Shows
The Black GoatYou Took the Words Right Out of My MouthIn 2012, Rink Hoekstra received two emails on the same day. One was from a journal editor, telling him that a manuscript was being rejected based on the recommendations of two reviewers. The other was from one of those reviewers, complimenting the paper and congratulating him on a job well done. The reviewer, Fiona Fidler, discovered that her review had been altered, and Rink and Fiona teamed out to figure out why. We spoke with Rink in 2018 about what happened, but we held on to the interview in anticipation of the episode being covered by the press. There's now an...
2020-10-3045 minThe Black GoatThey Give You This, But You Pay For ThatAcademics are under enormous stress right now, raising the possibility of a rising rate of burnout. Longtime structural trends in higher education have increased pressures for demonstrable productivity. On top of that are a global pandemic, resistance and backlash to calls for racial justice, and unstable politics in the U.S., the U.K., and elsewhere. In this episode we discuss burnout in academia. We focus on an emerging perspective from the healthcare field that describes burnout as resulting from moral injury. How is this idea relevant to people working in academia? In what ways can we be hurt...
2020-09-231h 09The Black GoatAn Award-Winning EpisodeAcademics love awards. We give out career awards, mid-career awards, early-career awards. We give out awards for the best paper, the best theory, the best teaching, the best service. But what function do all those awards serve? And are we the better for having them? In this episode we talk about how awards fit into the academic ecosystem. How do recipients benefit from them? How do they help the organizations and research communities that give them out? What kinds of biases are baked into the system, and how can we counteract them? Should we consider radically changing how academic...
2020-09-091h 04The Black GoatContact SportThe contact hypothesis is an old idea in social psychology. It posits that under the right circumstances, bringing people from different groups together can reduce prejudice. In this episode, we discuss a new field experiment by Salma Mousa testing whether putting Iraqi Christians and Muslims on soccer teams together can rebuild social cohesion after war. Part of our conversation focuses on the direct implications of this work for the contact hypothesis. We also discuss how this study stands out against some common patterns in social science research. Why, despite the long history of research and intuitive appeal of the...
2020-08-261h 07The Black GoatDoes Not ComputeScientific journal articles have a lot of numbers. Scientists are smart people with even smarter computers, so an outsider might think that, if nothing else, you can count on the math checking out. But modern data analysis is complicated, and computational reproducibility is far from guaranteed. In this episode, we discuss a recent set of articles published at the journal Cortex. A group of authors set out to replicate an influential 2010 article that claimed that if you reactivate a fear-laden memory, it becomes possible to change the emotional association - something with clear relevance to clinical practice. Along the...
2020-08-131h 01The Black GoatObjective UnknownHow does psychology's response to the replication crisis fit into a broader history of science? In this episode we discuss a paper by sociologists Jeremy Freese and David Peterson that takes on that question. Are "epistemic activists" in psychology redefining what it means to be objective in science? Does a focus on reforming incentives mean we view scientists as economic actors for whom motives and dispositions are irrelevant? Does the last decade's growth in meta-research mean that meta-analysis is the new arbiter of objectivity? Does a shift to a systems perspective on science have parallels in other systemic analyses...
2020-07-291h 05The Black GoatThe Impending Fall of AcademiaThe upcoming academic term will be unusual, to say the least. The global pandemic led to emergency shutdowns in March, and it is likely that many colleges and universities will continue teaching partially or wholly online. And protests against anti-Black racism in the United States and elsewhere have led to institutional statements about taking an antiracist stand - which may or may not translate into real change. In this episode, we discuss some of the changes and how we are thinking about them in our work. How did we adapt our teaching for remote learning, and what do we...
2020-07-161h 07The Black GoatInexact ScienceScientific knowledge is always contingent and uncertain, even when it's the best we have. Should that factor into how we communicate science to the public, and if so, how? We discuss a recent article about the effects of communicating uncertainty on people's trust in scientific findings and scientists. When should and shouldn't scientists communicate uncertainty, and how should they do it? How should scientists prioritize keeping people's trust versus being up front about what they don't know? What are the different sources of uncertainty in scientific knowledge, and how should scientists deal with all of them? Plus, we get...
2020-04-301h 07The Black GoatCOVID OperationsThe COVID-19 pandemic is creating major and serious disruptions to just about everything, and higher education is no exception. In this episode we talk about how our work has been affected by measures to slow down the coronavirus. How have we adjusted to remote teaching? What effects have the social distancing measures had on our research? How are we mentoring students in light of such an uncertain future? What bigger changes and disruptions could be in store for academia? Plus: We answer a letter about when and how students should draw on their expertise when their advisor is in...
2020-04-151h 02The Black GoatJoe Public, Will You Marry Me?In recent years there has been a lot of talk about public trust in science - how much there is, in what ways, whether we deserve it or not. In this episode, we discuss an article by historian and philosopher Rachel Ankeny that asks whether "trust" is even the right concept to be talking about. What does it mean to trust an abstraction like "science"? When people argue about trust in science, are they even talking about the same thing - the findings, the people, the process, or something else? And we discuss Ankeny's proposed alternative: that instead of...
2020-04-011h 00
The Black GoatJust Be CauseMany important questions about cause and effect are impractical to answer with a randomized experiment. What should we do instead? In this episode we talk about doing causal inference with observational data. Has psychology's historical obsession with internal validity led it, ironically, to think about causal inference in an unsophisticated way? Can formal analytic tools like directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) tell us how to do better studies? Or is their main lesson don't bother trying? How do norms and incentives in publishing help or hurt in doing better causal inference? Plus: We answer a letter about applying to psychology grad...
2020-03-211h 07The Black GoatJust Be CauseMany important questions about cause and effect are impractical to answer with a randomized experiment. What should we do instead? In this episode we talk about doing causal inference with observational data. Has psychology's historical obsession with internal validity led it, ironically, to think about causal inference in an unsophisticated way? Can formal analytic tools like directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) tell us how to do better studies? Or is their main lesson don't bother trying? How do norms and incentives in publishing help or hurt in doing better causal inference? Plus: We answer a letter about applying to psychology...
