Stanford Psychology Podcast

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 

In this engaging conversation, Dr. Susan Carey, Emeritus Professor at Harvard, shares her journey through the world of cognitive science. She discusses her groundbreaking research on how children’s concepts evolve and the importance of mentorship in academia. Susan reflects on the joys of retirement, contrasting the educational landscape of the 1960s with today's pressures. She also offers valuable advice for young scholars while emphasizing the need for academic freedom to explore complex ideas.

In a captivating discussion, Hal Hershfield, a renowned Professor of Marketing and Psychology at UCLA, delves into the intriguing connection between our present and future selves. He shares insights from his research on how our relationship with time influences decision-making and personal growth. Hal emphasizes practical strategies to achieve long-term goals and navigate life transitions, all while fostering a deeper awareness of intentional living. He also reflects on his unexpected career journey from psychology to applied business research.

Dr. Kelsey Lucca, an Assistant Professor at Arizona State University, specializes in cognitive development in early childhood. She discusses her research on how children and adults navigate the 'explore vs. exploit' decision-making process, emphasizing cultural impacts from the U.S. and Turkey. The conversation highlights how children's exploratory behaviors shape adult strategies and the unique dynamics observed in remote interactions during the pandemic. Kelsey also shares insights into fostering curiosity through her exploration of cultural contexts in child development.

Anjie chats with Bella Fascendini, a long time host of the Stanford Psychology Podcast and an incoming Ph.D. student in psychology at Princeton University. In this special episode from our Meet the Host series, Bella shares her journey into cognitive science and science communication, offering valuable tips for those considering graduate school or pursuing science communication. She also discusses one of her coolest work experiences —working with Penguin—and how it has shaped her current path.  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. Bella’s website: https://www.bellaxfascendini.com/Bella’s twitter: @BellaFascendiniBella’s first episode: https://www.stanfordpsychologypodcast.com/episodes/episode/4cea0f37/27-david-lagnado-how-causal-reasoning-can-help-us-make-better-judgments-and-solve-criminal-cases Anjie’s: website: anjiecao.github.ioAnjie’s Twitter @anjie_cao Podcast Twitter @StanfordPsyPodPodcast Substack https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/Let us know what you thought of this episode, or of the podcast! :) stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com

Joseph chats with Prof. Jake Quilty-Dunn, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the Department of Philosophy and the Center for Cognitive Science Rutgers University. Prof. Quilty-Dunn works primarily in philosophy of mind and cognitive science. Much of his research concerns distinctions between kinds of mental representations (such as iconic and discursive formats), mental processes (such as inference and association), and mental systems (such as perception and cognition). He also has broad research interests in philosophy of language, aesthetics and early modern philosophy. In this episode Joseph and Dr. Quilty-Dunn chat about the language of thought (LoT) hypothesis. They discuss the history of the idea, how the LoT differs from natural language, how it shows up in perception and cognition, how it compares to rival formats, and the extent to which it is learnable in development.  References:Quilty-Dunn, J., Porot, N., & Mandelbaum, E. (2023). The best game in town: The reemergence of the language-of-thought hypothesis across the cognitive sciences. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 46, e261

Joseph and Dr. Lisa Damour discuss the portrayal of teenage emotions in Pixar's "Inside Out 2", with a focus on anxiety. Dr. Damour, who consulted for the film as a clinical psychologist, shares her experience, the teenage emotions explored in the film, how scientific insights are integrated into the story, and the societal issues it addresses.Dr Damour is the author of three New York Times best sellers: Untangled, Under Pressure, and The Emotional Lives of Teenagers, which have been translated into twenty-three languages. She co-hosts the Ask Lisa podcast, works in collaboration with UNICEF, and is recognized as a thought leader by the American Psychological Association. Dr. Damour is a regular contributor to The New York Times and CBS News and the creator of Untangling 10to20, a digital library of premium content to support teens and those who care for them.Dr. Damour serves as a Senior Advisor to the Schubert Center for Child Studies at Case Western Reserve University and has written numerous academic papers, chapters, and books related to education and child development. She maintains a clinical practice and also speaks to schools, professional organizations, and corporate groups around the world on the topics of child and adolescent development, family mental health, and adult well-being.

Prof. Nicholas Shea discusses concepts in humans, animals, and machines, exploring how different systems develop online representations. The podcast delves into implicit versus explicit knowledge, representations in computational cognitive science, and the acquisition of knowledge in philosophy and cognitive science. An insightful conversation on mental simulation, AI challenges, and the debate between empiricism and nativism in neural network modeling.

Dr. Nilam Ram discusses the Human Screenome Project capturing phone interactions every 5 seconds. They explore individual-specific studies in psychology, challenges in analyzing massive data sets, the use of AI models for behavior prediction, and personalized smartphone interventions for mental health. The conversation also touches on the speaker's transition from economics to psychology and analyzing human behavior time series data.

Dr. Johannes Eichstaedt discusses using social media to understand mental illnesses like depression, the challenges of predicting rarer disorders, exploring user demographics on social media, using phone sensors for depression prediction, and the clinical applications of big data indicators in mental health diagnosis. The conversation also covers the complexities of using social media data for mental health analysis, privacy issues, and the impact of social media use on different demographics.