MISINFORMATION IN MIND

PART OF A SERIES SUPPORTED BY THE PULITZER CENTER

Anti-Trans Myths

How a political movement manufactured scientific misinformation and legitimized hate.

By Simón(e) D. Sun and Florence Ashley

PART OF A SERIES SUPPORTED BY THE PULITZER CENTER

Moral Imagination

We constantly adjust our moral values based on our ideas about the world. That can be a tool for kindness, cruelty—or just for survival.

By D. Watkins

PART OF A SERIES SUPPORTED BY THE PULITZER CENTER

When Your Psychologist is an AI

Amid a shortage of mental health providers, people are turning to chatbots for support. But is their advice trustworthy and safe?

By Elizabeth Svoboda

PART OF A SERIES SUPPORTED BY THE PULITZER CENTER

Beyond Bias

We all have bias embedded in our brains, but there are ways we can move past it. New findings from psychology show us how.

By Jyoti Madhusoodanan

PART OF A SERIES SUPPORTED BY THE PULITZER CENTER

Polluted Minds

Airborne toxins can increase our risk for cognitive disability and disease. The science of exposomics is helping to identify effective responses.

By Sherry Baker

PART OF A SERIES SUPPORTED BY THE PULITZER CENTER

The Processed Food Fight

Some researchers are targeting artificial foods as a leading public health problem. As with so many dietary issues, though, the evidence tells a more nuanced tale.

By Amos Zeeberg

PART OF A SERIES SUPPORTED BY THE PULITZER CENTER

TikTok: The Truth About Trans Identity Is Plain To See

The brain reflects lived experience, and it lights up according to gender identity, not sex at birth.

By Ben Rein

PART OF A SERIES SUPPORTED BY THE PULITZER CENTER

TikTok: Can You Change Your Moral Values?

People can use their imagination to justify bad behavior—or to develop more empathy.

By Ben Rein

PART OF A SERIES SUPPORTED BY THE PULITZER CENTER

TikTok: Companies Are Selling AI Therapy. Should You Buy It?

Will a chatbot ever have the empathy to be your therapist, for real?

By Ben Rein

PART OF A SERIES SUPPORTED BY THE PULITZER CENTER

TikTok: What Race Reveals About Biased Attitudes

How anti-Black bias plays out in the first-person shooter task

By Ben Rein

PART OF A SERIES SUPPORTED BY THE PULITZER CENTER

TikTok: There Is a Chemical Assault on Your Brain

The powerful link between pollution and Alzheimer's disease

By Ben Rein

PART OF A SERIES SUPPORTED BY THE PULITZER CENTER

TikTok: So You Think You Can Do Anything?

A little bit of knowledge might make you think you have expert status in areas from medicine to mountain climbing —when that happens, look to the Dunning-Kruger effect, and take extra care.

By Ben Rein

Podcast and Q&A

David Dunning: Overcoming Overconfidence

Dunning, co-discoverer of the Dunning-Kruger effect, investigates the misinformation gap built into our brains: We don't know what we don't know.

By Corey S. Powell

Podcast and Q&A

Thomas Plante: The Mental Healthcare Crisis

Plante, a psychologist and ethicist, weighs in the pros and cons of chatbots. Can AI fill in for a shortage of human therapists?

By Corey S. Powell

Podcast and Q&A

Simón(e) Sun and Florence Ashley: Tactics of Misinformation

Rhetorical tricks and strategic deceptions are once again being used to skew science against marginalized groups.

By Corey S. Powell

Podcast and Q&A

Kristin Pauker: The Fight for Fairness

Everyone is biased, she says; it's built into the way we experience the world. But that doesn't mean that we are slaves to our instincts.

By Corey S. Powell

Podcast and Q&A

D. Watkins and Nia Johnson: Not Just Surviving, but Thriving

There's often a vast chasm between people's moral aspirations and the things they need to do just to survive in a brutal world.

By Corey S. Powell

Podcast and Q&A

Rosalind Wright: Mapping the Exposome

New research shows how environmental exposures accumulated throughout life could explain subtle cognitive deficits and profound neurological disease.

By Corey S. Powell