2020-03-211h 07The Black GoatAuxiliary Turtles All the Way DownThe path from theory to study consists of a thousand decisions, big and small. How and how much do these decisions matter? We discuss a recent crowdsourced meta-study that tried to find out. Fifteen teams of researchers were given 5 different hypotheses and told to design a study to test them, then they ran all the studies and got widely varying results. What are the implications of this study for how we should think about the role of theory in study design? What does it say about the different functions of direct and conceptual replications? Is this evidence of hidden...
2020-02-121h 08The Black GoatThe Expertise of DeathHow important is expertise in conducting replications? Many Labs 4 was a large, multi-lab effort that brought together 21 labs, running 2,220 subjects, to study that question. The goal was to compare replications with and without the involvement of the original authors to see if that made a difference. But things got complicated when the effect they chose to study - the mortality salience effect that is a cornerstone of terror management theory - could not be replicated by anyone. In this episode, we talk about the implications of Many Labs 4. What does and doesn't this study say about the importance of...
2020-01-291h 10The Black GoatGoing Off the RecordThe Graduate Record Exam - the GRE - is widely used in graduate school admissions. In recent years however, a number of graduate programs, including a few in psychology, have stopped requiring it in a movement that has been dubbed "GRExit." In this episode we discuss the arguments around using the GRE in graduate admissions. What is the evidence for and against its validity? For and against the presence of bias against various groups? How much do we know about validity and bias in the other materials routinely considered in admission, like grades, undergraduate institution, research experience, and letters...
2020-01-171h 14The Black GoatThe Year 2019 in ReviewIn our annual end-of-year episode, we talk about noteworthy reflections and events from the year that just passed. Alexa reflects on breakups, and wonders why we don't take them more seriously as a significant disruption to other people's lives. Sanjay talks about hitting a low point and deciding to finally do something about it. And Simine talks about starting a new relationship and finding a new job that will take her halfway around the world. Plus: we answer a letter about whether scientists should mix advocacy and science.
The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa...
2019-12-261h 03
The Black GoatThe Year 2019 in ReviewIn our annual end-of-year episode, we talk about noteworthy reflections and events from the year that just passed. Alexa reflects on breakups, and wonders why we don't take them more seriously as a significant disruption to other people's lives. Sanjay talks about hitting a low point and deciding to finally do something about it. And Simine talks about starting a new relationship and finding a new job that will take her halfway around the world. Plus: we answer a letter about whether scientists should mix advocacy and science.
The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine...
2019-12-261h 03The Black GoatLetting Loose Your Inner Reviewer TwoPeer review is a major part of how science works today. In this episode we talk about how we approach doing peer reviews. How do you distinguish between differences in approach or preference - "I would have done it a different way" - versus things that you should treat as objections? How much weight do you put on different considerations - the importance of the research question, the novelty, the theory, the methods, the results, and other factors? What's your actual process - do you read front-to-back, or jump around? How much do you edit and wordsmith your reviews...
2019-12-121h 12The Black GoatDoctorpiece TheaterTo get your PhD you have to do a dissertation. For some this is an important product that demonstrates your ability to produce original research. To others, it's a vestigial ritual and a waste of time on the way to becoming a productive scholar. In this episode we discuss dissertations - what they've been in the past, what they are today, and where they might go in the future. Is a dissertation necessary for the kinds of work that someone might do with a PhD? As graduate training has evolved, how well has the dissertation kept up? Are oral...
2019-11-291h 04The Black GoatThe Last StrawSpeaking up about injustice and bad behavior in a professional setting - as a witness, or as the target of it - is hard. It's uncomfortable, it's difficult, and it can generate backlash and other risks for yourself and your career. In this episode, we talk about that moment when people finally decide to say something or do something. Simine shares the story of how she decided to go on the record about being groped at a conference - what brought her to that decision, and what happened as a result. And we talk about other cases of people...
2019-11-131h 07The Black GoatTalk the TalkAcademics give a lot of talks. Job talks, conference talks, colloquium talks, brownbag talks, pub talks. In this episode we talk about talks. How do you approach different audiences and formats? How do you manage a format or audience where interrupting with questions is the norm? How, and how much, do you prepare for different kinds of talks? How do you handle nerves when the stakes feel high? We share some of our own observations and experiences about giving academic presentations. Plus: We answer a letter about how "alt-acs" are perceived within academia.
The Black Goat is...
2019-10-301h 06The Black GoatEverybody Act NormalScientists have to follow a lot of rules. We have IRB rules, journal submission rules, university rules - lots of rules. But some of the most important rules in science aren't rules at all - they are norms. Guiding principles that shape the work we do. In this episode, we discuss a classic paper by the sociologist Robert Merton on 4 norms that govern scientific work. Are these norms an expression of scientific values, or just a means to an end? How well do scientists follow them, individually or collectively? Is science doing as well today as Merton thought it...
2019-10-161h 15
The Black GoatEverybody Act NormalScientists have to follow a lot of rules. We have IRB rules, journal submission rules, university rules - lots of rules. But some of the most important rules in science aren't rules at all - they are norms. Guiding principles that shape the work we do. In this episode, we discuss a classic paper by the sociologist Robert Merton on 4 norms that govern scientific work. Are these norms an expression of scientific values, or just a means to an end? How well do scientists follow them, individually or collectively? Is science doing as well today as Merton thought it was...
2019-10-161h 15The Black GoatFor the LulzIn a previous episode we talked about making small talk in academic life and in general. In this episode we continue the theme, taking a break from our usual Very Serious Topics to answer the ultimate small-talk question: What do you do for fun? We talk about what a week in our lives is like outside of work. How do we spend time when we're not "on the clock"? What is the right amount of socializing? (spoiler: not everybody has the same answer) How do our hobbies and avocations reflect back on our work - or give us a...
2019-10-031h 01The Black GoatWho Do You Serve?The three pillars of academic work are research, teaching, and service - in that order. But service is incredibly important for universities and professions to function well and for academics to contribute to their communities. In this episode we talk about how we think about service. How do decide what service to do, and how much? How do you manage service in relation to your other work? What are different kinds of service, and what do you get out of them? What should we do about colleagues who get less service because they won't do it or will do...
