Robert Epstein

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Robert Epstein
Dr.Robert Epstein CeBIT Conference.jpg
Epstein speaking at the ceBIT conference in Hanover, Germany
Born (1953-06-19) June 19, 1953 (age 70)
NationalityAmerican
Education Trinity College (BA)
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Harvard University (PhD)
Known forGenerativity Theory
Love Contract
Search engine manipulation effect
Sexual Continuum Theory
Scientific career
Fields Psychology
Behavioural sciences
Institutions Boston University
Harvard University
University of the South Pacific
University of California, San Diego
San Diego State University
Thesis Columban stimulations of complex human behavior  (1981)
Website drrobertepstein.com

Robert Epstein (born June 19, 1953) is an American psychologist, professor, author, and journalist. He was awarded a Ph.D. in psychology by Harvard University in 1981, was editor-in-chief of Psychology Today , and has held positions at several universities including Boston University, University of California, San Diego, and Harvard University. He is also the founder and director emeritus of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies in Concord, MA. In 2012, he founded the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology (AIBRT), a nonprofit organization that conducts research to promote the well-being and functioning of people worldwide.

Contents

Epstein has been a commentator for National Public Radio's Marketplace, the Voice of America, and Disney Online. His popular writings have appeared in Reader's Digest , The Washington Post , The Sunday Times (London), Good Housekeeping , The New York Times , Parenting , and other magazines and newspapers. Epstein is a public figure in the world of psychology. [1] [2] [3] [4] He has published more than 350 articles and 15 books. His online competency tests are taken by more than a million people a year. [5]

Early life

Epstein was born on June 19, 1953, in Hartford, Connecticut, into a Jewish family. He went to Conard High School in West Hartford where he was first introduced to computer programming and hacking through the school's IBM 1620, one of the first computers owned by a US High School. [6]

Epstein went to Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, where he majored in Psychology and also took classes in dance. After receiving his B.A., Epstein moved to Israel to pursue his 'calling' to become a rabbi, where he worked on a kibbutz and studied at a yeshiva. After six months, he decided to instead turn his attention back to psychology, after becoming enamored with the works of B. F. Skinner. [7]

Graduate work

B. F. Skinner and Epstein photographed in the Harvard Pigeon Laboratory in the 1980s B.F. Skinner and Robert Epstein.jpg
B. F. Skinner and Epstein photographed in the Harvard Pigeon Laboratory in the 1980s

In 1976, Epstein enrolled in the Master's program of Community and Clinical Psychology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. There he studied the experimental analysis of behavior under Professor A. Charles Catania. While at graduate school, Epstein personally reached out to the then-retired B.F. Skinner, and convinced him to begin pigeon research again at the Psychology Department at Harvard University. Epstein and Skinner began collaborating on several new research projects, [8] and in the summer of 1977 Epstein was invited to become a full-time graduate student at Harvard. In 1981, he earned a PhD in Experimental Psychology from Harvard without having to write a dissertation, owing to the amount of publications he had. [6] [9]

Career

After receiving his PhD, Epstein founded the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies in 1981. For nine years, he served as the center's executive director while conducting research and teaching at the University of Massachusetts Boston, Northeastern University, Simmons College (Massachusetts), the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Boston University. [10] [11]

After leaving the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies in 1990, he began to write for national magazines, such as Reader's Digest [12] and Psychology Today , [13] and he also began to talk about psychological research in segments of Voice of America [5] and National Public Radio . [14] From 1998 to 2001 he hosted the national radio show Psychology Today Live. [15]

During this time, he also held visiting posts at Keio University, Tokyo, [16] and the HAL College of Technology and Design, at their Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo campuses in Japan. [17] For six years, he was also a researcher and Associate Investigator at the Center for Behavioral Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University. [18]

Epstein also served as Professor of Psychology and Chair of the Department of Psychology at National University (California). [19] From 1990 to 1995, he directed the Loebner Prize Competition in Artificial Intelligence, an annual contest in which human intelligence is pitted against machine intelligence. [20]

