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Mel Rutherford

Professor and Department Chair, Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University
I am a Full Professor in Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour and McMaster University's first Transgender department chair. In my professional life and my personal life I work towards Social Justice, and I take an evidence-based approach to issues of equity, diversity and inclusion. We share the goal of creating a workplace where each person can bring their whole selves to work, but what are the best practices for creating this safe workplace? As psychologists, and as scientists, we have some tools at our disposal to discern which approaches work, and which lead us astray.

The work in my lab is experimental psychology motivated by evolutionary theory. We work on the questions of Social Perception and Social Perceptual Development. We study the perception of social categories, using both face-perception paradigms and essentialist paradigms. We use these approaches to explore evidence-based approaches to equity, diversity and inclusion. We are exploring developing psychological machinery underlying prosocial and moral behavior, and exploring whether we can expand our definition of our ingroup to extend our moral concern to a bigger circle . We study animacy perception, as the first developmental step in social cognition. Using eye-tracking technology, we study the development of autistic characteristics and of the broader autism phenotype.

I have developed workshops and writings on the topics of Radically Inclusive Leadership, Formal Consensus Decision Making, and Queer Etiquette.

Consensus decision-making is surprisingly effective in both communities and workplaces

Jan 24, 2023 05:32 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics

If youre in a leadership position at work or in the community you make decisions and oversee decision-making processes. Often its best to consult the people you are leading to reach a group decision. Voting may seem...

Economy

Goldman Sachs Sees Value in European Real Estate Stocks Despite Sharp Selloff

European real estate stocks have taken a significant hit since late February, tumbling roughly 14% as rising bond yields and widening credit spreads weigh heavily on the sector. According to Goldman Sachs, valuations have...

Asian Currencies Hold Steady Amid U.S.-Israel-Iran Tensions and BOJ Signals

Asian currencies traded within a narrow range Monday as geopolitical uncertainty surrounding the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran continued to weigh on regional sentiment. Most currencies in the region remained under...

Asian Stocks Drop Amid Iran War Fears and BOJ Rate Hike Signals

Asian equity markets declined sharply on Monday as investors reacted to mounting geopolitical tensions surrounding the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, while hawkish signals from the Bank of Japan added further pressure on...

South Korea March Exports Expected to Surge to Near Five-Year High Amid AI-Driven Chip Demand

South Koreas exports in March are projected to have surged at their fastest pace in nearly five years, powered by soaring global demand for semiconductors driven by artificial intelligence investment. A Reuters poll of 11...

Gold Prices Inch Higher Amid U.S.-Iran War Tensions and Technical Rebound

Gold prices edged up in Asian trading on Monday, recovering modestly after a turbulent week marked by sharp volatility tied to escalating geopolitical tensions between the United States and Iran. Spot gold climbed 0.4% to...

Politics

U.S.-Iran War Talks Emerge Amid Ongoing Strikes and Economic Fallout

Diplomatic efforts to end the month-long U.S.-Iran war are gaining momentum, even as military operations intensify across the Middle East. President Donald Trump confirmed Sunday that the United States and Iran have...

Myanmar's Military Chief Steps Down to Pursue Presidency After Controversial Election

Myanmars military leader Min Aung Hlaing resigned as commander-in-chief on Monday to pursue the countrys presidency, marking a significant political shift following the nations first elections since the 2021 military coup...

UNIFIL Peacekeeper Killed in Southern Lebanon as Tensions Escalate

A United Nations peacekeeper was killed and several others were wounded after a projectile struck a UNIFIL position near the southern Lebanese village of Adchit al-Qusayr on Sunday. Indonesias foreign ministry confirmed...

Trump Says Iran Nuclear Deal Could Be Near as Direct Talks Progress

President Donald Trump announced Sunday that the United States is actively engaged in direct negotiations with Iran, expressing cautious optimism that a diplomatic agreement could be reached soon. Speaking to reporters...

Pakistan Leads Diplomatic Push to Reopen Strait of Hormuz Amid Iran War

Pakistan brought together foreign ministers from Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia in Islamabad on Sunday in a high-stakes diplomatic effort to end the ongoing Iran war and restore critical oil shipping routes through the...

Science

NASA's Artemis II Crew Arrives in Florida for Historic Moon Mission

The four astronauts chosen for NASAs Artemis II mission have touched down at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking the beginning of final launch preparations for the first crewed lunar journey in over 50 years. NASA...

SpaceX Pivots Toward Moon City as Musk Reframes Long-Term Space Vision

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has revealed a significant shift in the companys near-term space exploration strategy, announcing that SpaceX is now prioritizing the development of a self-growing city on the Moon rather than focusing...

SpaceX Prioritizes Moon Mission Before Mars as Starship Development Accelerates

Elon Musks SpaceX is shifting its near-term space exploration strategy, choosing to prioritize a return to the Moon before pursuing missions to Mars, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report citing sources familiar...

NASA and SpaceX Target Crew-11 Undocking From ISS Amid Medical Concern

NASA has confirmed that the agency, in coordination with SpaceX, is targeting no earlier than 5 p.m. Eastern Time (2200 GMT) on Wednesday, January 14, for the undocking of the SpaceX Crew-11 mission from the International...

Neuralink Plans High-Volume Brain Implant Production and Fully Automated Surgery by 2026

Elon Musks brain-computer interface company Neuralink is preparing for a major expansion, announcing plans to begin high-volume production of its brain implant devices and transition to a fully automated surgical procedure...

Technology

Cybersecurity Stocks Tumble After Anthropic's Claude Mythos AI Leak Sparks Market Fears

Major cybersecurity stocks took a sharp hit Friday following reports that Anthropic accidentally exposed details about its next-generation AI model before its official launch. CrowdStrike fell 7%, Palo Alto Networks...

Chinese Universities with PLA Ties Found Purchasing Restricted U.S. AI Chips Through Super Micro Servers

Procurement records reveal that four Chinese universities, two of which have direct ties to the Peoples Liberation Army, acquired Super Micro Computer servers loaded with restricted Nvidia AI chips over the past year. The...

Federal Judge Blocks Pentagon's Blacklisting of AI Company Anthropic

A federal judge has temporarily prevented the Pentagon from enforcing its designation of Anthropic as a national security supply-chain risk, dealing an early blow to the Trump administration in a growing dispute over...

SMIC Allegedly Supplies Chipmaking Tools to Iran's Military, U.S. Officials Warn

Chinas top semiconductor manufacturer, SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation), has reportedly been transferring chipmaking equipment to Irans military industrial complex, according to two senior Trump...

Google's TurboQuant Algorithm Sends Memory Chip Stocks Tumbling

Major memory chipmakers took a significant hit on Thursday after Google researchers introduced a groundbreaking compression algorithm that threatens to reduce artificial intelligence demand for memory chips. Samsung...