Lauren N. Girouard, PhD
NSF SBE Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard and UMich • Incoming Professor at TCNJ • Interdisciplinary researcher studying what kids think about AI • Science Communicator • R Stats nerd • Passionate about Pedagogy • FirstGen 🏳️🌈
- 🚨 Out now in Child Development! We asked 4- to 8-year-old children about getting answers from Google and a teacher. By age 6, children endorsed Google’s ability to answer correctly more often and believed that Google would also be better at answering questions about the world around them.
- Starting January 2027 I’ll be joining The College of New Jersey as a tenure track assistant professor in Applied Cognition. The dream of dreams was to accept a position near New York City at an institution with liberal arts sensibilities but ample research resources. TCNJ immediately felt like home.
- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhD🧵New preprint: Adults often agree with their ingroup even when evidence says otherwise. Why? To find out, we studied kids, who show the same tendency but *before* political identities take hold. With developmental data, we can see the basic psychological ingredients. doi.org/10.31234/osf... 1/11
- My research students can get lab hours this week by studying for finals with each other, but they have to send me a picture of their work together. Which means I get fun pictures of chemistry worksheets and papers next to matching coffee cups to break up the monotony of my inbox. 13/10 recommend.
- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhDHave you thought about submitting something to JITP but your idea didn’t quite fit with our themed issues? Submit to our **GENERAL ISSUE** by December 15th and show us how you think about the intersection of teaching, learning, and research with technology. See you in our inbox!
- Over the moon because I’m chairing a pre-conference at CDS with a group of researchers I so admire and bringing back my personal favorite pre-conference with a new twist in the process!
- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhDOur paper on improving statistical reporting in psychology is now online 🎉 As a part of this paper, we also created the Transparent Statistical Reporting in Psychology checklist, which researchers can use to improve their statistical reporting practices www.nature.com/articles/s44...
- Whatever powers-that-be decided CDS, MPA, and AERA could all be the same weekend really had a thing against me personally, I fear.
- If you need me, I’ll be playing with this all day. hadley.github.io/genzplyr/
- Feeling so proud of my 14!!! research assistants this week. Four submitted abstracts to MPA, our regional conference, yesterday and tomorrow 10 of them are joining me for a quarterly book club on @mcxfrank.bsky.social and colleagues’ fantastic Experimentology text (Chapters 1-4). What a good group.
- Had a great time a few weeks ago talking about OpEds with MIT graduate students!
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- Times is running out! ⏳ Submit your 5-min video for the CogSci Mind Challenge by Oct 17 📅 Question: How do different minds (humans, animals, AI) learn language, if at all? 💰Prizes up to $1000! 👉 Don’t miss it: cognitivesciencesociety.org/cogsci-mind-... #CogSciMindChallenge
- A friend of mine gave my website a refresh and now it is so pretty. More features to come, but for now you can see my basic overview at laurengirouard.com. So spiffy!
- Started my own little rejection collection for this job cycle and it officially has its first entry. Hopefully I’ll get to balance it out in the coming weeks. And if not, more pizza for me! ;)
- Really great read from @biblioracle.bsky.social this morning. open.substack.com/pub/bibliora...
- It’s job market season & I’m back on the market for the first time since leaving grad school. It’s quite gratifying to give my materials a full refresh & see how much I’ve grown as a scholar. If you’re looking for a cog/dev researcher who maybe also loves a stats class, you know where to find me! 😉
- The second half of my dissertation is officially in press at Child Development. I hear I’ve successfully avoided the curse of carrying your dissertation around for years. These studies have some of my favorite findings from my time in graduate school, so I can’t wait to see them out in the world!
- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhDDue to a recent influx of problematic submissions, PsyArXiv has switched to pre-moderating its content. If your submitted preprint had not yet been approved, it will be temporarily inaccessible to the public (you can still view your preprint when logged into your OSF account). #PsychSciSky
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- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhDmusic lessons don't make kids smarter, but many people have assumed that music lessons would have near-transfer effects, e.g. improving aspects of auditory perception big new study led by Andrew Oxenham says "nope". music lessons make kids better at music & that's good enough reason to do 'em !
- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhDNotes from @noranewcombe.bsky.social 's beautiful Rumelhart Prize "tasting menu" - congratulations Nora!!! #CogSci2025
- I’m back from #DISI25 in Scotland just in time to fly to #cogsci2025 in SF and I would love to connect while there! I’m moderating the Science Communication Luncheon and presenting a poster on virtuous ignorance and digital voice assistants on Friday morning. If you see me, please say hello!
- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhDOnly a small % of people engage in toxic activity online, but they’re responsible for a disproportionate share of hostile or misleading content on nearly every platform Because super-users are so active, they dominate our collective impression of the internet www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...
- Summer in St Andrew’s, Scotland? Not half bad. I’m here for the rest of the month as part of a summer fellowship on diverse intelligences, and it’s never a bad thing to work on a research project with a good view.
- Words cannot express how much I love everything Michigan has to offer. Especially when what it has to offer is cherries. And what a gem Traverse City is! #Michigan #GoBlue
- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhDThe Open Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science (OECS) now features over 100 published articles! Editors-in-Chief @mcxfrank.bsky.social & @asifamajid.bsky.social share their vision for this open, online reference developed to guide the next generation of exploration in cognition & intelligence:
- I can’t wait to add this to my weekly routine!
- Welcome to the first issue of RDM Weekly, a weekly roundup of Research Data Management resources! To kick off this newsletter, I will be doing a drawing for 1 free @rfortherestofus.com course for anyone who subscribes by Friday! Winner will be notified via email. open.substack.com/pub/rdmweekl...
- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhD🚨 Now out in Nature Human Behaviour 🚨 We show that following the news on WhatsApp or Instagram (N = 3,395 🇫🇷🇩🇪) increases current affairs knowledge, participants’ ability to discern true from false news stories, awareness of true news stories, as well as trust in the news. doi.org/10.1038/s415...
- Just a gentle reminder that kids and teens are sometimes more capable of evaluating their own feelings on technology than we give them credit for. What a beautiful encapsulation of issues teens are facing with AI. {GIFT ARTICLE} www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/l...
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- Enjoyed a little @icpsrsummer.bsky.social #TidyTuesday this afternoon.
- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhDGrateful for the chance to share my thoughts on responsible use of LLMs in psychology research @spspnews.bsky.social #spsp2025. Here's a summary of my presentation for those who missed it. Thanks to @ashwinia.bsky.social for organizing this panel! How should LLMs be used in psychology research? 🧵
- Next up this summer is a five week fellowship with University of Michigan’s Lecturer’s Union (LEO). It’s nice to be back home in Ann Arbor, talking with other lecturers about how Unions help early career and non-tenured folks in A2 and beyond.
- Next up on the summer agenda- a week of Data Management for Data Sharing at pretty Vanderbilt.
- An incredibly comprehensive and elegant look at grant terminations and their consequences
- Hi! We just released three new pages. First up, we break down the devastating defunding of medical research in the US, including grant terminations and delays representing nearly $5B in funding losses, cuts to future funding, and attacks on training programs: unbreaking.org/issues/medic...
- I’m in Belgrade, Serbia for the Jean Piaget Society conference and my first glimpse of the Danube was not too shabby (nor was the meal that accompanied it). Excited to chat about my *full* dissertation study suite in such a beautiful locale.
- The same thing is true of “the internet” as a whole- as we lose the need for Ethernet cables and other visible forms of connection, children risk losing a sense of what is or isn’t “online”, where their information goes, and who has access.
- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhDNorthwestern has not received any NIH funds since March. No written communication about why or what can be done. Thank you Ben Singer for raising awareness at #ATS2025
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- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhDAnyone who would like to register an objection should go to this page and click on the green “public comment” button at the top: www.federalregister.gov/documents/20... . PLEASE DO THIS 8/n
- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhDOut today!
- 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 Lauren N. Girouard, PhDI’m in the Guardian today, arguing that we should stop them all-class mental health lessons in schools I've thought very carefully about ‘going public’ with this, because it's a sensitive argument to make, especially in the face of so many young people struggling. (cont 🧵) tinyurl.com/vun92cz7
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- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhDSo your research area has been politicized and your federal funding cancelled, what now? I try to give some answers in this opinion piece for @nature.com 1/ www.nature.com/articles/d41...
- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhDWhelp. See you later 1.8 Million in NSF research funds -- all designed to better understand learning mechanisms in early childhood so we can develop effective early childhood educational interventions. Proud of Harvard for standing up to fascism, though. We will persist.
- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhDBetter Code, Better Science - Introducing a new open-source book project on scientific coding using AI tools russpoldrack.substack.com/p/better-cod...
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- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhDI spend a lot of time disparaging those who are failing us in this moment - but today I want to shine a light on all of those who are helping to make the threats to science and universities legible for other scientists and the public🧪 1/
- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhDMost Americans frequently use federal science information. But few are concerned that cuts to federal science spending could affect their access to such information, a new poll finds.
- A little bit of shameless self promotion. I’m presenting two talks and will be lingering around one of @danovitch.bsky.social’s posters this #SRCD2025 and would love to see familiar faces! I’m also on the job market so if you’d like to help me do a little ~networking~ I’d be happy to hear from you!
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- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhDAll NIDA F31 diversity scholars officially losing their funding... I barely have words. Expected at this point but so so disappointing and unfair. We are effectively punishing some of America's best science students for telling the government they are from an underrepresented community.
- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhD📢 Today I was supposed to be in DC, highlighting what the NSF Social, Behavioral, & Economic Sciences delivers to US taxpayers. NSF had one of the highest returns on investment (ROIs) of federal grantors 👏🏻 (1) and NSF SBE funded 63% of US social and psychological science research (2). 🧵
- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhDUniversity leaders need to understand: they are holding INCREDIBLY good cards. It is so rare in today's polarized era to have the support of 70+ percent of the public against the Trump admiministration on anything. Universities have that—AND winning legal arguments.
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- My timeline needed a cleanse so here’s some of my favorite blep moments from my girl and world’s best #dog, Molly.
- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhDyesterday, my postdoc funding (salary and research funds) was cancelled by the National Science Foundation, effective immediately. I received the same generic, vaguely threatening, typo-ridden email as many of my colleagues who have had their awards terminated recently. (1/n)
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- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhDFor the last 3 yrs, I was the director for the Science of Science program at the NSF. We funded projects on science communication - science communication to the public, communication of public priorities to scientists, citizens engagement & participation in science. 🧵
- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhDI would like for stupid people to stop making important decisions that affect my life
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- I’m bear-y excited to be at AERA in Denver giving a talk on children’s beliefs about technological omniscience. #AERA2025
- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhD🧪 Our Terminated NSF Grant Tracker is live 🧪 🔴 114 NSF grants listed so far 🔴 Cancelled grants focused on → Training scientists → Misinformation → AI → Climate change Credit to @noamross.net for all the work to build this & to all PIs who submitted their info. Link: airtable.com/appGKlSVeXni...
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- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhDMy NSF postdoctoral fellowship was one of the grants terminated yesterday. Devastating is an understatement. Thankful for a supportive admin with a plan to support me for now.
- When my funds were frozen at the end of January, there was a lot of emailing amongst university leaders trying to figure out what happens to a postdoc when they aren’t technically a university employee. The way the SPRF is set up leaves us extremely vulnerable should our funding be terminated.
- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhDI got an email yesterday afternoon that my NSF SPRF Postdoctoral Fellowship was terminated. My grant focused on testing interventions to address online misinformation and I was 8 months into a two year appointment.
- Friday Night Massacre of accurate information. A devastating day for the USA as tens of millions of dollars of grants seeking to combat the spread of false information were terminated. We have a federal govenrment that does not consider the verifiable truth a priority. www.nsf.gov/updates-on-p...
- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhD🚨Report your NSF grant terminations! 🚨 We are starting to collect information on NSF grant terminations to create a shared resource as we have for NIH. The more information we collect, the more we can organize, advocate, and fight back! Please share widely! airtable.com/appGKlSVeXni...
- Reposted by Lauren N. Girouard, PhDCan 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...
- Friendly reminder that NSF funded graduate students and postdocs depend on their awards for their income and health insurance. Not knowing whether our grants will be cut means we’ll be worrying and wondering about our careers *and* our day to day lives. #NSF #postdoc
- NEW: NSF announces it's "terminating awards that are not aligned with agency priorities...including but not limited to those on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and misinformation/disinformation." #HigherEd #AcademicSky
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