In 1999, he became the editor-in-chief of Psychology Today magazine, a position he held until 2003. He then hosted the Sirius XM radio show Psyched! [21] and contributed to media outlets such as Scientific American [22] and Huffington Post . [23] During this time, he was also a Research Professor at Alliant International University [24] and was a visiting scholar at the University of California San Diego. [25] In 2013, he moved to the Fiji Islands to serve as the first full Professor of Psychology at the University of the South Pacific, a position he held until 2015. [26] [27]

An autobiographical essay documenting his long involvement with the media was published in 2006 in the academic journal Perspectives on Psychological Science . [28]

In 2012, he co-founded the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology (AIBRT) in Vista, California, where he is currently Senior Research Psychologist. [29]

Contributions to behavioral science

Generativity Theory

While at Harvard in the 1980s, Epstein introduced the idea of "Generativity Theory", a quantitative, predictive theory of creativity in both animals and people, derived from research he had conducted with pigeons, children, and adults. [30] [31] [32] His 2000 book, The Big Book of Creativity Games, includes exercises for increasing creativity. [33]

Vulnerability Theory of Emotional Bonding (VTEB)

In various writings, Epstein has been a strong advocate of the view that people can deliberately learn to love each other, and he has proposed a formal, predictive theory of how love grows in couples. [34] His theory is based in part on research he has conducted on how love arises in arranged marriages in multiple cultures worldwide. In 2013, he published a study summarizing this research. [35]  At a class on intimate relationships he taught at University of California, San Diego, he gave extra credit to students for taking part in affection building exercises, and that class attracted national news coverage. [36] [37] [38] [39] At one time, he used himself as an experimental subject to investigate this proposition, and he proposed that couples take control over their love lives by signing a Love Contract. [40] [41] [42] [43]

Sexual continuum

Epstein has conducted large-scale studies on sexual orientation that confirm assertions made by Sigmund Freud, Alfred Kinsey, and others that (a) sexual orientation lies on a continuum, (b) bisexuality is the natural norm for human beings, and (c) most people claim to be straight because of social pressure. [44] [45] [46] [47] His psychometric test on sexual orientation is available in multiple languages online. [48]

Adolescence

Epstein is also a scholar in the field of psychological maturity, and has published an online maturity test. [49] [50] He is critical of what he sees as the "artificial extension of childhood" over the past century, arguing that what society views as the "teen brain" is often the result of Western cultural factors and infantilization, rather than a set of brain characteristics that are inherent in all humans throughout their teen years. [51] [52] In certain essays, he has cited studies which found that some teenagers are in some ways more developmentally mature than most adults, and advocates giving young people more adult responsibility, as well as placing them in environments in which they will not be prone to socializing simply with other teenagers. [53] He is the co-founder of National Youth Rights Day [54] and is the author of The Case Against Adolescence, which was cited by the US Supreme Court in the 2010 case Graham v. Florida. [55]

Carrier Separation Plan

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Epstein developed a plan for quickly stopping the transmission of the virus, eradicating it from the population, and reopening the economy without the need for social distancing or a vaccine, named the Carrier Separation Plan (CSP). It was based on a mathematical model he developed, and was accepted for publication by Frontiers in Public Health . [56] The model called for a three-stage approach, "(a) nearly simultaneous self-testing for the pathogen by an entire population, followed rapidly by (b) nearly simultaneous self-isolation of carriers, and (c) secondary screening at entrances to facilities where people congregate". Evidence collated in the paper suggested that the implementation of CSP would dramatically slow the spread of the virus even if compliance with the plan was only moderate. [56] Epstein called on both the Trump and Biden Administrations to implement the plan in the face of emerging variants. [57] [58] [59] [60]

Psychometric tests

Since the 1990s, Epstein has developed a number of psychological tests that people can take online without charge. [61] Some measure competencies in areas such as creativity, [62] [63] [64] love, [65] [66] [67] stress management, [68] [69] and parenting. [70] [71] [72] He has also developed a mental health screening test that is consistent with the DSM-5. [73] [74] [75] Many of the tests are available in foreign translations.

