Professor of Psychology and Author
Like most people, I ve grown up with computers. I m 52 and I ve been messing around with computers since I was 12, in 1982. Coding is cozy I ve always associated learning how to code with the cold, grey winter days near the solstice. There s something about wanting to be inside when it s blustery out, concentrating on [ ]
When Elon Musk finalized his purchase of Twitter, I began to think about whether it would be worth staying on Twitter. I m not alone, and there are many users wondering the same thing. Not all of it is Musk related, but often that s a catalyst. And even in the best case scenario, where truly harmful [ ]
Have you been working from home since March? Are you enjoying it or are you missing your old workplace? Are you are also starting to notice a monotony that seems to lead to mild memory confusion? I am. In this post, I want to explore how and why doing everything online might make it harder [ ]
When new students or postdocs enter into your lab, do you have a plan or a guide for them? I have a lab manual that explains roles and responsibilities, but I did not (until recently) have a guide for how we actually do things. So I ve made it my mission in 2019 and 2020 to [ ]
Reading scientific papers as PDFs is a major part of being an academic. Professors, postdocs, grad students and undergraduates end up working with PDFs, making notes, and then using those notes to write a manuscript or paper. Although there are lots of great PDF viewers and reference managers, I use Paperpile, which is cloud-based PDF manager [ ]
Dual process accounts of cognition are ubiquitous. In fact the one thing you can count on is that there are two kinds of cognitive scientists: Those who think there are two systems and those who don t. My research has generally argued for the existence of two systems. Though the more I do research in this [ ]
I love running outside, but each season is different. And where I live, Southern Ontario, we get quite a range, with summer high temperatures up to the mid 30Cs (mid 90s in F) and wintertime lows can be -25C or lower (-13F and lower). I run all year long, so I decided to compare the [ ]
Academia, like many other sectors, is a complex work environment. Although universities vary in terms of their size and objectives, the average university in the United States, Canada, UK, and EU must simultaneously serve the interests of undergraduate education, graduate education, professional education, basic research, applied research, public policy research, and basic scholarship. Most…
The Importance of Knowing It s useful and powerful to know how something works. The cliché that knowledge is power may be a common and overused expression but that does not mean it is inaccurate. Let me illustrate this idea with a story from a different area. I use this rhetorical device often, by the way. [ ]
February always brings terrible weather to Ontario and 2019 is no exception. February 6 saw the city (London, ON) nearly shut down by an ice storm. Schools were closed, the University closed early, and we all stayed home. This was great! We were nearing the completion of a kitchen renovation, it gave us time to [ ]