Change, Technically

Dr. Ashley Juavinett and Dr. Cat Hicks
Change, Technically

Ashley Juavinett, PhD and Cat Hicks, PhD explore technical skills, the science of innovation, STEM pathways, and our beliefs about who gets to be technical—so you can be a better leader and we can all build a better future. Ashley, a neuroscientist, and Cat, a psychologist for software teams, tell stories of change from classrooms to workplaces. Also, they're married.

Episodes

  1. JUN 23

    You deserve better brain research

    SHOW NOTES: For an example of a consideration of learning with information searching, a paper by Saskia Giebl and co-authors explored students learning basic programming concepts aided with a search engine and how active problem-solving before the search helps encourage stronger learning. This paper draws from a lot of the classic learning science/memory effects that Cat references: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1475725720961593  “Cognitive offloading” is a concept with a lot of interesting work behind it, and cognitive offloading can be as broad as just making a grocery list. Exploring task performance, and the mixed costs and benefits associated with cognitive offloading, can be started with this review and its citations: https://www.nature.com/articles/s44159-025-00432-2  Andrew Hogan wrote a nice post for parents concerned about their children's learning and brain health here, centering on helping people understand the limitations of study methodology: https://www.parent.tech/p/should-your-kids-use-chatgpt-for-homework-c028 Robert and Elizabeth Bjork and colleagues have published many relevant papers on the generation effect and other aspects of learning and metacognition about learning. Here are a few references Cat recommends:  https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143823 https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/BF03196872 https://escholarship.org/content/qt56w8q3z9/qt56w8q3z9.pdf Because Ashley loves giving people an opportunity to play with the data for themselves, here’s an online interactive textbook with an introduction to EEG: https://neuraldatascience.io/7-eeg/introduction.html  Research on the seductive power of putting a brain on it:  https://direct.mit.edu/jocn/article/20/3/470/4473/The-Seductive-Allure-of-Neuroscience-Explanations https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/bjep.12162 Paper which nicely explains the dDTF technique step-by-step and applies it to understand motor imagery: https://braininformatics.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40708-022-00154-8  Learn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/ https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashley analog-ashley.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/ https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina grimalkina.bsky.social

    53 min
  2. MAR 28

    Who's afraid of math?

    SHOW NOTES:  Cat wants you to know she read a *lot* of research for this episode. Major highlights we specifically drew from, and quote sources, were aross three reviews:  Cat found this one especially helpful and refers to it the most, and this review also proposes the Interpretation Account of math anxiety:  Ramirez, G., Shaw, S. T., & Maloney, E. A. (2018). Math anxiety: Past research, promising interventions, and a new interpretation framework. Educational psychologist, 53(3), 145-164.  Amland, T., Grande, G., Scherer, R., Lervåg, A., & Melby-Lervåg, M. (2024). Cognitive factors underlying mathematical skills: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin.  Chang, H., & Beilock, S. L. (2016). The math anxiety-math performance link and its relation to individual and environmental factors: A review of current behavioral and psychophysiological research. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 10, 33–38. We briefly mentioned tDCS. An introduction to this technique (used both for therapeutic applications and in scientific studies) can be found here: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5702643/  The specific study Cat & Ashley talk about, with math anxious adults, is this one: Sarkar, A., Dowker, A., & Cohen, K. R. (2014). Cognitive enhancement or cognitive cost: Trait-specific outcomes of brain stimulation in the case of mathematics anxiety. The Journal of Neuroscience, 34, 16605–16610. doi:10.1523/jneurosci.3129-14.2014 Cat also mentions the connection between teachers’ gender stereotype endorsements and teachers’ math anxiety, and students’ math achievement. This study is here: Beilock, S. L., Gunderson, E. A., Ramirez, G., & Levine, S. C. (2010). Female teachers’ math anxiety affects girls’ math achievement. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(5), 1860-1863.  Further helpful reading & evidence about both parental and teachers’ impact on math attitudes and gender from the same authors:  Gunderson, E. A., Ramirez, G., Levine, S. C., & Beilock, S. L. (2012). The role of parents and teachers in the development of gender-related math attitudes. Sex roles, 66, 153-166. Learn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/ https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashley analog-ashley.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/ https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina grimalkina.bsky.social

