Stanford Psychology Podcast

This week, Enna chats with Dr. Jenna Wells, a professor in the Department of Psychology at Cornell University. Jenna’s research examines how emotion in close relationships contributes to mental and physical health over the life course, with a focus on late life. She is particularly interested in positive interpersonal processes and their associations with long-term health and well-being in individuals and dyads.In our conversation, Jenna shares her journey from aspiring therapist to emotion researcher, the story behind how she began to study positivity resonance, and what we can all do to navigate conflict with warmth and cultivate more emotional connection in our lives.Jenna’s Website: https://psychology.cornell.edu/jenna-wellsJenna’s Twitter: @JennaLWellsJenna’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennalwells Jenna’s Paper: https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000385 Enna’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ennayuxuanchen/ Enna’s Twitter: @EnnaYuxuanChenPodcast Contact: stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com Podcast Twitter: @StanfordPsyPodPodcast Substack: https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/ Podcast Contact: stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com 

In this engaging conversation, Dr. Dorsa Amir, an Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University, explores how culture shapes cognition. She introduces a groundbreaking framework with four pathways of cultural influence on cognitive processes. Dorsa discusses the surprising ways cultural contexts affect perception and memory, emphasizing the importance of language and technology. Her unique blend of anthropology and cognitive science sheds light on cognitive adaptability, challenging notions of universal experiences in visual illusions.

Eric chats with 2024 Nobel Laureate Geoffrey Hinton and Stanford Professor Jay McClelland, two pioneers who have spent nearly half a century laying the groundwork for modern-day AI, advancing research on neural networks long before it captured the world's imagination.In fact, their early work faced significant skepticism from the scientific community - an experience they candidly discuss in this episode. This wide-ranging conversation covers everything from the capabilities of recent breakthrough LLMS like DeepSeek to AI agents, the nature of memory and confabulation, the challenges to aligning AI with human values when we humans don’t even agree on our values, and Geoff's fascinating new theory of language, featuring an analogy of words as thousand-dimensional, shape-shifting Lego blocks with hands.Geoff, who retired in 2023, divided his time between the University of Toronto and Google DeepMind. With numerous accolades including the 2018 Turing Award and 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics, he is perhaps best known for co-developing the backpropagation algorithm - now a cornerstone of AI research. Jay, currently at Stanford and Google DeepMind, has revolutionized our understanding of human learning through his work on Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP), applying neural network principles to understand phenomena like language acquisition. His insights into human learning have profoundly influenced how we understand machine learning.Their friendship dates back to the late 1970s and grew stronger as both collaborated with fellow pioneer David Rumelhart. They share some touching memories about Dave in this episode. Remarkably, despite decades of friendship and building upon each other's work, this appears to be their first recorded conversation together. Eric challenged them to discuss their latest insights and disagreements.This episode was recorded on January 29, 2025.JOIN OUR SUBSTACK! Stay up to date with the pod and become part of the ever-growing community! https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/If you found this episode interesting at all, consider leaving us a good rating! It just takes a second but will allow us to reach more people and make them excited about psychology.Links:Geoff's websiteGeoff's Google ScholarJay's websiteJay's Google ScholarEric's websiteEric's X @EricNeumannPsyPodcast X @StanfordPsyPodPodcast Substack https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/Let us know what you think of this episode, or of the podcast! stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com

In a captivating discussion, Dr. Alex Shaw, an Associate Professor at the University of Chicago, delves into the complexities of morality and neutrality in social behavior. His research reveals that staying neutral in political disputes can often lead to perceptions of distrust, as observers may view it as strategic deception. The conversation also touches on child development's role in shaping moral concepts, the dynamics of friendship among children, and offers insightful advice for PhD applicants on aligning research interests with mentors.

Marginalia Episode is a collaboration between the Stanford Psychology Podcast and Marginalia Science. Marginalia Science is a community committed to promoting work of scholars who are traditionally underrepresented in academia. Their mission really resonated with our values at the Stanford Psychology Podcast.In each Marginalia Episode, we feature a guest who has been featured in the Marginalia Science Monthly Newsletter. In this episode, Enna chats with Professor Erica Bailey at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. Erica broadly studies the construct of authenticity, asking questions like, how do we know who we are? When do we feel the most like ourselves? Why do we often fail, despite our best efforts, to share our inner world with others? In this episode, we discuss her recent paper on how self-perceptions influence subjective authenticity. To learn more about Erica, you can read the Marginalia Science Newsletter below.Episode on Marginalia Science: https://www.stanfordpsychologypodcast.com/episodes/episode/7927b876/104-special-episode-marginalia-scienceMarginalia Newsletter featuring Erica: https://substack.com/home/post/p-153969383 Erica’s Paper: https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/9tc27 Erica’s Website: https://sites.google.com/view/ericarbailey Erica’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erica-bailey-ph-d-22038172/ Erica’s Twitter: @ericarbaileyEnna’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ennayuxuanchen/ Enna’s Twitter: @EnnaYuxuanChenPodcast Twitter: @StanfordPsyPodPodcast Substack: https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/ Podcast Contact: stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com