2019-09-181h 00The Black GoatAxe Grinders BegoneIn the past decade, scientists in psychology and elsewhere have changed a lot in how we evaluate what makes research replicable, robust, and credible. New theories and findings in metascience and methodology - and repopularization of old ones - have given us new ways to think critically about research. But what do we do when these concepts and arguments are used poorly or bad faith - applied wrongly or selectively, or misused to sow broad doubt in science? In this episode we talk about what happens when people try to claim the mantle of open science to advance some...
2019-09-041h 03The Black GoatA Friend You Haven't MetPart of academic life means talking to new people about yourself and your work - whether it's on a job interview, at a conference, or casual conversations outside of academic settings. In this episode we talk about talking to strangers. How do you answer default academic small-talk questions like "tell me about your work?" How do you shake out of them to move a conversation somewhere more interesting? Should you prepare or practice an elevator pitch? And when, if ever, is it safe to take off your headphones on an airplane? Plus: We try to answer a letter about...
2019-07-241h 04The Black GoatSimine Flips OutEditors of scientific journals have a lot of power. For one thing, journals are the main way that scientific work is distributed, so editors' decisions control the flow of information among scientists and to the public. For another, publications are probably the single most consequential product in evaluating scientists for jobs and career advancement. Simine just wrapped up a term as an editor of a journal, and in this episode she reflects on how much power she had, why it was probably too much, and what she could do next about that. Her big idea is to "flip" herself...
2019-07-031h 02The Black GoatBring the PainResearch methods and statistics are a part of nearly every undergraduate psychology curriculum. They get dedicated courses of their own as well as coverage within other courses. In this episode we step back and reflect on how they should fit into an undergraduate curriculum and how we should be teaching them. Can and should we try to teach them important concepts without the underlying math? How do we integrate methodology into "substantive" teaching about psychology theories and findings? What should we do with the knowledge that many, probably most of our students will never calculate a correlation coefficient or...
2019-06-2658 minThe Black GoatThis is How We Do ItMany academics have flexibility in when, where, and how they get work done. In this episode we talk about the work habits we've developed to be productive, and the ones we've tried on that didn't fit. What are the differences between working in an office, at home, at a cafe, or elsewhere? How do you create routines and protect your time to get things done? Is it better to work with other people or alone? How do you recognize when the advice that works for everybody else doesn't work for you? Plus: With some help from sociologist Jill Harrison...
2019-06-1355 minThe Black GoatWho's Down with OPG?Most doctoral training in psychology follows an apprentice model: Grad students affiliate with a primary advisor and lab, and do most of their training under that one person. But what happens when grad students and professors develop professional relationships outside of that traditional model? In this episode we discuss the politics and etiquette of students and faculty interacting and working together outside of the advisor-advisee model. How much control do - and should - advisors have over their advisees? How should faculty go about supporting and criticizing the work of students from other labs? What are the issues involved...
2019-05-291h 07The Black Goatlibrary(blackgoatpod)To users of R, it is more than just another way to analyze data - it goes along with a different mindset about the centrality of coding in doing science, a way of thinking about openness and reproducibility, an intersecting set of tools, and a community of users with its own culture and mindset. In this episode we talk about the rise of R within the psychology research community. How has the importance of statistical software changed over time? Should we be teaching R to grads and undergrads? What have our own experiences learning new software been, and can...
2019-05-151h 00The Black GoatDon't Be Told What You Want, Don't Be Told What You NeedWhat if there were no journals? Would academic life be barren and empty, noisy and chaotic, happy and egalitarian, or something else entirely? In this episode we conduct an extended thought experiment about life without journals, in order to probe questions about what journals actually do for us anyway, what are other ways to achieve those things, and how we might overcome the downsides of the current scientific publishing ecosystem. How else could peer review work? How would researchers find information and know what to read? Would we just replace our current heuristics and biases with new ones? Plus...
2019-05-011h 05The Black GoatDon't Say IntegrityWhat is the connection between methodology and ethics? In the early days of the twenty-teens, some people referred to the changes afoot in psychology as a "scientific integrity movement," but that term quickly faded. In this episode, we explore the connections between scientific rigor and scientific ethics. What are the ethical dimensions of good methods? When do we have an ethical obligation to make sure that our studies can answer our questions? Are there ethical obligations that go beyond considerations around protecting human subjects? Why do we sometimes shy away from connecting science reform with ethical behavior? Plus: We...
2019-04-171h 01The Black GoatOh, Behave!Psychology calls itself a behavioral science, but how often do we measure actual behavior? In this episode we discuss what is involved in measuring realistic, meaningful behavior in psychology research - not just self-reports and response times. What counts as "behavior" anyway? Why does it seem like psychologists measure less behavior than they used to? What are the scientific, professional, or logistical reasons why researchers decide not to measure behavior? Our discussion is anchored around an article by Roy Baumeister, Kathleen Vohs, and David Funder with the delightful title "Psychology as the Science of Self-Reports and Finger Movements: Whatever...
2019-03-201h 05The Black Goat13/10 Would Criticize AgainIf you are a scientist, criticizing science is a part of the job. We write peer reviews of papers and grants; after talks we ask questions, make comments, and ask questions that are more of a comment; and sometimes we even run replications or new studies to test each other's conclusions. But the scientific ecosystem does not have people who hold the dedicated job of science critic, in the way that fields like art, theater, and music have critics. In this episode we consider an argument made by philosopher Don Ihde that the scientific ecosystem needs such people too...
2019-03-061h 04The Black GoatOur Best Episode EverSelf-promotion: the idea makes some people cringe and others salivate. In this episode, we talk about self-promotion in academic science. What amount - and maybe more importantly, what kind - is right? Why do some people shy away from it while others dive in? What even counts as self-promotion? Is it a luxury to be able to do without active self-promotion? How do cultural and other differences play into self-promotion? Plus: We answer a letter about bringing open science practices into clinical psychology.
Links:
Leveraging the open science framework in clinical psychological assessment research, by Jennifer...
2019-02-201h 04The Black GoatConference TalkLove them or hate them, conferences are a big part of academic life. In this episode we talk about getting the most out of a conference experience. How do you meet people (the dreaded "networking") and make the transition from feeling awkward to comfortable when you're new to a conference? How do you decide what to go to and what to skip? What are the etiquette and norms you should know about? How does the experience of going to a conference change over the course of your career? We share our tips, experiences, and stories from over the years...
