DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY

Colloquium Series

Departmental Colloquium Series

During the academic year, the department of psychology invites respected scholars to give lectures on research and theory in contemporary psychology. Please see the schedule below for more details and room locations. All are welcome to attend and engage with the Northwestern Psychology Community.

October

Dr. Daniel Simons

Title: Inattentional blindness in and out of the lab

Abstract: Inattentional blindness is the failure to notice unexpected objects or events when a person is focusing their attention on something else. It is a side effect of our remarkable and essential ability to focus attention and ignore distractions, but it can have real consequences. In this presentation, I will describe recent (and older) research on inattentional blindness both in and out of the lab. Our work attempts to explain why we experience inattentional blindness, when it matters, and whether there is anything we can do about it.

November

Dr. Riana Elyse Anderson

Date: Friday, November 8th, 2024 - 3:15pm
Location: Swift Hall, Room 107
Website: Riana Elyse Anderson
(Host: Sylvia Perry) 

Title:  Responding to the Mental Health Needs of Youth of Color by Any Means Necessary

Abstract: 

For youth of color, prolonged exposure to racial discrimination has resulted in debilitating psychological, behavioral, and health outcomes. To help youth prepare for and prevent the deleterious consequences of discrimination, many parents utilize racial socialization, or communication about racialized experiences. And, while racial socialization strategies correspond with several general therapeutic strategies widely used by clinicians, there is a critical gap between what families do to mitigate discriminatory distress and what clinicians and providers offer youth. As such, providing multiple strategies to effectively utilize racial socialization processes and develop such skills to help youth heal from the effects of past, current, and future racial trauma is important. This presentation will explore theories, practices, and burgeoning technological interventions important in the healing processes of racial trauma for families, clinicians, and researchers alike, especially in light of what is known about the proportion of time youth spend on mobile devices. Finally, this presentation will beg the question of how much evidence is enough before we deploy our skills to rapidly advancing technologies which may benefit youth of color facing increasingly more frequent discrimination in their everyday lives.

Dr. Laurie Bayet

Date: Friday, November 15th, 2024 - 3:15pm
Location: Swift Hall, Room 107
Website 
(Host: Sandy Waxman) 

Title: Learning from Babies: How Infants Understand the Visual and Affective World

Abstract: Developmental approaches uniquely reveal the origins of perceptual andcognitive representations underlying human intelligence. High-level visionand social-affective communication provide an ideal foundation to tacklethese questions, as two core domains that are well-characterized andthought to impact critical developmental skills (e.g., word learning, social-emotional functioning). Here, I will present data leveraging neuroimaging(EEG, fNIRS), behavioral, and computational tools to address how infantslearn to represent and interpret (1) visual objects, and (2) social-affectivecommunication (e.g., face movements or “expressions”). In recent work,we are probing the temporal dynamics and representational geometry ofinfants' visual representations with multivariate pattern analyses ofinfants’ EEG data. We are also using online webcam research (Lookit) totest whether newborns mimic face movements of their caregivers. Takentogether, these data begin to chart trajectories and mechanisms throughwhich we learn to represent visual objects and face movements fromearly life.

January

Dr. Franki Y. H. Kung

Date: Friday, January 31,2025 - 3:15pm
Location: Swift Hall, Room 107
Website
(Host: Michael Kraus) 

Title:  “Robotic Asians”: A Mechanistic Dehumanization Perspective on Anti-Asian Bias in the U.S.

Abstract: Psychology has documented several stereotypes that explain why biases against Asian Americans can occur, such as being seen as foreign and high achieving. Drawing on history, ethnic studies, and dehumanization research, my research team argues that Asians in the U.S. are dehumanized due to being likened to machines and robots—that is, they are subjected to “mechanistic dehumanization.” In this talk, I will introduce an integrative theoretical framework of racial positioning of Asians in the U.S. Then, I will present a series of pre-registered studies that examined racial group differences in both social and self-perceptions of mechanistic dehumanization and their potential consequences in the workplace. Further, I will discuss the emerging themes from a qualitative interview study of Asian worker informants' lived experiences of such dehumanization. Together, these mixed-method findings help triangulate the subtle and often unique workplace inequities experienced by Asians, underscoring the importance for organizations and people to see the humanity in others for a more inclusive society.

April

Dr. Tiffany Yip

Date: Friday, April 4th, 2024 - 3:15pm
Location: Swift Hall, Room 107
Website: Tiffany Yip, Fordham University
(Host: Dan Mroczek and Courtney Jones) 

Title:  Sleep, Stress & Identity: Developmental Processes and Health Consequences

Abstract: 

In this talk, Dr. Yip will present data from several research studies focused on discrimination stress, sleep, ethnic and racial identity, and health. Presenting data collected using methods including daily diaries, passive sensing, longitudinal surveys, archival data and national datasets across multiple contextual levels, Dr. Yip will present research on developmental patterns of change and implications for health. First, she will present research on population-level sleep disparities; followed by how exposures to ethnic and racial discrimination may drive these disparities. Finally, she will present data investigating the moderating role of ethnic and racial identity on associations between discrimination and health outcomes. The presentation will conclude with a discussion of current and future directions and an opportunity for audience questions.

May

Dr. Michael Hallquist

Date: Friday, May 2nd, 2024 - 3:15pm
Location: Swift Hall, Room 107
Website: Michael Hallquist

Title: Psychopathology Through the Lens of Transdiagnostic Decision Neuroscience

Abstract: 

Each day, we make countless decisions, from the mundane choice of how often to check our email to the more complex dilemma of responding to a friend’s hurtful remark. While a single poor decision – like eating something you know is likely to upset your stomach – has consequences, they are often short-lived. Individuals with personality disorders, however, often exhibit patterns of maladaptive interpersonal decisions that lead to unstable relationships and intense emotional fluctuations. More broadly, mental illness is frequently characterized by recurring patterns of disadvantageous decision-making. These patterns, such as avoiding contexts and cues that elicit fear in phobias, play an important role in maintaining psychopathology and are important to address in treatment. In this talk, I will describe the results of two empirical studies examining decision processes associated with transdiagnostic dimensions of psychopathology, particularly antagonism and neuroticism. First, I will examine how exploitativeness, a facet of antagonism, is associated with stronger representation of learning signals in the default mode network that track the predicted utility of cooperation and scale with reciprocal cooperation. Second, I will describe a study of reinforcement sensitivity and mood in daily life, showing how greater neuroticism, a core component of internalizing, amplifies the prospective effect of sensitivity to rewards and punishments on future negative mood. This work provides a new computational account of how within-person fluctuations in reinforcer sensitivity shape the dynamics of mood.