Stanford Psychology Podcast

Eric chats with Robert Cialdini, Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University and the world’s leading scholar on the psychology of influence. His books on influencing and persuading others have been translated into 44 languages and have sold over 7 million copies.In this episode, Eric and Bob talk about Bob’s adventurous and amusing journey into psychology and studying influence. If you want to influence others, what can you do? Can these strategies be used for unethical purposes? Do people underestimate how easily they are influenced by others? How has Bob used these strategies in his own life? How can academics have more influence and design better experiments? Finally, how can I influence our wonderful listeners of this podcast to leave a review and spread the word?WE NOW HAVE A 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:Bob's personal websiteBob's website about influenceBob's new edition of InfluenceBobs' Twitter @RobertCialdiniEric's websiteEric's Twitter @EricNeumannPsyPodcast Twitter @StanfordPsyPodPodcast Substack https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/Let us know what you think of this episode, or of the podcast! :) stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com

Bella chats with professor Russ Poldrack.Russ is the Albert Ray Lang professor of psychology at Stanford University, where he directs the Poldrack lab. Russ also serves as the director of the Stanford Center for Reproducible Neuroscience and the SDS center for Open and Reproducible science. Russ and his lab use cognitive, computational, and neuroimaging approaches to study how decision-making, executive control, and learning and memory are implemented in the human brain.In this episode, we discussed Russ's research in cognitive neuroscience using neuroimaging techniques such as MRI and fMRI, as well as his effort and contribution to reproducible science. For example, along with colleagues, Russ created and is currently managing a platform called Openneuro, an Open Archive For Analysis And Sharing Of Brain Initiative Data. Russ also talked about an innovative and fascinating study called “My connectome project”, in which he was his own subject for 18 months. He then shared interesting findings from this project and how this project had impacted how he thinks about his brain and future neuroimaging research. In the end, Russ shared his advice and tips with people who are applying to graduate school in neuroscience, as well as a fun story about discovering a surprising finding in his own brain.If you find this episode interesting, please leave us a good review on your podcast platform! It only takes a few minutes, but it will allow our podcast to reach more people and hopefully get them excited about psychology and brain sciences.Links:Russ's lab: https://poldracklab.stanford.edu/Russ’s Twitter: @russpoldrackRuss’s books: - Hard to Break: why our brains make habits stick https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691194325/hard-to-brea- The New Mind Readers https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691178615/the-new-mind-readersBella's website: https://bellafascendini.github.io/Bella's Twitter: @BellaFascendiniPodcast Twitter: @StanfordPsyPodPodcast Substack: https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/Let us know what you think of this episode or the podcast! :) stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com

Anjie chats with Dr. Johannes Eichstaedt,  an Assistant Professor in Psychology, and the Shriram Faculty Fellow at the Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence at Stanford University. Johannes directs the Computational Psychology and Well-Being lab. His research focuses on using social media (Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, …) to measure the psychological states of large populations and individuals to determine the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that drive physical illness (like heart disease), depression, or support psychological well-being.  In this episode, Anjie and Johannes chat about how social media could be a lens to understand mental illnesses such as depression. Johannes also shares his thoughts on the emerging trends in social media, and how some powerful technocrats in Silicon Valley might have some huge blind spots in understanding human nature.  If you found this episode interesting at all, subscribe on our Substackand 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:  Johannes’s paper: Eichstaedt, J. C., Smith, R. J., Merchant, R. M., Ungar, L. H., Crutchley, P., Preoţiuc-Pietro, D., ... & Schwartz, H. A. (2018). Facebook language predicts depression in medical records. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(44), 11203-11208.Johannes’s Twitter: @JEichstaedtJohannes’s lab website: https://cpwb.stanford.edu/ 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 

