# Reality Bending Lab > A psychology and neuroscience world-leading research group at the University > of Sussex (Brighton, UK), led by Dr Dominique Makowski. The lab studies the > neuropsychology of reality and its distortions — how people construct, > perceive and misjudge what is real — spanning visual illusions, deception > and lie detection, misinformation and fake news, beliefs about AI-generated > content, interoception and the body's role in emotion, and the cognitive > control of reality monitoring. It also develops open-source scientific > software (NeuroKit2, Pyllusion, easystats and others), psychometric scales > (the LIE Scale, the Illusion Game) and Bayesian statistical methods. Every page below is a real URL whose content is in the raw HTML — no JavaScript is needed to read any of it. Contact: D.Makowski@sussex.ac.uk · Pevensey 1, room 2B7, School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9QH. ## Sections - [People](https://realitybendinglab.com/people/): 14 current and former lab members. - [Research](https://realitybendinglab.com/research/): the lab's research programme, and the tools it has built. - [News](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/): 51 posts, essays and announcements. - [Publications](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/): 63 journal articles, preprints and book chapters. - [Join the Lab](https://realitybendinglab.com/information/join/): research assistant, PhD and postdoc routes. ## People - [Dominique Makowski](https://realitybendinglab.com/people/dominique-makowski/): Did you know that Dominique Makowski created the easystats ecosystem for R? - [Ana Neves](https://realitybendinglab.com/people/ana-neves/): Did you know that Ana had the courage to re-start her psychology studies as a mature student? - [Catriona Osborn Moar](https://realitybendinglab.com/people/catriona-osborn-moar/): Panta rhei ('everything flows') - A reminder of the inherent dynamism of existence. As Carlo Rovelli neatly puts it: all reality is… - [Oliver Collins](https://realitybendinglab.com/people/oliver-collins/): Did you know that Oliver created a facial EMG-based guitar controller? - [Róisín Sharma](https://realitybendinglab.com/people/roisin-sharma/): Did you know that Róisín created the Cognitive Research Article Sussex Student Society? - [An-Shu Te](https://realitybendinglab.com/people/anshu-te/): - [Emma Benn](https://realitybendinglab.com/people/emma-benn/): - [Maisie Bennett](https://realitybendinglab.com/people/maisie-bennett/): - [Rob Dickinson](https://realitybendinglab.com/people/rob-dickinson/): - [Stephanie Kirk](https://realitybendinglab.com/people/stephanie-kirk/): - [Tam Pham](https://realitybendinglab.com/people/tam-pham/): - [Wilson Lim](https://realitybendinglab.com/people/wilson-lim/): - [Zen J. Lau](https://realitybendinglab.com/people/zen-juen/): - [Zi Liang Ngoi](https://realitybendinglab.com/people/ziliang-ngoi/): ## Publications - [Attention and physiological responses to task-irrelevant sounds in misophonia](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2026_MisophoniaAttention/): Rinaldi, L. J., Agbude, R., Andermane, N., Makowski, D., Forster, S., Simner, J., & Ward, J. (2026). Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology Keywords: Mental Health, Attention, Psychophysiology. - [Choosing informative priors in Bayesian regression models: a simulation study and tutorial using Stan and R.](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2026_ChoosingInformativePriors/): Lüdecke, D., Makowski, A. C., Klein, J., Ben-Shachar, M. S., & Makowski, D. (2026). Frontiers in Psychology Keywords: Bayesian Statistics, Statistical Methods. - [Interoception and Substance use: A systematic review and meta-analysis](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2026_InteroceptionAndSubstanceUse/): Scharte, R. E., Greenwood, K., Romero Sanchiz, P., Neves, A., Makowski, D., & Nogueira-Arjona, R. (2026). Keywords: Interoception, Mental Health. - [Mega-analysis of the Interoceptive Accuracy Scale (IAS) Structure and its Dispositional Correlates](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2026_MegaanalysisIAS/): Neves, A., Pfaff, M., Scharte, R. E., Nogueira-Arjona, R., Poerio, G., & Makowski, D. (2026). Keywords: Interoception, Psychometrics. - [The cogmod R Package: Easy-to-Use Bayesian Cognitive Models for Reaction Times, Choices and Subjective Ratings, with Applications to Computational Neuropsychology](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2026_cogmod/): Makowski, D. (2026). Keywords: Computational Models, Software Development, Bayesian Statistics, Reaction Times. - [This Is Not the ex-Gaussian Model You Are Looking For: On the Default Parameterization