Digital Event

From “man’s best friend” to “bad dogs”: The broad spectrum of #caninecog

This post was co-authored by Ludwig Huber. We were guest editors of a special issue of Learning & Behavior that is entirely devoted to the cognitive (and sensory) abilities of dogs (Canis lupus familiaris). The articles can be accessed from this landing page for free until 31 December 2018. As far as we know, apart […]

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The English love dogs—but do they own (m)any?

I live on an island that is famous for quite a few things, among them the apparent love affair between its human and canine inhabitants. According to an English journalist writing for a mainstream newspaper, “Many Englishmen reserve their deepest feelings for dogs and other dumb beasts.” (Her words, not mine). According to another journalist, […]

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#PSDiversityandInclusion: “Congrats, you have an all male panel!”

Academics by and large — at least, in my experience — strongly endorse norms of gender equality. The Psychonomic Society in particular has adopted a statement endorsing diversity and inclusion, which includes the explicit goal of “[w]ork[ing] towards strong representation in all aspects of the Society…that are not only gender balanced, but includes underrepresented groups.” […]

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#PSDiversityandInclusion: “I would like to address the cultural bias in scientific research”

Even before I began my studies in psychology back in 2006, I have always been intrigued by the scientific research findings in the behavioral sciences. Back then I did not pay much attention to the sample characteristics on which those findings were based. Things changed when I had to write my bachelor and master’s theses, […]

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#PSDiversityandInclusion: How can we increase the representation of women at senior levels in Psychology?

One ongoing challenge for science concerns the poor representation of women in senior positions.  Women are underrepresented at full professor level in virtually all areas of science, in the USA, Europe, Canada—as we learned yesterday during this digital event—and around the world. The field of Psychology presents a particularly striking example of this disparity.  Students […]

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#PSDiversityandInclusion: Repairing the ruptured pipeline—the case of Canada

(This post was co-authored with Debra Titone) In most of today’s Psychology undergraduate classes, the majority of students are women. Thus, it seems reasonable to assume that many women are entering the “pipeline” to academic careers in psychology. Yet, as others have repeatedly documented, women are in the minority with respect to positions of leadership […]

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#PSDiversityandInclusion: Rigour, Replication, Reputation … and Gender

Although issues relating to replication and open science have received a great deal of recent attention, relatively little discussion has been devoted to how these issues intersect with considerations of diversity and inclusion.  In an earlier post, I argued that one reason that diversity is valuable in science is because it can introduce diversity of […]

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#PSDiversityandInclusion: De-WEIRDing our participant samples

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 […]

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#PSD&I Beyond Tokenism: Embracing Racial Diversity In Teaching Psychology  

(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 […]

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#PSD&I: Conversations about diversity and inclusion

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 […]

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