Max van Duijn
Assistant professor
- Name
- Dr. M.J. van Duijn
- Telephone
- +31 71 527 7903
- m.j.van.duijn@liacs.leidenuniv.nl
- ORCID iD
- 0000-0003-0798-9598
I am an assistant professor at Leiden University’s Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS), where I co-founded the Creative Intelligence Lab (CIL). This lab brings together researchers from the cognitive and computer sciences who have a shared interest in the foundations of intelligence, both ‘in carbo’ and ‘in silico’, and who recognise creativity and playfulness as key factors in scientific innovation.
More information about Max van Duijn
PhD Candidates
News
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‘Humans are storytellers’: the power of stories in language development of children and AI models -
Max van Duijn and Vasiliki Kosta join The Young Academy -
Max van Duijn nominated for Discoverer of the Year 2019 -
Vote for the Discoverer of the Year -
Doing science in the mud at Lowlands -
Children's stories as inspiration for an artificial brain -
Chinese whispers in the name of science at Lowlands -
These are the seven Veni winners of the Faculty of Science -
Veni grants for 25 Leiden researchers -
Children as storytellers and mindreaders -
‘Man's empathy comes from language and stories’
Former PhD Candidates
I am an assistant professor at Leiden University’s Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS), where I co-founded the Creative Intelligence Lab (CIL). This lab brings together researchers from the cognitive and computer sciences who have a shared interest in the foundations of intelligence, both ‘in carbo’ and ‘in silico’, and who recognise creativity as a key factor in scientific innovation. I am a lecturer in the Data Science & Artificial Intelligence (DSAI) and Media Technology MSc programmes.
Research in my group combines methods from cognitive science, linguistics, and AI to study social intelligence, in particular empathy, perspective-taking, and Theory of Mind. Our work includes modelling these capacities in humans as well as in AI systems such as Large Language Models.
My NWO Veni project 'A Telling Story' (started 2020) set out to collect a large number of stories told by children aged 4-12 and extract features relevant to ‘fictional minds’ using computational techniques. This fuelled new ways in which the development of (advanced) social intelligence can be modelled and understood across primary-school ages. In addition, I am part of the NWO Zwaartekracht 'Hybrid Intelligence' and the 'AI4Oversight' ICAI Lab.
My work is published in English and Dutch, in scholarly as well as popular venues. In 2023 I was elected as a member of De Jonge Academy, the early-career chapter of the Dutch Royal Academy of Sciences (KNAW), where I am co-chair of the Science & Society track and member of the Generative AI in Research & Education theme group.
Previously, I was a blogger for Faces of Science: facesofscience.
Assistant professor
- Faculty of Science
- Leiden Inst of Advanced Computer Science
- Meulen R. van der, Verbrugge L.C. & Duijn M.J. van (2025), Towards properly implementing Theory of Mind in AI systems: An account of four misconceptions. arXiv. [working paper].
- Meulen R. van der, Verbrugge L.C. & Duijn M.J. van (2025), Towards Properly Implementing Theory of Mind in Artificial Intelligence: An Account of Four Frequent Misconceptions. AAAI - Theory of Mind for AI Workshop, Philadelphia. 3 March 2025 - 3 March 2025. [conference poster].
- Meulen R. van der, Verbrugge L.C. & Duijn M.J. van (2025), Finding Common Ground: Comparing Two Models of Social Intelligence. AAAI - Theory of Mind for AI Workshop, Philadelphia. 3 March 2025 - 3 March 2025. [conference poster].
- Dijk B.M.A. van, Duijn M.J. van, Kloostra L., Spruit M.R. & Beekhuizen B. (2024), Using a language model to unravel semantic development in children’s use of a Dutch perception verb. Zock M., Chersoni E., Hsu Y.Y. & De Deyne S. (Eds.), Proceedings of the Workshop on cognitive aspects of the lexicon (CogaLex@LREC-COLING 2024). Proceedings of the Workshop on Cognitive Aspects of the Lexicon @ LREC-COLING 2024 20 May 2024 - 20 May 2024: ELRA Language Resources Association (ELRA). 98–106.