2019-02-061h 03The Black GoatBack From The FutureWhether you call it a crisis, a renaissance, a revolution, or something else, there is no doubt that psychology is in the middle of a period of great change. How will future historians, scientists, and others look back on this moment in our field's history? We speculate on what changes we think will stuck, whether some things will look silly or naive in hindsight, what new problems or issues will rise in importance, and more. Plus: We respond to a letter about whether, when, and how to disclose a disability during the job search (and we invite feedback from...
2019-01-231h 00The Black GoatSelf-Help Helps Those Who Self-Help ThemselvesGo to the "Psychology" section in a bookstore and chances are it will be full of self-help books. In this episode we talk about self-help and its relationship to academic psychology. What is the difference between a scientist and a self-help guru? How do we feel about the ways that self-help books talk about empirical research, and do we think they should do more of that or less of it? What self-help books have we read, and what did we think of them? Plus: We answer a letter from a n00b assistant professor who wants grad students to...
2019-01-091h 03The Black GoatThe Year 2018 In ReviewContinuing an annual tradition, for our last episode of 2018 we talk about noteworthy events and reflections from our lives in the past year. Alexa finds that she's growing more sentimental with age. Alexa and Sanjay commune over rediscovering reading books for pleasure. Sanjay muses about the legitimate benefits of taking a sabbatical. Simine reflects on the joys of meeting new people and reinventing yourself on the road. Plus: We answer a letter about how you now when a place of work is "the one"?
The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. F...
2018-12-261h 02
The Black GoatThe Year 2018 In ReviewContinuing an annual tradition, for our last episode of 2018 we talk about noteworthy events and reflections from our lives in the past year. Alexa finds that she's growing more sentimental with age. Alexa and Sanjay commune over rediscovering reading books for pleasure. Sanjay muses about the legitimate benefits of taking a sabbatical. Simine reflects on the joys of meeting new people and reinventing yourself on the road. Plus: We answer a letter about how you now when a place of work is "the one"?
The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on t...
2018-12-261h 02
The Black GoatBody TalkMany psychologists study the brain or the body in relation to the mind. Alexa once thought psychophysiology and neuroscience would become a central part of her research; Sanjay flirted with the idea; Simine never seriously considered it. In this episode, we talk about how we see neuroscience and psychophysiology in relation to our own work. How well would those areas integrate into the research each of us does? What sorts of psychological questions are they not particularly well suited for? What do we think they are good for? What kinds of things do we learn from our colleagues who've made...
2018-12-121h 08The Black GoatBody TalkMany psychologists study the brain or the body in relation to the mind. Alexa once thought psychophysiology and neuroscience would become a central part of her research; Sanjay flirted with the idea; Simine never seriously considered it. In this episode, we talk about how we see neuroscience and psychophysiology in relation to our own work. How well would those areas integrate into the research each of us does? What sorts of psychological questions are they not particularly well suited for? What do we think they are good for? What kinds of things do we learn from our colleagues who've...
2018-12-121h 08The Black GoatThis Time Could Be Different (with Fiona Fidler)The open science movement is not the first time psychology has tried to reform itself. Why do some scientific reform movements succeed and others fizzle out? In this episode we talk with Fiona Fidler, a philosopher and historian of science at the University of Melbourne. Fiona's doctoral thesis was an investigation of a decades-spanning attempt to reform statistical practice in psychology based on critiques of null hypothesis significance testing. Her research included interviews with reform proponents like Patricia Cohen, Paul Meehl, and Robert Rosenthal; reviews of the correspondence and output of the APA Task Force on Statistical Inference; and...
2018-11-281h 07The Black GoatRelevant To Your InterestsScientists, like all humans, care about more than one thing in life. Scientists want to discover true or useful things about the world. But we are not indifferent to money, prestige, loyalty to friends and family, or other important things. How should scientists deal with situations where more than just our pure scientific ideals are on the line? In this episode we discuss conflicts of interest. What are conflicts of interest anyway? What are commonly occurring ones? Why does our field of psychology seem to have an underdeveloped set of norms and regulations for dealing with them? And how...
2018-11-141h 04The Black GoatTesting 1-2-3Personality tests are perennially popular - good ones and bad ones alike. In this episode we talk about personality testing in the public sphere. What do we think accounts for their popularity. What do people get out of taking them? What distinguishes good ones from bad ones? And we spend a little time trying to guess each other's Big Five profiles. Plus: A letter about raising open science when you're applying to graduate school.
The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on T...
2018-10-311h 10The Black GoatOur Most Significant Episode Everp-values. Love them or hate them, they are everywhere in science. In this episode we talk about some of our thoughts and feelings about this ubiquitous statistics. What are the drawbacks and benefits to dichotomizing results into "significant" and "nonsignificant"? What do we think of other statistical approaches as alternatives or complements, like effect size estimation or Bayes factors? Do we ever actually care about what p-values actually represent (the probability of data given a hypothesis)? And with no small trepidation, we wade into the Alpha Wars, a.k.a. the discussion and debate around a trio of papers...
2018-10-181h 01The Black GoatDon't Trust Me, I'm A Doctor"Public trust in science is declining" is a common refrain - but it turns out that it isn't true, or at best it's complicated. In this episode we discuss whether, when, and why the public should trust science. Why is public trust in science important anyway? How should people decide whether to trust research they cannot technically evaluate? Should scientists avoid criticizing each other in public because it will erode our public image? What is a scientific consensus, when should you take one as a valid indicator, and when shouldn't you? Plus: We answer a letter about preparing for...
2018-10-031h 00The Black GoatWhat Comes Next?Getting tenure and being promoted to associate or full professor are huge milestones in an academic career path. In this episode we talk about what comes afterward. What does it feel like and how long does that last? Do you keep going in the same direction or pause to take stock and make a switch? What new responsibilities and other surprises come at you and how do you handle them? And now that you have more autonomy, how can you be less beholden to other people's ideas of what defines success? Plus: We answer a letter about finding eminent...
2018-09-191h 02The Black GoatNobody Goes There Anymore, It's Too CrowdedConferences are expensive, carbon-belching, superficial prestige-fests. At least, that's what some people will tell you. In this episode we consider some of the arguments against academic conferences. Are they really worth the costs to the individual and to the planet? Can you actually communicate scientific substance in a conference or a talk? Are keynotes just warmed-over nuggets from your old Psych 101 class? And what are you even supposed to get out of conferences anyway? We discuss these arguments and relay some of our own dissatisfactions, but we also talk about why we keep going anyway. Plus: We answer a lett...