Contributions to internet studies

Search Engine Manipulation Effect (SEME)

In 2013, Epstein discovered a phenomenon he termed the Search Engine Manipulation Effect (SEME), an internet-influence effect that could give a dominant search engine company the power to determine the outcome of close elections. [76] [77] [78] He presented his theory in seminars at Stanford University, [79] the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, [80] and the International Convention of Psychological Science in Vienna, Austria. [81] [82] He published these findings in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, [83] and continues to research this phenomenon. [84] [85] His research led to him being invited to testify before the United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, hearing on Google and Censorship, in June 2019. [80] [86]

Search Suggestion Effect (SSE)

In experiments begun in 2016, Epstein determined that search suggestions—and the suppression of negative search suggestions—can also be used to manipulate votes and opinions, a phenomenon he termed the Search Suggestion Effect (SSE). [87] [88] He has expressed concern that this effect could be used by Big Tech companies to influence peoples' opinions with impunity. [89] [90] [91] He described this theory in detail during a 2017 seminar at the Stanford School of Engineering. [92]

Criticism of Google

Epstein has been an outspoken critic of Google and has proposed methods for reducing the threat that Big Tech poses to free-and-fair elections. [93] [94] In 2012, he said that Google could rig the 2016 United States presidential election and that search engine manipulation was "a serious threat to the democratic system of government". [95] In 2016, he wrote in Huffington Post magazine that Google had "a fundamentally deceptive business model". [96] In a 2017 article, Epstein criticized efforts by companies such as Google and Facebook to suppress fake news through algorithms, noting "the dangers in allowing big technology companies to decide which news stories are legitimate". [97] In 2019, Epstein compiled data that showed Google suggesting more positive terms when users searched for Hillary Clinton compared to when searching for Donald Trump. [98]

Other journalists and researchers have expressed concerns similar to Epstein's. Safiya Noble cited Epstein's research about search engine bias in her 2018 book Algorithms of Oppression , [99] although she has expressed doubt that search engines ought to counter-balance the content of large, well-resourced and highly trained newsrooms with what she called "disinformation sites" and "propaganda outlets". [100] Ramesh Srinivasan, a professor of information studies at UCLA focusing on "the relationships between technology and politics", agreed with Epstein that "the larger issue" of how search engines can shape users' views is "extremely important", but questioned how many undecided voters are using Google to help them decide whom to vote for. [100]

Some of his ideas have been criticized. Google dismissed Epstein's research as "nothing more than a poorly constructed conspiracy theory". [101] Panagiotis Metaxas, a Wellesley College computer science professor, said Epstein's paper on the search engine manipulation effect demonstrated a possibility of "what such an influence could have been if Google was manipulating its electoral search results", adding "I and other researchers who have been auditing search results for years know that this did not happen." [102] The Los Angeles Times reported in March 2019 that Epstein's criticism of Google had been "warmly embraced" by some conservatives, a phenomenon that Epstein said "is driving me crazy". [100]

Personal life

Epstein has five children [86] and lives in Vista, California. [103] His wife Misti was killed in a car accident in 2019, ending a marriage that began in 2012. [104]

