Observer > 2021 > January/February
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342021Volume 34, Issue1January/February 2021
A More Inclusive Psychological Science
Psychological scientists have long studied bias, from explicit and implicit attitudes to stereotypes and structural inequality. Now they’re working to apply those findings within the field itself.
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About the Observer

The Observer is the online magazine of the Association for Psychological Science and covers matters affecting the research, academic, and applied disciplines of psychology. The magazine reports on issues of interest to psychologist scientists worldwide and disseminates information about the activities, policies, and scientific values of APS.

APS members receive a monthly Observer newsletter that covers the latest content in the magazine. Members also may access the online archive of Observer articles going back to 1988.

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Up Front

  • Looking Forward: Letter from the New APS Executive Director

    As APS’s newly appointed executive director, I have been focused on new beginnings—new information, new partnerships, new ideas, and new perspectives on persistent problems. Interestingly, my thoughts have coincided with the end to what nearly everyone around the world will look back at as a remarkably long and stressful year. As we continue to work to resolve the myriad challenges that surfaced in 2020, we must also recognize that life has changed. How we do business, learn, collaborate, communicate, and interact has changed. Our organizations must also change. Successful and sustainable institutions must embody innovation, flexibility, inclusivity, and resilience.  One of the many ways that APS is embracing change is highlighted in this issue of the Observer. This year, the Observer becomes a bimonthly print publication featuring important new content that will provide APS members with even more cutting-edge information needed to advance your careers and shape the future of psychological science and society.   Our changes do not stop with the Observer.

Recent Research

  • Research Briefs

    Broken Physics: A Conjunction-Fallacy Effect in Intuitive Physical Reasoning Dawoon Choi, Laura J. Batterink, Alexis K. Black, Ken A. Paller, and Janet F. Werker Psychological Science Individuals appear to be prone to the conjunction fallacy—rating a conjunction of specific events as more likely to occur than only one of the events, despite this being a logical impossibility—when reasoning about physics. Participants viewed videos of physical scenarios and judged the probabilities that single and combined events would occur. Regardless of the type of scenario or phrasing, participants rated the combined events as more likely than the single events. These findings indicate that intuitive physical reasoning can be affected by a fallacy thought to affect only other types of cognitive activities.

Government Relations

APS Spotlight

  • Inside the “Virtual” Psychologist’s Studio With George Bonanno

    In August 2020, APS Past President Lisa Feldman Barrett sat down virtually with George Bonanno, professor of clinical psychology at Teachers College at Columbia University, to discuss intriguing aspects of his life, career, and personal interests.   By his own account, APS James McKeen Cattell Fellow George Bonanno's life has followed a nontraditional trajectory.

Practice

First Person

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