Master Psychologie
Parcours Psychologie de la Cognition

(English below)

Sujet de thèse : Identification et anticipation des expressions faciales : l’effet du filtrage des fréquences spatiales

Thème du projet : La visioconférence est un outil de collaboration de plus en plus fréquemment utilisé. Dans ce contexte, diverses informations sont disponibles : les informations verbales et non-verbales des personnes connectées ainsi que le support visuel (diaporama affiché, document de traitement de texte collaboratif, document de prise de notes). Pour une interaction efficace, il est important de reconnaître rapidement la présence des signaux émotionnels exprimés par les visages des interlocuteurs. Cette détection rapide reposerait sur la capacité des individus à anticiper (extrapoler automatiquement) la suite des expressions faciales (Prigent et al., 2018). Cette anticipation, soutenue par un cerveau prédictif permettrait également de pallier les interruptions intempestives de mouvements, par exemple lorsqu’un interlocuteur est brusquement remplacé à l’écran par un autre qui lui aurait coupé la parole.

Ce mécanisme d’anticipation rapide pourrait s’appuyer sur la manière dont le cerveau traite l’information visuelle. Des recherches en neurosciences ont montré que les basses fréquences spatiales et les hautes fréquences spatiales des images d’expressions faciales sont traitées différemment. Les basses fréquences sont traitées rapidement et fournissent une idée générale de l'expression émotionnelle (Vlamings et al., 2009 ; Wang et al., 2021), tandis que les fréquences plus élevées prennent plus de temps à analyser mais fournissent des informations plus détaillées sur les expressions faciales. Beaucoup d’études de ce type ont porté sur des expressions faciales statiques, mais peu se sont intéressées aux expressions dynamiques qui sont pourtant bien plus pertinentes dans le quotidien des interactions humaines. Encore moins d’études se sont intéressées aux mécanismes prédictifs impliqués dans leur perception.

Le présent projet porte sur l’étude de l’impact du filtrage des fréquences spatiales (hautes et basses fréquences) sur l’identification des émotions exprimées et sur l’anticipation de la suite de l’expression faciale.

D’un point de vue applicatif, l’objectif de ce projet doctoral serait de déterminer comment afficher (filtrage de fréquences spatiales) les informations faciales pertinentes de manière à aider l’utilisateur en contexte de visioconférence.

Références :

Prigent, E., Amorim, M., & De Oliveira, A. M. (2018). Representational momentum in dynamic facial expressions is modulated by the level of expressed pain: Amplitude and direction effects. Attention Perception & Psychophysics, 80(1), 82‑93. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-017-1422-6

Vlamings, P. H. J. M., Goffaux, V., & Kemner, C. (2009). Is the early modulation of brain activity by fearful facial expressions primarily mediated by coarse low spatial frequency information? Journal of Vision, 9(5), 12-12. https://doi.org/10.1167/9.5.12

Wang, S., Eccleston, C., & Keogh, E. (2021). The Time Course of Facial Expression Recognition Using Spatial Frequency Information : Comparing Pain and Core Emotions. The Journal of Pain, 22(2), 196‑208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2020.07.004

Contexte : La personne recrutée sera encadrée par Ouriel Grynszpan (PU en informatique, groupe AMI) et Elise Prigent (MCF en psychologie, groupe CPU). Elle sera intégrée au groupe AMI (Architectures et Modèles pour l'Interaction) et collaborera avec le groupe CPU (Cognition Perception et Usages) du LISN (Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Sciences du Numérique). La thèse fait partie d'un projet appelé PRECOG (Prédiction pour la COGnition partagée en collaboration avec des agents humains ou artificiels) soutenu par l'ANR (Agence Nationale de la Recherche) et qui comprend 5 unités de recherche différentes : LISN, PICS-L (Perception, Interactions, Comportements et Simulation des usagers de la route et de la rue, Univ. Gustave Eiffel), LaPEA (laboratoire de Psychologie et d’Ergonomie Appliquées, Univ. Gustave Eiffel), DTIS (Département du Traitement de l’Information et Systèmes, ONERA), et l’Institut Jean-Nicod (Ecole Normale Supérieure).

Profil recherché :

- Master de Neurosciences, Sciences Cognitives, STAPS ou Psychologie.

