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Psychology & Behaviour

Psychology & Behaviour

Cognition, decision-making, motivation and human behaviour.

ai advertising consumer trust2 weeks ago5 min

Generative Engine Optimization: When Paid Mentions Compromise AI Trust

An exploration of how paid placements and aggressive outreach are blurring the lines between legitimate Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and manipulative practices, threatening the future of AI-powered search results.

ai ai memory systems3 weeks ago4 min

What Constrains Distributed Systems Isn't Access, It's Execution

This article explores why execution — not access — is the real constraint in distributed systems. With agentic AI moving autonomously at machine speed, traditional API-based boundaries are obsolete. Kernel-level enforcement through eBPF, Cilium, and Tetragon provides the runtime guardrails that autonomous systems need.

ai ai memory systems3 weeks ago4 min

Rethinking How AI Stores What It Knows

Exploring how Symbolic Embedding Multi-Quantization (SEMQ) separates meaning from representation to shrink AI memory footprints without the accuracy losses of traditional quantization.

ai body image bias3 weeks ago3 min

Shared Joy: The Science Behind Instant Connection

Exploring how brief, genuine moments of collective joy—like those witnessed in sports stadiums—transcend borders and illustrate the powerful, contagious nature of human connection and positive psychology.

ai trust dynamics3 weeks ago8 min

The Trust Paradox: Reclaiming Authentic Human Connection in the AI Era

As artificial intelligence becomes an increasingly integrated part of our personal and professional lives, it poses a subtle yet significant threat to our ability to build deep, meaningful human relationships. By examining the mechanics of trust and the eroding effect of AI-mimicry, we explore how to maintain the essential human capacities for empathy, vulnerability, and genuine connection.

active vulnerability exploitation3 weeks ago3 min

CitrixBleed Strikes Again: Attackers Weaponize NetScaler Memory Leak Within Hours

Attackers wasted little time targeting the latest memory disclosure bug in Citrix NetScaler, exploiting a vulnerability that leaks sensitive data from server memory shortly after researchers published their findings.

ai academic performance3 weeks ago4 min

Stealing the Foundation: The Long-Term Cognitive Debt of Delegating Schoolwork to AI

A detailed analysis of the 'augmentation trap' in education, explaining how immediate AI-assisted homework boosts mask a 20% drop in independent exam performance and prevent students from building the domain knowledge required to audit AI outputs.

ai animal cognition3 weeks ago6 min

Minding the Wild: Why Ethology Is Essential to Understanding Animal Sentience

Cognitive ethology — the patient, in-habitat study of wild animals' thoughts and feelings — reveals behavioral flexibility as a mark of consciousness. Building on Tinbergen's four questions and Burghardt's fifth aim of "private experience," this article explains why slow watching of wild animals in their natural habitats is irreplaceable for understanding what they think, feel, and adapt to.

ai disability pride parenting3 weeks ago6 min

“Tragic” Wasn’t the Word We Chose: A Mother’s Journey With Hemiparesis and Disability Pride

When Joy was born with hemiparesis—a form of cerebral palsy affecting one side of her body—her therapist called it tragic. It wasn’t. This is the story of how fear, societal messages, and physical reality intersected—and why July’s Disability Pride Month invites us all to redefine what independence really means.

startups venture capital3 weeks ago4 min

The Digital Playbook: Michael Acton Smith on Reimagining Children's Entertainment

An examination of digital disruption in the children's sector, drawing on Michael Acton Smith's insights from the World Economic Forum on the shift from physical toys to connected play.

ai olfactory neuroscience3 weeks ago5 min

The Coffee Paradox: Olfactory Magic and the Physiology of Habit

Why coffee smells irresistible but tastes bitter—and how caffeine shields your brain from decline.

ai behavioral decision modeling3 weeks ago4 min

The Hidden Knowledge: Why Some Memories Are Yours, But Silent

Examines the cognitive reality behind 'knowing without knowing' and why distinguishing this from deliberate deception remains an elusive forensic challenge.