Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Dave Markowitz

StanfordVR @stanfordvr.bsky.social · 7d

The Stanford Ocean Acidification Experience, downloaded from Steam in over half of the countries in the world, showcased everywhere from Superbowl to Senate, studied thoroughly, with scholars typically demonstrating increased learning and motivation.

Now Free on Meta!

www.meta.com/experiences/...

Stanford Ocean Acidification Experience on Meta Quest

Stanford researchers have produced a virtual underwater experience to allow you to observe firsthand what reefs are expected to look like by the end of the century if we do not curb our CO2 emissions....

www.meta.com

2 2

Reposted by Dave Markowitz

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences @pnas.org · 20d

Obituaries capture the best in people. An analysis of 38 million obituaries from the United States found that many focused on the values of tradition and benevolence. Major events shape obits: The COVID-19 pandemic has eroded benevolence. In PNAS: www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...

An elderly man reads a newspaper on a bench. Stock photo.

1 3

Dave Markowitz @davidmmarkowitz.bsky.social · 20d

Prior work shows AI is often truth-biased in text-based deception detection. In our new 12-study paper in @journal-of-comm.bsky.social, we find a substantial lie-bias in audiovisual deception detection during mock interrogations. Read more here!

doi.org/10.1093/joc/...

Validate User

doi.org

1 1

Reposted by Dave Markowitz

Dave Markowitz @davidmmarkowitz.bsky.social · Aug 26

New in @pnas.org! We analyzed 38 million US obituaries to see how we remember the deceased:
- Tradition & benevolence dominate legacies
- Major cultural events (e.g., 9/11) shifted what values were emphasized
- Gender & age of the deceased shape legacies
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

PNAS

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

doi.org

2 4

Reposted by Dave Markowitz

Kyle Fiore Law, PhD @kyleflaw.com · Aug 27

🪦 New in @pnas.org: we analyzed 38 million U.S. obituaries to ask what signals a life well lived:

What values are people most remembered for?

How do legacies shift with cultural events?

How do age and gender shape what it means to have lived well?

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

An exploration of basic human values in 38 million obituaries over 30 years | PNAS

How societies remember the dead can reveal what people value in life. We analyzed 38 million obituaries from the United States to examine how perso...

www.pnas.org

3 12 36

Dave Markowitz @davidmmarkowitz.bsky.social · Aug 26

New in @pnas.org! We analyzed 38 million US obituaries to see how we remember the deceased:
- Tradition & benevolence dominate legacies
- Major cultural events (e.g., 9/11) shifted what values were emphasized
- Gender & age of the deceased shape legacies
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

PNAS

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

doi.org

2 4

Reposted by Dave Markowitz

Neil Lewis, Jr. @neillewisjr.bsky.social · Aug 1

It's August 1st.

U.S. academics on the semester system:

a cartoon of spongebob using a vacuum cleaner and iron

Alt: a cartoon of spongebob using a vacuum cleaner and iron

media.tenor.com

2 6 63

Reposted by Dave Markowitz

StanfordVR @stanfordvr.bsky.social · Jul 30

Looks like someone at Meta has been doing their Stanford homework.

www.uploadvr.com/meta-ideal-v...

Meta Explains Why The Ideal VR Session Is 20-40 Minutes

Meta is telling developers that the ideal VR session length with today's hardware is 20-40 minutes, and has explained its reasoning.

www.uploadvr.com

2 5

Reposted by Dave Markowitz

StanfordVR @stanfordvr.bsky.social · May 14

VHIL suggests "30 minutes" for VR sessions. Robby Ratan & colleagues tested it. 30 participants met regularly over 3 months. Duration had an inverted U-shaped relationship with peer social presence. Many peaks are in the 30 minute range but varied by participant.

vhil.stanford.edu/publications...

1 3 7

Reposted by Dave Markowitz

StanfordVR @stanfordvr.bsky.social · Jul 20

Personality activates differently depending on environmental context. Also in VR!

@davidmmarkowitz.bsky.social shows groups with extraverts excel in large spaces. Extroversion detectable by speech in platforms who can "shard" users by world size for group success.

vhil.stanford.edu/publications...

2 5

Dave Markowitz @davidmmarkowitz.bsky.social · Jun 13

!!!!

1 2

Reposted by Dave Markowitz

Ed Yong @edyong209.bsky.social · May 30

I urge everyone to read Unbreaking’s new page on everything the govt is doing to destroy & diminish medical research funding.

It’s the best thing I’ve read on this topic: @lizneeley.bsky.social & co have such done an incredible job.

unbreaking.org/issues/medic...

Medical Research Funding — Unbreaking

How the administration is breaking the government, and what that means for all of us.

unbreaking.org

32 800 1.3K

Dave Markowitz @davidmmarkowitz.bsky.social · May 26

I think we did!

1

Dave Markowitz @davidmmarkowitz.bsky.social · May 26

So THAT's where my boot went!