2018-09-051h 07The Black GoatBeing DifferentIn this episode we tell personal stories about being different, and we reflect on how our identities and experiences - in life and in professional spheres - have been shaped by that. Sanjay talks about growing up multiracial and trying to figure out what that meant while the world was trying to define it for him. Simine talks about not conforming to gender expectations and the assumptions and reality about sexual orientation that go with that. Alexa talks about how her understanding of her own romantic and sexual attractions and interests evolved over time and how she started dating wom...
2018-08-221h 33
The Black GoatBeing DifferentIn this episode we tell personal stories about being different, and we reflect on how our identities and experiences - in life and in professional spheres - have been shaped by that. Sanjay talks about growing up multiracial and trying to figure out what that meant while the world was trying to define it for him. Simine talks about not conforming to gender expectations and the assumptions and reality about sexual orientation that go with that. Alexa talks about how her understanding of her own romantic and sexual attractions and interests evolved over time and how she started dating women. Alo...
2018-08-221h 33The Black GoatPsychological Science Is Made Out Of PeopleWe aren't analyzing you right now, we can't help you with your problems, and regardless of whether your Uncle Horace would make a great case study we aren't interested in meeting him. So what are these psychology degrees good for anyway then? In today's episode we talk about how our training and work as psychologists has influenced us as people. Are psychologists are good or bad at relating to others (and how much of the answer is about self-selection versus causation)? Has being a researcher made us more analytical outside of our research? How do we react when people br...
2018-08-081h 03The Black GoatBecause Reasons (with Ellen Evers)On today's episode we are joined by Ellen Evers, an assistant professor of marketing at the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley. We talk with Ellen about working at a business school, and how it is similar and different from being in a psychology department; how people in different fields think about rationality, and how that plays out in her own interdisciplinary work; and how the larger conversation around open science and replicability has made its way into decision research and marketing. Plus: We answer a letter about dealing with a helicopter advisor as an early-career researcher.
2018-07-1159 minThe Black GoatSituation NormalIn this episode we talk about situationism in psychology. What are some of the different definitions of situationism? Is it a theory? An agenda? An ideology? We talk about the evidence for various assumptions or predictions of situationism, the historical and political context in which it arose, the relation of situationist ideas to a historical rift between social and personality psychologists, and how situationism affects the field today. Plus: We respond to a letter about planning new research when you have doubts about what you are building on.
Links:
Jedi Counsel episode "Ask Us Anything", where...
2018-06-271h 09The Black GoatCome TogetherA lot of scientists only think about professional societies once every year or two when conference time comes around. But the inner workings of societies are often somewhat mysterious, and many of them do additional activities that are less visible. In this episode we talk about professional societies: what they do, how they are governed, where their money comes from and goes to, how they shape the work that scientists do, and how you can get involved in them. Plus: In the opening segment, we talk about a new article raising serious questions about the Stanford Prison Experiment and the...
2018-06-131h 08The Black GoatYou Can Go Your Own Way (with Katie Corker)If you are a psychologist following how the field is changing its methods and practices, you have probably heard of Katie Corker. Katie is an assistant professor at Grand Valley State University, President of the Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science, and a rising star in metascience research. In the first part of our conversation, we talk about her professional path and what advice she has for people starting out. What should doctoral students know about applying to and working at primarily teaching institutions? How do you balance service commitments as an early-career researcher (and when do you t...
2018-05-301h 02The Black GoatTech Tales (with Paul Litvak)So you're thinking of taking your Ph.D. into industry. What kinds of jobs are out there for you? How do you find them? How do you get ready for them? In this episode we talk to guest Paul Litvak about working in the tech industry. Paul got his Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon where he studied behavioral decision making. During grad school he started up a data analytics consulting firm. He has worked at Facebook, Google, and now Airbnb where he is a product manager. We pick Paul's brain about the work he does and what advice he...
2018-05-161h 02The Black GoatThe PhD Who Caught the CarYou made it! Now what in the world happens next? In today's episode, we talk about starting your first tenure-track job. How do you get ready for your new role and responsibilities? What should you do to line up the mentorship, support, and reality-checking you'll need? How do you want your lab to operate? When should you start taking grad students? How do you get ready to teach? Plus: We get fired up about a letter from a grad student whose advisor and department are hostile to open science. And we discuss some recent resignations of editors at major jo...
2018-05-021h 13The Black GoatA Blooming, Buzzing ConfusionSocial media is becoming a bigger and bigger part of the academic workplace. In this episode we talk about its role and share some thoughts about ways that people use it. Should you even be on social media? What are good and bad ways to talk about yourself and your work? What are some other ways that social media fits in to academic work besides networking and self-promotion? How do you handle bad behavior and avoid it yourself? Plus: We respond to a letter from a new faculty member about contributing to open science when more senior colleagues may ha...
2018-04-181h 13The Black GoatA Jury of Your Nerdy PeersPeer review is central to how academics communicate our findings to each other. Today we dig in to some of the details of what it is and how it works. How did peer review become a part of academia in the first place? What are some common things about peer review that early-career researchers don't know? What should you do when you disagree with an editor or reviewers? Should you sign your reviews? Plus, a letter writer asks us if it's weird to keep living your life by unreplicable findings.
Links:
Signing Critical Peer Reviews & the F...
2018-04-041h 13The Black GoatHanging in the BalanceWork-life balance is an important issue for academics. In this episode we talk about what it's like to actually try to have it. How do you know when you've hit the right balance? Where does pressure to work more come from, and how do you manage it? How does work-life balance change over the course of a career? Plus, we answer a letter from a grad student who is trying to convince a senior collaborator that open science and diversity research are not at odds.
Links:
Structured procrastination
Simine on Rationally Speaking
The overestimated workweek revisited
...
2018-03-211h 04The Black GoatAboard the Hype TrainAre you ready? ARE YOU READYYYYYYYY? In today's episode we talk about hype. Hype! HYPE!!! Scientific research often gets hyped - in press coverage and public outreach, as well as in scientists' communication with each other through journals and talks. Where does hype come from? What effects does it have? How far should we be willing to stray from the data? Are there times when it's okay to "play ball" with a journalist to tell a good story? Plus: a letter about dropping a co-author who's also a personal friend.