- Bonnes connaissances des méthodologies expérimentales et statistiques.

- Candidat(e) dynamique, motivé(e) et autonome.

- D’autres types de profils pourront être considérés selon les compétences.

Pour candidater : Envoyer par mail à Ouriel Grynszpan (ouriel.grynszpan@universite-paris-saclay.fr) et à Elise Prigent (elise.prigent@universite-paris-saclay.fr) : un CV, une lettre de motivation et les relevés de notes disponibles de Master et Licence.

PhD position in psychology, LISN, Université Paris-Saclay

PhD subject: Identification and anticipation of facial expressions: the effect of spatial frequency filtering

Project theme: Videoconferencing is more and more frequently used as a collaborative tool. In this context, various types of information are available: the verbal and nonverbal information conveyed by participants, as well as visual content (slideshows, collaborative word-processing documents, shared note-taking documents). For an effective interaction, it is important to be able to rapidly recognize the emotional signals expressed by the partakers’ facial expressions. This rapid detection is thought to rely on individuals’ ability to anticipate (i.e., automatically extrapolate) the continuation of facial expressions (Prigent et al., 2018). Such anticipation, supported by the predictive brain, may also help compensate for abrupt interruptions of motion, for example when one speaker is suddenly replaced on screen by another person interrupting them.

This rapid anticipation mechanism may rely on the way the brain processes visual information. Neuroscience research has shown that low spatial frequencies and high spatial frequencies in facial expression images are processed differently. Low spatial frequencies are processed rapidly and provide a general understanding of the emotional expression (Vlamings et al., 2009; Wang et al., 2021), whereas higher frequencies take longer to analyze but provide more detailed information about facial expressions. Many studies of this kind have focused on static facial expressions, but few have investigated dynamic expressions, despite their much greater relevance in everyday human interactions. Even fewer studies have examined the predictive mechanisms involved in their perception.

The present project investigates the impact of spatial frequency filtering (high and low spatial frequencies) on the identification of facial expressions of emotions and on the anticipation of the continuation of those facial expressions.

Regarding application perspective, the objective of this doctoral project is to determine how relevant facial information should be displayed (through spatial frequency filtering) in order to assist users in videoconferencing contexts.

References:

Prigent, E., Amorim, M., & De Oliveira, A. M. (2018). Representational momentum in dynamic facial expressions is modulated by the level of expressed pain: Amplitude and direction effects. Attention Perception & Psychophysics, 80(1), 82‑93. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-017-1422-6

Vlamings, P. H. J. M., Goffaux, V., & Kemner, C. (2009). Is the early modulation of brain activity by fearful facial expressions primarily mediated by coarse low spatial frequency information? Journal of Vision, 9(5), 12-12. https://doi.org/10.1167/9.5.12

Wang, S., Eccleston, C., & Keogh, E. (2021). The Time Course of Facial Expression Recognition Using Spatial Frequency Information : Comparing Pain and Core Emotions. The Journal of Pain, 22(2), 196‑208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2020.07.004

Context: The candidate will be supervised by Ouriel Grynszpan (Full Professor of Computer Science, AMI Group) and Elise Prigent (Assistant Professor of Psychology, CPU Group). The PhD candidate will join the AMI group (Architectures and Models for Interaction) and collaborate with the CPU group (Cognition Perception and Uses) of the LISN (Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Sciences du Numérique). The thesis is part of a project called PRECOG (PREdiction for shared COGnition in collaboration with human or artificial agents) supported by the ANR (French National Research Agency) that includes 5 different laboratories: LISN, PICS-L (Perception, Interactions, Comportements et Simulation des usagers de la route et de la rue, Univ. Gustave Eiffel), LaPEA (laboratoire de Psychologie et d’Ergonomie Appliquées, Univ. Gustave Eiffel), DTIS (Département du Traitement de l’Information et Systèmes, ONERA), and the Jean-Nicod Institut (Ecole Normale Supérieure).

Desirable profile:

- Master in Neuroscience, Cognitive Sciences or Psychology.

- Good knowledge of experimental and statistical methodologies.

- Dynamic, motivated and autonomous candidate.

- Other types of profiles may be considered depending on skills.

