
We also show this effect is unlikely to be explained by perceptual or IQ difficulties.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@nitalon.bsky.social , @reuth-mirsky.bsky.social , @stefansarkadi.bsky.social and I have been putting together a book!
📖 *Theory of Mind in Natural and Artificial Intelligence*
coming out early next year 🧵
📖 *Theory of Mind in Natural and Artificial Intelligence*
coming out early next year 🧵
October 9, 2026 at 7:17 AM
@nitalon.bsky.social , @reuth-mirsky.bsky.social , @stefansarkadi.bsky.social and I have been putting together a book!
📖 *Theory of Mind in Natural and Artificial Intelligence*
coming out early next year 🧵
📖 *Theory of Mind in Natural and Artificial Intelligence*
coming out early next year 🧵
Reposted by Joe Barnby
🧠✨ Call for Papers — JAAMAS Special Issue on Artificial Intelligence Through Theory of Mind 🤖
🔗 Submission link:
link.springer.com/collections/...
📅 Submission deadline: 30 December 2026
🙌 Please share widely — we look forward to your contributions!
🔗 Submission link:
link.springer.com/collections/...
📅 Submission deadline: 30 December 2026
🙌 Please share widely — we look forward to your contributions!
September 23, 2026 at 12:55 PM
🧠✨ Call for Papers — JAAMAS Special Issue on Artificial Intelligence Through Theory of Mind 🤖
🔗 Submission link:
link.springer.com/collections/...
📅 Submission deadline: 30 December 2026
🙌 Please share widely — we look forward to your contributions!
🔗 Submission link:
link.springer.com/collections/...
📅 Submission deadline: 30 December 2026
🙌 Please share widely — we look forward to your contributions!
Reposted by Joe Barnby
The Social Computation and Representation Lab talk series is back tomorrow! And no better way to start the new academic year than by following @setayeshradkani.bsky.social 's talk as she weaves together two complementary strands of her investigations into social cognition.
September 9, 2026 at 6:21 AM
The Social Computation and Representation Lab talk series is back tomorrow! And no better way to start the new academic year than by following @setayeshradkani.bsky.social 's talk as she weaves together two complementary strands of her investigations into social cognition.
If you’re at CCN go check out Seps work investigating the role of valence, identity and sophistication on social agent attributions!
If you’re at CCN swing by at 2pm to hear about a social agency project I’ve been working on under the supervision of @joebarnby.com & @hayleydorfman.bsky.social (and Reuth Mirsky)
August 4, 2026 at 11:03 PM
If you’re at CCN go check out Seps work investigating the role of valence, identity and sophistication on social agent attributions!
Exciting news from Hypatia 🎊 we were lucky enough to win Best R&D Innovation at the Aussie INCITE Awards! Huge congrats to the team, and thanks to the judges for their confidence in us.
ALSO: We're hiring 2 roles (research manager & business/ops developer) within Hypatia... 👇
ALSO: We're hiring 2 roles (research manager & business/ops developer) within Hypatia... 👇
July 20, 2026 at 8:29 AM
Exciting news from Hypatia 🎊 we were lucky enough to win Best R&D Innovation at the Aussie INCITE Awards! Huge congrats to the team, and thanks to the judges for their confidence in us.
ALSO: We're hiring 2 roles (research manager & business/ops developer) within Hypatia... 👇
ALSO: We're hiring 2 roles (research manager & business/ops developer) within Hypatia... 👇
And congrats to Sep for winning BOTH the #cpc2026 travel award and best poster award 🎉 🎉
If you’re at #CPC2026 come and visit Seps poster !
Sep is leading work testing how social environment complexity interacts during learning to form maladaptive beliefs using connectionist models
Sep is leading work testing how social environment complexity interacts during learning to form maladaptive beliefs using connectionist models
July 16, 2026 at 7:30 PM
And congrats to Sep for winning BOTH the #cpc2026 travel award and best poster award 🎉 🎉
If you’re at #CPC2026 come and visit Seps poster !
Sep is leading work testing how social environment complexity interacts during learning to form maladaptive beliefs using connectionist models
Sep is leading work testing how social environment complexity interacts during learning to form maladaptive beliefs using connectionist models
July 14, 2026 at 3:01 PM
If you’re at #CPC2026 come and visit Seps poster !
Sep is leading work testing how social environment complexity interacts during learning to form maladaptive beliefs using connectionist models
Sep is leading work testing how social environment complexity interacts during learning to form maladaptive beliefs using connectionist models
Reposted by Joe Barnby
Coming up next week at the SoCR lab talk series is @alimahmoodi.bsky.social, who will be discussing his recent thought-provoking perspective, which advocates for a computational view of neural mechanisms of social cognition (contra an anatomical one).
