Social Psychology in the Information Age: Happy New Year!

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Happy New Year!

I wish to thank each of you who has visited over the last few years and to wish each of you a wonderful 2020.

My plans for this blog in 2020 are simple enough. I still have some unfinished business with research from a very error-prone lab, I want to continue to examine allegiance effects in weapons effect research, and since this is an election year, I expect I will spend a bit of time offering a few pointers on media literacy. The last bit will likely be a bit of an update of some posts from late 2016 as I was processing the aftermath of the US Presidential election. Expect to see posts advocating for reform in my corner of the sciences. Expect new links - in particular ones to resources for those who value post-peer review as much as I do.

In the meantime, let's enjoy a moment to celebrate and to enjoy those things that truly matter. On second thought, let's be generous with the time that we spend enjoying those things that truly matter.

Onward.

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About

Hi! I am A. James Benjamin, Jr., PhD. Most folks call me James or JB eventually.

I am an educator trained as a social psychologist. I work as an Associate Professor at University of Arkansas-Fort Smith. I earned my PhD from University of Missouri-Columbia in 2000. Much of my research has touched on cognitive and behavioral effects of aggression-related cues (e.g., video games and weapon images), increasingly from a critical and skeptical perspective. I have also examined person variables such as authoritarianism and short-term media exposure in relation to attitudes toward violence and toward torture. My more recent interests involve the psychometric properties of various measures of aggressive cognition that are commonly used by aggression researchers. My work intersects with that of related researchers in areas such as Media Communication.

As an educator, I primarily teach methodology courses and the undergraduate survey course in social psychology. I also regularly teach the introductory psychology course. I make a point of introducing students at all levels to the replication crisis. Increasingly, I am trying interactive activities to engage students to become more critical readers of the research literature in my field.

I use this blog to express my own professional and personal perspectives. This blog is completely independent of any organizations with which I am affiliated. Assume that the views I express here are exclusively mine and do not reflect the views of any employer.