Robert Epstein

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For other people named Robert or Rob Epstein, see Robert Epstein (disambiguation).

Robert Epstein
Epstein speaking at the ceBIT conference in Hanover, Germany
Born (1953-06-19) June 19, 1953 (age 70)
Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
EducationTrinity College (BA)
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Harvard University (PhD)
Known forGenerativity Theory
Love Contract
Search engine manipulation effect
Sexual Continuum Theory
Scientific career
FieldsPsychology
Behavioural sciences
InstitutionsBoston University
Harvard University
University of the South Pacific
University of California, San Diego
San Diego State University
ThesisColumban stimulations of complex human behavior (1981)
Websitedrrobertepstein.com

Robert Epstein (born June 19, 1953) is an American

Concord, MA
. In 2012, he founded the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology (AIBRT), a nonprofit organization that conducts research to promote the well-being and functioning of people worldwide.

Epstein has been a commentator for

Disney Online. His popular writings have appeared in Reader's Digest, The Washington Post, The Sunday Times (London), Good Housekeeping, The New York Times, Parenting, and other magazines and newspapers. Epstein is a public figure in the world of psychology.[1][2][3][4] He has published more than 350 articles and 15 books. His online competency tests are taken by more than a million people a year.[5]

Early life

Epstein was born on June 19, 1953, in

West Hartford where he was first introduced to computer programming and hacking through the school's IBM 1620, one of the first computers owned by a US High School.[6]

Epstein went to Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, where he majored in Psychology and also took classes in dance. After receiving his B.A., Epstein moved to Israel to pursue his 'calling' to become a rabbi, where he worked on a kibbutz and studied at a yeshiva. After six months, he decided to instead turn his attention back to psychology, after becoming enamored with the works of B. F. Skinner.[7]

Graduate work

photograph
B. F. Skinner and Epstein photographed in the Harvard Pigeon Laboratory in the 1980s

In 1976, Epstein enrolled in the

dissertation, owing to the amount of publications he had.[6][9]

Career

After receiving his

Simmons College (Massachusetts), the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Boston University.[10][11]

After leaving the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies in 1990, he began to write for national magazines, such as

National Public Radio.[14] From 1998 to 2001 he hosted the national radio show Psychology Today Live.[15]

During this time, he also held visiting posts at Keio University, Tokyo,[16] and the HAL College of Technology and Design, at their Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo campuses in Japan.[17] For six years, he was also a researcher and Associate Investigator at the Center for Behavioral Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University.[18]

Epstein also served as Professor of Psychology and Chair of the Department of Psychology at

Artificial Intelligence, an annual contest in which human intelligence is pitted against machine intelligence.[20]

In 1999, he became the editor-in-chief of

Fiji Islands to serve as the first full Professor of Psychology at the University of the South Pacific, a position he held until 2015.[26][27]

An autobiographical essay documenting his long involvement with the media was published in 2006 in the academic journal Perspectives on Psychological Science.[28]

In 2012, he co-founded the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology (AIBRT) in Vista, California, where he is currently Senior Research Psychologist.[29]

Contributions to behavioral science

Generativity Theory

While at Harvard in the 1980s, Epstein introduced the idea of "Generativity Theory", a quantitative, predictive theory of creativity in both animals and people, derived from research he had conducted with pigeons, children, and adults.[30][31][32] His 2000 book, The Big Book of Creativity Games, includes exercises for increasing creativity.[33]

Vulnerability Theory of Emotional Bonding (VTEB)

In various writings, Epstein has been a strong advocate of the view that people can deliberately learn to love each other, and he has proposed a formal, predictive theory of how love grows in couples.[34] His theory is based in part on research he has conducted on how love arises in arranged marriages in multiple cultures worldwide. In 2013, he published a study summarizing this research.[35] At a class on intimate relationships he taught at University of California, San Diego, he gave extra credit to students for taking part in affection building exercises, and that class attracted national news coverage.[36][37][38][39] At one time, he used himself as an experimental subject to investigate this proposition, and he proposed that couples take control over their love lives by signing a Love Contract.[40][41][42][43]

Sexual continuum

Epstein has conducted large-scale studies on sexual orientation that confirm assertions made by Sigmund Freud, Alfred Kinsey, and others that (a) sexual orientation lies on a continuum, (b) bisexuality is the natural norm for human beings, and (c) most people claim to be straight because of social pressure.[44][45][46][47] His psychometric test on sexual orientation is available in multiple languages online.[48]