To apply: Send by mail to Ouriel Grynszpan (ouriel.grynszpan@universite-paris-saclay.fr) and Elise Prigent (elise.prigent@universite-paris-saclay.fr): CV, cover letter and available transcripts of grades (Master and Bachelor).

Dear all,

We are delighted to invite you to today's London Judgment and Decision-Making (LJDM) seminar!

When: Wednesday, May 13, 2026, 17:15–18:15 UK time

Where: In person in room 675 (IOE) & Zoom

Speakers: Dr Ansgar D. Endress (Department of Psychology, City St George’s, University of London) & Prof Peter Ayton (Centre for Decision Research, University of Leeds)

Title: Bounded Morality: The Psychophysics of Morality (and decision making).

Abstract: Variance in moral decisions is often attributed to variance in the relative dominance of two distinct approaches: utilitarianism (maximizing good) and deontology (following rules). We propose a unitary psychophysical model where moral decisions operate like other perceptual systems, and track the subjective (information-theoretic) certainty that outcomes achieve the greater good – given representational noise in a magnitude-estimation system governed by Weber’s law, and where utilitarian and deontological responses are the high- vs. low- uncertainty limit cases. Our experimental participants rated the acceptability of sacrificing fewer ‘victims’ to save more ‘beneficiaries.’ Consistent with this model, acceptability tracked the Weber ratio of beneficiaries to victims, but not utility or harm. When uncertainty was decreased (using decisions concerning economic goods that had clearer values than decisions concerning human lives) responses became more ‘utilitarian’; when the attention to victims was increased via emotional manipulations, responses became more ‘deontological’, but always tracked the Weber ratio of beneficiaries to victims. Several large language models reproduced some aspects of our data, yet behaved qualitatively differently from humans and were much more sensitive to both harm and utility than to Weber ratios. We also show that the same model provides a mechanistic explanation of loss-aversion in decision making. People, but not machines, thus seek the greater good, but do so under perceptual noise.

Best,

Hadeel, Joel, and Calvin

London Judgment and Decision-making Group

Psychology Discipline and Robotics Institute at the University of Technology Sydney in Australia are offering a fully funded PhD position for interdisciplinary research into moral psychology and decision-making in human-robot collaboration.

Project description

Collaboration between humans and robots is rapidly increasing, creating a need to understand how emerging intelligent capabilities shape human moral cognition, the emergence of new norms, and the distribution of responsibility within human-robot teams, and how these changes in turn shape human judgement and decision making.

Successful candidate will have access to cutting edge robotics facilities and collaborate with robotics engineers to conduct research.

This will entail:

*

developing measurement tools, experimental designs, and innovative psychological tasks;

*

reviewing literature in the field of moral psychology, cognitive science, human-robot interaction, artificial intelligence, robotics, decision science, and other relevant fields;

*

planning, administering, and running studies with human participants;

*

applying a variety of quantitative data analysis approaches;

*

working in multidisciplinary teams;

*

communicating research to a variety of stakeholders and the academic community;

*

preparing manuscripts for publication in leading multidisciplinary and psychological science journals.

Successful candidate will gain a broad set of interdisciplinary skills in an area poised to have a transformative societal impact. This experience will position candidates as contributors in shaping the future of artificial intelligence technology in an increasingly automated world.

The project will be supervised by Dr Milan Andrejevic, a Lecturer in Psychology, and Dikai Liu, a Distinguished Professor in Robotics from the University of Technology Sydney.

Candidate requirements:

* Honours or Masters degree in: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Neuroscience, and a good grasp of statistics OR other related and relevant discipline and a strong interest in psychological science;

* Experience with quantitative methods and experimental psychology approaches;

* Excellent academic writing skills;

* Experience with, and/or willingness to learn coding and using statistical software (R, Matlab, Python, and/or alike);

* Willingness to learn mathematical / computational models of human cognition;

*

Demonstrated work ethic.

Also desirable:

* A record of contributing to academic publications;

If you would like to apply for this project, please send your CV and Research Proposal to Milan Andrejevic (Milan.Andrejevic@uts.edu.au) and Dikai Liu (dikai.liu@uts.edu.au).

