Dr. Alan Baddeley is among the most influential thinkers and innovators from Cognitive Science and Psychology of the past half-century. His research is broadly cited, foundational, and beautifully communicated in the books, articles, and related publications he's produced in his more than 50 years of professional activity. Like a few others I've had the pleasure … Continue reading Dr. Alan Baddeley: Theory and Practice
Tag: History
Side Note: The Journey Home
This journey is set for its last stages as I travel from Texas across the southeast and continue up the east coast of the United States to New Jersey. In some ways these travels have started to feel like distant memories --- demarcated in time by a diverse array of people, cities, universities, and events. … Continue reading Side Note: The Journey Home
The Mysteries of Dr. Dorothy Bishop
Dr. Dorothy Bishop is the Wellcome Principle Research Fellow and a Professor of Developmental Neuropsychology at Oxford University. Her influence is broad after having spent much of her career investigating neurological disorders that affect language development in children. Consequently her contributions to Psychology are theoretically important for models of linguistic and cognitive development and clinically … Continue reading The Mysteries of Dr. Dorothy Bishop
The Mythical Fathers of Psychology
In 1967 renowned Psychology professor Ulric Neisser published a book entitled Cognitive Psychology. Prior to to 1967 certainly there was a trove language and philosophy of mind research dating from ancient Greek philosophers, biologists, and religious scholars. By the late 1950's Simon and Newell had developed the early AI programs investigating computational simulations and understanding of human … Continue reading The Mythical Fathers of Psychology
The Possible Selves of Dr. Daphna Oyserman
Does culture influence how we think? Dr. Daphna Oyserman has been researching culture, identity and the interaction of these constructs as they impact social and psychological development of children and families across three continents during her career. While she is currently the Dean’s Professor of Psychology and Co-Director of the Dornsife Center for Mind and … Continue reading The Possible Selves of Dr. Daphna Oyserman
Multivariate Analyses of Dr. Peter Bentler
Dr. Peter Bentler of UCLA has investigated drug addiction, personality theory, and a host of other behavioral and clinical paradigms. He is also one of the most cited scholars in Psychology for his innovations with Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and the related quantitative concepts. In working with SEM, Dr. Bentler and colleagues created and facilitated a … Continue reading Multivariate Analyses of Dr. Peter Bentler
Santa Claus vs. Black Holes
There is a thought paradigm that I have often used to challenge students in their understanding of evidence, the world, and critical thinking. Consider the following: most people accept that there are black holes out there in the universe. As per the well-established theorizing, these black holes are stars that have collapsed into their own … Continue reading Santa Claus vs. Black Holes
The Canons of Dr. Daniel Levitin
Cognitive-neuroscientist, author, rock star, music producer. It's the kind of CV that an ambitiously dreaming 8-year old might conjure and it is also the career of Dr. Daniel Levitin. Someday, Dr. Levitin will undoubtedly put together the collected tales of his life. His early experiences in engineering and musical arrangement, those years performing with bands, … Continue reading The Canons of Dr. Daniel Levitin
A Model for Understanding Dr. Rich Mayer
Dr. Rich Mayer is a Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California -- Santa Barbara who has bridged from his roots in cognition into educational psychology. If one traces his career, the influence of Dr. Mayer is very quickly evident. Over his long and incredibly prolific career, Dr. Mayer was one of the … Continue reading A Model for Understanding Dr. Rich Mayer
The Intellectual Wonderland of Dr. Alison Gopnik
Dr. Alison Gopnik is inspired by the scientific vision of young children. Without the preconceptions, the extensive set of cognitive heuristics, and the rigid approaches to problem-solving we adopt in adulthood, children see the world with a sense of exploration. Dr. Gopnik and her colleagues have shown young children to be incredible problem-solvers, creative theoreticians, … Continue reading The Intellectual Wonderland of Dr. Alison Gopnik