Books

Films

Notes

  1. "PoliticKING with Larry King: Dr. Robert Epstein on Whether Google Can Rig the Presidential Election". Ora TV. September 4, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  2. Ramaswamy, Vivek (2021). Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam. Center Street. p. 150. ISBN   978-1546059820.
  3. Resnick, Elliot (April 4, 2018). "'Adolescence Is An Invention Of The West': An Interview With Noted Psychologist Dr. Robert Epstein". Jewish Press. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  4. "Introduction: Is Your Brain a Computer?". Critical Thinker Academy. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  5. 1 2 "Robert Epstein". The Bill Walton Show. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  6. 1 2 "Episode 89: Robert E pstein reflects on his career and the threat big tech poses to privacy and democracy". STEM-Talk. Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition.
  7. Epstein, Robert (2006). "Giving Psychology Away" (PDF). Perspectives on Psychological Science. 1 (4): 389–400. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6916.2006.00023.x. PMID   26151802. S2CID   43182301 . Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  8. "Drs. Robert Epstein & BF Skinner with Pigeons-Part 1" . Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  9. Epstein, Robert (2006). "Giving Psychology Away" (PDF). Perspectives on Psychological Science. 1 (4): 389–400. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6916.2006.00023.x. PMID   26151802. S2CID   43182301 . Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  10. Psikologi, Tim Redaksi (June 12, 2013). Kisi-Kisi Lulus CPNS 2013: Soal dan pembahasan lengkap. GUEPEDIA. p. 23. ISBN   9786029688115.
  11. "Epstein, Robert". History of Behavior Analysis. PBWorks. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  12. Epstein, Robert (October 1998). "Change your bad habits to good" (PDF). Reader's Digest. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  13. Epstein, Robert (November 1, 2000). "Ha, Ha". Psychology Today. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  14. Downing, Suzanne (November 24, 2018). "Try the 'The Creepy Line' experiment yourself". Must Read Alaska. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  15. Epstein, Robert (2006). "Giving Psychology Away" (PDF). Perspectives on Psychological Science. 1 (4): 389–400. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6916.2006.00023.x. PMID   26151802. S2CID   43182301 . Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  16. "Teen 2.0 | Saving Our Children and Families from the Torment of Adolescent". Teen 2.0 | Saving Our Children and Families from the Torment of Adolescent. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  17. Hargadon, Steve. "Dr. Robert Epstein on Teen 2.0, Live Tonight". Infinite Thinking Machine Blog. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  18. Epstein, Robert (Fall 1997). "Skinner as Self-Manager" (PDF). Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. 30 (3): 545–568. doi:10.1901/jaba.1997.30-545 . Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  19. "Working Mother". Google Books. Working Mother Media. September 1993. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  20. Christian, Brian. "Man or Computer? Can You Tell the Difference?". Smithsonian Magazine. Smithsonian. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  21. "33rd Annual Convention; San Diego, CA; 2007". Association for Behavior Analysis International. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  22. Epstein, Robert. "Stories by Robert Epstein". Scientific American. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  23. Epstein, Robert. "Robert Epstein, Ph.D." Huffington Post. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  24. "Robert Epstein". Neurotree. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  25. Novotney, Amy. "The science of creativity". American Psychological Association. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  26. Epstein, Robert; Robertson, Ronald E. (July 3, 2014). "How to Measure Sexual Orientation Range and Why It's Worth Measuring". Journal of Bisexuality. 14 (3–4): 391–403. doi:10.1080/15299716.2014.933378. ISSN   1529-9716. S2CID   52060932.
  27. Rubio, David. "The Digital Side-Hug: Dr. Robert Epstein". Otter Creek Church. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  28. "Giving psychology away: A personal journey". Perspectives on Psychological Science , 2006, 1(4), 389-400
  29. "People". AIBRT. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  30. Epstein, Robert (October 1, 2014). "On the orderliness of behavioral variability: Insights from generativity theory". Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science. 3 (4): 279–290. doi:10.1016/j.jcbs.2014.08.004. ISSN   2212-1447.
  31. Epstein, Robert (January 1, 2015). Kaufman, Allison B.; Kaufman, James C. (eds.). "Chapter 13 - Of Course Animals Are Creative: Insights from Generativity Theory". Animal Creativity and Innovation. Explorations in Creativity Research. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 375–393. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-800648-1.00013-9. ISBN   978-0-12-800648-1 . Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  32. Pritzker, Steven (1999). Encyclopedia of Creativity. Academic Press. ISBN   9780122270765.
  33. Epstein, Robert (2004). The Big Book Of Creativity Games. McGraw Hill. ISBN   0070597030.
  34. "The Love Project". Psychology Today. January 1, 2003. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  35. Epstein, Robert; Pandit, Mayuri; Thakar, Mansi (May 1, 2013). "How Love Emerges in Arranged Marriages: Two Cross-cultural Studies". Journal of Comparative Family Studies. 44 (3): 341–360. doi:10.3138/jcfs.44.3.341. ISSN   0047-2328.