Links:
The association between exaggeration in...
2018-03-071h 01The Black GoatMoving alongMoving is a big part of academic life, and in this episode we talk about our own experiences and how it affects the culture of academia. How do you decide whether and where you’re willing to move? What are all the things you have to deal with? How do you adjust? How does the fact that so many people move for academia affect the culture of it (e.g., at a university almost all the faculty are from somewhere else; or the way conferences function as mini reunions with your friend circles)? Plus: We answer a letter about whe...
2018-02-211h 09The Black GoatAcademic KindnessWhat is the role of kindness in academic life? In this episode we talk about where kindness fits in to academic work. When is kindness rewarded or discouraged in academia? What are some of the small ways to be kind in our work? How does kindness intersect with power and hierarchies in academia? What is the distinction between being kind and being nice, and are there times when you can be one but not the other? Plus: We respond to a letter about what psychology's open science movement has to offer to other disciplines, and what they have to o...
2018-02-0756 minThe Black GoatCreativity and RigorIn this episode we explore the relationship between creativity and rigor. Some psychologists have commented that they at odds, others have suggested that you can pursue one independent of the other. We examine the argument that expecting research to be rigorous gets in the way of creativity. What makes a scientific idea creative, and how is that different from creativity in other domains? Can people be creative in the ways they try to be rigorous? Are creative ideas more prestigious than rigorous methods? Have cheap ideas given a bad name to scientific creativity, and have bad criticisms given a bad name...
2018-01-241h 06The Black GoatWelcome To The Big LeaguesSo you got through the interview. What happens next? If you're lucky, you might get a job offer - and we want you to be ready! In this episode we talk about the process of negotiating for your first job. How should you start preparing (you're gonna start preparing, right?) Who do you negotiate with and what do they actually want? What kinds of things can you ask for, and how should you ask for them? How do you handle exploding deadlines (boo!) and multiple offers (yay!)? We share our experiences on how to approach this important step in...
2018-01-101h 12The Black GoatThe Year 2017 in ReviewFor our last episode of 2017, we each look back on the year and what stood out for us - besides launching The Black Goat, of course. We talk about how the personal became political in a crazy year for U.S. politics; finding new connections through hobbies; the endings, beginnings, and deepenings of important relationships; and how peak experiences change as we get older. Plus: Our letter of the week is about how to get a toehold on professional networking. And a viral tweet of Sanjay's leads into a discussion of implicit bias and strangers in your Twitter mentions.
...
2017-12-271h 10
The Black GoatThe Year 2017 in ReviewFor our last episode of 2017, we each look back on the year and what stood out for us - besides launching The Black Goat, of course. We talk about how the personal became political in a crazy year for U.S. politics; finding new connections through hobbies; the endings, beginnings, and deepenings of important relationships; and how peak experiences change as we get older. Plus: Our letter of the week is about how to get a toehold on professional networking. And a viral tweet of Sanjay's leads into a discussion of implicit bias and strangers in your Twitter mentions.
The Black...
2017-12-271h 10The Black GoatWhodunnitPreviously we've talked about judging the scientist by their science. Today we turn the question around: When should you judge a piece of scientific work based on what you know about the person who did it? We examine the arguments for why an author's track record should and shouldn't matter in judging their work. What are the pros and cons of masking authors' identities from reviewers and editors? How do we simultaneously manage validity and bias, and reconcile those things with a broader concept of fairness? And also: This week's letter is about what to do when your findings fai...
2017-12-131h 04The Black GoatSignificant FeelingsEverybody's talking about p-values. An important part of the replicability discussion has been about the correct use and interpretation of p-values, and the potentially distorting incentives attached to getting one below .05. And recently, Simine was a co-author on a paper proposing to redefine the interpretive threshold for calling something "significant." In this episode we talk about p-values: our feelings about them, how we were taught to think about them and how that has changed over the years, and the role of thresholds and categorization of evidence in our scientific thinking. Plus: A letter-writer asks if you should put more fai...
2017-11-301h 05The Black GoatWe Were Never CoolAlexa studies how our beliefs change them over time. Simine studies self-knowledge and what others know about us. And Sanjay studies lifespan development. So this episode we are going to go full me-search and talk about what we were like as kids, how we’re the same and how we have changed into who we are now. Were any of us cool in high school? (Spoiler: No.) And how did going into academia change who we were? And in our letter of the week, we talk about how to keep up with what can seem like a firehose of new met...
2017-11-151h 02
The Black GoatWe Were Never CoolAlexa studies how our beliefs change them over time. Simine studies self-knowledge and what others know about us. And Sanjay studies lifespan development. So this episode we are going to go full me-search and talk about what we were like as kids, how we’re the same and how we have changed into who we are now. Were any of us cool in high school? (Spoiler: No.) And how did going into academia change who we were? And in our letter of the week, we talk about how to keep up with what can seem like a firehose of new methods...
2017-11-151h 02The Black GoatThe Learning CurveWhen you're faculty at a research university, you get mixed messages about teaching: it's a big part of the job, but you get all kinds of not-so-subtle messages that you are supposed to think of yourself as a researcher first. In today's episode, we talk about where teaching fits into our identities and values, and how that has evolved over our careers. Alexa talks about her experiences volunteering to teach in a prison; Simine tells how she found a way to be her quiet, skeptical self in front of hundreds of people; and Sanjay talks about looking for the overla...
2017-11-011h 04
The Black GoatThe Learning CurveWhen you're faculty at a research university, you get mixed messages about teaching: it's a big part of the job, but you get all kinds of not-so-subtle messages that you are supposed to think of yourself as a researcher first. In today's episode, we talk about where teaching fits into our identities and values, and how that has evolved over our careers. Alexa talks about her experiences volunteering to teach in a prison; Simine tells how she found a way to be her quiet, skeptical self in front of hundreds of people; and Sanjay talks about looking for the overlap betwee...
