Inside the Mind: Psychology and Society

This presentation introduces a new mental health framework called the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychology (HiTOP), which moves beyond the rigid and arbitrary classifications of the DSM, emphasizing individual differences and recognizing the dimensional nature of mental health.

James Li, Ph.D. is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He serves as the Director of Clinical Training for the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program and leads the Social and Behavioral Development Lab, which conducts research on the biological and psychosocial influences underlying the development of neurodevelopmental and externalizing problems in children. He is also a founding board member of the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) Society, an international organization of clinical psychologists who are aiming to re-define mental health conditions using an empirical and scientific lens.

When video games first rose to popularity almost three decades ago, they were considered reasonably “mindless” entertainment. Since then though it has become clear that video games are far from mindless. Instead, playing video games can produce a host of changes to the brain and behavior. In this talk, I’ll discuss both the positives associated with video game play as well as the potential negatives. I’ll also offer real-world advice for parents worried about their children’s video game play habits.

C. Shawn Green received his PhD in Brain and Cognitive Sciences from the University of Rochester and completed post-doctoral training at the University of Minnesota before joining the University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty in 2011.  His research focuses on human learning including on how we can retrain damaged vision, how we can slow the cognitive declines that come with natural aging, and how we can use modern forms of technology, such as video games, to enhance human performance in a variety of domains.

Host Buzz Kemper explores the psychology of gun violence and gun ownership in America, including our many gun cultures. His guests are Professor Emerit of Psychology and Gender & Women’s Studies Janet Shibley Hyde, and assistant professor of psychology at UW-Madison Dr. Nick Buttrick.

Janet Shibley Hyde is Professor Emerit of Psychology and Gender & Women’s Studies at the University of Wisconsin—Madison, having served as a faculty member there for 36 years. The author of more than 200 scientific articles and 2 college textbooks, she devoted her career to research on the psychology of women and gender. Her retirement project is to end gun violence in America and, as part of that effort, she recently published a book for the general public, The Psychology of Gun Violence: How Smart Choices Can Save Lives. It pairs the fascination of psychology with practical, actionable solutions to the problem of gun violence.

Dr. Nick Buttrick, an assistant professor of psychology at UW-Madison, studies the many firearm cultures of the United States. As the leader of the Action Research Facility, he investigates how people understand what guns can do for them, how gun ownership affects the social worlds of broader communities, and the ways that historical institutions shape ideals about ownership in the present day.

Can we learn from talking as well as from listening? On this episode of The Badger Talks Podcast, Buzz Kemper talks with Professor Emerit Maryellen MacDonald, author of More Than Words: How Talking Sharpens the Mind and Shapes Our World.

Maryellen MacDonald is the Donald P. Hayes Professor (emerit) of Psychology and Language Sciences at the University of Wisconsin−Madison. She is a cognitive scientist with a focus on psycholinguistics, the study of how we comprehend, produce, and learn languages. She has researched the impact of language in children, young adults, elderly adults, and patients with Alzheimer’s disease, as well as language production in six different languages. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin.