Two Psychologists Four Beers

Alexa and Yoel discuss the much trodden topic of implicit bias from a less trodden perspective: that of the general public. Offering insight into the public's views is a paper by Jeffrey Yen, Kevin Durrheim, and Romin Tafarodi, which explores public thinking about the implicit association test (IAT) through an examination of the New York Times comments section. These comments demonstrate varying reactions to the idea that negative associations with some identities - racial and otherwise - can bubble beneath the surface of our explicit attitudes. Some dismiss the IAT as "academic abstraction," while others see their scores as an opportunity for confession, or even absolution. Still others embrace the role of troll, a topic foreshadowed by our discussion of the proposed overhauling of New College of Florida.Links:Two Psychologists Four Beers on Untappd'I'm happy to own my implicit biases': Public encounters with the implicit association test - PubMedThe Bias of Individuals (in Crowds): Why Implicit Bias Is Probably a Noisily Measured Individual-Level Construct - Paul Connor, Ellen R. K. Evers, 2020Project ImplicitOpinion | DeSantis Allies Plot the Hostile Takeover of a Liberal College - The New York TimesPascal Comelade & Les Limiñanas - T.B. JerK +++ - YouTube

Yoel and special guest Rachel Hartman discuss the recent ouster of Klaus Fiedler, the former Editor in Chief of the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science, over allegations of racism and abuse of power. They try to untangle a complicated story of peer review gone awry, explain the dueling open letters condemning and supporting Fiedler, and critically evaluate the allegations against him as well as the process that led to his dismissal as EIC. Along the way, they also talk about wine spritzers and journal prestige.Special Guest: Rachel Hartman.Links:Two Psychologists Four Beers on UntappdMore of a Comment Than a QuestionDealing with Diversity in Psychology: Science and Ideology (Roberts, 2022)Dealing with diversity in psychology: Science or ideology? (Hommel, 2022)Diversity is Diverse: Social Justice Reparations and Science (Jussim, 2022)Letter to APS calling for Fiedler to be firedLetter to APS calling for due processAPS Statements in Response to Concerns About Editorial Practices at Perspectives on Psychological ScienceJoachim Krueger's Resignation LettersInterventions to reduce partisan animosity | Nature Human BehaviourYeah Yeah Yeahs - Burning (Official Video) - YouTube

In a recent article, psychologists Webb and Tangney document their experience collecting psychology data online using Amazon's crowdsourcing platform MTurk. Alarmingly, the authors conclude that ultimately only 2.6% of their sample was valid data from human beings. Yoel and Alexa weigh in on these findings, discussing what researchers can reasonably expect from online studies and platforms, and how their personal experiences have informed their own practices. They also consider a response written by Cuskley and Sulik, who argue that researchers, not recruitment platforms, are responsible for ensuring the quality of data collected online. Questions that arise include: What studies do people want to do? Does anyone read the fine print? And what are the ethics of mouse-hunting?Links:Two Psychologists Four Beers on UntappdToo Good to Be True: Bots and Bad Data From Mechanical Turk - Margaret A. Webb, June P. Tangney, 2022PsyArXiv Preprints | The burden for high-quality online data collection lies with researchers, not recruitment platformsLiving in Harmony with House Mice and Rats | PETA

Yoel and Alexa are joined by Spencer Greenberg, founder of the behavioral science startup incubator Spark Wave and host of the Clearer Thinking podcast. He describes how he became fascinated with psychology and behavior change, and how he's been working to provide empirically-backed strategies for everday tasks, like making decisions or forming habits. He also offers an alternative perspective on open science, arguing that a phenomenon he calls "importance hacking" has been overshadowed by p-hacking in calls for science reform. Greenberg further challenges the Alexa and Yoel to consider whether the "open scientist" will fall short of what can only be achieved by the truly "inspired scientist." Finally, Spenccer has a major project in the works, and he gives us the honor of the big reveal.Special Guest: Spencer Greenberg.Links:Two Psychologists Four Beers on UntappdHow Much Alcohol Is in Kombucha? | Revolution FermentationCareer science, open science, and inspired science (with Alexa Tullett) | Clearer Thinking with Spencer GreenbergTransparent ReplicationsHome | Clearer Thinking with Spencer GreenbergFree Courses for Decision Making And Reasoning - ClearerThinking.orgPositly: Study Participant Recruitment for Research, Surveys, ExperimentsGuidedTrack – GuidedTrackRooks - YouTube

