Lack of diversity in academia is driven by social search in academic networks: Some thoughts and what can be done about it

Social recall is a central part of our day-to-day lives. Whether we are thinking about who to invite to a housewarming party or to a wedding celebration, trying to remember the name of the mechanic who did such a good job with your car last summer, or which of your climbing buddies would be keen […]

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#WeNeedEDI digital event introduction

For the next two weeks, we are running a digital event called “#WeNeedEDI: Striving for equality, diversity, and inclusion throughout academics’ careers.” The event focuses on the experiences of underrepresented academics and potential ways to increase equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) as we go from early-career academics to emeriti.  The Psychonomic Society “recognizes the strategic […]

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Reducing the noise in scientific literature

Spoilers for Everything, Everywhere, All At Once: In the best movie of the year, protagonist Evelyn Wang (portrayed by the inimitable Michelle Yeoh) navigates, among many things, her taxes, complicated family dynamics, at least one raccoon, intense fight sequences (both kung fu and metaphorical in nature), and some unconventional uses of professional accolades in order […]

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From duck herding to pillow fighting: Making sense of observed action

If you’re like me, you’ve been busy trying out new hobbies in the last couple of years. Maybe you’ve taken up gardening, sculpting, hiking, or knitting. Or perhaps you’ve taken up a more unusual one: competitive duck herding, extreme ironing, ostrich racing, or worm charming. (Yes, these are all real activities!). But before you run […]

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Active and latent concerns about COVID-19 may affect your attention

In this episode of All Things Cognition, I interviewed Caitlin Sisk (pictured below). Caitlin took a break from wedding celebrations in Cape Cod to tell me about the research she and co-authors published recently in the Psychonomic Society journal, Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications (CRPI). To be clear, she was attending the wedding, not a star […]

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The Goldilocks zone of sample size: Getting it just right

“This chair is too big!” she exclaimed. So she sat in the second chair. “This chair is too big, too!” she whined. So she tried the last and smallest chair. “Ahhh, this chair is just right,” she sighed. But just as she settled down into the chair to rest, it broke into pieces! –  Southey […]

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Playing with words: How the Brysbaert lab developed a new battery of language tests

“The impious warbler delved into the paltry aperitif and anointed the pumice with ineffable rigmarole.” That’s a sentence with a lot of big words (and I hope it’s never been uttered before), but if you understood that I was referring to a nasty little bird that wiped some booze on a rock, then you may […]

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Neural processing of sarcasm – how’s that for a great title?

With the return of the sunny days of summer (save for our friends in the southern hemisphere), you might find yourself in a situation where, having invited your best friends for a barbecue, you forget the sausages on the grill and serve them, er, completely charred. Seeing the blackened meat, one of them snickers: “You’re […]

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Past and future memories about COVID from around the globe

In this podcast episode, I interview Sezin Öner about her paper published in Memory & Cognition. The paper reports research conducted collaboratively with 30 researchers from 15 countries around the world. Participants in those countries reported unusual national and global events during the first signs of the pandemic and what may occur in the future. The authors considered […]

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