  36. Epstein, Robert (2010). "How Science Can Help You Fall in Love". Academia. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  37. Epstein, Robert (January 2010). "Fall in Love and Stay That Way". Psychology Today. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  38. "How To Fall In Love 101" . Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  39. "Finding Romance With Matchmakers" . Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  40. Hill, Amelia (February 16, 2003). "Love is... a scientific experiment". The Guardian. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  41. "Can you learn to love anyone?". Psychologies. March 3, 2010. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  42. Leung, Rebecca (October 10, 2003). "What's Love Got To Do With It?". CBS News. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  43. McCarthy, Ellen (December 29, 2009). "Psychologist: Falling in love leads to failing at it". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  44. Epstein, Robert; McKinney, Paul; Fox, Shannon; Garcia, Carlos (November 1, 2012). "Support for a Fluid-Continuum Model of Sexual Orientation: A Large-Scale Internet Study". Journal of Homosexuality. 59 (10): 1356–1381. doi:10.1080/00918369.2012.724634. ISSN   0091-8369. PMID   23153024. S2CID   37966088.
  45. Robertson, Ronald E.; Tran, Felix W.; Lewark, Lauren N.; Epstein, Robert (May 1, 2018). "Estimates of Non-Heterosexual Prevalence: The Roles of Anonymity and Privacy in Survey Methodology". Archives of Sexual Behavior. 47 (4): 1069–1084. doi:10.1007/s10508-017-1044-z. ISSN   1573-2800. PMID   28785920. S2CID   4027290.
  46. Epstein, Robert (October 1, 2007). "Smooth Thinking about Sexuality". Scientific American Mind. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  47. Epstein, Robert (September 11, 2019). "Sexual orientation is somewhere on a continuum". NewScientist. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  48. "Straight, Gay, or in Between?". Straight, Gay, or in Between?. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  49. Castro-Cedeno, Mario; Mazumder, Quamrul (June 2010). "Motivation And Maturity Level Of Engineering And Engineering Technology Students With And Without Coop Experience". 2010 Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings. Louisville, Kentucky: ASEE Conferences: 15.889.1–15.889.25. doi: 10.18260/1-2--15687 .
  50. "How Adult Are You". How Adult Are You. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  51. Colour Me Adult, Trinidad Express , November 25, 2011.
  52. "Dr. Robert Epstein: Teen 2.0, Live Tonight" . Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  53. Silow-Carroll, Andrew (July 21, 2008). "Psychologist says teens won't grow up unless treated as adults". The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle .
  54. "National Youth Rights Day". National Youth Rights Day. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  55. "Graham Opinion, Thomas, J., dissenting, p. 23". Cornell Law. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  56. 1 2 Epstein, Robert; Houser, Connan; Wang, Ruixiao (March 5, 2021). "How SARS-CoV-2 and Comparable Pathogens Can Be Defeated in a Single Day: Description and Mathematical Model of the Carrier Separation Plan (CSP)". Frontiers in Public Health. 9: 640009. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.640009 . ISSN   2296-2565. PMC   7986559 . PMID   33768086.
  57. Epstein, Robert (June 8, 2020). "How You Can Unite the Country, Kill the Virus, and Safely Reopen the Entire Economy in a Single Day: An Open Letter to President Trump". Medium. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  58. Epstein, Robert (April 14, 2020). "Critiques of Joe Biden's Coronavirus Plan". The New York Times. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  59. "Ep. 310 - Guest: Dr. Robert Epstein | The Michael Medved Show". SoundCloud. April 30, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  60. "Dr. Robert Epstein says coronavirus can be stopped by mass testing and self-isolating carriers". Fox News. April 14, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  61. "COMPETENCY INVENTORIES". Dr Epstein.com. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  62. Houtz, John C.; Krug, Damon (1995). "Assessment of Creativity: Resolving a Mid-Life Crisis". Educational Psychology Review. 7 (3): 269–300. doi:10.1007/BF02213374. ISSN   1040-726X. JSTOR   23359351. S2CID   143657377.
  63. Epstein, R.; Schmidt, S.; Warfel, Regina M. (2008). "Measuring and Training Creativity Competencies: Validation of a New Test". Creativity Research Journal. 20: 7–12. doi:10.1080/10400410701839876. S2CID   56165561.
  64. "Do You Have the Skills You Need to Express Your Creativity?". Do You Have the Skills You Need to Express Your Creativity?. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  65. Epstein, Robert; Robertson, Ronald E.; Smith, Rachel; Vasconcellos, Tyler; Lao, Megan (October 1, 2016). "Which Relationship Skills Count Most? A Large-Scale Replication". Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy. 15 (4): 341–356. doi:10.1080/15332691.2016.1141136. ISSN   1533-2691. S2CID   151796738.
  66. "The two essential keys to a successful long-term relationship, according to a Harvard psychologist". Nomadrs. December 6, 2019. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  67. "Are You Ready for Love?". Are You Ready for Love?. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  68. "How to fight a frazzled mind". Asia Research News. August 25, 2011. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  69. "Know How to Manage Stress?". Know How to Manage Stress?. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  70. Epstein, Robert (2010). "What Makes a Good Parent?". Scientific American Mind. 21 (5): 46–51. doi:10.1038/scientificamericanmind1110-46. ISSN   1555-2284. JSTOR   24943178.