Eric chats with Juliana Schroeder, Associate Professor in the Management of Organizations at Berkeley Haas. She studies how people think about the minds of other people, and how they are often wrong trying to understand what others are up to. Her work has been discussed in outlets ranging from Vice to The Atlantic and Forbes.In this episode, Eric and Juliana chat review her exciting recent work on “undersociality.” Talking to other people is often meaningful, not just for extraverts, and yet we hesitate to talk to others, making overly pessimistic predictions about how awkward and unpleasant such interactions would be. This leads us to “mistakenly seek solitude.” Juliana discusses what we can do to motivate ourselves to talk to others more, why that is so beneficial, and why she herself struggles to do it.WE NOW HAVE A 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:Juliana's review paper on undersociality: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364661322000432?casa_token=KI1Vjeg9NKUAAAAA:aTAEDP2eF1ay3I0rGI74FHNW21s83r_KvXCQMvr5auCxaVnhEah82tbASwjzwfc-68D54q8Kc2E Juliana's key empirical paper: https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037/a0037323 Juliana's TwitterEric's websiteEric's Twitter @EricNeumannPsyPodcast Twitter @StanfordPsyPodPodcast Substack https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/Let us know what you think of this episode, or of the podcast! :) stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com

Anjie chats with Dr. Maria Arredondo, Assistant Professor at the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, and the Department of Psychology at University of Texas at Austin. Maria studies how infants, toddlers, and school-age children acquire their language(s). She is especially interested in why some children can become proficient bilinguals, while others struggle. In this episode, Anjie and Maria discuss how learning two languages simultaneously can influence babies’ cognitive development. Maria also shared her journey in doing infant research and the challenges and joys of studying babies’ brains. If you found this episode interesting at all, subscribe to 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. Links:Maria’s paper: Arredondo, M. M., Aslin, R. N., Zhang, M., & Werker, J. F. (2022). Attentional orienting abilities in bilinguals: Evidence from a large infant sample. Infant Behavior and Development, 66, 101683. Arredondo, M. M., Aslin, R. N., & Werker, J. F. (2022). Bilingualism alters infants’ cortical organization for attentional orienting mechanisms. Developmental Science, 25(2), e13172. Maria’s Twitter @MMArredondo_Maria’s lab website: https://sites.utexas.edu/childslab/ 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

Eric chats with Tessa West, Associate Professor of Psychology at New York University. Tessa is a leading expert in the science of interpersonal communication. Her work has been covered by various outlets such as the New York Times and Time Magazine. She is most recently the author of “Jerks at Work: Toxic coworkers and what to do about them.”In this episode, Eric and Tessa chat about why some people are jerks at work. How do you deal with them? Are there more jerks at work now than in the past? Can we find jerks in all cultures around the world? How can we detect jerks? Who is most likely to be taken advantage of by jerks at work? On the flipside of jerks, how can you turn coworkers into friends? Finally, Tessa talks about what it was like to write a trade book, whether that is harder than writing scientific papers, and how she tries to be optimistic about people despite this dark research topic. WE NOW HAVE A 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:Tessa's bookTessa's websiteTessa's Twitter @TessaWestNYUEric's websiteEric's Twitter @EricNeumannPsyPodcast Twitter @StanfordPsyPodPodcast Substack https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/Let us know what you think of this episode, or of the podcast! :) stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com

Bella chats with professor Julia Leonard. Julia is an assistant professor in the department of psychology at Yale University, where she directs the Leonard Learning Lab. Julia and her lab use cognitive, developmental, and computational approaches to study the factors that support both children's approach to learning and their capacity to learn. In this episode, we discussed Julia's recent research on young children's persistence and the role that caretakers and teachers play in influencing the growth of children's persistence. Although the studies were done with children, you'll be surprised by how much insight her research can bring to all of us, even as adults! We also discussed the challenges we face in children's education and fostering environments that encourage the growth of children's persistence. In the end, Julia shares her personal stories about applying to graduate school and some important advice to anyone interested in pursuing a career in academia. WE NOW HAVE A 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, please consider leaving us a good rating! It only takes a second, but it will allow our podcast to reach more people and hopefully get them excited about psychology.Links:Julia's paper on young children's persistenceJulia's Twitter: @julia_a_leonardLeonard Learning Lab Twitter: @LeonardLearnLabBella's website: https://bellafascendini.github.io/Bella's Twitter @BellaFascendiniPodcast Twitter @StanfordPsyPodLet us know what you think of this episode or the podcast! :) stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com

