The BrainCore Podcast

As the U.S. election results pile in, Tolu and Kristina take a break from the news to have a chat with York College of Pennsylvania psychology professor, Dr. Samantha Deffler. They have decided to dedicate November to Cognitive Psychology! Have you ever been misnamed by someone familiar to you? Have you ever been the misnamer? Why is it more likely to mix up the dog's name with other family members than the cat's name? The term of the episode (TOTE) is semantic memory.

Dr. Samantha Deffler’s article:

Deffler, S. A., Fox, C., Ogle, C. M., & Rubin, D. C. (2016). All my children: The roles of semantic category and phonetic similarity in the misnaming of familiar individuals. Memory & cognition, 44(7), 989-999.

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Tolu and Kristina, joined by the knowledgeable Dr. Sawa Senzaki from the University of Wisconsin, Green-Bay, delve into the discussion of WEIRD cultures. Why is it so important for psychological research to expand beyond WEIRD populations? What tips can help further the research in new communities? Tolu, Kristina, and Sawa also provide insight into their respective Nigerian, Greek and Japanese cultures in this very enlightening episode. The term of the episode (TOTE) is the acronym WERID. 

Dr. Sawa Senzaki’s Article:

Masuda, T., Batdorj, B., & Senzaki, S. (2020). Culture and Attention: Future Directions to Expand Research Beyond the Geographical Regions of WEIRD Cultures. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01394

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Tolu and Kristina discuss the case of the Romanian orphanages. Is it possible that childhood deprivation can impact brain volume? Further, can enrichment and movement to another environment improve delayed development? They talk siblings, growing up and how one's tendency to emulate others decreases as time goes on. The term of the episode (TOTE) is neuroplasticity. 

Journal Article Discussed:

Mackes, N. K., Golm, D., Sarkar, S., Kumsta, R., Rutter, M., Fairchild, G., ... & Sonuga-Barke, E. J. (2020). Early childhood deprivation is associated with alterations in adult brain structure despite subsequent environmental enrichment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(1), 641-649.

Background music:

"MELANCHOLIA" Music Box by Ryan Creep on Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9WsZoceais 

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Tolu and Kristina are joined by Dr. Carissa Cascio who teaches at Vanderbilt University to discuss the importance of social touch on human development. What is social touch? How does it influence our daily activities? How has the pandemic impacted our ability to engage in social touch? Two, chilling experiments are also described at the start of the episode to complement the month of October. The Term of the Episode (TOTE) is social touch. 

Dr. Cascio's Article:

Cascio, C. J., Moore, D., & McGlone, F. (2019). Social touch and human development. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 35, 5-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2018.04.009

Background Music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6r3uHKDOOc 

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Tolu and Kristina discuss the possible ironic effects of anti-prejudice interventions with Dr. Michael Inzlicht, a psychology professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough. Is it possible these interventions may actually end up increasing prejudice? They also talk briefly about the Implicit Association Test. Does the test actually produce reliable and valid results? The terms of the Episode (TOTEs) are Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation. 

Dr. Inzlicht's Journal Article: 

Legault, L., Gutsell, J. N., & Inzlicht, M. (2011). Ironic effects of antiprejudice messages: How motivational interventions can reduce (but also increase) prejudice. Psychological Science, 22(12), 1472-1477. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0956797611427918

For those interested in improving psychological science: visit https://improvingpsych.org 

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In this episode, Tolu and Kristina discuss the interplay between the perception of others through clothing and racism. Why do certain outfits on others instil a feeling of warmth or danger in us? How can we become aware of our own internal biases? What should we all be wary of in shows like the Money Heist? All of this is discussed with special guest and professor of Psychological Science at Oregon State University, Dr. Regan Gurung. Term of the Episode (TOTE): Implicit Bias 

Dr. Gurung's Journal Article:

Gurung, R. A., Stoa, R., Livingston, N., & Mather, H. (2020). Can success deflect racism? Clothing and perceptions of African American men. The Journal of Social Psychology, 1-10.

Other readings mentioned:

Phills, C. E., Hahn, A., & Gawronski, B. (2020). The Bidirectional Causal Relation Between Implicit Stereotypes and Implicit Prejudice. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 46(9), 1318–1330. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167219899234

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Tolu and Kristina talk about who they are, why BrainCore exists, and what they hope to achieve with this new platform. Why is research a little hard to get into? How can BrainCore make things a little easier to understand? The term of the episode (TOTE) is Heuristics - referring to mental shortcuts or rules of thumb.  

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