2017-11-011h 04The Black GoatDisagreeing about ScienceScience is in a period of especially pitched disagreement. Beyond the usual scientific disagreements about theories and studies, we are talking - and disagreeing - about deep questions about the nature and practice of science. In today's episode we talk about how to disagree with people about issues related to open science, replicability, and scientific reform. How do you decide when to pick an argument? How do you disagree constructively? Did the open science movement attract people in the early days who are comfortable with disagreement, and how has that changed? What do you do if you are the on...
2017-10-181h 04The Black GoatThe Meaning of It All (with Anna Alexandrova)Scientists often turn to philosophers for answers to the big questions about science: what is the meaning of what we do, what makes it valid, why does it even matter? In this episode we put all our thorniest questions to our guest, Anna Alexandrova. Anna is a philosopher of science at Cambridge University and author of the new book A Philosophy for the Science of Well-Being. We talk about replicability and reform in science, what scientists can learn from philosophy beyond the Popper-Kuhn-Lakatos canon, the important role of norms in scientific discourse, and how you do science on values-laden concepts...
2017-10-041h 13
The Black GoatThe Meaning of It All (with Anna Alexandrova)Scientists often turn to philosophers for answers to the big questions about science: what is the meaning of what we do, what makes it valid, why does it even matter? In this episode we put all our thorniest questions to our guest, Anna Alexandrova. Anna is a philosopher of science at Cambridge University and author of the new book A Philosophy for the Science of Well-Being. We talk about replicability and reform in science, what scientists can learn from philosophy beyond the Popper-Kuhn-Lakatos canon, the important role of norms in scientific discourse, and how you do science on values-laden concepts like well...
2017-10-041h 13The Black GoatAll Your Idols Have Clay Feet
Many scientists are inspired by other scientists - people whose work and careers they admire and want to emulate. But sometimes our idols turn out to be flawed as scientists or as people. How do you cope when that happens? Is it a problem to even have idols at all - and what would be the alternative? Plus: We respond to a letter about getting help for your psychological struggles when your classmates work at the counseling center. And should first-time teachers tell their students that they are new?
The Black Goat is hosted by Sanj...
2017-09-201h 03
The Black GoatBig TimeIt's job market season in the United States. What goes in an application? How should you practice and prepare for a job talk? The Q&A after the talk? What happens during the campus interview? How do you get ready for it? What should you wear? What do you do after it's all done? We share some of our experiences from both sides of the process, including a couple of disaster stories. Also, keeping with the theme, our letter of the week is about whether to apply narrowly or broadly. Plus, for the first time ever we are recording all tog...
2017-09-061h 22The Black GoatBig TimeIt's job market season in the United States. What goes in an application? How should you practice and prepare for a job talk? The Q&A after the talk? What happens during the campus interview? How do you get ready for it? What should you wear? What do you do after it's all done? We share some of our experiences from both sides of the process, including a couple of disaster stories. Also, keeping with the theme, our letter of the week is about whether to apply narrowly or broadly. Plus, for the first time ever we are recording all...
2017-09-061h 22The Black GoatSIPSapaloozaThe Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science, or SIPS, held its second conference July 30 - August 1, 2017. SIPS is a new organization that works to improve methods and practices in psychology. The conference is unlike a typical academic meeting -- instead of symposia and keyones, the schedule is filled with hackathons, unconferences, and more. In the first part of this episode, we talk about where SIPS came from and what it is all about. Then we present conversations that we recorded with SIPS attendees.
Interviews:
Alexa talks to three SIPS veterans: Brett Mercier, Dylan Wiwad, and Alex...
2017-08-231h 02
The Black GoatSIPSapaloozaThe Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science, or SIPS, held its second conference July 30 - August 1, 2017. SIPS is a new organization that works to improve methods and practices in psychology. The conference is unlike a typical academic meeting -- instead of symposia and keyones, the schedule is filled with hackathons, unconferences, and more. In the first part of this episode, we talk about where SIPS came from and what it is all about. Then we present conversations that we recorded with SIPS attendees.
Interviews:
Alexa talks to three SIPS veterans: Brett Mercier, Dylan Wiwad, and Alex Uzdavines.
Simine talks to M...
2017-08-231h 02The Black GoatA Psychometrician's Guide to Popularity
When should you care what other people think of you, if ever? In academia other people's opinions of you sometimes matter in official ways, like hiring and student evaluations of teaching, as well as in lots informal ways. And in life, let's face it, we all care. Today we talk about the ways we have coped (or not) with caring what other people think of us. Also: In our letter of the week, we talk about an ambiguous case of who should be a first author. And we definitely do not talk about SIPS.
The Bla...
2017-08-091h 02The Black GoatThe Iron Psychologist (with Jamil Zaki)Today we are delighted to be joined by guest Jamil Zaki. Jamil is an assistant professor at Stanford University and director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Laboratory. We talk with Jamil about The People’s Science, a nonprofit he co-founded that promotes direct engagement between scientists and the public. Plus: In our letter of the week, we talk about when neuroscience adds value to psychological research (and maybe when we're not so sure). And we tell the story of where the name "The Black Goat" came from.
Discussed in this episode:
Jamil Zaki’s lab
The People’...
2017-07-261h 24The Black Goat'Cause You're There For Me TooFriendships are an important part of life, but one that often gets left out of the conversation about having healthy relationships. Today we talk about maintaining friendships outside of academia - how important (or not?) is it to have those connections, and what role do they play in our lives. Also in this episode: A letter-writer is trying to decide whether to come clean about the p-hacked work that got them tenure. And Simine tells us why she hated getting her first pedicure.
Discussed in this episode:
Check Yourself Again by Mickey Inzlicht
My position on "p...
2017-07-121h 01The Black GoatIt's So ComplicatedAll three of us were all around, at various career stages, before the "replicability crisis" became a thing. In today's episode we each share stories of our personal journeys with the larger replicability discussion in psychology, and how we went from clueless to naively optimistic to whatever we are today. Plus: A letter-writer asks how to respond to an advisor who asks you to p-hack. And Alexa tells how her students reacted to her telling them that she is an atheist.
Links:
Do-Gooder Derogation: Disparaging Morally Motivated Minorities to Defuse Anticipated Reproach, by Julia Minson and Beno...