Adolescence

Epstein is also a scholar in the field of psychological maturity, and has published an online maturity test.[49][50] He is critical of what he sees as the "artificial extension of childhood" over the past century, arguing that what society views as the "teen brain" is often the result of Western cultural factors and infantilization, rather than a set of brain characteristics that are inherent in all humans throughout their teen years.[51][52] In certain essays, he has cited studies which found that some teenagers are in some ways more developmentally mature than most adults, and advocates giving young people more adult responsibility, as well as placing them in environments in which they will not be prone to socializing simply with other teenagers.[53] He is the co-founder of National Youth Rights Day[54] and is the author of The Case Against Adolescence, which was cited by the US Supreme Court in the 2010 case Graham v. Florida.[55]

Carrier Separation Plan

At the start of the

Biden Administrations to implement the plan in the face of emerging variants.[57][58][59][60]

Psychometric tests

Since the 1990s, Epstein has developed a number of psychological tests that people can take online without charge.[61] Some measure competencies in areas such as creativity,[62][63][64] love,[65][66][67] stress management,[68][69] and parenting.[70][71][72] He has also developed a mental health screening test that is consistent with the DSM-5.[73][74][75] Many of the tests are available in foreign translations.

Contributions to internet studies

Search Engine Manipulation Effect (SEME)

In 2013, Epstein discovered a phenomenon he termed the

Vienna, Austria.[81][82] He published these findings in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,[83] and continues to research this phenomenon.[84][85] His research led to him being invited to testify before the United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, hearing on Google and Censorship, in June 2019.[80][86]

Search Suggestion Effect (SSE)

In experiments begun in 2016, Epstein determined that

Stanford School of Engineering.[92]

Criticism of Google

See also:
Web search engine § Search engine bias

Epstein has been an outspoken critic of

Huffington Post magazine that Google had "a fundamentally deceptive business model".[96] In a 2017 article, Epstein criticized efforts by companies such as Google and Facebook to suppress fake news through algorithms, noting "the dangers in allowing big technology companies to decide which news stories are legitimate".[97] In 2019, Epstein compiled data that showed Google suggesting more positive terms when users searched for Hillary Clinton compared to when searching for Donald Trump.[98]

Other journalists and researchers have expressed concerns similar to Epstein's. Safiya Noble cited Epstein's research about search engine bias in her 2018 book Algorithms of Oppression,[99] although she has expressed doubt that search engines ought to counter-balance the content of large, well-resourced and highly trained newsrooms with what she called "disinformation sites" and "propaganda outlets".[100] Ramesh Srinivasan, a professor of information studies at UCLA focusing on "the relationships between technology and politics", agreed with Epstein that "the larger issue" of how search engines can shape users' views is "extremely important", but questioned how many undecided voters are using Google to help them decide whom to vote for.[100]

Some of his ideas have been criticized. Google dismissed Epstein's research as "nothing more than a poorly constructed conspiracy theory".[101] Panagiotis Metaxas, a Wellesley College computer science professor, said Epstein's paper on the search engine manipulation effect demonstrated a possibility of "what such an influence could have been if Google was manipulating its electoral search results", adding "I and other researchers who have been auditing search results for years know that this did not happen."[102] The Los Angeles Times reported in March 2019 that Epstein's criticism of Google had been "warmly embraced" by some conservatives, a phenomenon that Epstein said "is driving me crazy".[100]

Personal life

Epstein has five children[86] and lives in Vista, California.[103] His wife Misti was killed in a car accident in 2019, ending a marriage that began in 2012.[104]