1 1

Dave Markowitz @davidmmarkowitz.bsky.social · May 23

Five enduring, in-lab VR results (w/ @stanfordvr.bsky.social): (1) presence depends on activity, (2) self-avatars shape behavior, (3) VR better for procedural than abstract learning,(4) body tracking is powerful but privacy-risky, (5) people underestimate VR distance.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Five canonical findings from 30 years of psychological experimentation in virtual reality - Nature Human Behaviour

This Review presents five canonical psychological research findings in virtual reality (VR) over the past three decades. These findings have been consistently replicated and are useful for both resear...

www.nature.com

5 6

Reposted by Dave Markowitz

🇨🇦 Rob Theriault @edtechmedic.bsky.social · May 23

Study: "the benefit of being there [VR] depends on the activity; self-avatars influence behaviour; procedural training works better than abstract learning; body tracking makes VR unique; people underestimate distance in VR." #VirtualReality #ImmersiveLearning #EdTech

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Five canonical findings from 30 years of psychological experimentation in virtual reality - Nature Human Behaviour

This Review presents five canonical psychological research findings in virtual reality (VR) over the past three decades. These findings have been consistently replicated and are useful for both resear...

www.nature.com

2 3

Reposted by Dave Markowitz

StanfordVR @stanfordvr.bsky.social · May 22

5 robust, replicated, & meta-analyzed findings from 30 years of psych research in VR. Timeline of events in experiment history, recommendations for consumers & scholars new to the medium, and the DICE model on when to use (and not use) VR.

@nathumbehav.nature.com

vhil.stanford.edu/publications...

6 20

Reposted by Dave Markowitz

Richard Huskey @richardhuskey.bsky.social · May 9

3/
We’re thrilled to feature two keynote speakers who are shaping the field:
🗣️ The Mohrmann Lecture: Dr. Dana Mastro from UCSB (@ucsantabarbara.bsky.social)
📣 Conference Keynote: Dr. David Markowitz (@davidmmarkowitz.bsky.social) from MSU (@msucomartsci.bsky.social)

1 1 1

Reposted by Dave Markowitz

Richard Huskey @richardhuskey.bsky.social · May 9

2/
This year’s theme — Media, Health, and Society — brings together 53 unique research presentations on topics including AI and algorithmic influence, social media and well-being, information integrity, and public health communication.

1 1 1

Reposted by Dave Markowitz

Richard Huskey @richardhuskey.bsky.social · May 9

🧵/
The 2025 Comm Horizons Conference (communication.ucdavis.edu/horizonconf2...) is almost here! From May 16–18, UC Davis will host scholars from around the world to explore how media, health, and society intersect across lifespans and diverse communities @ucdavis.bsky.social @ucdlands.bsky.social

A pair of black over-ear headphones placed over three upright books—one beige, one pink, and one blue—against a beige background, visually representing the concept of audiobooks.

1 2 7

Reposted by Dave Markowitz

Jennifer Richeson @jaricheson.bsky.social · Apr 29

Congratulations to psychologists Rich Petty, Phoebe Ellsworth, BJ Casey, Jamie Pennebaker, & Alison Gopnik on their election to the National Academy of Sciences today!!

1 9 100

Reposted by Dave Markowitz

StanfordVR @stanfordvr.bsky.social · Apr 28

Who speaks next?

@PortiaWang.bsky.social analyzed a VR dataset of 77 sessions, 1660 minutes of group meetings over 4 weeks. Verbal & nonverbal history captured at millisecond level predicted turn-taking at nearly 30% over chance. To appear @acm-cscw.bsky.social.

vhil.stanford.edu/publications...

5 9

Reposted by Dave Markowitz

Association for Psychological Science @psychscience.bsky.social · Apr 3

Meet James Pennebaker, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, who is set to become APS's next president later this year. Read more to discover how Pennebaker describes the lessons and impact of his research in social psychology.

James Pennebaker and the Power of Physical Markers in Social Research

APS’s incoming president describes the lessons and impacts of his research in social psychology.

www.psychologicalscience.org

6 10

Reposted by Dave Markowitz

Ryan Boyd @ryanboyd.io · Feb 21

With all of the big announcements about AI-facilitated scientific research, like OpenAI's Deep Research and Google's AI co-scientist, it appears as though our thinky-piece on AI in the research process might be worth a re-read: www.frontiersin.org/journals/soc...

Frontiers | From silicon to solutions: AI's impending impact on research and discovery

The social sciences have long relied on comparative work as the foundation upon which we understand the complexities of human behavior and society. However, ...

www.frontiersin.org

2 2

Dave Markowitz @davidmmarkowitz.bsky.social · Feb 10

This was such a fun and informative project between @stanfordvr.bsky.social and me. We can learn a lot about a field through large-scale literature overviews facilitated by NLP and LLMs. Check out the paper in Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking! www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/...

2 4