Minds Matter

What does psychology miss when it treats racism as only an individual bias? In this special live episode, Dr. Phia Salter and Dr. Glenn Adams join us to discuss critical race psychology, and how psychological science can better account for systems of power while still asking psychological questions.
This live episode was recorded at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology's Critical Perspectives in Psychology Preconference; thanks to organizers Drs. Jada Copeland, Keturah Ragland, Phia Salter, and Mikaela Spruill.

How can we better understand the brain as a dynamic, multi-scale system? Dr. Giulia Baracchini shares her work using fMRI to study the brain’s fluctuations, and what measures of variability can reveal about how the brain functions. We discuss how ideas from complex systems science help make sense of brain activity across multiple scales, and why moving beyond single-level explanations is key to understanding how different levels of the brain interact. Dr. Baracchini also shares the unexpected places she draws inspiration from to study complex systems, including architecture!

How do babies learn to navigate diversity in their social worlds? Dr. Hyesung Grace Hwang shares her infant neuroscience (EEG) work showing that early “bias” might be less about emotions (like fear or disklike) and more about attention and information processing. We discuss how the environment, specifically neighborhood diversity shapes infants’ brain responses, and the changing cues kids use as they get older to reason about nationality.

What makes for a great conversation? Dr. Sebastian Spear shares his research using hyperscanning (neuroimaging on multiple brains at once) to study people's brains during real conversations. We discuss differences in conversations between friends and strangers, and why exploration might be the crucial piece making for good conversations. Beth and Ava defend the underrated art of small talk.

How can dissociation lead to positive and negative outcomes, and how does it affect an individual? Dr. Anikó Kusztor joins us this week to discuss the results of dissociation, and how they vary from person to person. Ava and Beth recount their personal dissociative experiences and contemplate where they fall on the spectrum of dissociation.