Dr. Jacquelyn Berry
Dr Jacquelyn Berry is a Cognitive Scientist who studies learning, expertise and human-computer interaction. She is the first POC to graduate with a doctorate in cognitive psychology from the University at Albany in New York. The American University in Cairo (AUC) first welcomed Jackie as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar in 2019-20, where she used video games to study interface switching in Arabic-English bilinguals. Dr. Berry recently returned to AUC as a permanent faculty member and is now studying how people can learn using Artificial Intelligence (AI) feedback in Tetris. She is a founding member of AI for Afrika and spoke before the U.N. about her work on technology and language. Jacquelyn is currently researching Astronaut Health and Performance as part of the Deep Space Initiative’s Andromeda program. Dr. Berry recently started the GameChanger Research organization for helping people to conduct psychological research online and all over the world. Dr. Berry currently holds the title of Dr. World North Africa and will be competing for the title of Dr. World in the fall of 2023. Her motivational book, Find Your Carrot, became a bestseller in 2021 and has been translated into Arabic. For more information, visit https://www.jacquelynhberry.com/.
Let's use Mobile Research Methods to make Psychology less WEIRD
Psychology is WEIRD (Western, Educated, Rich, Industrialized, Democratic), in both study samples and researchers, making it difficult to draw truly generalizable conclusions about human behavior. Representation from the MENA region is particularly absent, with the Arab region contributing just 1% to global mental health publications between 2009–2018 (Zeinoun, et al., 2020) and contributions from Arab countries representing just 0.77% of articles published worldwide on neurodegenerative disorders between 2005 and 2019 (El Masri et al., 2021). IPCD 2023's theme of “Psychological Practices in the Digital Age” is ideal for addressing this problem. In this digital age, let us turn to alternative testing methods, such as mobile testing and assessment, to improve representation in research for the MENA region. With today’s technology, mobile devices can increasingly be used to reach many more participants who are more diverse, Arabic-speaking, of different ages, incomes and educational backgrounds, and distal to psychology laboratories. If we will not change it, who will?
