News & Updates

Variational Inference as Tractable Approximation for Bayesian Models of Psychological Change Processes

Large-scale Bayesian modeling of nonlinear psychological change processes can be intractable and unsustainable. Variational inference facilitates Bayesian analysis through estimation of approximate posterior distributions...

Personality Differences Drive Conversational Dynamics: A High-Dimensional NLP Approach

This paper investigates how the topical flow of dyadic conversations emerges over time and how differences in interlocutors’ personality traits contribute to this topical flow.

Using State Space Grids to Quantify and Examine Dynamics of Dyadic Conversation

This paper illustrates how to implement state space grid analysis for analyzing the back-and-forth multi-turn dynamics that manifest in dyadic conversations. In doing so, we contribute to a dynamic dyadic systems perspective that seeks to advance theories about individual and relational antecedents and outcomes of interpersonal communication through the articulation and study of dyadic interaction dynamics.

“Screenertia” in the Screenome: Investigating Targeted Exposure to Graphic Content in Vulnerable Populations

Cognitive-affective distress can increase vulnerability to addictive behavior, often manifesting as addictive sexual or violent behavior, including the consumption of pornography and violence online (Sinha, 2008)...

The Attention Economy and Mental Health: Anxiety as a moderator between ADHD symptoms, phone use, and sleep

In 2024, 90% of adults and 95% of teens in the United States report having access to a smartphone (Pew Research Center). Smartphones have been shown to impact attention.

Digital Behavior, Wellness, and Affect: Exploring the effects of wellness practices and digital help-seeking behavior on mental health

Rising mental health concerns in the U.S. (Wilson, 2022) underscore the need to identify influencing factors. Poverty profoundly affects well-being (Marbin 2022), highlighting the importance of considering the impact of socioeconomic factors such as income on mental health. Some studies suggest a strong negative correlation between excessive cell phone use and mental health, (Daniyal, 2022) however findings are mixed (Brinberg 2021).

Affective Sensitivity to Air Pollution (ASAP): Person-specific associations between daily air pollution and affective states

Individuals’ sensitivity to climate hazards is a central component of their vulnerability to climate change. In this paper, we introduce and outline the utility of a new intraindividual variability construct, affective sensitivity to air pollution (ASAP)...

Get Off Your Phone?? By Why?! Commentary on the Personal, Societal, and Corporate Motivations of Smartphone Use via Notifications and Creative Outlets

Our relationships to our phones are complicated...

America’s Quietest Emergency: Exposing, identifying and analyzing suicide contagion in institutions of higher learning

Social influence processes can induce desired or undesired behavior change in individual members of a group...

Bayesian Methods Tutorials for Psychological Research

Methods for collecting psychologically relevant data and modeling these data are rapidly advancing. Bayesian statistical methods have emerged as a set of particularly useful techniques, both within cognitive psychology and more broadly in psychological science...