With grad school application deadlines around the corner, Alexa and Yoel discuss how, exactly, that process works. Big picture, they talk about their goals in selecting graduate students to work on their labs, and whether they've gotten good at the process. They also examine typical application requirements - including recommendation letters, personal statements, GPAs, and (sometimes) the GRE - and consider which they'd keep, and which they'd prefer to never deal with again.Links:Two Psychologists F. on UntappdMastodon - Decentralized social mediaMastodon - WikipediaTwo Psychologists Four Beers Episode 32: Measurement Schmeasurement (with Jessica Flake)A wave of graduate programs drops the GRE application requirement | Science | AAAS

Yoel and Alexa discuss a recent paper, written by Hughes, Srivastava, Leszko, and Condon, that created and validated a new index of "occupational prestige." The index is intended to provide a tool to measure the third component of socioeconomic status, alongside income and education. The cohosts consider how occupational prestige might lead to differential treatment, or even unrealistic expectations ("is anyone in this hotel a doctor?"). Digging deeper, they discuss the paper's exploration of ways that prestige tracks with the physical, critical thinking, and interpersonal demands of a profession. Finally, they realize that as a "former social neuroscientist," Alexa hasn't been getting the respect she deserves.Links:Two Psychologists F. on UntappdPsyArXiv Preprints | Occupational Prestige: The Status Component of Socioeconomic StatusO*NET OnLineHercinia Arts Collective

Paul Bloom joins Yoel and Alexa to talk about the glamour and humiliation of teaching psychology at the college level. They discuss how they've changed their approaches to teaching over the years, and whether they've become more skilled or more out of touch (or both). Alexa shares her experiences teaching about morality and evolution to a predominantly Christian student body, Yoel laments the fact that his students aren't more disagreeable, and Paul claims that critical thinking is overrated. In an era of increasing remote instruction, they claim that online courses can't do what they do. But, only Yik Yak knows for sure.Special Guest: Paul Bloom.Links:Two Psychologists F. on UntappdPaul Bloom's Teaching AdviceCareer science, open science, and inspired science (with Alexa Tullett) | Clearer Thinking with Spencer GreenbergTeacher (On FIlm) - YouTube

Inspired by a recent Atlantic article ("The Myth of Independent American Families" by Stephanie H. Murray) Alexa and Yoel consider what it means to live in an indiviualistic society. At an abstract level, they discuss different visions for interdependence, from communes to church communities to welfare states. On a more personal note, they reflect on ways that they depend on, and support, people in their families and communities, and whether it would be desirable to increase those levels of reliance. They also consider the domains of romantic relationships (should we feel like we're free to leave at any time?) and college education (how affordable should it be?). And, Yoel explains his beef with student loan forgiveness.Links:Two Psychologists F. on UntappdThe Myth of Independent American Families - The AtlanticThe Swedish Theory of LoveFees - Future Students. University of Toronto | University of TorontoCost of Attendance – Financial Aid | The University of Alabama

Yoel and Alexa are joined by Stefan Uddenberg, a social perception researcher and author of the paper "Deep Models of Superficial Face Judgments." This paper was the focus of a previous episde - "A Face for Podcasting" - in which the co-hosts discussed the research, and the resulting controversy. Now, Stefan offers a new, insider perspective. He begins by offering a deeper explanation of the work, noting that a large, diverse set of facial images, is essential for studying how people are unfairly judged based on appearance (e.g., their race and gender). He also recounts the outrage on Twitter and somehow finds lessons to be learned from even the harshest and most misinformed attacks. In an unexpected twist, Yoel and Alexa discover Stefan's hidden talent.Special Guest: Stefan Uddenberg.Links:Two Psychologists F. on UntappdStefan UddenbergDeep models of superficial face judgments | PNASReflections on ML models of first impressions | by Alex, Jordan, Josh, Stefan & Tom | MediumIn the Air - YouTube

As the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) starts gearing up for their 2023 conference, Alexa and Yoel debate some of the organization's recent efforts to be more anti-racist and politically engaged. First, the co-hosts discuss debate over moving the conference from its originally scheduled location (Atlanta, Georgia) due to the state's restrictive abortion laws. They consider how boycotting (or, as SPSP ultimately decided, not boycotting) fits with the organization's mission and identity. Second, they examine SPSP's new submission evaluation criteria, which reward submissions for promoting equity, inclusion, and anti-racism. Yoel and Alexa are largely divided on both topics, but Yoel provides at least one improvement they can agree on.Links:Two Psychologists Four Beers on UntappdDemonstrating Our Commitment to Anti-Racism Through Programming and Events | Society for Personality and Social PsychologySPSP Diversity StatisticsGeorgia's strict abortion law could take effect soon. Here's what the law does. - Georgia RecorderViews on whether abortion should be legal, and in what circumstances, in U.S. | Pew Research CenterStacey Abrams Urges Hollywood to Stay and Fight Anti-Abortion Laws in GeorgiaWe Didn't Start the Fire - YouTube