  71. "Be the Best Parent You Can Be: Building Your Parenting Skills". Penn State PRO Wellness. June 23, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  72. "Are You a Good Parent?". Are You a Good Parent?. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  73. Epstein, Robert; Muzzatti, Laura (October 2011). "Preliminary Validation of an Online DSM-Based Mental Health Referral Inventory". Journal of Technology in Human Services. 29 (4): 284–295. doi:10.1080/15228835.2011.638421. ISSN   1522-8835. S2CID   72644321.
  74. Epstein, Robert; Ho, Megan; Hyun, Seojin; Le, Christopher; Robertson, Ronald E.; Stout, Dayna (July 3, 2017). "A DSM-5-Based Online Mental Health Referral Inventory: A Large-Scale Validation Study". Journal of Technology in Human Services. 35 (3): 231–246. doi:10.1080/15228835.2017.1356800. ISSN   1522-8835. S2CID   149179442.
  75. "Do You Need Therapy?". Do You Need Therapy?. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  76. Timberg, Craig (March 29, 2013). "Could Google tilt a close election?". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  77. Timberg, Craig (March 14, 2017). "Group targets bias in search engines". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  78. "Could Search Engines Determine Elections?" . Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  79. "Stanford Seminar - The Search Engine Manipulation Effect (SEME) and Its Unparalleled Power" . Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  80. 1 2 Epstein, Robert (June 16, 2019). "Why Google Poses a Serious Threat to Democracy, and How to End That Threat" (PDF). Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  81. "Friday 24 March Daily Highlights" (PDF). International Convention of Psychological Science. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  82. https://aibrt.org/downloads/EPSTEIN_2017-The_Search_Suggestion_Effect-SSE-ICPS_Vienna-March_2017.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  83. Epstein, Robert; Robertson, Ronald E. (August 18, 2015). "The search engine manipulation effect (SEME) and its possible impact on the outcomes of elections". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 112 (33): E4512–E4521. Bibcode:2015PNAS..112E4512E. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1419828112 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   4547273 . PMID   26243876.
  84. Epstein, Robert; Robertson, Ronald E.; Lazer, David; Wilson, Christo (December 6, 2017). "Suppressing the Search Engine Manipulation Effect (SEME)". Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction. 1 (CSCW): 1–22. doi:10.1145/3134677. ISSN   2573-0142. S2CID   1681379.
  85. "Internet search engines may be influencing elections". www.science.org. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  86. 1 2 "Senate Judiciary Testimony by Dr. Robert Epstein". C-SPAN .
  87. Epstein, Robert (April 26, 2018). "The Search Suggestion Effect (SSE): How Search Suggestions Can Be Used to Shift Opinions and Voting Preferences Dramatically and Without People's Awareness" (PDF). Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  88. "99th Annual Convention of the Western Psychological Association" (PDF). Western Psychological Association. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  89. "Surprising Ways in Which the Internet Can Be Used to Alter People's Beliefs, Opinions and Attitudes – Even Our Votes". Association for Information Science and Technology. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  90. Glaser, April (August 20, 2019). "2.6 Million Reasons to Keep Yelling About "Bias"". Slate. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  91. Epstein, Robert (February 18, 2016). "The new mind control". AEON. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  92. "Stanford Seminar - Unethical Algorithms of Massive Scale" . Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  93. Epstein, Robert (July 15, 2019). "To Break Google's Monopoly on Search, Make Its Index Public". Bloomberg News. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  94. "Big Tech and Political Manipulation | Robert Epstein" . Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  95. Epstein, Robert. How Google Could Rig the 2016 Election
  96. Epstein, Robert (October 6, 2016). "Google's Hypocrisy". Huffington Post. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  97. Epstein, Robert (April 10, 2017). "Fake News Is a Fake Problem". Medium.com. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
  98. "Google rewards reputable reporting, not left-wing politics". The Economist . June 8, 2019. Retrieved June 26, 2022. Robert Epstein, an academic, has compiled data that show Google suggesting more positive terms when users type "Hillary Clinton" than when they look up Mr Trump.
  99. Noble, Safiya Umoja (2018). Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism. New York: New York University Press. pp. 52–53. ISBN   9781479849949. OCLC   987591529.
  100. 1 2 3 Halper, Evan (March 24, 2019). "This psychologist claims Google search results unfairly steer voters to the left. Conservatives love him". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  101. "Could Google rankings skew an election? New group aims to find out". Washington Post.
  102. Linda Qiu (August 19, 2019). "Fact check: Trump falsely claims Google 'manipulated' millions of 2016 votes". New York Times. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  103. Adan, Melissa (December 30, 2019). "Wife of Google Whistleblower Killed In I-15 Crash". NBC San Diego. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  104. "Wife of Google Whistleblower Killed in I-15 Crash". December 31, 2019.
  105. "Google, Facebook, and the 'Creepy Line'". National Review . November 24, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2022.

