Linde Center for Science, Society, & Policy at Caltech | Research & debate on topics at intersection of science, society, & policy | R.M. Alvarez & F. Eberhardt
Caltech, Pasadena CA
Joined November 2022
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Proud moment for the Alvarez Lab! 🎉
Danielle Yang & Shyna Kashi presented their exceptional @Caltech SURF research.👏
🌟Many thanks to the @Caltech Student-Faculty Programs team, @rmichaelalvarez & @RaqCenteno for mentoring Shyna, & @CaltechLCSSP for providing support!
🚨New preprint from @CaltechLCSSP's @RaqCenteno & @rmichaelalvarez!
Findings suggest confidence in elections is not distributed equally across the electorate and uncover persistent racial gaps in voter confidence.
📖 Read more: preprints.apsanet.org/engage…
A genuinely impressive achievement by @CaltechLCSSP Research Affiliates, @DannyCEbanks, @IQSS & @Jonathan_N_Katz, @Caltech. A powerful resource for exploring 2026 midterm forecasts and historical election results, now accessible to all.👏
gking.harvard.edu/electit/#o…
🎓🤝🗳️ When academia & government work together, innovation follows!
Learn about @CaltechLCSSP's @rmichaelalvarez, @Caltech & Bob Page’s team at the @OCRegistrar data-driven election administration research that delivers real-world impact.✨
electionlab.mit.edu/articles…
📣 Registration is Open!
Join the @Caltech Election Night Watch Party!
🗳️ Follow federal, state, & local election results:
📅 Nov. 3, 2026 ⏰ 7–10 PM 📍 Avery Courtyard
🍕 Free food • 🎮 Games
✅ Register now: forms.gle/fh4RV9QU2zUyxKK26.
🔴 Nonpartisan
ALT Open to the Caltech-affiliated community!
🗳️Need help decoding California's ballot propositions? The @LAist's AirTalk Ballot Cram Session recording is now available!
Hear insights from Larry Mantle and experts including
@CaltechLCSSP's @rmichaelalvarez, @sarasadhwani, & Lee Ohanian.🎙️
laist.com/news/airtalk-oct-8…
🌟Big week for @CaltechLCSSP Postdoctoral Scholar Teaching Fellow @RKocielnik, @Caltech as he heads to COLM 2026, where he will present this joint paper as a poster at two workshops on Friday, October 9!
See below for details:
Heading to San Francisco to present our paper "Rethinking Psychometric Evaluation of LLMs: When and Why Self-Reports Predict Behavior" at two @COLM_conf 2026 workshops: Agent Behavior (WAB) and AI Measurement Science (AIMS)! It was also recently accepted to the #NeurIPS2026 main conference.
❓ The question: Can low-cost psychometric self-reports anticipate how LLMs actually behave?
Across 11 frontier LLMs and 4 behavioral tasks, we find that self-report–behavior coherence exists, but it is selective:
▶ Within a shared conversation, a behavior-specific framework, the Theory of Planned Behavior, reaches human-level coherence. Broad Big Five traits do not.
▶ Across separate conversations, coherence survives for behaviors anchored outside the immediate prompt, such as implicit bias, and collapses for behaviors driven by context, such as sycophancy.
▶ Persona prompting makes self-reports more consistent across conversations, but it does not bring behavior into alignment.
📄 Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2606.12730
🌐 Project page: psychology-of-ai.github.io/p…
Come find us on Fri, Oct 9 (PDT):
📌 Workshop on Agent Behavior (WAB): Poster Session I, 10:00–11:30 AM, Continental Ballroom 4
📌 AI Measurement Science (AIMS): Poster Session 2, 3:00–4:15 PM
w/ @Barry_Han_PR, @p_song1, @MarmarelisMyrl, Ramit Debnath, Dean Mobbs, @AnimaAnandkumar, @rmichaelalvarez, @Caltech, @CaltechLCSSP
@NeurIPSConf
#COLM2026 #AIEvaluation #LLMPsychometrics #AIAlignment #AgentBehavior
📣Save the Date: Election Night Watch Party, Nov. 3rd!
Join the @Caltech community for live coverage, games, & election results! Hosted by @CaltechLCSSP & other campus groups.
🌭🥤Food & drinks
🗳️ Nonpartisan & open to Caltech-affiliated community
🔴RSVP details soon!