Links:

PhD position description<https://sites.google.com/uts.edu.au/coghumrobophdadvert/project-description?authuser=3>

University of Technology Sydney<https://www.uts.edu.au/>

Psychology Discipline<https://www.uts.edu.au/about/faculties/health/graduate-school-of-health/psychology/psychology-research>

Robotics Institute<https://www.uts.edu.au/research/robotics-institute>

Dr. Milan Andrejevic<https://profiles.uts.edu.au/Milan.Andrejevic>

Dist. Prof. Dikai Liu<https://profiles.uts.edu.au/Dikai.Liu>

Dr. Milan Andrejević (he/him)

Lecturer

Psychology | Graduate School of Health

University of Technology Sydney

100 Broadway, Chippendale NSW 2008

I acknowledge the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation upon whose ancestral lands we work and gather at UTS, and their traditional custodianship over knowledge for this land. I pay my respects to their Elders past and present.

Dear all,

We are delighted to invite you to today's London Judgment and Decision-Making (LJDM) seminar!

When: Wednesday, April 29, 2026, 17:15–18:15 UK time

Where:

https://ucl.zoom.us/j/91649457497?pwd=70bahoaMpVNsUh1TlyUI8gEdcvspib.1#success

Passcode: 925091

Speaker: Andrew M Camara (University of Warwick and Monash University)

Title: The Cash Out Feature in Sports Betting Platforms: The Role of Perceived Control

Abstract: Modern sports betting platforms contain a suite of innovative features which create novel decision environments. This presents an opportunity for psychology to advance decision-making theory by understanding how these products nudge users into riskier forms of gambling. A pertinent yet under-researched instance of this is the “cash out” feature. The feature allows gamblers to settle their bet before the relevant event has concluded in exchange for a discounted but guaranteed payout, the value of which changes dynamically based on the current likelihood of the bet winning. Experimental research has found that cash out increases risk tolerance, such that people place larger bets in gambling tasks when cash out is available.

Cash out is marketed as a way for users to increase control over their bets, and research suggests that subjective control strongly influences judgment and decision-making; consequently, the current research explores whether the effect of cash out on increased risk tolerance is mediated by subjective control. Across two experiments, participants completed an online card-betting task; on some trials, cash out was available but the decision to accept or reject the offer was pre-determined by the experiment’s programming (‘automatic’ trials). Participants placed smaller bets on automatic trials relative to when they had control over the decision to cash-out. These results suggest that perceived control plays a central role in the effect of cash-out availability on bet size.

Best,

Hadeel, Joel, and Calvin

London Judgment and Decision-making Group

-------------------------------------------

Visit our UCL page

Follow us on X or Bluesky

Hadeel Haj Ali | PhD Candidate

Affective Brain Lab

Department of Experimental Psychology

University College London

Max Planck UCL Centre

[LinkedIn] | [Google Scholar] | [BlueSky]

Our nextCentre for Decision Research seminar is online via Teams THIS WEEK Wednesday April 15th. All are welcome.

CDR Spring Seminar

Non-Native Speakers: Judged More Harshly, Better Content?

Nicole Abi-Esber

London School of Economics

Wednesday 15th April 2026, 2pm to 3pm (UK time)

On Teams (meeting link here)

Abstract: Speaking in a non-native language is cognitively challenging, and leads to bias; perceivers evaluate those with a non-native accent more negatively compared to native speakers. But could speaking in a non-native language also have positive outcomes? Existing research demonstrates that when speaking a non-native language, individuals engage in more System 2 processing, evidenced by economic games and brain teasers. We explore whether this also has implications for the quality of verbal communication. Specifically, we hypothesize that non-native speakers will produce higher-quality verbal content compared to native speakers, as rated by third parties, and that this is due to increased System 2 processing. Across three studies, we manipulate the presence of accents by creating stimuli in two conditions: an audio condition (where accents are perceptible) and a transcript condition (with identical verbal content, but without accent cues). We replicate prior work finding that in the audio condition, non-native speakers are evaluated more negatively. However, in the transcript condition, we find that this difference disappears (Study 1) or that it reverses, such that non-native speakers are evaluated more favourably relative to native speakers (Studies 2 & 3). Linguistic analysis of the text in the transcript condition reveals that non-native speakers use more System 2 (analytical) language in all studies, and we find evidence that this explains the effect of increased competence ratings. This work suggests a practical way to mitigate accent-based bias, and also invites a reappraisal of non-native speakers as producing higher-quality and more analytical verbal content.