of Bayesian ex-Gaussian Models in brms](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2026_ExGauss/): Geller, J., Angele, B., & Makowski, D. (2026). Keywords: Bayesian Statistics, Computational Models, Reaction Times. - [Towards an Active Inference Personality Framework: The Deep-Self Predictive Cascade Model](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2026_ActiveInferencePersonality/): Makowski, D. (2026). Keywords: Computational Models, Personality, Self-Reference. - [A Distributional Response Time Analysis of the Perceptual Disfluency Effect](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2025_PerceptualDisfluency/): Geller, J., Gomez, P., Buchanan, E., & Makowski, D. (2025). Journal of Cognition Keywords: Reaction Times, Computational Models, Attention. - [Bad News: Testing Gamified Inoculation Against Misinformation](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2025_BadNews/): Dickinson, R., Makowski, D., Van Marwijk, H., & Ford, E. (2025). Keywords: Misinformation, Reality Beliefs. - [Interventions for combating COVID-19 misinformation: a systematic realist review](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2025_InterventionsForCombatingCovid19/): Dickinson, R., Makowski, D., van Marwijk, H., & Ford, E. (2025). PLoS ONE Keywords: Misinformation. - [Introducing the Choice-Confidence (CHOCO) Model for Bimodal Data from Subjective Ratings: Application to the Effect of Attractiveness on Reality Beliefs about AI-Generated Faces](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2025_Choco/): Makowski, D., Neves, A., & Field, A. P. (2025). Keywords: Computational Models, Reality Beliefs, Aesthetics, Bayesian Statistics. - [Measuring Depression and Anxiety With 4 Items? Adaptation of the PHQ-4 to Increase Its Sensitivity to Subclinical Variability](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2025_PHQ4/): Makowski, D., Te, A. S., Neves, A., & Chen, S. A. (2025). Collabra: Psychology Keywords: Psychometrics, Mental Health. - [modelbased: An R package to make the most out of your statistical models through marginal means, marginal effects, and model predictions](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2025_Modelbased/): Makowski, D., Ben-Shachar, M. S., Wiernik, B. M., Patil, I., Thériault, R., & Lüdecke, D. (2025). Journal of Open Source Software Keywords: Software Development, Statistical Methods. - [SequentialSamplingModels.jl: Simulating and Evaluating Cognitive Models of Response Times in Julia](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2025_Sequentialsamplingmodels/): Fernandez, K., Makowski, D., & Fisher, C. (2025). JuliaCon Proceedings Keywords: Computational Models, Reaction Times, Software Development. - [The Mint Scale: A Fresh Validation of the Multimodal Interoception Questionnaire and Comparison to the MAIA, BPQ and IAS](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2025_Mint/): Makowski, D., Neves, A., Benn, E. L., Bennett, M., & Poerio, G. (2025). Keywords: Interoception, Psychometrics. - [Too beautiful to be fake: Attractive faces are less likely to be judged as artificially generated](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2025_TooBeautifulToBeFake/): Makowski, D., Te, A. S., Neves, A., Kirk, S., Liang, N. Z., Mavros, P., & Chen, S. A. (2025). Acta Psychologica Keywords: Aesthetics, Reality Beliefs. - [Which Heart Rate Variability (HRV) Indices Should I Use for Psychophysiological Research? A Data-Driven Approach to Identifying Clusters of HRV Indices](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2025_WhichHeartRateVariability/): Pham, T., Johnco, C. J., Lau, Z. J., Makowski, D., & Forbes, M. K. (2025). Psychophysiology Keywords: Heart Rate Variability, Psychophysiology, Signal Processing, Statistical Methods. - [Beyond empathy: Cognitive capabilities increase or curb altruism in middle childhood](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2024_BeyondEmpathy/): Rose, L., Kovarski, K., Caetta, F., Makowski, D., & Chokron, S. (2024). Journal of Experimental Child Psychology Keywords: Social Cognition. - [Check your outliers! An introduction to identifying statistical outliers in R with easystats](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2024_CheckYourOutliers/): Thériault, R., Ben-Shachar, M. S., Patil, I., Lüdecke, D., Wiernik, B. M., & Makowski, D. (2024). Behavior Research Methods Keywords: Statistical Methods, Software Development, Open Science. - [Exploring the Role of News Outlets in the Rise of a Conspiracy Theory: Hydroxychloroquine in the Early Days of COVID-19](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2024_NewsOutletsConspiracyTheory/): Dickinson, R., Makowski, D., van Marwijk, H., & Ford, E. (2024). COVID Keywords: Misinformation, Reality Beliefs. - [Self-reference and emotional reaction drive aesthetic judgment](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2024_SelfreferenceAndEmotionalReaction/): Salgues, S., Jacquot, A., Makowski, D., Tahar, C., Baekeland, J., Arcangeli, M., Dokic, J., Piolino, P., & Sperduti, M. (2024). Scientific Reports Keywords: Aesthetics, Self-Reference. - [The Beauty and the Self: A Common Mnemonic Advantage Between Aesthetic Judgment and Self-Reference](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2024_TheBeautyAndTheSelf/): Lee, H., Jacquot, A., Makowski, D., Arcangeli, M., Dokic, J., Piolino, P., & Sperduti, M. (2024). Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice Keywords: Aesthetics, Self-Reference, Episodic Memory. - [The heart can lie: a preliminary investigation of the role of interoception and theory of mind in deception](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2024_TheHeartCanLie/): Makowski, D., Lau, Z. J., Pham, T., Te, A. S., Kirk, S., Liauw, C., & Chen, S. H. A. (2024). Current Psychology Keywords: Deception, Interoception, Social Cognition. - [A novel visual illusion paradigm provides evidence for a general factor of illusion sensitivity and personality correlates](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2023_NovelVisualIllusionParadigm/): Makowski, D., Te, A. S., Kirk, S., Liang, N. Z., & Chen, S. H. A. (2023). Scientific Reports Keywords: Visual Illusions, Personality, Psychometrics. - [Attenuating subjective crowding through beauty: an online study on the interaction between environment aesthetics, typology and crowdedness](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2023_AttenuatingSubjectiveCrowding/): Mavros, P., Ngoi, Z. L., Kirk, S., Te, A., Grübel, J., Melgar, L. A., Guizzo, A. O., & Makowski, D. (2023). Keywords: Aesthetics, Urban Environment. - [Disentangling the social from the aesthetic: neuropsychology for urban design](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2023_DisentanglingTheSocial/): Mavros, P., Olszewska-Guizzo, A., & Makowski, D. (2023). Future Cities — City Futures: Emerging Urban Perspectives (TU Delft OPEN Books) Keywords: Aesthetics, Urban Environment, Social Cognition. - [Where Are We Going with Statistical Computing? From Mathematical Statistics to Collaborative Data Science](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2023_WhereAreWeGoing/): Makowski, D., & Waggoner, P. D. (2023). Mathematics Keywords: Statistical Methods, Open Science, Software Development. - [Brain entropy, fractal dimensions and predictability: A review of complexity measures for EEG in healthy and neuropsychiatric populations](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2022_BrainEntropyFractalDimensions/): Lau, Z. J., Pham, T., Chen, S. H. A., & Makowski, D. (2022). European Journal of Neuroscience Keywords: Complexity Science, Signal Processing, Psychophysiology. - [datawizard: An R Package for Easy Data Preparation and Statistical Transformations](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2022_Datawizard/): Patil, I., Makowski, D., Ben-Shachar, M. S., Wiernik, B. M., Bacher, E., & Lüdecke, D. (2022). Journal of Open Source Software Keywords: Software Development, Statistical Methods. - [Movie editing influences spectators' time perception](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2022_MovieEditingInfluencesSpectators/): Kovarski, K., Dos Reis, J., Chevais, C., Hamel, A., Makowski, D., & Sperduti, M. (2022). Scientific Reports Keywords: Time Perception, Fiction. - [The Structure of Chaos: An Empirical Comparison of Fractal Physiology Complexity Indices Using NeuroKit2](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2022_TheStructureOfChaos/): Makowski, D., Te, A. S., Pham, T., Lau, Z. J., & Chen, S. H. A. (2022). Entropy Keywords: Complexity Science, Signal Processing, Psychophysiology. - [A Parametric Framework to Generate Visual Illusions Using Python](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2021_Pyllusion/): Makowski, D., Lau, Z. J., Pham, T., Paul Boyce, W., & Annabel Chen, S. (2021). Perception Keywords: Visual Illusions, Software Development. - [Bored, distracted, and forgetful: The impact of mind wandering and boredom on memory encoding](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2021_BoredDistractedAndForgetful/): Blondé, P., Sperduti, M., Makowski, D., & Piolino, P. (2021). Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Keywords: Mind Wandering, Episodic Memory. - [Heart Rate Variability in Psychology: A Review of HRV Indices and an Analysis Tutorial](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2021_HeartRateVariabilityPsychology/): Pham, T., Lau, Z. J., Chen, S. H. A., & Makowski, D. (2021). Sensors Keywords: Heart Rate Variability, Psychophysiology, Signal Processing. - [In Medio Stat Virtus: intermediate levels of mind wandering improve episodic memory encoding in a virtual environment](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2021_InMedioStatVirtus/): Blondé, P., Makowski, D., Sperduti, M., & Piolino, P. (2021). Psychological Research Keywords: Mind Wandering, Episodic Memory, Virtual Reality. - [NeuroKit2: A Python toolbox for neurophysiological signal processing](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2021_Neurokit2/): Makowski, D., Pham, T., Lau, Z. J., Brammer, J. C., Lespinasse, F., Pham, H., Schölzel, C., & Chen, S. H. A. (2021). Behavior Research Methods Keywords: Software Development, Psychophysiology, Signal Processing. - [performance: An R Package for Assessment, Comparison and Testing of Statistical Models](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2021_Performance/): Lüdecke, D., Ben-Shachar, M., Patil, I., Waggoner, P., & Makowski, D. (2021). Journal of Open Source Software Keywords: Software Development, Statistical Methods. - [see: An R Package for Visualizing Statistical Models](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2021_See/): Lüdecke, D., Patil, I., Ben-Shachar, M., Wiernik, B., Waggoner, P., & Makowski, D. (2021). Journal of Open Source Software Keywords: Software Development, Statistical Methods. - [The structure of deception: Validation of the lying profile questionnaire](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2021_TheStructureOfDeception/): Makowski, D., Pham, T., Lau, Z. J., Raine, A., & Chen, S. H. A. (2021). Current Psychology Keywords: Deception, Psychometrics, Personality. - [Adaptation and Validation of a Short French Version of the Affective Style Questionnaire](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2020_AffectiveStyleQuestionnaire/): Makowski, D., Sperduti, M., Lavallée, S., Nicolas, S., & Piolino, P. (2020). International Journal of Cognitive Therapy Keywords: Psychometrics, Emotion Regulation. - [effectsize: Estimation of Effect Size Indices and Standardized Parameters](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2020_Effectsize/): Ben-Shachar, M., Lüdecke, D., & Makowski, D. (2020). Journal of Open Source Software Keywords: Software Development, Statistical Methods. - [Extracting, Computing and Exploring the Parameters of Statistical Models using R](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2020_Parameters/): Lüdecke, D., Ben-Shachar, M., Patil, I., & Makowski, D. (2020). Journal of Open Source Software Keywords: Software Development, Statistical Methods. - [Methods and Algorithms for Correlation Analysis in R](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2020_Correlation/): Makowski, D., Ben-Shachar, M., Patil, I., & Lüdecke, D. (2020). Journal of Open Source Software Keywords: Software Development, Statistical Methods. - [The heart of cognitive control: Cardiac phase modulates processing speed and inhibition](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2020_TheHeartOfCognitiveControl/): Makowski, D., Sperduti, M., Blondé, P., Nicolas, S., & Piolino, P. (2020). Psychophysiology Keywords: Interoception, Psychophysiology, Attention, Reaction Times. - [The impact of state and dispositional mindfulness on prospective memory: A virtual reality study](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2020_MindfulnessProspectiveMemory/): Girardeau, J., Blondé, P., Makowski, D., Abram, M., Piolino, P., & Sperduti, M. (2020). Consciousness and Cognition Keywords: Mindfulness, Episodic Memory, Virtual Reality. - [bayestestR: Describing Effects and their Uncertainty, Existence and Significance within the Bayesian Framework](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2019_Bayestestr/): Makowski, D., Ben-Shachar, M., & Lüdecke, D. (2019). The Journal of Open Source Software Keywords: Software Development, Bayesian Statistics, Statistical Methods. - [Dispositional mindfulness attenuates the emotional attentional blink](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2019_DispositionalMindfulness/): Makowski, D., Sperduti, M., Lavallée, S., Nicolas, S., & Piolino, P. (2019). Consciousness and Cognition Keywords: Mindfulness, Attention. - [Indices of Effect Existence and Significance in the Bayesian Framework](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2019_IndicesOfEffectExistence/): Makowski, D., Ben-Shachar, M. S., Chen, S. H. A., & Lüdecke, D. (2019). Frontiers in Psychology Keywords: Bayesian Statistics, Statistical Methods. - [insight: A Unified Interface to Access Information from Model Objects in R](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2019_Insight/): Lüdecke, D., Waggoner, P., & Makowski, D. (2019). The Journal of Open Source Software Keywords: Software Development, Statistical Methods. - [Phenomenal, bodily and brain correlates of fictional reappraisal as an implicit emotion regulation strategy](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2019_FictionalReappraisal/): Makowski, D., Sperduti, M., Pelletier, J., Blondé, P., La Corte, V., Arcangeli, M., Zalla, T., Lemaire, S., Dokic, J., Nicolas, S., & Piolino, P. (2019). Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience Keywords: Emotion Regulation, Fiction, Reality Beliefs, Psychophysiology. - [Cognitive neuropsychology of implicit emotion regulation through fictional reappraisal](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2018_ImplicitEmotionRegulation/): Makowski, D. (2018). Keywords: Emotion Regulation, Fiction, Reality Beliefs, Psychophysiology. - [The psycho Package: an Efficient and Publishing-Oriented Workflow for Psychological Science](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2018_Psycho/): Makowski, D. (2018). The Journal of Open Source Software Keywords: Software Development, Statistical Methods, Open Science. - ["Being there" and remembering it: Presence improves memory encoding](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2017_BeingThereAndRemembering/): Makowski, D., Sperduti, M., Nicolas, S., & Piolino, P. (2017). Consciousness and Cognition Keywords: Virtual Reality, Episodic Memory. - [Centenaire Ribot (première partie). La réception de l’œuvre de Théodule Ribot publiée chez l’éditeur Ladrange (1870-1873)](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2017_CentenaireRibotPremierePartie/): Nicolas, S., & Makowski, D. (2017). Bulletin de psychologie Keywords: History of Psychology. - [How virtual embodiment affects episodic memory functioning: A proof-of-concept study](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2017_VirtualEmbodimentMemory/): Tuena, C., Serino, S., Gaston-Bellegarde, A., Orriols, E., Makowski, D., Riva, G., & Piolino, P. (2017). Annual Review of CyberTherapy and Telemedicine Keywords: Virtual Reality, Episodic Memory, Self-Reference. - [Interaction between attentional systems and episodic memory encoding: the impact of conflict on binding of information](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2017_InteractionBetweenAttentionalSystems/): Sperduti, M., Armougum, A., Makowski, D., Blondé, P., & Piolino, P. (2017). Experimental Brain Research Keywords: Attention, Episodic Memory. - [Meditation and successful aging: can meditative practices counteract age-related cognitive decline?](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2017_MeditationAndSuccessfulAging/): Sperduti, M., Makowski, D., Blondé, P., & Piolino, P. (2017). Geriatrie et Psychologie Neuropsychiatrie du Vieillissement Keywords: Mindfulness, Aging. - [Neuropsydia.py: A Python Module for Creating Experiments, Tasks and Questionnaires](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2017_Neuropsydia/): Makowski, D., & Dutriaux, L. (2017). The Journal of Open Source Software Keywords: Software Development, Open Science. - [The distinctive role of executive functions in implicit emotion regulation](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2017_ExecutiveFunctionsEmotionRegulation/): Sperduti, M., Makowski, D., Arcangeli, M., Wantzen, P., Zalla, T., Lemaire, S., Dokic, J., Pelletier, J., & Piolino, P. (2017). Acta Psychologica Keywords: Emotion Regulation, Attention, Fiction. - [Can mental fatigue be measured by weber's compass? Alfred Binet's answer on the value of aesthesiometry (tactile sensitivity) as an objective measure of mental fatigue](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2016_MentalFatigueWeberCompass/): Nicolas, S., & Makowski, D. (2016). European Yearbook of the History of Psychology Keywords: History of Psychology, Psychometrics, Attention. - [The paradox of fiction: Emotional response toward fiction and the modulatory role of self-relevance](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2016_TheParadoxOfFiction/): Sperduti, M., Arcangeli, M., Makowski, D., Wantzen, P., Zalla, T., Lemaire, S., Dokic, J., Pelletier, J., & Piolino, P. (2016). Acta Psychologica Keywords: Fiction, Emotion Regulation, Reality Beliefs, Self-Reference. - [The protective role of long-term meditation on the decline of the executive component of attention in aging: a preliminary cross-sectional study](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2016_LongTermMeditationExecutive/): Sperduti, M., Makowski, D., & Piolino, P. (2016). Aging, Neuropsychology and Cognition Keywords: Mindfulness, Aging, Attention. - [Emotion regulation and the