SONIC Lab is proud to welcome Ryan Boyd, who will present a talk on Wednesday, November 18th, 2015 at 10:00 AM in the SONIC Lab in the Frances Searle Building 1-459. All are welcome to attend. To schedule a one-on-one meeting with Ryan Boyd please schedule a time here. Please contact Meghan McCarter with any questions or comments.
A Way with Words: Language and Psychological Science in the Modern Era
Abstract
In the modern era, people generate data on a scale never before witnessed in human history. In particular, the internet creates a space where people can express their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in their own words. The language that people share inherently reflects the precise phenomena that many social scientists seek to capture and understand. However, language data can often be difficult to quantify and understand in objective, empirical terms. How can we use a person’s language to better understand their social and psychological processes? This talk provides an overview of research that illustrates just how powerful words can be for understanding a person’s mental universe. Research discussed will include topics such as psychological fingerprinting, values, mental health, and often-overlooked social processes.
Biography
Ryan Boyd is a senior graduate student in the Department of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. Ryan is considered to be a leading expert on natural language, big data, and social psychology. Additionally, he is the developer of various language analysis applications that have been adopted for research in over 30 countries around the world. His work has been published in top psychology journals, including Psychological Science, and has been repeatedly featured at interdisciplinary research conferences.