June 3, 2026 at 6:53 AM
Coming up next week at the SoCR lab talk series is @alimahmoodi.bsky.social, who will be discussing his recent thought-provoking perspective, which advocates for a computational view of neural mechanisms of social cognition (contra an anatomical one).
Reposted by Joe Barnby
🚨🚨 The Social Learning and Decisions Lab is hiring! 🚨🚨 We're looking for a postbacc project coordinator/research assistant to join our team this summer. More details about the position and how to apply here: drive.google.com/file/d/1ySeA...
Please share widely and reach out with any questions!
Please share widely and reach out with any questions!
RA_ad_2026-2027_Charpentier.pdf
drive.google.com
April 30, 2026 at 3:42 AM
🚨🚨 The Social Learning and Decisions Lab is hiring! 🚨🚨 We're looking for a postbacc project coordinator/research assistant to join our team this summer. More details about the position and how to apply here: drive.google.com/file/d/1ySeA...
Please share widely and reach out with any questions!
Please share widely and reach out with any questions!
How do exclusion and adversity drive social learning in adolescence?
Here, @drjk.bsky.social, Lyn Ellett and I show that social exclusion reduces adolescent belief flexibility about others at a later point in time, and reduces the ability to generalise from social cues -
🧵 1/5
Here, @drjk.bsky.social, Lyn Ellett and I show that social exclusion reduces adolescent belief flexibility about others at a later point in time, and reduces the ability to generalise from social cues -
🧵 1/5
April 28, 2026 at 7:27 AM
How do exclusion and adversity drive social learning in adolescence?
Here, @drjk.bsky.social, Lyn Ellett and I show that social exclusion reduces adolescent belief flexibility about others at a later point in time, and reduces the ability to generalise from social cues -
🧵 1/5
Here, @drjk.bsky.social, Lyn Ellett and I show that social exclusion reduces adolescent belief flexibility about others at a later point in time, and reduces the ability to generalise from social cues -
🧵 1/5
Reposted by Joe Barnby
This Thursday, we’re delighted to welcome @carocharp.bsky.social, PI of the Social Learning and Decisions Lab at the University of Maryland. She will be delivering what promises to be an insightful talk: 'Seeking advice and seeking feedback: cognitive mechanisms and relevance for psychopathology.'
March 31, 2026 at 9:38 AM
This Thursday, we’re delighted to welcome @carocharp.bsky.social, PI of the Social Learning and Decisions Lab at the University of Maryland. She will be delivering what promises to be an insightful talk: 'Seeking advice and seeking feedback: cognitive mechanisms and relevance for psychopathology.'
What connects difficulties in social cognition, self-awareness, and abstract reasoning in those with Corpus Callosum Dysgenesis (CCD)?
Here, across three experiments, we find that the corpus callosum is integral to metacognitive efficiency -
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Here, across three experiments, we find that the corpus callosum is integral to metacognitive efficiency -
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
March 16, 2026 at 8:50 AM
What connects difficulties in social cognition, self-awareness, and abstract reasoning in those with Corpus Callosum Dysgenesis (CCD)?
Here, across three experiments, we find that the corpus callosum is integral to metacognitive efficiency -
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Here, across three experiments, we find that the corpus callosum is integral to metacognitive efficiency -
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Joe Barnby
Very happy to announce next week's SoCR lab guest, Andreas Hula, who will be talking about the uses and misuses of I-POMDPs in model-building human social decision-making 🧵
March 6, 2026 at 11:29 AM
Very happy to announce next week's SoCR lab guest, Andreas Hula, who will be talking about the uses and misuses of I-POMDPs in model-building human social decision-making 🧵
Excited to say that Hypatia has secured a second round of funding thanks to the @wellcometrust.bsky.social 💫
This milestone allows us to build the technology and team and conduct validation efforts across the UK and Australia to bridge the ecosystems.
This milestone allows us to build the technology and team and conduct validation efforts across the UK and Australia to bridge the ecosystems.
March 5, 2026 at 12:08 PM
Excited to say that Hypatia has secured a second round of funding thanks to the @wellcometrust.bsky.social 💫
This milestone allows us to build the technology and team and conduct validation efforts across the UK and Australia to bridge the ecosystems.
This milestone allows us to build the technology and team and conduct validation efforts across the UK and Australia to bridge the ecosystems.
What happens when we can't use recursive belief to compete? We can use anomaly detection instead!