cognitive decline in aging: beyond the paradox](https://realitybendinglab.com/publications/2015_EmotionRegulationAging/): Makowski, D., Sperduti, M., Blanchet, S., Nicolas, S., & Piolino, P. (2015). Geriatrie et Psychologie Neuropsychiatrie du Vieillissement Keywords: Emotion Regulation, Aging. ## News - [Rolling the Bones: Divination as a Randomness-Harnessing Process](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2026-rolling-the-bones/): 2026-09-08. What if divination wasn't about finding order, but about embracing chaos? And how was that useful for our ancestors' survival. - [The ABS Bayesian Priors Framework (Agnostic, Believer, Skeptic)](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2026-skeptic-agnostic-believer/): 2026-09-03. A new paper in Frontiers in Psychology lays priors out on two independent axes: where they sit relative to the effect you expect (skeptic, agnostic, believer)… - [🎉 Oliver Collins awarded a Junior Research Assistant scholarship](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2026-oliver-collins-jra-scholarship/): 2026-07-01. Oliver Collins, 2nd year student, has been awarded the Junior Research Assistant (JRA) scholarship for a project on illusions and bodily states. - [Artificial Emotion: Our Symposium at ESCAN 2026](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2026-escan-symposium-artificial-emotion/): 2026-06-06. At the European Society for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience meeting in Rome, we organised a symposium with Marco Sperduti on affective responses to AI… - [🎉 Emma Benn wins the SAGE Publications Prize](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2026-emma-benn-sage-prize/): 2026-06-01. Emma Benn, 3rd year dissertation student, has won the SAGE Publications Prize for Outstanding Application of Statistical Methods. - [Barely Knowing Anything: On Taste, Judgment, and Cognitive Elegance in the Age of AI](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2026-cognitive-elegance/): 2026-05-29. As AI drives down the cost of generating solutions, the critical skill bercomes 'Cognitive Elegance': the internalized capacity for clear vision and confident… - [How to send event triggers to Lab Streaming Layer from JsPsych](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2026-event-triggers/): 2026-01-11. Understand the steps involving in setting up event triggers for your JsPsych experiments, including creating the bridge to Lab Streaming Layer, ensuring… - [What is the Best Interoception Questionnaire?](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2025-interoception-questionnaires/): 2025-12-20. There are many self-report interoception scales out there- but which one should you pick? Let's discuss the pros and cons of each. - [From physique to intellect... and back again?](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2025-dystopian-futures/): 2025-11-03. How the AI revolution might change societal selective pressures to favour natural beauty as the next prized characteristic. - [The AI revolution in academia: I see a silver lining for young scientists!](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2025-ai-revolution-academia/): 2025-09-08. For many students and early-career researchers, the rise of AI is scary. What's the future of research careers in the age of AI? - [Attractiveness shapes beliefs about whether faces are real or AI-generated, study finds](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2025-ai-faces-in-the-news/): 2025-07-07. Our recent paper on facial attractiveness and reality beliefs is in the news. - [How to collect and save data with DataPipe in OSF](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2025-datapipe-osf/): 2025-07-02. Learn how to set up DataPipe to collect and save data in OSF, including creating an OSF project, linking it to DataPipe, configuring data collection, and… - [🎉 Eva Mala awarded a SoCoBio summer internship](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2025-eva-mala-socobio-internship/): 2025-07-01. Eva Mala has been awarded a SoCoBio Summer Internship scholarship to work with the lab. - [🎉 Sam Marine wins the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Prize](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2025-sam-marine-nhs-prize/): 2025-06-01. Sam Marine, 3rd year dissertation student, has won the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Prize for the highest project mark. - [🏅 Most cited researcher in the School of Psychology](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2024-most-cited-researcher/): 2024-12-01. Over the past year, Dominique Makowski's work has been the most cited in the School of Psychology at the University of Sussex - [🏆 