One of the benefits of being an APS member is that at the beginning of each month you receive an email from our team with the latest Observer content. Since the Observer is a fully digital publication, those emails serve as our monthly issues and give us a chance to curate content around topics, member perspectives, and APS happenings.
Over the course of the year, we see how interested our members are in the stories we published by the number of times they click on the links in those emails. Below you will find the most clicked stories of 2026 so far, which includes a healthy mix of features, news stories, member spotlights, and tips for research practices.
Do you have ideas for what topics the Observer team should focus on next year? We would love to hear from you! Fill out this short form with your recommendations.
1. From Those Who Admired Them: Lives Lost
Edited by Lou Willwood
Friends, family, and colleagues share their memories of remarkable psychological scientists who passed away in 2025 and late 2024.
2. Mahzarin Banaji Is Probing the Black Box of LLMs
Edited by Hannah O. Brown
The former APS president asked ChatGPT to describe its implicit biases. Its answer steered her research in a whole new direction.
3. The Biggest Threat to Online Data Collection Is Humans, Not Bots
By Teal Burrell
Concerns about bots answering online surveys are exaggerated, but a new threat is emerging in artificial intelligence agents.
4. How Should Psychologists Use AI and Big Data? Nine Guides Point the Way
Edited by Hannah O. Brown, Intro by Kong Meng Liew
We highlight practical tutorials, frameworks, and cautionary insights for researchers navigating this new terrain.
5. Across Cultures, People Share Beliefs on How Children’s Minds Grow
By Alice Sun
A new study examines how people from around the world think about children’s mental development.
6. Are Psychological Scientists Overvaluing Significance?
By Hannah O. Brown
Some scientists are hesitant to submit nonsignificant results to journals, citing reputation as a major factor.
7. Presidential Column: Is Interdisciplinary Science Worth It?
By Pamela Davis-Kean
“You don’t want scholars answering to two or more disciplines,” writes APS President Pamela Davis-Kean. “You want them to enrich and integrate their own discipline with ideas drawn from others.”
8. How Effective Is Police De-Escalation Training?
By Alice Sun
De-escalation training is thought to be a solution for mitigating police violence. Could research on its effectiveness be improved?
9. Chatbots Are Like Potato Chips: Understanding Loneliness in the Digital Age
By Teal Burrell
We are talking to each other in person less and to chatbots more. Are these changes in our social interactions contributing to the current loneliness epidemic?
10. Member Spotlight: 2026 Spence Awardee William Brady on Blazing Your Own Research Path
Edited by Lou Willwood
The Spence Award recipient answered a few questions about his research on the interactions between human psychology and technology, the highlights of his career, and his practical advice for future researchers.
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