Guadalupe Triana /// Features Editor

On Monday, Feb. 18, University of California, Santa Barbara Professor of Psychology Jonathan Schooler visited Lewis Clark to give a lecture entitled “Using Psychology to Push the Boundaries of Science,” in which he discussed the value of psychology throughout the scientific field.
Dr. Schooler graduated from Hamilton College and earned a Ph.D. from the University of Washington. Dr. Schooler specifically studies and focuses on subjects such as consciousness, problem-solving and memory, as demonstrated by his presentation. Currently, Dr. Schooler hopes to write a novel before setting up a prospective metascience project that will “turn the lens of science onto the process by which science is conducted.”
Part of Dr. Schooler’s lecture focused on subjects such as mind-wandering and the three levels of consciousness, and he encouraged interactive activity from the audience.
“I hope that first and foremost, the ideas presented in my lecture will intrigue students and make them curious about psychology and the various ways in which it might apply in their lives,” said Dr. Schooler. “With respect to the particular topics that I mentioned, I hope that students are more attentive to their mind experiences. When does it happen? Have you noticed it disrupting your ability to follow lectures or read?  Just paying attention to it may help to keep it in line.”
Dr. Schooler also encourages students to become active with the processes of the mind that he described in his presentation.
“I hope people pay attention to their mind-wandering episodes when they occur at times that are not disruptive. For example when walking from class to class, what are you thinking about? Perhaps you are having a creative thought about something you learned in your class or something you would like to do in the future,” said Dr. Schooler. “Pay attention to those ideas, as mind-wandering periods can be an especially productive time for creative incubation.”
The event was curated by Dr. Schooler’s son, LC student Joel Schooler (’15), who is majoring in psychology. Schooler brought his father to campus to inspire fellow psychology students and to demonstrate the unlimited things that can be done with a psychology degree.
“I invited my father to give a talk about open science, as well as his research, so that students here would be able to see what [can be done] with a psychology degree,” said Schooler, “[as well as what] some new research studies have shown and how science needs to move to a more transparent system than it already is.”
Dr. Schooler’s presentation focused on the idea that psychology–the study of the human mind and its functions–can be used in a variety of different fields that can benefit from the unique perspective that psychology provides.
“If you want to go to graduate school in psychology, it is very important to get excellent grades, study hard for the GREs (they matter as much as your grades) and above all, get research experience,” said Dr. Schooler. “Fortunately, you have an excellent psychology faculty who are working on a variety of very interesting topics and are well respected in the field, so they can do much to help you get off to a good start.”