Outstanding Student Supervision Award](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2024-outstanding-supervision-award/): 2024-09-16. Dominique Makowski has won the University of Sussex School of Psychology's 2024 Award for Outstanding Student Supervision. - [🎉 Rob Dickinson wins the Adam Weiler Impact Award](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2024-rob-dickinson-impact-award/): 2024-09-01. Rob Dickinson, PhD student, has won the Adam Weiler Impact Award. - [🎉 NeuroKit wins a SIPS Mission Award](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2024-sips-mission-award-neurokit/): 2024-07-01. The NeuroKit Python package has won a Mission Award from the Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science (SIPS). - [💷 Openness in Research Award, Sussex Research Culture Awards](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2024-research-culture-award/): 2024-06-01. Dominique Makowski has won the Openness in Research Award at the University of Sussex's 2024 Research Culture Awards, carrying a £1,000 prize. - [Sussex Psychological Methods MRes: Tips and Advice](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2024-mres-tips/): 2024-03-19. Ola! I'm Ana. The time has come to share my experience of doing a research masters in psychological methods at the University of Sussex - [How to Assess Task Reliability using Bayesian Mixed Models](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2024-task-reliability/): 2024-03-18. Task reliability in assessing inter-individual differences is a key issue for differential psychology and neuropsychology. - [Junior Research Assistant (JRA) at Sussex: is it worth it?](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2023-jra-experience/): 2023-11-02. I worked as a Psychology JRA during summer 2023 at the Reality Bending Lab. Here is how it went. - [🎉 easystats wins a SIPS Mission Award](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2023-sips-mission-award-easystats/): 2023-07-01. The easystats collection of R packages has won a Mission Award from the Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science (SIPS). - [How do we know what is real? The 'Affective Reality Theory](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2023-affective-reality-theory/): 2023-04-11. The Affective Reality Theory posits that affective reactions are key to the formation of reality beliefs. - [I got ChatGPT to do a personality test. You won't believe what happened next!](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2023-chatgpt-personality/): 2023-04-06. Following my previous blog post about including AIs in psychological experiments, I proceeded to do a small experiment to see whether we could administer a… - [We should treat AIs like Human participants in psychological experiments](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2023-ai-participants/): 2023-04-05. A lot of diverse and interesting perspectives have been recently discussed in regards to chatGPT and AGI, but there is one opinion that I found particularly… - [When fiction is better than reality: Cypher's Complex](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2023-cyphers-complex/): 2023-02-07. Ever felt like reality was dull as compared to a fictional world? You might have experienced Cypher's Complex - [New location and new logo!](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2023-new-logo/): 2023-02-01. The Reality Bending Lab is moving to the UK, and we're revealing the new logo to celebrate its official start! - [About signal complexity](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2022-signal-complexity/): 2022-12-05. We recently did a bit of groundwork to better understand how to use signal complexity in neurophysiology. - [NeuroKit2 0.2.0 is out 🎉](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2022-neurokit-020/): 2022-05-18. NeuroKit2 0.2.0 is out with a brand new website and documentation! - [Podcast 'Learn Bayesian Stats' with Dominique Makowski](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2022-learn-bayesian-stats-podcast/): 2022-02-01. In the latest episode of the 'Learning Bayesian Statistics' podcast, we talk about R, Python, Reality Bending and more! - [Pyllusion has been published](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2021-pyllusion-published/): 2021-11-30. Pyllusion, the software for creating illusions in Python, has been published. - [NeuroKit2 0.1.5 'Complexity' is out 🎉](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2021-neurokit-015-complexity/): 2021-11-12. NeuroKit2 0.1.5 is out with greater support for complexity analysis of neurophysiological signals. - ["Your sample is too small": How to Answer to