The media appearances and science communication keep on rolling… I was featured in Science Vs‘s podcast episode on Personality Assessment, as the guy with harsh things to say about the MBTI!
Check out this link for the transcript to find what I had to say!
Filed under My Updates, Personality Assessment
Off another appearance on the Korean English-radio show Morning Wave in Busan, I had the opportunity to delve into the fascinating world of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), much like a character in a movie, offers a simple and relatable way to categorize personalities into 16 types. Its widespread appeal lies in its ability to provide a framework for understanding ourselves and others. However, this popularity is shadowed by significant criticisms about its scientific validity, particularly its oversimplified binary approach to the complex spectrum of human personality.
Despite these concerns, the MBTI has found a place in various societal contexts, including job interviews in countries like Korea. While it can be a useful tool for self-awareness and understanding interpersonal dynamics, it’s crucial to use it cautiously, especially in professional settings. The MBTI, like a captivating movie, should be enjoyed for its insights while being mindful of its limitations in accurately representing the full scope of human behavior.
Here’s the video interview (it’s linked to the right timecode):
Filed under My Updates, Personality Assessment
Back in August 2023, I appeared on the Colin McEnroe show, an NPR show through their member station affiliate at Connecticut Public Radio. I had the pleasure of delving into the intricate world of personality assessments with host Colin McEnroe.
MBTI, a widely recognized and frequently used personality assessment tool, often comes under scrutiny in the academic sphere. Alongside my writing partner, Randy Stein, we tackled the ambitious task of measuring the validity of MBTI using three distinct metrics. The goal was to dissect the theory that forms the backbone of the assessment — an essential step to ensuring that the instrument’s measurements are transparent, assumption-based, and prediction-ready.
During the conversation, we also touched upon the reasons why MBTI remains popular despite academic criticism. It’s an interesting phenomenon that may tie into the self-validation and self-esteem boost that people experience when their personality is seemingly encapsulated in a neat, four-letter type.
As the conversation wrapped up, I reflected on the human tendency to find comfort in categorization — whether through MBTI types, Hogwarts houses, or even our favorite ‘Sex and the City’ character archetypes.
Here’s the link the episode: https://www.ctpublic.org/show/the-colin-mcenroe-show/2023-08-03/are-you-an-enfp-an-istj-a-look-at-the-history-validity-and-potential-of-myers-briggs
Filed under My Updates, Personality Assessment
I am pleased to share the release of my new course, “Understanding Cognitive Biases,” now available on Wondrium. This course explores the fascinating world of cognitive biases and their impact on our daily decisions and interactions, illustrated with practical examples from our everyday lives and the cinematic world.
Whether you’re delving into psychology or just curious about the workings of the mind, this course offers a thoughtful exploration into a core aspect of cognitive psychology.
Explore the course here.
Filed under My Updates
It’s been a while since I actually made a post on my website updating my academic life. Well, since the education and technology class has finished, that’s pretty much what I am back to. We’ll see if I can keep up.
Anyway, this summer it looks like I’ll be teaching two classes in the Psychology Department: Health Psychology and Intro to Research Methods again. I’m excited to develop a student-focused Health Psych class from the ground up. I am also excited to re-tool and revamp my research methods class from last year. I’m probably going to use a new book which I believe might be better and more approachable.
However, the best part of teaching research methods again is the ability to implement part of the education and technology final project. Take a look at the video my colleague, Molly Metz, and I made below (it’s intentionally silly):
So we can’t really implement the personalized adaptive learning platform in 6 weeks, but I can implement and integrate the ZAPS portion (or something like it) into the class in that time, just to make sure the students know what the class is about, as well as understanding the need for psychological science at such an early part of their college career. We will pretest attitudes and interests, move through the ZAPS process, finishing up with a small paper and a posttest of attitudes and the like, then compare the pretest and posttest for any changes. Hopefully there’s a publication in there somewhere (Teaching of Psychology seems like the appropriate place, no?). And more importantly, hopefully the new perspective in this type of course will lead to better prepared students in the upper-division classes and lab classes at UCSB. One can only hope that becomes truth.
My health psych class won’t be as technologically advanced, but I do hope to get the students interested in health psych by having them participate in a health behavior change assignment for the 6-week session. College students are full of bad habits, so maybe a few of them will continue to change their behavior after the course is completed. Showing them real studies with important health implications is also important–my goal is to only use the book as a support, not a complete resource for the course. I find this boring and predictable.
There is apparently lot’s of work to be done in the next couple of months, since both classes are the first session of summer school! And then a trip to Berlin for a conference! 2013 is one heckuva year!
Filed under Ed & Tech, My Updates