- Meulen A. van der, Verbrugge L.C. & Duijn M.J. van (2024), Common ground provides a mental shortcut in agent-agent interaction. Lorig F., Tucker J., Lindström A.D., Dignum F., Murukannaiah P., Theodoru A. & Yolum P. (Eds.), HHAI 2024: Hybrid Human AI systems for the social good. Hybrid Human-Artificial Intelligence 2024 10 June 2024 - 14 June 2024. Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence and Applications no. 386: IOS Press. 281-290.
- Dijk B.M.A. van, Spruit M.R. & Duijn M.J. van (2023), Theory of mind in freely-told children’s narratives: a classification approach. Rogers A., Boyd-Graber J. & Okazaki N. (Eds.), Findings of the Association for Computational Linguistics: ACL 2023. Association for Computational Linguistics 9 July 2023 - 13 July 2023. Toronto: Assocation for Computational Linguistics. 12979-12993.
- Dijk B.M.A. van, Duijn M.J. van, Verberne S. & Spruit M. (2023), ChiSCor: a corpus of freely-told fantasy stories by Dutch children for computational linguistics and cognitive science. Jing J., Reitter D. & Deng S. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 27th Conference on Computational Natural Language Learning (CoNLL). 27th Conference on Computational Natural Language Learning (CoNLL) 6 December 2023 - 7 December 2023. Singapore: Association for Computational Linguistics. 352–363.
- Dijk B.M.A. van, Kouwenhoven T., Spruit M. & Duijn M.J. van (2023), Large language models: the need for nuance in current debates and a pragmatic perspective on understanding. Bouamor H., Pino J. & Bali K. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 2023 Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing. 2023 Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing 6 December 2023 - 10 December 2023. Singapore: Association for Computational Linguistics. 12641–12654.
- Duijn M.J. van, Dijk B.M.A. van, Kouwenhoven T., Valk W. de, Spruit M. & Putten P.W.H. van der (2023), Theory of mind in large language models: examining performance of 11 state-of-the-art models vs. children aged 7-10 on advanced tests. Jiang J., Reitter D. & Deng S. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 27th Conference on Computational Natural Language Learning (CoNLL). 27th Conference on Computational Natural Language Learning (CoNLL) 6 December 2023 - 7 December 2023. Singapore: Association for Computational Linguistics. 389–402.
- Visser M., Duijn M.J. van, Tong S. & Lamers M.H. (2022), Love language: dating app biographies as indicator for mate choice criteria. European Human Behaviour & Evolution Association (EHBEA) Annual Conference 2022, Leipzig. 19 April 2022 - 22 April 2022. [conference poster].
- Duijn M.J. van, Dijk B.M.A. van & Spuit M.R. (2022), Looking from the inside: how children render character’s perspectives in freely told fantasy stories. Clark E., Brahman F. & Iyyer M. (Eds.), ACL Proceedings of the 4th workshop of narrative understanding (WNU2022). . Seattle 66-76.
- Dijk B.M.A. van & Duijn M.J. van (2021), Modelling characters’ mental depth in stories told by children aged 4-10. In: Proceedings of the annual meeting of the cognitive science society. no. 43: The Cognitive Science Society. 2384-2391.
- Laakasuo M., Rotkirch A., Duijn M.J. van, Berg V., Jokela M., David-Barrett T., Miettinen A., Pearce E. & Dunbar R. (2020), Homophily in personality enhances group success among real-life friends, Frontiers in Psychology 11: 710.
- Duijn M. van, Preuss M., Spaiser V., Takes F.W. & Verberne S. (Eds.) (2020), Disinformation in Open Online Media. Lecture Notes in Computer Science no. 12259. Cham: Springer.
- Roele M., Ward J. & Duijn M.J. van (2020), Tweet with a smile: the selection and use of emoji on Twitter in the Netherlands and England, First Monday 25(4): .
