Title: Words as Psychological Windows: What Language Reveals About the Human Mind
Abstract: Words are important behavioral markers of the human condition and can reveal consequential aspects of our psychology. The current talk will dissect this claim in three ways, investigating how language patterns offer a lens into diagnosis (e.g., describing psychological phenomena), prognosis (e.g., predicting psychological phenomena), and catalysis processes (e.g., harnessing words to improve and change psychological phenomena). Specifically, this presentation will explore three counterintuitive discoveries, including (1) how cultural crises like 9/11 and COVID-19 reshape the values we celebrate in obituaries, (2) why linguistically complex online petitions consistently attract more supporters, and (3) how AI-generated scientific summaries make science more approachable by improving public comprehension and trust in scientists. Together, these studies advocate for a transdisciplinary approach that bridges natural language processing with social scientific theory, demonstrating how language can reveal how people think, feel, and behave as we try to address some of society’s biggest challenges through communication.
Speaker: Dave Markowitz, Associate Professor
Location: CAS 191 and online