Another newsletter about Psychology, you say? Yes, indeed, this site is that. My aims here are to create a space to showcase how modern Psychology topics — especially those rooted in Cognitive Science — can be used for good. You won’t find me rehashing nor repackaging Victorian-era Psych concepts here, though I may bring some up now again as a point of contrast to the modern topic du jour.
Psychology – especially Cognitive Psychology – is useful and I want to share this with you, to help you use your cognitive powers for good. Who am I, to say such things? I am a Professor of Psychology and have been for 20+ years. From my early “undergrad” days to today, what has interested me most is the intersecting space between Cognition (e.g., memory, language) and Context (settings and social interactions). You can’t have one without the other: thinking is for surviving.
Contexts establish the survival parameters and cognition reflects how we learn to respond to those parameters (in the moment and over a lifetime). Change is a constant, in this way, though sometimes change is hard to come by, hard to initiate, or hard to accept. I want to help offer you a leg up in this regard. Sometimes, I point to little changes that might make big differences. Other times I suggest big changes that might make things just a little easier, smoother, or at least understandable. And sometimes I do just share content that I think is cool [important] to know and I leave it to you, the reader, to decide what to do with it.
What I share here reflects my professional background— I started studying Psychology formally in my Freshman year of college, in the fall of 1990 and, as such, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about Psych! While the basic research I explore (conduct, read, teach) is about human development and memory, language, metacognition and the like, what keeps me going is my continuous interrogation of the discipline: "What good can this knowledge yield?" Keeping an eye on "why" makes all that basic science worth it.
My research in the early days of my career examined factors that influence cognitive development (e.g., memory). My research today explores informal learning that can occur on social media, or in game-design jams, or play sessions, and how engagement with technology and games interacts with cognition. Technology and AI were developed to help, that is, to supplement human intelligence with a different sort, one that, haha, is artificial. AI works differently than the human sort and only in some cases is it “better” - that is, less prone to error (but some AI is prone to error too). But I digress. If you follow along as a subscriber your knowledge about human AND artificial intelligence will grow and - I hope - your behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs will adjust for the better because of it.
Outside of my Prof-work, I am a parent to a delightful teenager who adores the violin, visual arts, and science (all kinds, but especially neuroscience) in near equal measure. My little family of three embraces creativity of all kinds and spending time in the beautiful Pacific Northwest and we love talking about …. You guessed it: Cognition in Context! -- and AI. We talk a lot about AI too. Oh, and music. We also talk a lot about music.
Why subscribe?
If you find my approach intriguing, please subscribe. I believe Psych Science matters and am willing to give much content away for free so that everyone can access this useful information. For additional access to thoughtful applications and the opportunity to discuss content and application with me and others in our community, please consider supporting my work here on substack, as it is 100% reader supported. And it is a deal! If you were to officially audit a class I teach, you would pay nearly $130 per week to the university (not to me), and here on Substack you can learn from me for just $8.00 a month! What a deal, right?!
Subscribe now so you never miss an opportunity to learn.
Join the crew
Isn’t social media all about finding your tribe? Be part of a community of people who share your interests in Psychology and self improvement.
To find out more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.