✨Tickets may be gone, but you don't have to miss out! This event with @CaltechLCSSP's @rmichaelalvarez is sold out, but the audio will be featured on @LAist's AirTalk on October 8th.
🎧Tune in then: laist.com/shows/airtalk
🗳️Election Day is November 3rd. Get ballot-ready!
Join @LAist's Larry Mantle on Oct. 7 for a Ballot Cram Session featuring experts @CaltechLCSSP's @rmichaelalvarez, @Caltech & @sarasadhwani, @pomonacollege.
🔵Register free: laist.com/events/airtalks-ba…
🎉Congratulations to @CaltechLCSSP Research Affiliate @ZernickaGoetz, @Caltech & collaborators on receiving a $2.4M grant to investigate how human germ cells are formed!
Understanding this could help uncover unexplained infertility & guide future therapies.🔬🧬
Infertility affects about one in six people of reproductive age, yet its causes often remain unexplained.
caltech.edu/about/news/advan…
We are delighted that joint paper, "Rethinking Psychometric Evaluation of LLMs: When and Why Self-Reports Predict Behavior," has been accepted at NeurIPS 2026 Main Track as poster.
Congratulations to all the authors!! 🎉
🏆So exciting that this joint paper received the Best Paper Award at the 2026 @icmlconf!
Big congratulations to lead author @caltechlcssp's Postdoc Scholar @RKocielnik and Co-Director @rmichaelalvarez (@Caltech), and the entire team!
arxiv.org/abs/2606.12730
🗳️Election Day is November 3rd. Get ballot-ready!
Join @LAist's Larry Mantle on Oct. 7 for a Ballot Cram Session featuring experts @CaltechLCSSP's @rmichaelalvarez, @Caltech & @sarasadhwani, @pomonacollege.
🔵Register free: laist.com/events/airtalks-ba…
💡Two years ago, this was just an idea. Last week, it was presented at APSA 2026.
@CaltechLCSSP Research Affiliate @BeaMagistro, @Northeastern presented: "The Political Sustainability of Creative Destruction in the AI Age."🎉
🔗papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.…
#Research #Caltech
🚨New publication in @Nature from @CaltechLCSSP Research Affiliate Ramit Debnath, @Cambridge_Uni, "Nepal Disaster is a Wake-Up Call to Take Compound Climate Risks Seriously."
We need greater public awareness of compound climate risks! #ActNow
nature.com/articles/d41586-0…
📺Watch the new video from @CaltechLCSSP Board Member @chr_fronge, @Caltech & @NASAJPL to see Earth’s carbon cycle change from 2015 to 2026 through observations from NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory missions!🌎
youtube.com/watch?v=bAhXV6nt…
🎉Congratulations to caltechlcssp.bsky.social Research Affiliate Ramit Debnath, cam.ac.uk & team on this well-deserved win for work on early flood warning and preparedness!
🔵Read about the stanforddoerr.bsky.social & CHIA collaboration: sustainability-accelerator.s…
📢New blog from @CaltechLCSSP's Research Policy Lead Sara Kassir, @Caltech - "Fit for What Purpose? Evaluating Data Centers on Local Terms."
Data centers aren't inherently "good" or "bad." What matters is whether they align with community goals.
🔗lcssp.caltech.edu/more/lcssp…
🔊New blog from @CaltechLCSSP's Science Policy Intern Brenna Outten, @Caltech:
🟠An LCSSP Intern's Update from the Field: How Science & Policy Intersect in the Provision of Disability Services🟠
@CaliforniaDDS internship: lcssp.caltech.edu/more/lcssp…
Archive: lcssp.caltech.edu/more/lcssp…
🔥New @SpringerNature Behind the Paper post!
@CaltechLCSSP Research Affiliate Ramit Debnath,
@Cambridge_Uni & coauthors explore how governance and agentic AI can enable faster, smarter cross-agency action when it matters most.
🔗communities.springernature.c…
📢New research from Mitchell Linegar, @CaltechLCSSP Co-Director @rmichaelalvarez, @BetsySinclair1, & @Sander_vdLinden shows AI-generated “pre-bunking” messages can strengthen trust in elections.
@Caltech article: caltech.edu/about/news/using…
#AIforGood #ElectionIntegrity #Democracy