- Mason C., Putten P.W.H. van der & Duijn M. van (2020), How identity and uncertainty affect online social influence. Duijn M.J. van, Preuss M., Spaiser V., Takes F. & Verberne S. (Eds.), Disinformation in open online media. Second Multidisciplinary International Symposium. MISDOOM 2020 26 October 2020 - 27 October 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science no. 12259. Cham: Springer. 174-190.
- Towns R.J., Gómez-Maureira M.A., Sommer K., Duijn M.J. van & Verhoef T. (2020), The evolution of spatial devices in gestural storytelling. Ravignani A., Barbieri C., Jadoul Y., Lattenkamp E., Martins M., Flaherty M., Mudd K., Little H. & Verhoef T. (Eds.), The Evolution of Language: Proceedings of the 13th International Conference (Evolang13) . 13th International Conference on the Evolution of Language (EvoLang13) 14 April 2020 - 17 April 2020. Nijmegen, The Netherlands: The Evolution of Language Conferences. 454-456.
- Duijn M.J. van & Verhagen A. (2019), Beyond triadic communication: a three-dimensional conceptual space for modeling intersubjectivity, Pragmatics and Cognition 25(2): 398-430.
- Duijn M.J. van & Verhagen A. (2019), Recursive embedding of viewpoints, irregularity, and the role for a flexible framework, Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA) 29(2): 198 - 225.
- Gómez Maureira M.A., Kniestedt I., Duijn M.J. van, Rieffe C. & Plaat A. (2019), Shinobi Valley: Studying curiosity for virtual spatial exploration through a video game. Arnedo J. & Nacke L.E. (Eds.), CHI PLAY '19 Extended Abstracts: Extended Abstracts of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play Companion Extended Abstracts. CHI Play'19. Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction 22 October 2019 - 25 October 2019: Association for Computing Machinery. 421–428.
- Peeperkorn M. Kouwenhoven T. Duijn M. van (2019), Displaced Grooming Events: An agent-based model investigating displaced social bonding activities. The Cogntition, Behavior & Evolution Network, Amsterdam. 14 November 2019 - 15 November 2019. [conference poster].
- Duijn M.J. van (2018), Readers’ Mindreading Challenges, and How They Can Inform Cognitive Science, Review of General Psychology 22(2): 188-198.
- Sophie Rust, Verhoef T. & Duijn M.J. van (2018), Transmission tales: the influence of “digital botox” (smoothened facial expressions) on story transmission in a Chinese‐whisper experiment. .
- Kubernátová P., Friedjungová M. & Duijn M.J. van (2018), Knowledge at First Glance: A Model for a Data Visualization Recommender System Suited for Non-expert Users. Bernardino J. & Quix C. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Data Science, Technology and Applications. 7th International Conference on Data Science, Technology and Applications 26 July 2018 - 28 July 2018 no. 1. Porto, Portugal: SCITEPRESS. 208-219.
- Rotkirch A., Duijn M.J. van & Laakasuo M. (2017), What are male coalitions good for? Sociosexual attitudes predict formation of male (but not female) groups in a real-world sample. European Human Behaviour & Evolution Association (EHBEA) Annual Conference, Paris. 6 April 2017 - 8 April 2017. [conference poster].
- Duijn M.J. van (9 January 2017), Navigating the intentional world: stories, viewpoints, and social cognition. A History of Distributed Cognition: University of Edinburgh. [blog entry].
- Duijn M.J. van (2016), The lazy mindreader: why we rarely have to process embedded intentional states. [conference poster].
- Duijn M.J. van (2016), Van binnenuit bekeken Gedachtenlezen en ingebedde perspectieven in Mrs Dalloway en De maagd Marino, Tijdschrift voor Nederlandse Taal- en Letterkunde 132(4): 383-400.
- Duijn M.J. van & Verhagen Arie (2016), Language, intersubjectivity, and recursive mindreading (Societas Linguistics Europaea/SLE, 43rd annual meeting, Napels, Italy). Societas Linguistica Europaea, 43rd annual meeting.