The speaker

Dr. Nicole Abi-Esber has a doctoral degree in Organizational Behavior from the Harvard Business School, and is an Assistant Professor of Organisational Behaviour in the Management Department at the London School of Economics. Her research examines how leaders can empower employees to feel psychologically safe and speak up at work. She uses experiments and computational social science methods, including natural language processing. Nicole previously worked as a product manager for mobile products in tech startups in emerging markets.

Microsoft Teams meeting

Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/36293977199221?p=7Ih5XtebKpQ26NSr16

Meeting ID: 362 939 771 992 21

Passcode: Y8oa72Yh

To unsubscribe from the RISK-AND-DECISION list, click the following link:

https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=RISK-AND-DECISION&A=1

Dear all,

*** Please help me spread the news by forwarding this to people who may be

interested, or to colleagues who may know such people ***

I currently have an open, fully funded PhD position (starting Sep 2026) to

investigate how unreliable information shapes beliefs and behaviours using

reinforcement learning. [*To be eligible for full funding, applicants must

qualify for UK home fees*.]

I’m looking for candidates with some experience and interest in

computational modelling, programming, and reinforcement learning.

Deadline: 18/05/2026

More details can be found here:

*https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/characterising-cognitive-biases-elicited-by-unreliable-information-using-reinforcement-learning/?p195682

<https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/characterising-cognitive-biases-elicited-by-unreliable-information-using-reinforcement-learning/?p195682>*

Many thanks for your help and support!

--

Rani Moran,

Lecturer in Psychology,

School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences,

Queen Mary, University of London

Honorary Research Fellow,

Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing,

University College London (UCL)

We are inviting applications for a fully funded PhD position focused on human-AI interaction starting in October 2026.

The candidate will be supervised by Dr. Stepan Bahnik and Dr. Emir Efendić.

* The project: To understand how human cognitive biases interact with biases present in state-of-the-art AI systems. The project you will be working on will investigate how AI interactions can augment, but also diminish, our reasoning and decision-making skills.

* Your colleagues: The candidate will join an interdisciplinary research team as a part of the Decision Lab Prague at the Prague University of Economics and Business and the Marketing and Supply Chain Management (MSCM) department at Maastricht University.

This PhD position offers a double degree structure awarded by Maastricht University (UM) and the Prague University of Economics and Business (VŠE). The candidate will spend the first two years at VŠE in Prague, embedded in the Decision Lab and its active behavioral research community, before relocating to Maastricht for the final two years, where you will complete and defend your dissertation.

This setup gives you the opportunity to build your research skills across two internationally recognized institutions, drawing on distinct academic communities, laboratory facilities, and professional networks in both Prague and Maastricht.

For more details on the project and how to apply, please visit: https://decisionlab.vse.cz/english/we-are-hiring/

Dear all,

I am happy to share an opening for a PhD position at the University of Cologne (Germany), as part of a DFG-funded research unit on task switching and decision making. The position is for four years and does not include teaching obligations.

The project investigates the cognitive processes underlying task switching decisions, drawing on and extending methods from judgment and decision making research (e.g., two-stage decision paradigms, decisions from description vs. experience, cognitive modeling). The research unit comprises ten subprojects and offers a collaborative and interdisciplinary research environment bridging JDM and cognitive psychology.

The PhD position will be supervised by me and is scheduled to start on July 1, 2026.

Further details and application information are available here:

https://jobportal.uni-koeln.de/ <https://jobportal.uni-koeln.de/>

Please search for the reference code: *Wiss2603-15*

I would be very grateful if you could forward this announcement to potentially interested candidates or colleagues.

Best regards,

Andreas Glöckner

--

Prof. Dr. Andreas Glöckner (home <http://soccco.uni-koeln.de/andreas-gloeckner.html>)

Chair of Social Psychology, University of Cologne

Richard-Strauss-Str. 2 (Room 2.A11), D-50931 Cologne, Germany, phone +49-221 470 7916

De : Maquestiaux <francois.maquestiaux@univ-rouen.Fr>

Nous avons le plaisir de vous annoncer que jeudi 26 mars de 12h15 à 13h15 aura lieu le séminaire en ligne de Lorenzo Ciccione (Université Paris 8).

