The Behavioral science response to COVID-19 Working Group: Recommendations to increase social distancing

We are all bombarded with the message that we should practice social distancing, but each of us has likely seen striking violations of the goal. What can behavioral sciences uniquely contribute? The recommendations detailed in the infographic and video below were made by the Behavioral Science Response to COVID-19 Working Group. The goal of the […]

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Interview with Jennifer Coane about the memorability of tweets

Jennifer Coane and I chatted about how her life as an academic has changed as a result of COVID-19, her recent paper with Kimberly Bourne, Sarah Boland, and Grace Arnold (pictured below) published in Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, and what the results of that research may mean during these challenging times. The paper is called “Reading […]

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COVID-19: Does the British public condone cell phone data being used to monitor social distancing?

Coronavirus aka COVID-19 aka severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the cause of the current pandemic that has turned our world upside down. This virus does not discriminate between who will be infected nor who will succumb to it. At the time of writing this blog, there are approximately 1.5 million cases, over […]

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Interview with Jonathon Crystal about reducing face touches to reduce COVID-19 spread

Jonathon Crystal and I met online to talk about the first set of recommendations – to reduce face touching – made by the Behavioral Science Response to COVID-19 Working Group. Our hands are disease vectors, so by reducing the times we touch our faces, we reduce the chances of transferring the virus from our hands to […]

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A recipe for moving your physical lab to the online lab

As I write this post, the coronavirus continues to spread across the world. In response, governments have put in place recommendations to self-isolate, create social (physical) distancing, or imposed flat-out lockdowns. One obvious implication for psychological researchers is that we can no longer conduct experiments face-to-face in our labs. Many of us have therefore been […]

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COVID-19: What can we do now?

There’s much talk about no longer doing “business as usual.” As scientists who have the potential to contribute to reducing the spread of COVID-19, how do we change our ways of doing “science as usual” to rapidly, and responsibly, disseminate information to policymakers and the public? Hahn, Lagnado, Lewandowsky, and Chater (pictured below) recently wrote a […]

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The Behavioral Science Response to COVID-19 Working Group: Recommendations to reduce face touching

Human behavior plays a large role in the spread of coronavirus. Behavioral scientists are therefore a unique resource for changing human behavior in ways that can reduce the spread, including social distancing, handwashing, and face touching.  Reduce face touching Research has shown that we touch our faces far more often than we may realize, about 23 times […]

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CR:PI Special Issue announcement: Interview with Guest Editor Lauren Williams

I talk with Lauren Williams about the announcement of an upcoming Special Issue. Transcription Intro Curley: You’re listening to All Things Cognition, a Psychonomic Society podcast. Interview Mickes: Hi Lauren. Thanks for talking to me. Williams: Hi Laura. Mickes: So you’re going to be a Guest Editor for a Special Issue in the journal Cognitive Research Principles and Implications […]

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L&B Special Issue: Interview with Stephen Lea Part 2

My interview with Professor Stephen Lea continues. If you missed Part 1, go here before proceeding. My interview with Professor Stephen Lea continues. Transcription Intro Persaud: You’re listening to All Things Cognition, a Psychonomic Society podcast. Now, here is your host, Laura Mickes. Preface Mickes: Welcome back to my interview with Professor Stephen Lea. If you haven’t listened […]

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Perfecting the profane: Finding the recipe to the best bad words

Warning: Some of the words in this post may be considered offensive. One beauty of the English language is the seemingly infinite possibilities when it comes to making new words. People seem to get especially creative when they’re coming up with new phrases for insults and curse words—the type of language that tends to be […]

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