New Cyberpsychology Seminar Series to Cover Online Conspiracy Theories, Misinformation and More
What psychological factors drive the popularity of conspiracy theories, and what are the psychological consequences of adopting these theories? What is the role of personality traits in people’s real-life spending behavior online? Is clinical VR ready for primetime in the world of mental healthcare?
NJIT’s College of Science and Liberal Arts has announced that its Spring Cyberpsychology Seminar Series will begin this month, including a diverse list of experts from around the nation, as well as NJIT faculty from the university’s Cyberpsychology Program, who will discuss these and other topics on the cutting-edge of psychological and technological research today.
The Cyberpsychology Seminar Series, which introduced its first speakers last fall, resumes to cover phenomena from cyberspace that is shaping current events, featuring presentations this month on the psychology of online conspiracy theories, and the latest insights and solutions in the field for countering online misinformation about Covid-19, climate change and other science. The series will also delve into how new technologies are shaping the field of psychology, such as new breakthroughs in VR that could be applied to reshape mental healthcare.
“We welcome participation from the larger NJIT community, as many of the topics encompass a variety of disciplines. This presents a real opportunity for interdisciplinary dialogue and engagement,” said Julie Ancis, director of the Cyberpsychology Program and host of the series.
The series begins Feb. 3, at 11 a.m. with the presentation “Combining Psychology, Critical Thinking, and Gamification to Counter Science Misinformation” by Dr. John Cook, research assistant professor at the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University.
Seminar series speakers also include:
Feb. 17, 11 a.m. ― Karen Douglas, professor of social psychology at University of Kent, presents “The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories.”
Mar. 10, 11 a.m. ― Albert Rizzo, professor and director of University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies Medical VR Lab, presents “7 Ways in which Clinical VR will Change Mental Healthcare.”
Mar. 31, 11 a.m. ― Anastasia Kozyreva, postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Adaptive Rationality at Max Planck Institute for Human Development, presents “Confronting Digital Challenges with Cognitive Tools.”
Apr. 12, 11 a.m. ― Sandra Matz, associate professor of business at Columbia Business School, presents “Using Big Data to Study Individual Differences in Spending.”
Apr. 12, 11 a.m. ― Yelda Semizer, assistant professor of cyberpsychology at NJIT, presents “Understanding Human Visual Perception and its Limitations: The Role of Visual Clutter on Naturalistic Search Tasks.”
Apr. 12, 11 a.m. ― Rebekah Rutkoff, assistant professor of humanities at NJIT, presents “Under the Radar: Lillian Schwartz at Bell Labs.”
The series is free and open to the community via Zoom or audio dial-in. For more information about the 2021 Cyberpsychology Seminar Series, and for full descriptions of each topic and speaker, visit here.
