Massimo Stella

SpreadPy - A new Python package by CogNosco Lab When ideas spread in the mind, they behave a bit like ripples in water. Understanding how those ripples move—how one concept activates another, how thoughts accelerate or stall—has long been a central...

New package and paper published ;)
www.linkedin.com/pulse/spread...

SpreadPy: A Python tool for modelling spreading activation and superdiffusion in cognitive multiplex networks We introduce SpreadPy as a Python library for simulating spreading activation in cognitive single-layer and multiplex networks. Our tool is designed to perform numerical simulations testing structure-...

New pre-print! #SpreadPy, a Python implementation of spreading activation for both single-layer and multiplex networks.

arXiv: arxiv.org/abs/2507.09628
GitHub: github.com/dsalvaz/Spre...

@massimost.bsky.social @giuliorossetti.bsky.social @et al.
#kddlab #sobigdata #isticnr #dipsco

We are excited our paper on cognitive networks and LLM biases won the Best Paper award in Big Data and Cognitive Science!
Read our paper here: Abramski, K., Citraro, S., Lombardi, L., Rossetti, G., & Stella, M. (2023) doi.org/10.3390/bdcc...

Thanks to all great co-authors and collaborators who made these exciting research projects possible!

It is exciting to see how network science and interpretable AI can better inform and elucidate on psychological mechanisms concerning phenomena as complex as loneliness, anxiety and schizotipy.

Covarying gray and white matter networks characterize schizophrenia and bipolar disorders on a continuum: A data fusion machine learning approach and a brain network analysis, Journal of Affective Disorders, doi.org/10.1016/j.ja...

Cognitive Networks and Text Analysis Identify Anxiety as a Key Dimension of Distress in Genuine Suicide Notes, Big Data and Cognitive Science, doi.org/10.3390/bdcc...

The last 2 weeks have seen our CogNosco Lab publish 3 papers on the topic of #AI and #mental #health, check them out 😉

Predictors of loneliness at school: An explainable artificial intelligence approach on a large-scale cross-cultural assessment, Personality and Ind. Diff.,
doi.org/10.1016/j.pa...

I agree with you. In cognitive science, dual coding theory posits that reasoning relies on two processes: instinctive, rapid yet error-prone reasoning and analytical, slow-yet-balanced thinking. LLMs are not built to filter knowledge and use different processes, yet.

Thank you so much for inviting me! The organisation and the other talks at the conference have been excellent!

This is a busy week for CogNosco Lab! My PhD students Edith Haim and Edoardo De Duro coordinated a great workshop on #LLMs and #text #analysis at @hhaiconference.bsky.social. Meanwhile, I am travelling for a keynote on #NLP and #cognitive #networks at @tabudag.bsky.social, which stasera tomorrow!

Hear hear!
👇
@ghentccn.bsky.social
@frosas.bsky.social
@massimost.bsky.social

"The meta-analysis results of this study confirm the positive impacts of ChatGPT on learning performance, learning
perception, and higher-order thinking,"

Some caveats in the paper & with early meta-analysis, but a examination of all 51 experimental studies suggests ChatGPT helps learning.

One more week to apply!

Looks super intriguing! We will organise something remote in the fall too! If you want to visit our lab in Trento let me know! With a postdoc and a PhD student we are working on a Python package for turning narratives into hypergraphs.

CounseLLMe CounseLLMe: Investigating Human-Large Language Model conversations under the lens of cognitive science and complex systems SATELLITE WORKSHOP FOR HHAI2025 Submit Abstracts -> HERE

We still have 2 slots available for contributed talks at our CounseLLMe workshop for @hhaiconference.bsky.social :

sites.google.com/unitn.it/cou...

Join us in Pisa, deadline May 6!

How to improve conceptual clarity in psychology?

Excited to share a new preprint with @ruimata.bsky.social, discussing approaches based on large language models as possible solutions.

Preprint: osf.io/preprints/ps...

📣The Department of Sociology and Social Research seeks a post-doctoral candidate for a 2-year appointment. The successful candidate will analyze a large-scale dataset of online job posts to investigate skill demand dynamics and shortage dynamics over 5 years in 29 countries.

🌐 Excited to welcome Prof. Dani S. Bassett as a CCS25 keynote speaker!

🔗A leader in network neuroscience, Bassett explores how brain networks shape cognition and mental health.
#CCS25 #Keynote

Higher-order interactions Higher-order interactions: mechanisms, behaviors, and networks

Higher-order interactions: mechanisms, behaviors, and networks - Aug 25-31, 2025

We're happy to host a course/workshop at the Ettore Majorana Center for Scientific Culture in the incredibly beautiful Erice, Sicily, with amazing speakers

sites.google.com/view/ho2025e...

Wait no further and join!

Challenges in Behavioural Health Interventions | BISI YouTube video by NUS Medicine

Serene, Uri and I had a nice conversation here guided by Joanne.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHOH...

Totally, very excited about it!

I look forward to this! Funny thing: we are also working on this topic with @giuliorossetti.bsky.social. We tested associative knowledge in different layers and different LLMs and... Let's chat about this if you want ;)

Given the times, seaborn sounds as sketchy as numpy, alas!

Wow there is an impressive selection of satellites at @css-conference.bsky.social this year!
ccs25.cssociety.org/satellites-l...
We will attend the conference as a Lab and the choice is amazing!
#ccs #siena

CounseLLMe CounseLLMe: Investigating Human-Large Language Model conversations under the lens of cognitive science and complex systems SATELLITE WORKSHOP FOR HHAI2025 Submit Abstracts -> HERE

If you are going to HHAI25 in Pisa, check out out satellite workshop on #LLM and #human conversations!
Submit here:
sites.google.com/unitn.it/cou...

75% of US scientists who answered Nature poll consider leaving More than 1,600 readers answered our poll; many said they were looking for jobs in Europe and Canada.

This is grim because there's nowhere to go.

The US spends more on research and development than any other country in the world (by far), and we have more PI-level positions than anywhere else (by far).

Large Language Models are great at mimicking human conversation, but do we trust them? Until now, research on trust in LLMs has been scarce. Introducing the Trust-In-LLMs Index (TILLMI), a new framework extending McAllister’s cognitive and affective trust dimensions to human–LLM interactions 1/n

Measuring and identifying factors of individuals' trust in Large Language Models Large Language Models (LLMs) can engage in human-looking conversational exchanges. Although conversations can elicit trust between users and LLMs, scarce empirical research has examined trust formatio...

New preprint from the Lab! We introduce the Trust-in-LLMs Index (TILLMI) and see it partitions in cognitive and affective dimensions. Great collab by De Duro @gaveltri.bsky.social @hudsongolino.bsky.social and myself on #LLMs. Read it here: arxiv.org/abs/2502.21028

CounseLLMe CounseLLMe: Investigating Human-Large Language Model conversations under the lens of cognitive science and complex systems SATELLITE WORKSHOP FOR HHAI2025 Submit Abstracts -> HERE

Glad to announce CounseLLMe as a satellite workshop of HHAI25 in beautiful Pisa: sites.google.com/unitn.it/cou...
We will host a half-day workshop of presentations about #LLMs and human #conversations. Join us by submitting an abstract before March 31!
#research #satellite

Proud of the Complex Systems Society's stand about supporting initiatives for open science and reducing the impact of "impact factor" metrics. We started this conversation when I was in the Executive Committee and I am only glad to see this black on white.