In this engaging discussion, Sandra Matz, an Associate Professor of Business at Columbia Business School and author of "Mindmasters," explores how AI and big data are reshaping our understanding of human behavior. She delves into the implications of AI on personal identity and privacy, addressing concerns about algorithmic targeting and echo chambers. Sandra also introduces innovative concepts like federated learning and data co-ops, emphasizing the need for collaborative data management to enhance privacy while harnessing AI's potential in areas like mental health and social connections.

In this engaging conversation, Dr. Casey Kenyon Brown, a Georgetown University Psychology Professor, dives into how our relationships shape our emotions and mental health. She discusses her journey in psychology and shares insights on empathic accuracy in close relationships. The conversation highlights the dual impact of emotional sharing, especially in caregiving scenarios, and the challenges faced in understanding relational dynamics. Casey also emphasizes the importance of emotional support, particularly for aging populations, revealing how interpersonal processes can influence well-being.

Adani chats with Kate Petrova, one of the first hosts of the Stanford Psychology Podcast and a fourth-year Ph.D. student in psychology at Stanford University. In this special episode from our Meet the Host series, Kate shares her journey into research and science communication, and how she grappled with the ups and downs of graduate school! She also discusses the value and challenges of interdisciplinarity, what affective science is and could look like in the future, and what most excites her about that picture!If you found this episode interesting at all, subscribe on our Substack and consider leaving us a good rating! It just takes a second but will allow us to reach more people and make them excited about psychology.Kate’s website: https://www.kpetrova.com/homeKate’s twitter: @kate_ptrvKate’s paper on The Future of Emotion Regulation Research: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42761-023-00222-0 Kate’s first episode with her advisor, Dr. James Gross: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4pSGtdQmywj2ubmFAeaDL5?si=1ZFsw45OQGKvWClAG6VYQgAdani’s website: https://www.adaniabutto.comAdani’s Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/adani.bsky.socialPodcast Twitter @StanfordPsyPodPodcast Substack Stanford Psychology PodcastLet us know what you thought of this episode, or of the podcast! :) stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com

In this discussion, Michael Schwalbe, a postdoctoral fellow focused on political news biases, and Geoff Cohen, a psychology professor studying belonging and self-concept, tackle the fascinating interplay between politics and truth. They highlight how individuals often prioritize politically aligned news over factual accuracy, a tendency amplified by social media. The conversation dives into the implications for democracy and explores ways to combat misinformation. Their insights urge greater self-awareness and critical thinking in an increasingly polarized media landscape.

Adani chats with Dr. Julia Chatain, Senior Scientist at the Singapore-ETH Centre of ETH Zürich. Julia is a computer scientist and learning scientist responsible for building a new research program, “Future Embodied Learning Technologies” (FELT), focusing on exploring AI-powered embodied learning interventions to support low-progress learners and learners with special needs, both at the cognitive and the affective levels. Before that, she led the EduTech group at ETH Zürich, conducting Research and Development of educational technology through co-design with lecturers and students, with a focus on XR, AI-supported learning, and accessibility.In this episode, Adani and Julia discuss Julia’s recent work on embodied learning in mathematics, much of which was part of her doctoral research at ETH Zürich conducted with her advisors Prof. Manu Kapur and Prof. Robert Sumner. They also dive into her journey that led her to where she is now, and discuss what she is currently working on at the Singapore-ETH Centre and beyond!If you found this episode interesting at all, subscribe on our Substack and consider leaving us a good rating! It just takes a second but will allow us to reach more people and make them excited about psychology.Julia’s website: https://juliachatain.com/Julia’s paper on Grounding Graph Theory in Embodied Concreteness with VR: https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000583039 Singapore-ETH Centre’s website: https://sec.ethz.ch/Julia’s Twitter @JuliaChatainAdani’s website: https://www.adaniabutto.com/Adani’s Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/adani.bsky.social Podcast Twitter @StanfordPsyPodPodcast Substack https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/Let us know what you thought of this episode, or of the podcast! :)stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com