Eric chats with Robin Dunbar, Emeritus Professor of Evolutionary Psychology at Oxford. Robin has famously studied the evolution of the human brain, arguing that our brain developed to understand the complex social world we have created for ourselves. Most know him for “Dunbar’s number,” or the limit to the number of individuals we can maintain stable relationships with. Robin has received more awards than could be counted, including the prestigious Huxley Memorial Medal. He has written various books, most relevant for this conversation a book called “Friends: Understanding the Power of our Most Important Relationship.”In this wide-ranging episode, Eric and Robin discuss why Dunbar’s number is actually a whole series of numbers. Robin explains how he arrived at this number, why it is so relevant to everything from our globalized world and big cities to maintaining friendships. Do psychopaths need friends to be happy? If you don’t like people, should you move into the woods and never talk to anyone again? He explains why we gossip and what makes something funny. Finally, he shares some personal stories about his career and why his discovery of Dunbar’s number was actually an accident.WE NOW HAVE A 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:Robin's Friendship book: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/friends-robin-dunbar/1138785864Robin's most recent book on religion: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/316135/how-religion-evolved-by-dunbar-robin/9780241431788 Eric's websiteEric's Twitter @EricNeumannPsyPodcast Twitter @StanfordPsyPodPodcast Substack https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/Let us know what you think of this episode, or of the podcast! :) stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com

Next Thursday and Friday, October 27th and 28th, the first-ever Big Team Science Conference (BTS-CON for short) will be held virtually. The goal of BTSCON is to bring multidisciplinary groups of researchers, funders, and stakeholders to discuss advancements, challenges, and future opportunities related to big team science. The conference program spans two days, including a mixture of symposia, panels, hackathons, and talks. If you are new to this topic, you will find this episode particularly relevant. In this episode that aired earlier this year, Anjie chats with Dr. Nicholas Coles, the Director of Psychological Science Accelerator and one of the many amazing organizers behind BTSCON. They talked a little bit about what big team science is, and what are some real challenges that BTS practitioners would encounter.WE NOW HAVE A 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:BTSCON official page: https://bigteamscienceconference.github.io/Register now: https://opencollective.com/psysciacc/events/test-event-23392c94/contribute/registration-2022-big-team-science-conference-40278Full conference program: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17m6t7or53uvFErIW_WHvegwlwV2Cq_rvG5ny-4cBkpM/edit?usp=sharingThe paper discussed: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00150-2%0D?error=server_errorPodcast Twitter @StanfordPsyPodPodcast Substack https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/Let us know what you think of this episode, or of the podcast! :) stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com

We are revisiting a special episode in celebration of the upcoming Paths to PhD event. Each year, Stanford's psychology department hosts Paths to PhD, a free, open-to-public information session on how to apply to PhD programs and research positions in psychology. This year’s event is scheduled to happen this Saturday, October 15th from 10:00 am-5:00 pm, and so far we have over three hundred people who signed up and are going to join us from across the world. In this episode that we did a year ago, we invited Lauren and Camilla, two graduate students who were pivotal figures in the shaping of this event.If you are a graduate student, a postdoc, or a faculty member who is interested in bringing an event like this into your department, you might find this episode to be particularly relevant. And if you are a past, current, or future applicant interested in learning more about the behind-the-scene of this event, you will also find this episode to be interesting. We talked about what this event is about, how it came to be, what will happen in the future,  as well as the joy and challenges of organizing and planning events like Path to PhD.Event page: https://psychology.stanford.edu/diversity/paths-phdWE NOW HAVE A 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:Podcast Twitter @StanfordPsyPodPodcast Substack https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/Let us know what you think of this episode, or of the podcast! :) stanfordpsychpodcast@gmail.com