- Duijn M.J. van (2016), Processing embedded intentional states in literary fiction. .
- Duijn M.J. van (20 April 2016), The lazy mindreader : a humanities perspective on mindreading and multiple-order intentionality (Dissertatie, Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University). Supervisor(s): Sluiter I. & Verhagen A.
- Pearce E., Launay J., Duijn M.J. van, Rotkirch A., David-Barrett T. & Dunbar R.I.M. (2016), Singing together or apart: The effect of competitive and cooperative singing on social bonding within and between sub-groups of a university Fraternity, Psychology of Music : 1-19.
- Duijn M.J. van, Sluiter I. & Verhagen A. (2015), When narrative takes over: the representation of embedded mindstates in Shakespeare's Othello, Language and Literature 24(2): 148-166.
- Duijn M.J. van (2015), Lezen en gedachtenlezen. Verbetert literatuur ons inlevingsvermogen?, Vooys: tijdschrift voor letteren 33(3): .
- Launay J., Pearce E., Wlodarski R., Duijn M. van, Carney J. & Dunbar R.I.M. (2015), Higher-order mentalising and executive functioning, Personality and Individual Differences (86): 6-14.
- Duijn M.J. van, Sluiter I. & Verhagen Arie (2015), When Narrative Takes Over. Mindreading and Multiple-Order Intentionality in Shakespeare's Othello, Language and Literature 24(2): 148–166.
- Duijn M.J. van (2014), Het laatste stukje vlees doorknippen. Schaamstreekgeweld in Yves Petry's De maagd Marino. In: Honings R.A.M., Jensen L. & Marion O. van (Eds.), Schokkende boeken. Amsterdam: Verloren. 97-104.
- Duijn M.J. van (2014), Linguistic tools for mindreading? Representation of multiple-order intentionality in language. FENS Social Brain Conference 5 October 2014 - 8 October 2014.
- Duijn M.J. van, Rotkirch A., David-Barrett T., Jokela M. & Dunbar R.I.M. (2014), Multiple-Order Intentionality Revisited. European Human Behaviour & Evolution Association (EHBEA) Annual Conference 6 April 2014 - 9 April 2014.
- Duijn M.J. van (2013), Communication and Processing of Mixed-Viewpoint Situations: Ready-Mades versus Online Constructions. International Cognitive Linguistics Conference (ICLC).
- Beekhuizen B.F. & Duijn M.J. van (2013), Packaged and Ready-to-Go: Linguistic Tools for Communication and Mental Processing. International Cognitive Linguistics Conference (ICLC).
- Sluiter I., Corthals B., Duijn M.J. van & Verheij M.J.O. (2013), In het hoofd van Medea. Gedachtenlezen bij een moordende moeder, Lampas: Tijdschrift voor Nederlandse classici 46(1): 3-20.
- Duijn M.J. van (2012), Ik hoor het galmen in de 21e eeuw! De Procedure: strijd met God. In: Fagel S., Francken E. & Honings R.A.M. (Eds.), Strijd! Polemiek en conflict in de Nederlandse letteren. Leiden: Leiden University Press.
- Duijn M.J. van (2012), Reading Minds. (Re)Presentation of Multiple-Order Intentionality in Narrative. Conceptual Structure, Discourse, and Language (CSDL) Conference.
- Duijn M.J. van (2012), Reading Minds. Narrative and Multiple-Order Intentionality. (Poster). European Human Behaviour & Evolution Association (EHBEA) Annual Conference.
- Duijn M.J. van (2012), Bloed aan de handen van Alfred Issendorf, Arabian Humanities 175(4): 22-25.
- Duijn M.J. van (2011), Moord in Nooit meer Slapen?, Nieuw Letterkundig Magazijn 29(2): 62-68.
- Algemeen lid & co-voorzitter trace Wetenschap & Samenleving
- Onderzoeker/mede-initiatiefnemer