Stanford Psychology Podcast

• 151 - Robert Hawkins: Language, Collaboration, and Social Reasoning

  This week, Misha chats with Robert Hawkins, Assistant Professor of Linguistics at Stanford University. Robert directs the Social Interaction Lab where he studies the cognitive mechanisms that enable human communication and collaboration. His interdisciplinary work combines interactive experiments with computational models to uncover how people flexibly coordinate with one another.In this episode, we discuss his recent paper on communication in reference games, exploring how lexical search and social reasoning work together when we try to help others understand what we're talking about. They also dive into Robert's academic journey, his vision for the Social Interaction Lab, and how he successfully navigates the interdisciplinary landscape of cognitive science.If you found this episode interesting, subscribe to our Substack and consider leaving us a good rating! It just takes a second, but it will allow us to reach more people and excite them about psychology.Links: Robert's paper on lexical search and social reasoning: https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2026-03739-001.html Robert's website: https://rdhawkins.com/ Robert's Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/rdhawkins.bsky.social Misha's website: https://www.mishaokeeffe.com/ Podcast Twitter: @StanfordPsyPod Podcast Bluesky: @stanfordpsypod.bsky.socialPodcast Substack: https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/ Let us know what you think of this episode or the podcast! :) [email protected]

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• 150 - Kendrick Kay: Large-scale fMRI Datasets and What to Consider

  In this episode, Elizabeth chats with Dr. Kendrick Kay, an Associate Professor in Radiology at University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. He directs the Computational Visual Neuroscience Laboratory, and aims to understand brain function by combining cognitive neuroscience, functional MRI methods, and computational neuroscience. In this episode, Kendrick shares his work on the groundbreaking Natural Scene Dataset and discusses the behind-the-scenes considerations that went into its creation. He also outlines important points for brain scientists to think about when creating and using large-scale fMRI datasets, and shares parts of his journey as a scientist.Discussed Papers in Podcast: A massive 7T fMRI dataset to bridge cognitive neuroscience and artificial intelligencePrinciples of intensive human neuroimagingKendrick’s website: http://cvnlab.netElizabeth’s: website: imelizabeth.github.ioElizabeth’s BlueSky: @imelizabeth.bsky.socialPodcast BlueSky @StanfordPsyPod.bsky.socialPodcast Twitter @StanfordPsyPodPodcast Substack https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/Let us know what you thought of this episode, or of the podcast! :) [email protected]

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• 149 - Jenna Wells: How Micro-Moments of Connection Shape Health and Happiness

  This week, Enna chats with Dr. Jenna Wells, a professor in the Department of Psychology at Cornell University. Jenna’s research examines how emotion in close relationships contributes to mental and physical health over the life course, with a focus on late life. She is particularly interested in positive interpersonal processes and their associations with long-term health and well-being in individuals and dyads.In our conversation, Jenna shares her journey from aspiring therapist to emotion researcher, the story behind how she began to study positivity resonance, and what we can all do to navigate conflict with warmth and cultivate more emotional connection in our lives.Jenna’s Website: https://psychology.cornell.edu/jenna-wellsJenna’s Twitter: @JennaLWellsJenna’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennalwells Jenna’s Paper: https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000385 Enna’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ennayuxuanchen/ Enna’s Twitter: @EnnaYuxuanChenPodcast Contact: [email protected] Podcast Twitter: @StanfordPsyPodPodcast Substack: https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/ Podcast Contact: [email protected] 

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• 148 - Dorsa Amir: How Culture Shapes Cognition

  Anjie chats with Dr. Dorsa Amir, an Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. She directs the Mind and Culture Lab, where she studies how culture shapes the developing mind. In this episode, Dorsa shares her papers that probe the many ways cultural environments can influence cognitive processes. She outlines a new framework proposing four possible “pathways” by which culture might (or might not) shape cognition. She also shares her own path into cultural psychology, blending anthropology and cognitive science to tackle age-old questions about the human mind.Dorsa’s website: https://www.dorsaamir.com/Dorsa’s lab website: https://www.mindandculturelab.com/Dorsa’s twitter: @DorsaAmirDorsa’s paper: https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/y7mtf_v1 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! :) [email protected]

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• 147 - Geoff Hinton & Jay McClelland: Two AI Pioneers in Conversation

  Eric chats with 2024 Nobel Laureate Geoffrey Hinton and Stanford Professor Jay McClelland, two pioneers who have spent nearly half a century laying the groundwork for modern-day AI, advancing research on neural networks long before it captured the world's imagination.In fact, their early work faced significant skepticism from the scientific community - an experience they candidly discuss in this episode. This wide-ranging conversation covers everything from the capabilities of recent breakthrough LLMS like DeepSeek to AI agents, the nature of memory and confabulation, the challenges to aligning AI with human values when we humans don’t even agree on our values, and Geoff's fascinating new theory of language, featuring an analogy of words as thousand-dimensional, shape-shifting Lego blocks with hands.Geoff, who retired in 2023, divided his time between the University of Toronto and Google DeepMind. With numerous accolades including the 2018 Turing Award and 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics, he is perhaps best known for co-developing the backpropagation algorithm - now a cornerstone of AI research. Jay, currently at Stanford and Google DeepMind, has revolutionized our understanding of human learning through his work on Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP), applying neural network principles to understand phenomena like language acquisition. His insights into human learning have profoundly influenced how we understand machine learning.Their friendship dates back to the late 1970s and grew stronger as both collaborated with fellow pioneer David Rumelhart. They share some touching memories about Dave in this episode. Remarkably, despite decades of friendship and building upon each other's work, this appears to be their first recorded conversation together. Eric challenged them to discuss their latest insights and disagreements.This episode was recorded on January 29, 2025.JOIN OUR 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:Geoff's websiteGeoff's Google ScholarJay's websiteJay's Google ScholarEric's websiteEric's X @EricNeumannPsyPodcast X @StanfordPsyPodPodcast Substack https://stanfordpsypod.substack.com/Let us know what you think of this episode, or of the podcast! [email protected]

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