Episódios

  • Episode 121: A New Paradigm for Psychology?

    Episode 121: A New Paradigm for Psychology?
    Jul 2 2025
    Yoel is joined by a mysterious pseudonymous duo called Slime Mold Time Mold, who are proposing a new paradigm for psychology based on principles from cybernetics. This means thinking of the behavior as the result of "governors" (think drives) that are trying to reduce the distance between a set point and the state of the world by motivating you to do stuff. So when you are thirsty, you are highly motivated to drink, and when you need to pee, you are highly motivated to find a toilet. Those are simple examples, but can we use the same principles to explain more complex phenomena like emotion, motivation, personality, mental illness, and more? That is what my guests on this episode are proposing. Special Guest: Slime Mold Time Mold.
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    1 hora e 24 minutos
  • Episode 120: Transparent Replications (with Spencer Greenberg)

    Episode 120: Transparent Replications (with Spencer Greenberg)
    Jun 6 2025
    Returning guest Spencer Greenberg joins the show to talk replications, what psychologist think of terror management theory (and other controversial topics), and a machine-learning tool he developed to predict correlations between psychological traits and survey questions. In this episode, we talk about what Spencer has learned by replicating studies from recent publications in psychology, the decline of p-hacking, and what other threats to validity psychologists should be worried about. Special Guest: Spencer Greenberg.
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    1 hora e 14 minutos
  • Episode 119: The Future of DEI in Higher Ed (with Amori Mikami)

    Episode 119: The Future of DEI in Higher Ed (with Amori Mikami)
    May 7 2025
    It's been a tumultuous time for DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) efforts in higher education. Whether due to political pressure, internal arguments, or both, many prominent institutions are revamping their DEI offices (or even eliminating them altogether) and rethinking DEI policies that once seemed unquestionable. Amori Mikami from the University of British Columbia re-joins the show to talk about the changes and what she thinks universities ought to be doing (as well as what she thinks we can do better). Along the way, Yoel and Amori talk about the use of race and gender in hiring, diversity statements, October 7 and the Gaza war, and institutional neutrality (in short, this episode touches every third rail imaginable). There's some debate and some agreement, but most importantly we both finish our beers. Special Guest: Amori Mikami.
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    1 hora e 47 minutos
  • Episode 118: Do We Have a Purity Problem? (with David Pizarro)

    Episode 118: Do We Have a Purity Problem? (with David Pizarro)
    Apr 1 2025
    Arguably, the last 25 years of moral psychology have been about people's judgments of "purity violations"--ostensibly harmless acts that "are disgusting or degrading to one’s spiritual nature." From sex with (dead) chickens to pet-eating to baby Jesus buttplugs, moral psychologists have been fascinated by purity transgressions. Moral psychologist and purity expert David Pizarro joins the show to talk about the concept of purity and recent critiques arguing that it's a concept too broad to be useful. Along the way, we also discuss how often to shower, getting into bed in your outside clothes, and ritualistically washing your dad's feet. Special Guest: David Pizarro.
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    1 hora e 13 minutos
  • Episode 117: Good News for the Chronics (with Mickey Inzlicht)

    Episode 117: Good News for the Chronics (with Mickey Inzlicht)
    Mar 6 2025
    On-again off-again co-host Mickey Inzlicht joins the show to debrief about the recent SPSP (Society for Personality and Social Psychology) conference. We then dissect a new paper purporting to show working memory deficits in heavy cannabis users, including a deep dive into the preregistration. Finally, we discuss a recent Op-Ed in the Guardian that argues that research on AI empathy is fatally flawed.
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    1 hora e 20 minutos
  • Episode 116: Can We Do Science Without Ideology? (with Moin Syed)

    Episode 116: Can We Do Science Without Ideology? (with Moin Syed)
    Jan 23 2025
    Cultural and developmental psychologist and open science advocate Moin Syed joins the show to talk what he thinks people get wrong about ideology, diversity, and open science. We talk about what role, if any, researchers' ideology should play in their science, and what it means when people describe psychological research as "ideological." In the second half of the show, we talk about what people get wrong about preregistration, and why it seems some misconceptions just won't die. We also talk about Moin's attempt to correct some misinformation (it did not go that well), and some local beer history. Special Guest: Moin Syed.
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    1 hora e 27 minutos
  • Episode 115: What's Wrong with Living in a Bubble? (with Mickey Inzlicht)

    Episode 115: What's Wrong with Living in a Bubble? (with Mickey Inzlicht)
    Dec 4 2024
    Occasional co-host Mickey Inzlicht joins the show to talk about the 2024 election, Bluesky, and his crusade against yard signs. We discuss prediction markets, Democratic declines with non-college voters, and whether Bluesky is a political bubble (and if so, if there's anything wrong with that). Also, Mickey explains his problem with yard signs and defends his beer snobbery.
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    1 hora e 12 minutos
  • Episode 114: Psychology Worth Doing (with Paul Bloom)

    Episode 114: Psychology Worth Doing (with Paul Bloom)
    Nov 11 2024
    Paul Bloom joins the show to talk about a recent paper in which he argues that much of developmental psychology is not worth doing. We also talk about where he thinks psychology has succeeded, and whether we should be more skeptical of progressive-friendly social science findings. Plus: is it ever a good idea to tell your friend that the person they're dating is bad for them? Special Guest: Paul Bloom.
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    1 hora e 15 minutos