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Dr. Heather Lench is Professor in Psychological and Brain Sciences and Senior Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs at Texas A&M University. She received her undergraduate degree in psychology from Florida State University, her Master’s degree in Experimental Psychology and Marriage and Family Therapy from California State University, Fresno, and her PhD in Social Psychology from the University of California, Irvine. After completing her PhD, Heather joined the faculty at Texas A&M University in 2007. She has received numerous awards and honors for her work, including the American Psychological Association New Investigator Award, the Texas A&M University Faculty Merit Award, and she is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, the Society of Personality and Social Psychology, and the American Psychological Association. In this interview, Heather shares more about her life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (2:21)
In her free time, Heather enjoys exploring a variety of hobbies, and her favorite pastimes continue to change over time. She loves going scuba diving, painting, reading, long-distance running, and glassblowing. A few years ago, she also began to experiment with building things with power tools, including fences and stairs.
The Scientific Side (3:30)
Heather’s research focuses on emotions, and how emotions affect people, their thinking, and their behavior. She is particularly interested in anger and boredom.
A Dose of Motivation (4:11)
“Life is a mystery to be lived, not a puzzle to be solved.”
What Got You Hooked on Science? (6:52)
As an undergraduate student, Heather began working as a research assistant in a lab studying insight tasks, where participants narrated their thoughts as they tried to solve difficult problems. She had to record everything participants said and then transcribe their comments. Listening to people reflect on their thought process was fascinating and sparked her interest in pursuing psychology. Heather began her academic training focused on cognitive psychology, but she also considered the possibility of becoming a counselor in marriage and family therapy. In her cognitive psychology work, Heather couldn’t ignore the feeling that something was missing. She later realized that emotions have tremendous impacts on how people think and act, and she decided to build her career studying emotions.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (15:33)
Heather and her colleagues conducted a meta-analysis on how emotions impact people, and it was a massive undertaking. They reviewed and coded 10 years of research studies, including thousands of articles. Once the paper was written, they submitted it to a well-respected scientific journal. Overall, the reviews were positive, but the editor requested that, instead of only including 10 years of data, they should include all research ever conducted. Also, the revised manuscript had to be re-submitted within 30 days. For the next 30 days, all Heather and her graduate students did was work on this meta-analysis. She had recently welcomed her son into the world, and this added to the stress of working around the clock to hit the deadline for the resubmission. They managed to get the paper back to the editor in time, but it was then rejected. Looking more closely at the feedback from reviewers, Heather realized that one reviewer had looked at the uncorrected version of the manuscript instead of the revised version. Bringing this to the editor’s attention changed their decision, and the paper was ultimately accepted. This was an extremely difficult and exhausting process, but in the end, Heather and her students were excited to have the paper published.
A Shining Success! (19:13)
For Heather, the biggest wins are seeing her students graduate and start their careers. This past spring, three PhD students in her lab finished their studies and successfully defended their dissertations. She loves being there for the moment when the committee calls the student back into the room and congratulates them as a newly minted doctor.
A smaller, but particularly meaningful success had to do with one of their recent papers. Heather likes to include quotes in her articles to build the narratives for her projects. The reviewers and editor made her take the quote out of this particular manuscript, but they overlooked a reference to the quote in the title. It was satisfying to be able to keep that reference in the title in the accepted manuscript.
Book Recommendations (21:10)
Books Stephen King, especially The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger and The Green Mile
Most Treasured Travel (22:47)
One unforgettable scientific travel experience brought heather to the Chinese National Academy of Sciences in Beijing. A neuroscientist there wanted to learn more about Heather’s research methods, and they hosted her for the visit. The scientist’s entire lab was so engaged and wanted to spend the entire time talking about these methods and potential collaborations. Heather’s research at the time involved showing participants images, such as chocolate desserts, that would evoke feelings of desire. It was interesting to hear her colleagues in China tell her that the images did not translate to Chinese culture, and they actually looked kind of disgusting. This really highlighted the importance of making sure that experiments on emotion are culturally appropriate. To study desire, you have to show people something they find desirable, and this won’t be the same for every culture. While she was in China, Heather also had an opportunity to see the Forbidden City, fantastic restaurants, the Great Wall, and other sights in Beijing.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (25:51)
To train her new research assistants at the beginning of each semester, the lab engages in fun simulations. Many of their studies involve creating situations that evoke emotions in research participants, and the research assistants are often critical for creating the situations. Whether it’s making the participants believe they’ve been rejected for a paid research opportunity or working with participants in situations that are meant to make them angry, the research assistants benefit from a little practice. In the simulation sessions, more senior members of the lab pretend to be participants who are disengaged, falling asleep, or otherwise unruly. The different scenarios are often really funny, and it’s a good opportunity for members of the group to bond.
Advice For Us All (31:52)
Make sure that you stay focused on the big questions and the big, important things that you want to know in your science. It’s easy to get caught up in mundane and trivial tasks that need to get done, and in doing so, you can lose sight of those big, important questions you really want to answer. Talk to people and work with people who keep you focused on those big questions. Also, keep asking great questions. This is the key to transformative science and innovation.
Guest Bio
Heather’s research explores emotions and how they impact people. She has a particular passion to find ways that people can best use emotions to support their romantic relationships, workplaces, and lives. She works with her team of students to ask and answer questions about a range of emotions from boredom to anger to awe. She enjoys new adventures in and out of the lab, and spends as much time as possible traveling and scuba diving. She has two wonderful teenagers that give her a chance to see a range of emotions up close every day.
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