Reviewers](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2021-sample-too-small/): 2021-11-05. Reviewers, ethics committees and funders all ask for a justification of the sample size. What can you do when more participants are not an option. - [How to sync two folders in two separate GitHub repositories](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2021-sync-github-repos/): 2021-10-31. Say you have a repo A, in which you want to duplicate some content with repo B. You can do that easily using GitHub actions. - [The symbolism behind the ReBeL logo](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2021-logo-symbolism/): 2021-06-30. Can you guess all the hidden symbols and elements present in our logo? - [How to share data analysis scripts with publications?](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2021-share-analysis-scripts/): 2021-02-10. Including data analysis as Supplementary Materials can be a tedious task. How can we simplify the sharing of our work? So that it can be fully appreciated, as… - [What visual agnosia might feel like](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2021-visual-agnosia/): 2021-01-03. Can you name one thing in this photo? It all looks familiar, but something is off. - [Time as a computational limit](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2020-time-as-a-computational-limit/): 2020-11-13. Note: this is a thought-experiment, not to be taken too seriously. - [🏅 Best Article Award, Psychonomic Society](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2020-psychonomic-best-article-award/): 2020-11-01. Makowski et al. (2019) has won the Psychonomic Society's Best Article Award, carrying a $1,000 prize. - [What is Reality Bending?](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2020-what-is-reality-bending/): 2020-09-28. As you know, reality bending is my primary research direction. However, it is not (yet) a well-established scientific topic, nor is it clearly defined. In… - [How to extract individual scores from repeated measures](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2020-individual-scores/): 2020-09-14. We compare different methods (individual models, Bayesian models with informative priors, random effects from mixed models) to extract individual scores from… - [What is neuropsychology?](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2020-what-is-neuropsychology/): 2020-09-13. In which I discuss the place of neuropsychology in the galaxy of sciences, its structure and its definition. - [🎉 bayestestR receives a SIPS Commendation](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2020-sips-commendation-bayestestr/): 2020-07-01. The bayestestR R package has received a Commendation from the Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science (SIPS). - [Why psychologists should join GitHub](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2020-github-for-psychologists/): 2020-05-27. Top reasons why engaging into GitHub will give you the edge and benefit psychological science. - [R or Python for Psychologists](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2020-r-or-python/): 2020-05-22. Most psychology students or researchers are faced with the challenge of learning a programming language. Which one should you pick? - [How to correctly analyze reaction time (RT) data](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2020-analyze-reaction-times/): 2020-05-18. Most researchers use the normal distribution to model reaction times, but it's wrong! Discover how to perform a good analysis of RT data. - [One Python code line for a Mandelbrot fractal](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2020-python-mandelbrot/): 2020-05-16. Create a Mandelbrot or Buddhabrot fractal in Python using NeuroKit. - [In defence of the 95% CI](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2020-defence-of-95-ci/): 2020-05-15. The one where I discuss arguments in favour of 95% instead of alternatives like 90 or 89%. - [Introduction to Bayesian statistics with R](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2020-intro-bayesian-stats-r/): 2020-05-14. A gentle introduction to Bayesian statistics with R for people not familiar with any of these. - [Generate an artificial ECG signal in Python](https://realitybendinglab.com/news/2019-simulate-ecg/): 2019-05-17. Simulate a synthetic but realistic ECG signal in Python using NeuroKit. ## Notes for crawlers - Everything here is open to automated agents, including those that train models. See [robots.txt](https://realitybendinglab.com/robots.txt). - When citing a paper, prefer its DOI over this site's URL — the publisher's record is canonical for a publication. - Generated by generate_pages.py alongside sitemap.xml. Do not hand-edit.