    53 min
  3. JAN 25

    The NIH pays off beyond our dreams

    In a special edition of Change, Technically, Ashley and Cat get into the facts of the NIH: what it does, how it works, and the consequences of disrupting its essential work. The NIH creates enormous economic impact, 400,000 jobs across the US, and sets science in motion that touches all of us. How to contact your representatives: Dial (202) 224-3121Tell autoresponder your representative name or zip code when promptedSpeak directly to staffer or leave voicemail: “My name is ___, I’m a constituent in [town]. (If clinician/scientist, say so) The NIH freeze harms research and patients and must be lifted immediately. I also believe that it is important to maintain funding mechanisms that improve and diversify the NIH workforce, including those labeled as 'diversity or DEI efforts'”Relevant executive orders: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-and-wasteful-government-dei-programs-and-preferencing/https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/initial-rescissions-of-harmful-executive-orders-and-actions/Study on new drugs and NIH funding: E. Galkina Cleary, J.M. Beierlein, N.S. Khanuja, L.M. McNamee, F.D. Ledley, Contribution of NIH funding to new drug approvals 2010–2016, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 115 (10) 2329-2334, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1715368115 (2018). United for Medical Research resource where you can look up NIH impact for your state along with many resources about NIH impact: https://www.unitedformedicalresearch.org/  News articles on pausing of NIH meetings and travel: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00231-yhttps://www.science.org/content/article/trump-hits-nih-devastating-freezes-meetings-travel-communications-and-hiringhttps://www.cnn.com/2025/01/24/health/nih-scientists-purchase-supplies-trump-administration-pauses-communications/index.htmlInformation about STARTneuro: http://startneuro.ucsd.eduhttps://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/transfer-students-triumph-class-2024#manuel Support the STARTneuro program directly: https://crowdsurf.ucsd.edu/campaigns/support-the-startneuro-program-at-uc-san-diegoLearn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/ https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashley analog-ashley.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/ https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina grimalkina.bsky.social

    35 min
  4. 09/06/2024

    What’s neuroscience got to do with it?

    Neuroscience is the hottest STEM field. Why? What does a neuroscientist actually do? Is the brain some mechanically deterministic box configured at birth? Cat knows Ashley has the answers, and now you will, too. Credits Ashley Juavinett, host + producer Cat Hicks, host + producer Danilo Campos, producer + editor For an incisive breakdown of “the crimes against dopamine” please read the piece of that title by Mark Humphries. The myth of mental illness book that Ashley mentioned was written in 1961 and we don’t really think it’s worth reading. The longitudinal fMRI study that Ashley contributed to while in graduate school: Stewart JL, Juavinett AL, May AC, Davenport PW, Paulus MP (2015) Do you feel alright? Attenuated neural processing of aversive interoceptive stimuli in current stimulant users. Psychophysiology 52:249–262. This is the Twitter/X account that highlights when a study happens IN MICE: https://x.com/justsaysinmice. And here’s the creator’s motivation: https://jamesheathers.medium.com/in-mice-explained-77b61b598218  The study that recorded from someone’s brain while they died is Vicente et al. (2022) Enhanced Interplay of Neuronal Coherence and Coupling in the Dying Human Brain. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience 14. See also this commentary about their claims. We once again mentioned field-specific ability beliefs. Here’s Cat’s blogpost on her own research. This study explores the basic dynamics of field-specific ability beliefs and shows their connection to gender inequities in academic disciplines: Leslie, S. J., Cimpian, A., Meyer, M., & Freeland, E. (2015). Expectations of brilliance underlie gender distributions across academic disciplines. Science, 347(6219), 262-265. Learn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/ https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashley analog-ashley.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/ https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina grimalkina.bsky.social

    37 min
  5. 08/30/2024

    Who's technical?