Here, we (led by soon-to-be-Dr @nitalon.bsky.social ) devise a multi-agent account where compression & reward expectation are used to notice deception
jair.org/index.php/ja...
Here, we (led by soon-to-be-Dr @nitalon.bsky.social ) devise a multi-agent account where compression & reward expectation are used to notice deception
jair.org/index.php/ja...
February 18, 2026 at 8:49 AM
What happens when we can't use recursive belief to compete? We can use anomaly detection instead!
Here, we (led by soon-to-be-Dr @nitalon.bsky.social ) devise a multi-agent account where compression & reward expectation are used to notice deception
jair.org/index.php/ja...
Here, we (led by soon-to-be-Dr @nitalon.bsky.social ) devise a multi-agent account where compression & reward expectation are used to notice deception
jair.org/index.php/ja...
Reposted by Joe Barnby
It's a pleasure for me to announce our next Social Computation and Representation Lab invited speaker @mkwittmann.bsky.social for a talk on dimensionality reduction and basis functions in social cognition
February 9, 2026 at 11:41 AM
It's a pleasure for me to announce our next Social Computation and Representation Lab invited speaker @mkwittmann.bsky.social for a talk on dimensionality reduction and basis functions in social cognition
Here we go! #ToM4AI2026 @aaai.org - thanks @reuth-mirsky.bsky.social for the hats 🎩
www.tom4ai.GitHub.io
@nitalon.bsky.social @stefansarkadi.bsky.social
www.tom4ai.GitHub.io
@nitalon.bsky.social @stefansarkadi.bsky.social
January 26, 2026 at 1:32 AM
Here we go! #ToM4AI2026 @aaai.org - thanks @reuth-mirsky.bsky.social for the hats 🎩
www.tom4ai.GitHub.io
@nitalon.bsky.social @stefansarkadi.bsky.social
www.tom4ai.GitHub.io
@nitalon.bsky.social @stefansarkadi.bsky.social
New job alert 💫 We’re hiring a 3-year postdoc for the NEPTUNE project to study the causal mechanisms of paranoia and social learning.
Work with us on experimental psychopharmacology (THC), social cognition, and psychosis 🧑🔬
Apply here: lnkd.in/gQqnNvjR](my.corehr.com/pls/kclrecru...)
Please RT :)
Work with us on experimental psychopharmacology (THC), social cognition, and psychosis 🧑🔬
Apply here: lnkd.in/gQqnNvjR](my.corehr.com/pls/kclrecru...)
Please RT :)
December 18, 2025 at 8:27 AM
New job alert 💫 We’re hiring a 3-year postdoc for the NEPTUNE project to study the causal mechanisms of paranoia and social learning.
Work with us on experimental psychopharmacology (THC), social cognition, and psychosis 🧑🔬
Apply here: lnkd.in/gQqnNvjR](my.corehr.com/pls/kclrecru...)
Please RT :)
Work with us on experimental psychopharmacology (THC), social cognition, and psychosis 🧑🔬
Apply here: lnkd.in/gQqnNvjR](my.corehr.com/pls/kclrecru...)
Please RT :)
Full details for the 2026 ToM4AI Workshop @aaai.org are now live (ToM4AI.com)
100+ registrations, 40 papers, 3 keynotes, & a hackathon, spanning cog sci, philosophy, psychiatry, computer science, and robotics
@nitalon.bsky.social @stefansarkadi.bsky.social @reuth-mirsky.bsky.social
100+ registrations, 40 papers, 3 keynotes, & a hackathon, spanning cog sci, philosophy, psychiatry, computer science, and robotics
@nitalon.bsky.social @stefansarkadi.bsky.social @reuth-mirsky.bsky.social
December 16, 2025 at 7:59 AM
Full details for the 2026 ToM4AI Workshop @aaai.org are now live (ToM4AI.com)
100+ registrations, 40 papers, 3 keynotes, & a hackathon, spanning cog sci, philosophy, psychiatry, computer science, and robotics
@nitalon.bsky.social @stefansarkadi.bsky.social @reuth-mirsky.bsky.social
100+ registrations, 40 papers, 3 keynotes, & a hackathon, spanning cog sci, philosophy, psychiatry, computer science, and robotics
@nitalon.bsky.social @stefansarkadi.bsky.social @reuth-mirsky.bsky.social
Reposted by Joe Barnby
Curious why we sometimes see minds where there are none? 🧠 Join us to uncover the foundations of attributed agency.
Fully funded PhD for next year as part of DRIVE-Health, working with me, Adam Hampshire & @stefansarkadi.bsky.social
Deadline: 12/1/26
Reach out for an informal chat!