Books

Films

Notes

  1. ^ "PoliticKING with Larry King: Dr. Robert Epstein on Whether Google Can Rig the Presidential Election". Ora TV. September 4, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  2. ISBN 978-1546059820
    .
  3. ^ Resnick, Elliot (April 4, 2018). "'Adolescence Is An Invention Of The West': An Interview With Noted Psychologist Dr. Robert Epstein". Jewish Press. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  4. ^ "Introduction: Is Your Brain a Computer?". Critical Thinker Academy. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Robert Epstein". The Bill Walton Show. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  6. ^ a b "Episode 89: Robert E pstein reflects on his career and the threat big tech poses to privacy and democracy". STEM-Talk. Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition.
  7. S2CID 43182301
    . Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  8. ^ "Drs. Robert Epstein & BF Skinner with Pigeons-Part 1". Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  9. S2CID 43182301
    . Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  10. ISBN 9786029688115
    .
  11. ^ "Epstein, Robert". History of Behavior Analysis. PBWorks. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  12. ^ Epstein, Robert (October 1998). "Change your bad habits to good" (PDF). Reader's Digest. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  13. ^ Epstein, Robert (November 1, 2000). "Ha, Ha". Psychology Today. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  14. ^ Downing, Suzanne (November 24, 2018). "Try the 'The Creepy Line' experiment yourself". Must Read Alaska. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  15. S2CID 43182301
    . Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  16. ^ "Teen 2.0 | Saving Our Children and Families from the Torment of Adolescent". Teen 2.0 | Saving Our Children and Families from the Torment of Adolescent. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  17. ^ Hargadon, Steve. "Dr. Robert Epstein on Teen 2.0, Live Tonight". Infinite Thinking Machine Blog. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  18. doi:10.1901/jaba.1997.30-545
    . Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  19. ^ "Working Mother". Google Books. Working Mother Media. September 1993. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  20. ^ Christian, Brian. "Man or Computer? Can You Tell the Difference?". Smithsonian Magazine. Smithsonian. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  21. ^ "33rd Annual Convention; San Diego, CA; 2007". Association for Behavior Analysis International. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  22. ^ Epstein, Robert. "Stories by Robert Epstein". Scientific American. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  23. ^ Epstein, Robert. "Robert Epstein, Ph.D." Huffington Post. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  24. ^ "Robert Epstein". Neurotree. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  25. ^ Novotney, Amy. "The science of creativity". American Psychological Association. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  26. S2CID 52060932
    .
  27. ^ Rubio, David. "The Digital Side-Hug: Dr. Robert Epstein". Otter Creek Church. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  28. ^ "Giving psychology away: A personal journey". Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2006, 1(4), 389-400
  29. ^ "People". AIBRT. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  30. ISSN 2212-1447
    .
  31. ISBN 978-0-12-800648-1
    . Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  32. ISBN 9780122270765
    .
  33. ISBN 0070597030
    .
  34. ^ "The Love Project". Psychology Today. January 1, 2003. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  35. ISSN 0047-2328
    .
  36. ^ Epstein, Robert (2010). "How Science Can Help You Fall in Love". Academia. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  37. ^ Epstein, Robert (January 2010). "Fall in Love and Stay That Way". Psychology Today. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  38. ^ "How To Fall In Love 101". Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  39. ^ "Finding Romance With Matchmakers". Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  40. ^ Hill, Amelia (February 16, 2003). "Love is... a scientific experiment". The Guardian. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  41. ^ "Can you learn to love anyone?". Psychologies. March 3, 2010. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  42. ^ Leung, Rebecca (October 10, 2003). "What's Love Got To Do With It?". CBS News. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  43. ^ McCarthy, Ellen (December 29, 2009). "Psychologist: Falling in love leads to failing at it". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  44. S2CID 37966088
    .
  45. S2CID 4027290
    .
  46. ^ Epstein, Robert (October 1, 2007). "Smooth Thinking about Sexuality". Scientific American Mind. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  47. ^ Epstein, Robert (September 11, 2019). "Sexual orientation is somewhere on a continuum". NewScientist. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  48. ^ "Straight, Gay, or in Between?". Straight, Gay, or in Between?. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  49. doi:10.18260/1-2--15687
    .
  50. ^ "How Adult Are You". How Adult Are You. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  51. Trinidad Express
    , November 25, 2011.
  52. ^ "Dr. Robert Epstein: Teen 2.0, Live Tonight". Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  53. The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle
    .
  54. ^ "National Youth Rights Day". National Youth Rights Day. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  55. ^ "Graham Opinion, Thomas, J., dissenting, p. 23". Cornell Law. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  56. ^
    PMID 33768086
    .