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Evolutionary psychology is a theoretical approach in psychology that examines cognition and behavior from a modern evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify human psychological adaptations with regards to the ancestral problems they evolved to solve. In this framework, psychological traits and mechanisms are either functional products of natural and sexual selection or non-adaptive by-products of other adaptive traits.

Psychology is the study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both conscious and unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feelings, and motives. Psychology is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between the natural and social sciences. Biological psychologists seek an understanding of the emergent properties of brains, linking the discipline to neuroscience. As social scientists, psychologists aim to understand the behavior of individuals and groups.

Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the relationship between mental states and social situations, studying the social conditions under which thoughts, feelings, and behaviors occur, and how these variables influence social interactions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Creativity</span> Forming something new and somehow valuable

Creativity is a characteristic of someone or some process that forms something new and valuable. The created item may be intangible or a physical object.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Happiness</span> Mental state, noted for pleasant emotions

Happiness is a positive and pleasant emotion, ranging from contentment to intense joy. Moments of happiness may be triggered by positive life experiences or thoughts, but sometimes it may arise from no obvious cause. The level of happiness for longer periods of time is more strongly correlated with levels of life satisfaction, subjective well-being, flourishing and eudaimonia. In common usage, the word happy can be an appraisal of those measures themselves or as a shorthand for a "source" of happiness. As with any emotion, the precise definition of happiness has been a perennial debate in philosophy.

Behavioral economics is the study of the psychological, cognitive, emotional, cultural and social factors involved in the decisions of individuals or institutions, and how these decisions deviate from those implied by classical economic theory.

Positive psychology studies the conditions that contribute to the optimal functioning of people, groups, and institutions. It studies "positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and positive institutions... it aims to improve quality of life."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Bandura</span> Canadian-American psychologist (1925–2021)

Albert Bandura was a Canadian-American psychologist. He was a professor of social science in psychology at Stanford University.