2017-06-281h 07
The Black GoatNullius in verbaWhen a group of "natural philosophers" got together to found the Royal Society in 1660 - now the oldest scientific society in the world - they chose as their motto a Latin phrase meaning "Take nobody's word for it." In today's episode we talk about the role of trust in science. Trust can mean many things, and we talk about its tension with scientific verifiability, people's desire for trusting relationships and culture in their field, and the practical value of trust in doing our work. Plus: A letter about whether pressures to fit the mold of a job description or graduate pro...
2017-06-141h 07The Black GoatNullius in verbaWhen a group of "natural philosophers" got together to found the Royal Society in 1660 - now the oldest scientific society in the world - they chose as their motto a Latin phrase meaning "Take nobody's word for it." In today's episode we talk about the role of trust in science. Trust can mean many things, and we talk about its tension with scientific verifiability, people's desire for trusting relationships and culture in their field, and the practical value of trust in doing our work. Plus: A letter about whether pressures to fit the mold of a job description or gra...
2017-06-141h 07The Black GoatI Felt Like a Real ScientistAs scientists we are accustomed to knowing the results when we evaluate the quality of research. But is that a good thing? How would it change the way we edit and review research if we had to make our evaluations without knowing the results? And beyond that, how would it change scientific practice itself - the ways we design, conduct, and report our work? We discuss the idea of separating evaluation from results and talk about some common concerns. Plus: Simine debriefs on the APS conference, and we talk about a recent Slate article on Daryl Bem's ESP research. An...
2017-05-311h 09The Black GoatConfessions of a Replicator (with Rich Lucas)Rich Lucas has had an impressive career studying well-being: He holds an endowed professorship at Michigan State, he has won numerous awards, and his work is highly influential in psychology, economics, and other fields. So why does he dedicate a sizeable chunk of his time to running replications of other people's work? We have a conversation with Rich about doing replication research: why he does it, how others have received it, and what it's like when the replicator becomes the replicatee (is that even a word?). Plus: We answer a letter about whether we have ever considered non-academic careers. A...
2017-05-171h 05
The Black GoatDancing On Our OwnRejection is an inescapable part of being an academic. How do you learn to cope? We share stories of our own professional rejections, talk about the unique joys of getting rejected for different things (grants, jobs, articles), and how our responses to rejection have changed over time. In our letters of the week, we tackle how to find diverse grad students for a lab, and deciding whether to collaborate with someone with a toxic reputation. Plus: Sanjay kind of regrets a joke he made, not for the first time in his life. And we are excited about the upcoming SIPS co...
2017-05-031h 06The Black GoatDancing On Our OwnRejection is an inescapable part of being an academic. How do you learn to cope? We share stories of our own professional rejections, talk about the unique joys of getting rejected for different things (grants, jobs, articles), and how our responses to rejection have changed over time. In our letters of the week, we tackle how to find diverse grad students for a lab, and deciding whether to collaborate with someone with a toxic reputation. Plus: Sanjay kind of regrets a joke he made, not for the first time in his life. And we are excited about the upcoming SI...
2017-05-031h 06The Black GoatTake This Job and Pre-Register ItGoing on the job market is stressful already. If you've been embracing open science practices in your work, how should you convey that? And will you be embraced as forward-thinking or dismissed as a destructo-warrior? Also: This is the first episode we've recorded since we launched and we talk about how it feels weird. And two, count 'em, TWO letters today: The perils of trying to seem knowledgeable and admitting what you don't know; and should you accept a review request for someone you know is a serial sexual harasser?
Discussed in this episode:
Being imperfect in...
2017-04-191h 01
The Black GoatExcellence AdventuresUniversities are increasingly talking about "excellence" as a basis for evaluating scholarship and making strategic decisions. We talk about a recent paper that analyzes the rhetoric around excellence, finds it wanting, and offers up some alternatives. Plus: We get ready for spring "break" (flying to beautiful places to keep working); the controversy around Brian Wansink's Food and Brand Lab; and should our letter-writer appeal an editorial decision based on an error?
Links discussed:
Spoiled Science (Chronicle article about Brian Wansink)
The Wansink Dossier (Tim Van Der Zee's compendium of anomalies in Food and Brand Lab publications)
Exce...
2017-04-1950 minThe Black GoatEpisode 4: Hate the SinnerMany of us try to draw a line between criticizing the science and criticizing the scientist. But when are ad hominem criticisms okay? We talk about the difference between ad hominem arguments and the ad hominem fallacy, the asymmetry between praise and criticism, and the sometimes complicated relationship between our scientific output and our reputations. Plus: In our opening segment we talk about an experiment in gender-swapping email signatures. And we answer a letter from someone whose data was used for a publication by a fellow graduate student without permission.
Links discussed:
Co-workers swap email addresses
Men ex...
2017-04-0555 minThe Black GoatEpisode 3: No, You're The ImpostorHave you ever experienced impostor syndrome? Meta-impostor syndrome (everyone else just has impostor syndrome but you're right about yourself)? We talk about mental health and all the ways you can feel terrible as an academic. In our opening segment we discuss Alexa's brush with a misconduct case, Simine's new article on how journal articles are like new cars, and a reviewer getting in trouble for wanting to see data. And in our letter of the week, what do you do when a reviewer tells you to HARK?
Articles and blog posts discussed in this episode:
Duplicating Dat...
2017-03-2359 minThe Black GoatEpisode 2: Journals Be GoodJournals and editors are adopting innovative new ways to evaluate and disseminate work: We talk about the Pottery Barn Rule for replications, badges, open access and more. Also: Is there wisdom on social media? And in our letter of the week, who will fill the hole in your heart when you don't have an advisor any more?
The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, or on Facebook at facebook.com/blackgoatpod/. You can email us at letters@theblackgoatpodcast.com...
2017-03-2353 minThe Black GoatEpisode 1: Everything is AwesomeWelcome to the inaugural episode of The Black Goat! Our main topic is: How do you stay optimistic when everything seems fucked? But before that, we kick things off talking about who we are and why we are here. And we respond to our letter of the week, which asks how personally invested you should be in your research topic and whether it needs to be me-search.
The Black Goat is hosted by Sanjay Srivastava, Alexa Tullett, and Simine Vazire. Find us on the web at www.theblackgoatpodcast.com, on Twitter at @blackgoatpod, or on Facebook at fac...
2017-03-2154 min