Rolf Nelson
Co-Host of CogNation
Rolf Nelson is a Professor of Psychology at Wheaton College in Massachusetts. He conducts research on visual perception, and teaches courses in Cognition, Perception, Consciousness, and Memory.
Rolf Nelson has hosted 52 Episodes.
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Episode 50: Neural Interfaces
September 20th, 2023 | Season 3 | 31 mins 1 sec
brain, communication, mind, neural interface, neurolink, paralyzed, speech
In this half hour episode, Joe and Rolf discuss new work in neural interfaces that is helping paralyzed individuals communicate.
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Episode 49: The Self: Bundle and Ego Theories
August 16th, 2023 | Season 3 | 53 mins 31 secs
brain, bundle, ego, parfit, philosophy, psychology, split brain, teletransporter
Rolf and Joe discuss two philosophical theories of the self, Bundle Theory and Ego Theory, based on a paper by Derek Parfit. They return to the topic of the teletransporter, and although Joe is happy to go through the teletransporter, Rolf is convinced it means certain death.
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Episode 48: Psychedelic Science 2023
July 18th, 2023 | Season 3 | 1 hr 35 mins
brain, cognition, conference, denver, mind, psychedelics, therapy
Joe reports from Denver from the Psychedelic Science conference
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Episode 47: Street Epistemology with Mark Solomon
June 12th, 2023 | Season 3 | 52 mins 41 secs
being reasonable, belief, cognition, epistemology, philosophy, street epistemology
Everyone has a set of beliefs. Increasingly, it seems like we wonder how so many people can hold opposite or contradictory beliefs -- puzzling if we think there's an objective reality. We talk with Mark Solomon, a clinical psychologist and the host of the Being Reasonable podcast, about Street Epistemology, a conversational method of probing why we believe what we believe.
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Episode 46: Manesh Girn: Psychedelics and Brain Networks
May 1st, 2023 | Season 3 | 55 mins 28 secs
brain, cognition, information theory, lsd, neuroscience, psilocybin, psychedelics
Manesh Girn talks to us about the effects of psychedelics on the brain, based on his recent paper, "A complex systems perspective on psychedelic brain action".
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Episode 45: Blame and Political Attitudes: Gail Sahar
April 12th, 2023 | Season 3 | 1 hr 38 secs
attribution theory, blame, cognition, political psychology, politics, social psychology
We talk with Professor Gail Sahar about her new book, entitled "Blame and Political Attitudes: The Psychology of America's Culture War", where she applies social psychology to understand where and why we assign blame in the political sphere.
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Episode 44: Daniel Sternberg: The State of Artificial Intelligence
February 15th, 2023 | Season 3 | 1 hr 22 mins
ai, artificial intelligence, brains, chatgpt, cognition, consciousness, dall-e-2, machine learning, neural networks
We talk to Dr. Daniel Sternberg, head of data at Notion Labs, about how to understand new developments in artificial intelligence like DALL-E-2 and chatgpt.
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Episode 43: Stephanie Preston: Our Attachment to Stuff
December 19th, 2022 | Season 3 | 1 hr 3 secs
behavior, brain, cognition, consumerism, emotion, evolution, hoarding
Stephanie Preston returns to the show to talk about her latest research. Why do we hoard stuff? And how can we get people to care about the consequences of all that stuff on the environment?
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Episode 42: The Science of Sleep with Dr. Aric Prather
November 28th, 2022 | Season 3 | 1 hr 13 mins
aric prather, brain, cbt-i, cognition, cognitive behavioral therapy, neuroscience, sleep, sleep prescription, stress
Joe and Rolf talk to Dr. Aric Prather, a clinical psychiatrist at UCSF and author of the new book "The Sleep Prescription: Seven Days to Unlocking Your Best Rest" about why sleep is important, the relationship of stress to sleep, and how to tune your body and environment to get a great night's sleep.
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Episode 41: The Marshmallow Test
September 21st, 2022 | Season 3 | 49 mins 29 secs
brain, cognition, cognitive tests, marshmallow test, mischel, self-control
Is self-control at age 4 a predictor of lifelong success? Rolf & Joe look at new studies that replicate and extend Mischel's marshmallow experiments, discussing why some kids can wait longer for a bigger treat and what the test itself means.
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Episode 40: Embodied Cognition
July 23rd, 2022 | Season 3 | 56 mins 51 secs
brain, cognition, embodied cognition, learning, neuroscience, pedagogy, philosophy, teaching
We talk with Dr. Sheila Macrine and Dr. Jennifer Fugate about their new edited volume "Movement Matters: How Embodied Cognition Informs Teaching and Learning", just published with MIT Press.
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Episode 39: Matthew Gingo: Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them
February 13th, 2022 | Season 3 | 50 mins 5 secs
adolescents, children, cognition, deception, lying, parents, psychology, theory of mind
Developmental psychologist Matthew Gingo joins to discuss his research on morality and deception. Why and under what circumstances do parents and their children lie to one another?
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Episode 38: Flawless Predictions for 2022
January 14th, 2022 | Season 2 | 41 mins 43 secs
2022, cognition, future, neuroscience, predictions, technology
Joe and Rolf once again scry the future with bold and entirely accurate predictions about the year 2022
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Episode 37: Dr. Joshua Miele: The Blind Arduino Project
August 29th, 2021 | Season 2 | 54 mins 13 secs
@berkeleyblink, arduino, audition, blind, blind arduino project, blind scientist, inventor, josh miele, joshua miele, scientist
Joshua Miele is a blind scientist and inventor living in the Bay Area. Amongst his many initiatives is the Blind Arduino Project, where participants learn how to navigate a world of maker electronics designed for the sighted.
@BerkeleyBlink -
Episode 36: The Extended Mind with Annie Murphy Paul
June 21st, 2021 | Season 2 | 54 mins 20 secs
annie murphy paul, brain, cognition, embodied cognition, extended cognition, extended mind, thinking
In Annie Murphy Paul's new book, "The Extended Mind", the philosophical idea of our minds extending beyond the physical boundaries of the body are explored. Rolf and Joe talk to Annie about the implications of this idea, and how it might be used to improve the way we think in a number of contexts.
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Episode 35: NIH Toolbox with Dr. Julie Hook
April 25th, 2021 | Season 2 | 52 mins 56 secs
cognition, neuropsychology, psychology
CogNation talks with Dr. Julie Hook about her work developing a comprehensive test of cognition and other key abilities as part of the NIH Toolbox project.