Victor B. Cline (1925–2013) was a University of California, Berkeley Ph D in Psychology, a research scientist with the George Washington University’s Human Resources Research Office, and an Emeritus Professor in Psychology at the University of Utah. His private clinical practice was in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Humanistic psychology is a psychological perspective that arose in the mid-20th century in answer to two theories: Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory and B. F. Skinner's behaviorism. Thus, Abraham Maslow established the need for a "third force" in psychology. The school of thought of humanistic psychology gained traction due to key figure Abraham Maslow in the 1950s during the time of the humanistic movement. It was made popular in the 1950s by the process of realizing and expressing one's own capabilities and creativity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Armitage Miller</span> American psychologist (1920–2012)

George Armitage Miller was an American psychologist who was one of the founders of cognitive psychology, and more broadly, of cognitive science. He also contributed to the birth of psycholinguistics. Miller wrote several books and directed the development of WordNet, an online word-linkage database usable by computer programs. He authored the paper, "The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two," in which he observed that many different experimental findings considered together reveal the presence of an average limit of seven for human short-term memory capacity. This paper is frequently cited by psychologists and in the wider culture. Miller won numerous awards, including the National Medal of Science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human behavior</span> Array of every physical action and observable emotion associated with humans

Human behavior is the potential and expressed capacity of human individuals or groups to respond to internal and external stimuli throughout their life. Behavior is driven by genetic and environmental factors that affect an individual. Behavior is also driven, in part, by thoughts and feelings, which provide insight into individual psyche, revealing such things as attitudes and values. Human behavior is shaped by psychological traits, as personality types vary from person to person, producing different actions and behavior.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Sternberg</span> American psychologist & scholar

Robert J. Sternberg is an American psychologist and psychometrician. He is a Professor of Human Development at Cornell University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Harlow</span> American psychologist

Harry Frederick Harlow was an American psychologist best known for his maternal-separation, dependency needs, and social isolation experiments on rhesus monkeys, which manifested the importance of caregiving and companionship to social and cognitive development. He conducted most of his research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow worked with him for a short period of time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Gilovich</span> American psychologist (born 1954)

Thomas Dashiff Gilovich an American psychologist who is the Irene Blecker Rosenfeld Professor of Psychology at Cornell University. He has conducted research in social psychology, decision making, behavioral economics, and has written popular books on these subjects. Gilovich has collaborated with Daniel Kahneman, Richard Nisbett, Lee Ross and Amos Tversky. His articles in peer-reviewed journals on subjects such as cognitive biases have been widely cited. In addition, Gilovich has been quoted in the media on subjects ranging from the effect of purchases on happiness to people's most common regrets, to perceptions of people and social groups. Gilovich is a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.

Insight is the understanding of a specific cause and effect within a particular context. The term insight can have several related meanings:

Steven C. Hayes is an American clinical psychologist and Nevada Foundation Professor at the University of Nevada, Reno Department of Psychology, where he is a faculty member in their Ph.D. program in behavior analysis. He is known for developing relational frame theory, an account of human higher cognition. He is the co-developer of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), a popular evidence-based form of psychotherapy that uses mindfulness, acceptance, and values-based methods, and is the co-developer of process-based therapy (PBT), a new approach to evidence-based therapies more generally. He also coined the term clinical behavior analysis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Ariely</span> Israeli-American professor of psychology and behavioral economics

Dan Ariely is an Israeli-American professor and author. He serves as a James B. Duke Professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University. Ariely is the co-founder of several companies implementing insights from behavioral science. Ariely wrote an advice column called Ask Ariely in the WSJ from June 2012 until September 2022. Ariely is the author of the three New York Times best selling books Predictably Irrational, The Upside of Irrationality and The Honest Truth about Dishonesty. He co-produced the 2015 documentary (Dis)Honesty: The Truth About Lies.

Gregory John Feist is an American psychologist and Professor of Psychology at San Jose State University. He has published in the psychology of creativity, personality, psychology of science, motivated reasoning, the psychology of science, and the development of scientific talent.