Titre : Repenser les fondements de la cognition mathématique : au-delà du sens du nombre

Résumé : Des décennies de recherches ont montré qu’aux fondements de la cognition mathématique se trouvent la capacité à extraire et à comparer intuitivement les quantités (ce qu’on appelle le « sens du nombre »), la compréhension du principe de cardinalité (qui nous permet de compter avec précision des ensembles d’objets), ainsi que la capacité à effectuer des opérations arithmétiques simples à l’aide de notations symboliques. Ce que je chercherai à défendre au cours de cette présentation, en m’appuyant sur des recherches que j’ai menées récemment, c’est qu’il existe également, aux fondements des mathématiques, d’autres intuitions et capacités (que j’appelle proto-mathématiques), de nature non strictement numérique ou arithmétique, et que l’on retrouve chez des individus d’âges, de niveaux d’éducation, de cultures et de conditions physiques différents. Parmi ces capacités, on trouve :

1. Le groupitizing, c’est-à-dire la capacité grâce à laquelle les êtres humains dénombrent plus rapidement et plus facilement des éléments organisés en groupes. Je montrerai que cette capacité ne semble pas uniquement liée à la maîtrise de l’arithmétique (puisqu’on l’observe aussi chez des enfants d’âge préscolaire et chez les Himba non scolarisés), ni à des capacités visuelles (puisqu’elle est également présente chez des personnes aveugles de naissance).

2. La compréhension intuitive des patterns, grâce à laquelle nous sommes capables d’extraire des motifs et des fonctions à partir de stimuli visuels et auditifs. Je montrerai que cette compréhension est présente non seulement chez des adultes scolarisés, mais aussi chez des enfants d’âge préscolaire et chez les Himbas non scolarisés.

3. L’extraction intuitive de propriétés géométriques, grâce à laquelle nous sommes capables de distinguer, sans enseignement explicite, des formes géométriques sur la base de déviations minimes de propriétés fondamentales. Je montrerai que cette capacité ne semble pas dériver de compétences visuelles, dans la mesure où nous l’avons également observée chez des individus aveugles de naissance, auxquels nous avons présenté les formes en modalité tactile.

Si ces capacités (ainsi que d’autres) sont réellement au fondement de la cognition mathématique, nous pouvons formuler plusieurs prédictions empiriques, que je chercherai à étudier dans les années à venir : que ces capacités intuitives sont corrélées au développement ultérieur des connaissances mathématiques ; qu’elles devraient être prises en compte dans les tests consacrés au diagnostic de la dyscalculie, actuellement centrés uniquement sur les capacités numériques et de calcul ; et qu’elles devraient faire l’objet d’un entraînement spécifique et précoce, dans la mesure où leur maîtrise ne nécessite ni de connaissances mathématiques ni de connaissances linguistiques.

Lien visio : prochainement disponible sur https://sites.google.com/view/collectif-cognitif

Bien amicalement,

Gaën Plancher, Thérèse Collins, François Maquestiaux

Dear all,

I am happy to share that I will be hiring a PhD student in Data Science and Decision Making to join my new research group at ESCP Business School (Berlin Campus), starting on 1 September 2026.

The research will broadly use Data Science / AI tools to study how people and organizations make decisions and how to improve them. This includes forecasting algorithms, large language models, behavioral experiments, and other methods. We are particularly interested in settings where professionals must act under time pressure, with limited information, and with imperfect models of the world.

The position is fully funded and offers substantial opportunities for independent research, close supervision, as well as access to the wider Berlin decision-making community.

The application deadline is 17 April 2026.

The full advertisement and application details are available here:

https://escp.eu/sites/default/files/PDF/jobs/berlin/2026-03-23_Job_Advert_WiMi_LS_Artinger_fa.pdf

If you know candidates who may be interested in this position, I would be very grateful if you could share this with them.

For any questions, do not hesitate to contact me at: fartinger@escp.eu<mailto:fartinger@escp.eu>

Best wishes,

Florian