    What makes someone technical? What are our preconceptions about "technical" skills? How do those beliefs influence outcomes, and the success of who we include? Ashley and Cat dig in. Credits Ashley Juavinett, host + producer Cat Hicks, host + producer Danilo Campos, producer + editor On Communities of Practice, Ashley has published a paper on the impact of the program she co-directs: Zuckerman, A. L., Juavinett, A. L., Macagno, E. R., Bloodgood, B. L., Gaasterland, T., Artis, D., & Lo, S. M. (2022). A case study of a novel summer bridge program to prepare transfer students for research in biological sciences. Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Science Education Research, 4(1), 27. Available here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s43031-022-00067-w On Ambient Belonging, here is a great representative article that includes the evidence Ashley was sharing about the impact that stereotypical cues can have for women in technical spaces: Cheryan, S., Plaut, V. C., Davies, P. G., & Steele, C. M. (2009). Ambient belonging: how stereotypical cues impact gender participation in computer science. Journal of personality and social psychology, 97(6), 1045. PDF here: https://sparq.stanford.edu/sites/g/files/sbiybj19021/files/media/file/cheryan_et_al._2009_-_ambient_belonging.pdf The cogsci paper Cat mentioned is this one: Fendinger, N. J., Dietze, P., & Knowles, E. D. (2023). Beyond cognitive deficits: how social class shapes social cognition. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 27(6), 528-538. Here's an article that's a good introduction to Alison Gopnik's Child as Scientist work: Gopnik, A. (2012). Scientific thinking in young children: Theoretical advances, empirical research, and policy implications. Science, 337(6102), 1623-1627. https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.1223416 Cat mentioned Contest Cultures in tech and Field-specific ability beliefs. Here’s Cat’s blogpost on her own research. This is a study that explores how Contest Cultures lead to exclusion: Vial, A. C., Muradoglu, M., Newman, G. E., & Cimpian, A. (2022). An emphasis on brilliance fosters masculinity-contest cultures. Psychological Science, 33(4), 595-612. And this study explores the basic dynamics of field-specific ability beliefs and shows their connection to gender inequities in academic disciplines: Leslie, S. J., Cimpian, A., Meyer, M., & Freeland, E. (2015). Expectations of brilliance underlie gender distributions across academic disciplines. Science, 347(6219), 262-265. Learn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/ https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashley analog-ashley.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/ https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina grimalkina.bsky.social

    40 min
  6. 08/23/2024

    You can do it, too

    What does it take to make STEM work more accessible and effective? Ashley and Cat introduce their work and their values by answering this question. Credits Ashley Juavinett, host + producer Cat Hicks, host + producer Danilo Campos, producer + editor Ashley on teaching coding to neuroscientists: Juavinett, A. L. (2022). The next generation of neuroscientists needs to learn how to code, and we need new ways to teach them. Neuron, 110(4), 576-578. Zuckerman, A. L., & Juavinett, A. L. (2024, March). When Coding Meets Biology: The Tension Between Access and Authenticity in a Contextualized Coding Class. In Proceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 1 (pp. 1491-1497). PDF here: https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3626252.3630966 Sense of Belonging is a widely-studied concept across the psychological sciences. Cat’s work on Developer Thriving includes a measure of Belonging on software teams: Hicks, C. M., Lee, C. S., & Ramsey, M. (2024). Developer Thriving: four sociocognitive factors that create resilient productivity on software teams. IEEE Software. PDF here: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/10491133 This recent article provides a helpful commentary, summarizing an impressive collaboration across 22 campuses and 26k+ students: Walton, G. M., Murphy, M. C., Logel, C., Yeager, D. S., Goyer, J. P., Brady, S. T., ... & Krol, N. (2023). Where and with whom does a brief social-belonging intervention promote progress in college?. Science, 380(6644), 499-505. PDF here: https://www.greggmuragishi.com/uploads/5/7/1/5/57150559/walton_et_al_2023.pdf Mark Appelbaum, Cat’s first stats teacher, had a positive impact on many, many students. You can read about his life here: https://psychology.ucsd.edu/people/profiles/mappelbaum-in-memoriam.html Schools, Technology and Who gets to Play? Rafalow, M. H. (2014). The digital divide in classroom technology use: A comparison of three schools. International Journal of Sociology of Education, 3(1), 67-100. Rafalow, M. H., & Puckett, C. (2022). Sorting machines: digital technology and categorical inequality in Education. Educational researcher, 51(4), 274-278. Learn more about Ashley: https://ashleyjuavinett.com/ https://mastodon.social/@analog_ashley analog-ashley.bsky.social Learn more about Cat: https://www.drcathicks.com/ https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina grimalkina.bsky.social

    38 min

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
10 Ratings

About

Ashley Juavinett, PhD and Cat Hicks, PhD explore technical skills, the science of innovation, STEM pathways, and our beliefs about who gets to be technical—so you can be a better leader and we can all build a better future. Ashley, a neuroscientist, and Cat, a psychologist for software teams, tell stories of change from classrooms to workplaces. Also, they're married.

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