  57. ^ Epstein, Robert (June 8, 2020). "How You Can Unite the Country, Kill the Virus, and Safely Reopen the Entire Economy in a Single Day: An Open Letter to President Trump". Medium. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  58. ^ Epstein, Robert (April 14, 2020). "Critiques of Joe Biden's Coronavirus Plan". The New York Times. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  59. ^ "Ep. 310 - Guest: Dr. Robert Epstein | The Michael Medved Show". SoundCloud. April 30, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  60. ^ "Dr. Robert Epstein says coronavirus can be stopped by mass testing and self-isolating carriers". Fox News. April 14, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  61. ^ "COMPETENCY INVENTORIES". Dr Epstein.com. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  62. S2CID 143657377
    .
  63. S2CID 56165561
    .
  64. ^ "Do You Have the Skills You Need to Express Your Creativity?". Do You Have the Skills You Need to Express Your Creativity?. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  65. S2CID 151796738
    .
  66. ^ "The two essential keys to a successful long-term relationship, according to a Harvard psychologist". Nomadrs. December 6, 2019. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  67. ^ "Are You Ready for Love?". Are You Ready for Love?. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  68. ^ "How to fight a frazzled mind". Asia Research News. August 25, 2011. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  69. ^ "Know How to Manage Stress?". Know How to Manage Stress?. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  70. JSTOR 24943178
    .
  71. ^ "Be the Best Parent You Can Be: Building Your Parenting Skills". Penn State PRO Wellness. June 23, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  72. ^ "Are You a Good Parent?". Are You a Good Parent?. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  73. S2CID 72644321
    .
  74. S2CID 149179442
    .
  75. ^ "Do You Need Therapy?". Do You Need Therapy?. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  76. ^ Timberg, Craig (March 29, 2013). "Could Google tilt a close election?". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  77. ^ Timberg, Craig (March 14, 2017). "Group targets bias in search engines". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  78. ^ "Could Search Engines Determine Elections?". Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  79. ^ "Stanford Seminar - The Search Engine Manipulation Effect (SEME) and Its Unparalleled Power". Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  80. ^ a b Epstein, Robert (June 16, 2019). "Why Google Poses a Serious Threat to Democracy, and How to End That Threat" (PDF). Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  81. ^ "Friday 24 March Daily Highlights" (PDF). International Convention of Psychological Science. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  82. ^ https://aibrt.org/downloads/EPSTEIN_2017-The_Search_Suggestion_Effect-SSE-ICPS_Vienna-March_2017.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  83. PMID 26243876
    .
  84. S2CID 1681379
    .
  85. ^ "Internet search engines may be influencing elections". www.science.org. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  86. ^ a b "Senate Judiciary Testimony by Dr. Robert Epstein". C-SPAN.
  87. ^ Epstein, Robert (April 26, 2018). "The Search Suggestion Effect (SSE): How Search Suggestions Can Be Used to Shift Opinions and Voting Preferences Dramatically and Without People's Awareness" (PDF). Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  88. ^ "99th Annual Convention of the Western Psychological Association" (PDF). Western Psychological Association. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  89. ^ "Surprising Ways in Which the Internet Can Be Used to Alter People's Beliefs, Opinions and Attitudes – Even Our Votes". Association for Information Science and Technology. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  90. ^ Glaser, April (August 20, 2019). "2.6 Million Reasons to Keep Yelling About "Bias"". Slate. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  91. ^ Epstein, Robert (February 18, 2016). "The new mind control". AEON. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  92. ^ "Stanford Seminar - Unethical Algorithms of Massive Scale". Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  93. ^ Epstein, Robert (July 15, 2019). "To Break Google's Monopoly on Search, Make Its Index Public". Bloomberg News. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  94. ^ "Big Tech and Political Manipulation | Robert Epstein". Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  95. ^ Epstein, Robert. How Google Could Rig the 2016 Election
  96. ^ Epstein, Robert (October 6, 2016). "Google's Hypocrisy". Huffington Post. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  97. ^ Epstein, Robert (April 10, 2017). "Fake News Is a Fake Problem". Medium.com. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
  98. ^ "Google rewards reputable reporting, not left-wing politics". The Economist. June 8, 2019. Retrieved June 26, 2022. Robert Epstein, an academic, has compiled data that show Google suggesting more positive terms when users type "Hillary Clinton" than when they look up Mr Trump.
  99. OCLC 987591529
    .
  100. ^ a b c Halper, Evan (March 24, 2019). "This psychologist claims Google search results unfairly steer voters to the left. Conservatives love him". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  101. ^ "Could Google rankings skew an election? New group aims to find out". Washington Post.
  102. ^ Linda Qiu (August 19, 2019). "Fact check: Trump falsely claims Google 'manipulated' millions of 2016 votes". New York Times. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  103. ^ Adan, Melissa (December 30, 2019). "Wife of Google Whistleblower Killed In I-15 Crash". NBC San Diego. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  104. ^ "Wife of Google Whistleblower Killed in I-15 Crash". December 31, 2019.
  105. ^ "Google, Facebook, and the 'Creepy Line'". National Review. November 24, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2022.

External links

Scholia has an author profile for Robert Epstein.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robert_Epstein&oldid=1213889022"