Fully funded PhD for next year as part of DRIVE-Health, working with me, Adam Hampshire & @stefansarkadi.bsky.social
Deadline: 12/1/26
Reach out for an informal chat!
🚨Apply now for our #fullyfundedPhDs in #HealthDataScience at @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social Calling all #healthdatascientists, #computerscientists, #engineers, and #AI 100+ projects available ⬇️ Deadline 12 January 2026. @kingsioppn.bsky.social @kingslsm.bsky.social @kingshealth.bsky.social
Projects - Divi 5
showcase.drive-health.org.uk
December 2, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Curious why we sometimes see minds where there are none? 🧠 Join us to uncover the foundations of attributed agency.
Fully funded PhD for next year as part of DRIVE-Health, working with me, Adam Hampshire & @stefansarkadi.bsky.social
Deadline: 12/1/26
Reach out for an informal chat!
Fully funded PhD for next year as part of DRIVE-Health, working with me, Adam Hampshire & @stefansarkadi.bsky.social
Deadline: 12/1/26
Reach out for an informal chat!
Curious why we sometimes see minds where there are none? 🧠 Join us to uncover the foundations of attributed agency.
Fully funded PhD for next year as part of DRIVE-Health, working with me, Adam Hampshire & @stefansarkadi.bsky.social
Deadline: 12/1/26
Reach out for an informal chat!
Fully funded PhD for next year as part of DRIVE-Health, working with me, Adam Hampshire & @stefansarkadi.bsky.social
Deadline: 12/1/26
Reach out for an informal chat!
🚨Apply now for our #fullyfundedPhDs in #HealthDataScience at @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social Calling all #healthdatascientists, #computerscientists, #engineers, and #AI 100+ projects available ⬇️ Deadline 12 January 2026. @kingsioppn.bsky.social @kingslsm.bsky.social @kingshealth.bsky.social
Projects - Divi 5
showcase.drive-health.org.uk
December 2, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Curious why we sometimes see minds where there are none? 🧠 Join us to uncover the foundations of attributed agency.
Fully funded PhD for next year as part of DRIVE-Health, working with me, Adam Hampshire & @stefansarkadi.bsky.social
Deadline: 12/1/26
Reach out for an informal chat!
Fully funded PhD for next year as part of DRIVE-Health, working with me, Adam Hampshire & @stefansarkadi.bsky.social
Deadline: 12/1/26
Reach out for an informal chat!
Reposted by Joe Barnby
💭 In the first interview for Inside Discovery, @joebarnby.com discusses how deeply human questions about our social world can be explored through elegant, technical science.
Read the full conversation: buff.ly/CKx4k5c
Read the full conversation: buff.ly/CKx4k5c
November 11, 2025 at 4:11 PM
💭 In the first interview for Inside Discovery, @joebarnby.com discusses how deeply human questions about our social world can be explored through elegant, technical science.
Read the full conversation: buff.ly/CKx4k5c
Read the full conversation: buff.ly/CKx4k5c
Excited to receive 57 paper submissions for our 2026 workshop 🙌 Stoked about the interest in this space!
We also have 4 free student regos to award; tough choices ahead with many worthy authors
@reuth-mirsky.bsky.social @nitalon.bsky.social @stefansarkadi.bsky.social
tom4ai.github.io
We also have 4 free student regos to award; tough choices ahead with many worthy authors
@reuth-mirsky.bsky.social @nitalon.bsky.social @stefansarkadi.bsky.social
tom4ai.github.io
ToM4AI initiative
tom4ai.github.io
November 7, 2025 at 5:47 AM
Excited to receive 57 paper submissions for our 2026 workshop 🙌 Stoked about the interest in this space!
We also have 4 free student regos to award; tough choices ahead with many worthy authors
@reuth-mirsky.bsky.social @nitalon.bsky.social @stefansarkadi.bsky.social
tom4ai.github.io
We also have 4 free student regos to award; tough choices ahead with many worthy authors
@reuth-mirsky.bsky.social @nitalon.bsky.social @stefansarkadi.bsky.social
tom4ai.github.io
Reposted by Joe Barnby
I am pleased to announce that @davidschultner.bsky.social will be our next guest as part of the SoCR Lab's Invited Talk Series. Dr. Schultner will present recent work that offers evidence for a parsimonious and mechanistic explanation of human social learning strategies via reward learning!
November 5, 2025 at 3:42 PM
I am pleased to announce that @davidschultner.bsky.social will be our next guest as part of the SoCR Lab's Invited Talk Series. Dr. Schultner will present recent work that offers evidence for a parsimonious and mechanistic explanation of human social learning strategies via reward learning!