It has been pointed out that the scientific literature on human cognition and behavior is based primarily on data from Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) societies. This situation is unlikely to change, given that most researchers do not have the training or the funding necessary to study non-WEIRD populations. In addition, some researchers […]
Digital Event
(This post was co-authored with Almas Talib) Over the last ten years, many British universities have increased their efforts to attract Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) students. But seduced by the idea that fair access to higher education would automatically translate into equal opportunities, only some institutions have followed-up on their BME students’ progression rates […]
Next week’s #PSD&I Digital Event is dedicated to diversity and inclusion, broadly defined, and how it relates to all aspects of the activities of the Psychonomic society and its members. The Psychonomic Society is committed to diversity and inclusion, as stated on its webpage: “Most scientists in psychological research agree that diversity, both ethnic and […]
I recently finished reading Suzanne Buffam’s, A Pillow Book. This is a book of non-fiction poetry about thoughts and musings that may enter the mind as one drifts off to sleep, ranging from the historical consideration of pillows to comprehensive lists of sleeping aids. I’ve spent more than a few nights drifting off to sleep considering […]
One of the unique features of Bayesian statistical and computational modelling is the prior distribution. A prior distribution is both conceptually and formally necessary to do any sort of Bayesian modelling. If we are estimating the values of model parameters (e.g., regression coefficients), we do this by updating our prior beliefs about the parameter values […]
I see four benefits to the use of Bayesian inference: Inclusion of prior information. Regularization. Handling models with many parameters or latent variables. Propagation of uncertainty. Another selling point is a purported logical coherence – but I don’t really buy that argument so I’ll forget that, just as I’ll also set aside philosophical objections against […]
The #BayesInPsych Digital Event kicked off yesterday and as the leading Guest Editor of the special issue of Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, I take this opportunity to provide more context for this week’s posts. The simple act of deciding which among competing theories is most likely—or which is most supported by the data—is the most […]
Your brilliant PhD student ran an experiment last week that investigated whether chanting the words “unicorns, Brexit, fairies” repeatedly every morning before dawn raises people’s estimates of the likelihood that they will win the next lottery in comparison to a control group that instead chants “reality, reality, reality”. The manipulation seems to have worked, as […]
Rolling down a hill in a park in Ottawa, Canada, with my 12 year old son and 9 year old daughter. Climbing in trees to play Barbie vs. GI Joe with my brother when we were 10 and 8. Pretending the couch is a small raft in a dangerous river of lava that required jumping […]
The special issue on the evolution and psychological significance of play in Learning and Behavior covers multiple topics, species, and ages and is most welcome. I hope the issue and thoughtful papers receive the attention that they deserve. With the great influx of research interest in play over the last 20 years, some of the […]