Change, Technically

Dr. Ashley Juavinett and Dr. Cat Hicks

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.

  1. SEP 16

    The Change, Technically anniversary special

    Ashley, Cat, and Danilo reflect on the major themes after one year of Change, Technically. For more information on consulting with Cat, please visit https://www.catharsisinsight.com/  --- SHOW NOTES: On women’s loss of status in gender incongruent professions: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797610384744  On links between self-compassion and prosocial behavior: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4026714/  On psychological essentialism: https://www.cell.com/trends/cognitive-sciences/abstract/S1364-6613(04)00183-4  On Shigeru Miyamoto's development of Donkey Kong (Note the line in this article, "Yamauchi [Nintendo's President] assured him [Miyamoto] his lack of technical skills would not be a problem."): https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/the-secret-history-of-i-donkey-kong-i- 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

    33 min

  2. JUL 22

    Andor and the psychology of resistance

    SHOW NOTES Dominic Packer’s Normative Conflict Model of Dissent is described in this paper as well as his other work: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1088868307309606  Cat also mentions Mina Cikara’s work on coalitional cognition. This is a good representation of that: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0065260121000137  Cat also mentions The Power of Us, which is by Dominic Packer and Jay Van Bavel, and a book she enjoyed! https://www.powerofus.online/  From the same authors, this piece talks about intergroup bias: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315735160-23/dynamic-nature-identity-brain-behavior-dominic-packer-jay-van-bavel  Cat mentions a study about socially shared retrieval induced forgetting, that’s here: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2015-18938-001  James Baldwin: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/5853-you-think-your-pain-and-your-heartbreak-are-unprecedented-in  https://www.pbs.org/video/james-baldwin-suffering-bridge-of7cq3/  Asch’s research on conformity has been reexamined in work such as this: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1976-24067-001 and this: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15327957pspr1001_1  https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ejsp.2420200104  Babies attending to prosocial actions: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-61517-3 The research that we discuss about the targeted-universal message can be found here: https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/4/1/pgae588/7942411  Further work on this is here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1468-0009.12651  Podcast we mention with Tressie McMillan Cottom is this one: https://moneywithkatie.com/status-power-economy  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

    49 min

  3. 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
  4. Dire wolves and bullshitters

    APR 25

    Dire wolves and bullshitters

    More reading & sources: Fantastic article which echos many of our arguments here: https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/04/18/wildlife-extinction-dire-wolf-endangered-species/Science article which summarizes dire wolves news & science: https://www.science.org/content/article/what-s-deal-dire-wolves-iconic-predators-may-have-been-neanderthals-wolf-worldArticle which leaked an internal memo from US interior secretary which said, “Pick your favorite species and call up Colossal.”: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/04/10/trump-endangered-species-protections-dire-wolves/... which is also discussed in this very good Vox reporting: https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/407781/dire-wolves-deextinction-colossal-biosciencesUpdates on recent cuts to NSF: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01263-0Notes: Ashley said bioRxiv is federally-funded, she meant to say the Sequence Read Archive (SRA) archive, where Colossal posted the dire wolf genome, is federally fundedHere’s what Embark does tell you about “Wolfiness”: https://help.embarkvet.com/hc/en-us/articles/360053867714-What-is-WolfinessLearn 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

    41 min

  5. 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

  6. FEB 10

    Stepping out of the silo

    How do human beings work together and learn to be, well, human? Stepping out of our comfortable and cozy silos and learning to communicate our value in new contexts might just be the key to unlocking shared innovation. In this episode, we explore this question with Cristine Legare, a psychology professor at the University of Texas at Austin interested in the interplay of the universal human mind and the variations of culture, who studies cognitive and cultural evolution and the design of social and behavioral change interventions. The Center for Applied Cognitive Science, which Cristine founded and directs: https://www.centerforappliedcogsci.com/ Her website, where you can keep up with more of her work as well as her upcoming book on ritual: https://cristinelegare.com/ Cat also mentions the book How Infrastructure Works, which is by Deb Chachra and can be found here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/612711/how-infrastructure-works-by-deb-chachra/ Cat mentions an overlay journal she and her collaborators write to translate more scientific papers for software teams; it's called The Developer Science Review and you can read our issues here: https://dsl.pubpub.org/issues 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

    43 min

  7. 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
  8. The magic of little boxes

    JAN 4

    The magic of little boxes

    In this special 'Change, Technically: Holidays On The Couch' edition of the podcast, Ashley & Cat discuss their philosophies of measurement and goal tracking, debate the value of data, and ponder the behavioral science of doing the stuff we resolve to do. Notes: Cat & Ashley mention this essay: https://issues.org/limits-of-data-nguyen/ Show correction: Ashley wrongly said the Nguyen essay above had reminded her about Goodhart’s Law (the idea that as soon as we measure something, it loses meaning). Rather, she re-discovered it in Calling Bullshit by Carl Bergstrom and Jevin D. West. Ashley’s error explains why Cat was so confused about her comments on the essay, oops. :) 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

    22 min
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5
out of 5
11 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.

Information

  • Creator
    Dr. Ashley Juavinett and Dr. Cat Hicks
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2025
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Change, Technically
  • Show Website
    Change, Technically

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