Judy Fan (@judyefan) / X

Judy Fan

970 posts

Judy Fan

@judyefan

Cognitive scientist seeking to reverse engineer the human cognitive toolkit. Asst Prof of Psychology @Stanford.

Palo Alto, CA

cogtoolslab.github.io

Joined October 2016

Pinned
Judy Fan
@judyefan
Jul 22
Heading to #CogSci2026 in Rio this week? Overview 🧵 thread highlighting work being presented by members of the Cognitive Tools Lab (cogtoolslab.github.io) — come say hi! 🧠🛠️✨
cogtoolslab.github.io
about the lab – cognitive tools lab
Judy Fan
@judyefan
Apr 8
The Cognitive Tools Lab @StanfordPsych (cogtoolslab.github.io) is recruiting two new research staff members to join in AY 26-27. Full-Time Lab Manager: forms.gle/UVwfx5wbY9KmKv… IRiSS Predoc Researcher: iriss.stanford.edu/predoc/2026-27…. Please share widely in your networks, thank you!!
cogtoolslab.github.io
about the lab – cognitive tools lab
Judy Fan
@judyefan
Apr 1
Delightful to see this paper on meaningful thought partnerships w/ @katie_m_collins, Lio Wong, and Josh Tenenbaum out at Current Directions in Psych Science! It asks: What does it mean to genuinely think together over time? A question I hope more of us in cogsci will take up!
Katie Collins
@katie_m_collins
Apr 1
Many joys of life involve not only working on problems alone, but engaging with thought partners. Not just in single interactions, but potentially many -- and many years. How can we understand, model, and proactively build for truly meaningful long-term thought partnerships?
Judy Fan
@judyefan
Mar 26
New paper in press at Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts w/ @AaronHertzmann highlighting the information bottlenecks that make the drawing of objects & scenes from observation so difficult. Was a super fun paper to write together—we hope it'll be a fun read, too!
Aaron Hertzmann
@AaronHertzmann
Mar 26
If asked to draw a person's portrait, many people would say “I cannot draw.” Why is observational drawing so hard? In a new paper, @judyefan and I answer: it's the limitations of human vision. Learning to draw is learning skills to overcome them. aaronhertzmann.com/2026/03/23/dra… 1/
Judy Fan
@judyefan
Mar 18
New paper out in Current Directions in Psychological Science making the case for studying generative behaviors: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09…. (no paywall: cogtoolslab.github.io/pdf/fan_cdps_2…)
Generative Behaviors as Key Targets for Cognitive Models - Judith E. Fan, 2026
From journals.sagepub.com

New to X?