We’re excited to welcome Anthony Cruz (pictured below) as the Psychonomic Society’s newest Science Communication intern! Over the next six months, Anthony will collaborate with our Digital Content team, writing insightful posts on research conducted by our members and published in the Society’s journals. We’re thrilled to have Anthony on board and look forward to sharing his work with you!
What’s your area of research?
At any given moment, your brain is receiving an enormous amount of sensory information, so much so that it could easily become overwhelming. Luckily, our brains make this information manageable by identifying patterns and sorting things into categories. If we see a furry, four-legged animal outside, our brains can quickly identify it as a dog, cat, or something else entirely just based on the way it looks. This process of categorization allows us to make inferences. If you categorize the animal as a dog, you can infer that it is friendly and playful, as dogs tend to be. Conversely, if you categorize the animal as a cat, you know to approach carefully as they tend to be shy around strangers.
Categorization is essential to all kinds of tasks. For example, a dermatologist must classify skin lesions, broadly speaking, as benign or melanoma. They can’t just memorize these labels; they need to be able to generalize to classify never-before-seen skin lesions. My primary area of research is in how we learn to categorize things and how we can optimize that process. In my master’s thesis, I examined whether distributed, smartphone-based category training would be beneficial to learners; this is a line of research that I am continuing to develop. For my dissertation, I am examining whether category generalization benefits from metacognitive reactivity, a learning enhancement that is often seen when people are prompted to reflect on their learning.
What’s the most exciting concept in cognitive science?
Since the release of ChatGPT, artificial intelligence has been a hot topic in cognitive science. It represents a huge step towards artificial intelligence that can act like a human, and I find that very exciting. A good artificial intelligence could be used to simulate the results of behavioral experiments; it would be very exciting to use something like this in my research! It also brings to mind the movie Blade Runner, where the difficulty in distinguishing between humans and artificial intelligences is a central plot point. The mind is so fascinating, and I think artificial intelligence is making it possible to ask increasingly interesting questions about the mind.
What’s the most critical unsolved challenge or unanswered question for cognitive scientists?
Rene Descartes believed that the mind and the body were distinct entities, but modern cognitive science suggests they are deeply interconnected. Our bodies influence everything from our perception to our memory and decision-making. We learn the meanings of words by associating them with sensory experiences, and seemingly irrelevant motor movements can become deeply intertwined with information that we have learned. Even beyond this idea of embodied cognition, feelings like depression and anxiety are connected to neurons in the gut. The mind-body connection is a huge puzzle. We’re starting to put together pieces of that puzzle, but I think we have a lot to learn about how intricately interconnected our minds and bodies are.
What drew you to science communication?
The value of science communication cannot be overstated. As scientists, we want our work to have impact. It doesn’t matter how good my research is if nobody ever sees it. To some extent, I think every scientist is a science communicator.
In a more personal sense, I am drawn to science communication because I love public speaking. I feel energized when I am presenting my research to an audience or teaching a new concept to a student. This feeling drew me to get involved with GradCast, a podcast that highlights graduate student research at Western University. I joined the editorial board in July 2023 and have hosted and/or produced over two dozen episodes ever since. It feels really good to get people talking about their passions, and to get to share those passions with a broader audience. I am very excited to get to do this now with the Psychonomic Society!
Is there anything else you want us to know about you?
I am a huge gamer, and I have been for most of my life. The first game I remember playing was Pokémon FireRed version, and I could not get enough. Over two decades later, I believe I can still name every Pokémon on sight. I love older games like Spyro the Dragon and the Legend of Zelda, as well as some more modern games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Octopath Traveler. Gaming is my favorite way to decompress when I’m feeling worn down after a long day at the University.
