Passing of Bob Zajonc

I have just received the following message from Shinobu Kitayama:

Hi friends,

I have to bring you very sad news. Bob Zajonc -- Hazel Markus's husband and a renowned psychologist -- passed away early in the morning yesterday... Bob was a great psychologist and a very generous and wonderful person. He is being missed by everybody.

Simply put, Bob Zajonc was a mainstay of Michigan social psychology for nearly half a century. After receiving his Ph.D. at UM in 1955, he stayed there for nearly another 40 years as a professor.

There are several ways to measure a scholar's productivity and impact on his or her academic field, such as awards or articles in major journals such as Psychological Review, of which Bob had plenty. I have my own way of conveying Bob's impact.

For readers who are not statistical experts, a meta-analysis is an exercise where one rounds up as many studies as he or she can find on the same basic research question (often 100 or more studies) and then computes the average magnitude of the phenomenon. There are at least two published meta-analyses on lines of research that Bob either initiated or advanced, thus showing his role in inspiring others to study particular questions:

Bond, C. F., & Titus, L. J. (1983). Social facilitation: A meta-analysis of 241 studies. Psychological Bulletin, 94, 265-292.

Bornstein, R. F. (1989). Exposure and affect: Overview and meta-analysis of research, 1968-1987. Psychological Bulletin, 106, 265-289.

A biographical sketch from the Foundation for the Advancement of Behavioral and Brain Sciences is available here (from which I borrowed the photo). Also, on February 13, 2004, I wrote a profile of Bob (click here for February 2004 archive, then scroll down).

In my view, Bob's productivity as a scholar was equalled only by his kindness and generosity to people in the Michigan social psychology program. Several times, Bob and Hazel opened their home to the department for receptions. Even though I never worked on any research projects with him, Bob was always very encouraging when he would hear of a project of mine that he found interesting.

UPDATE: The New York Times has published this obituary on Bob.

Visiting with Rick Larrick

In mid-November, I caught up with Rick Larrick, with whom I shared an office in the UM's Institute for Social Research when we were grad students nearly 20 years ago. Rick and I (along with Steve Fein) also did some research at Michigan on temperature and aggression in baseball (here and here).


The occasion for our recent meeting was a one-day preconference of the Society for Judgment and Decision Making, held at the University of Chicago's downtown Gleacher Center. Shown in the collage with the picture of Rick (right) and me are some of Chicago's famous buildings, all just a short walk from the conference location.

It was a homecoming of sorts for Rick, as he was on the faculty of the University of Chicago's Business School (located on the main, Hyde Park, campus) from 1993-2001, before moving to Duke's Fuqua School of Business. Rick spoke at the preconference on his "MPG Illusion" research, which has gotten a lot of attention.

My presence at the preconference was largely accidental. I was coming to Chicago for my niece's Bat Mitzvah, when I realized the SJDM event was going on and that I could fit it into my schedule (with my sister's permission!).

Remembering Drake's Sandwich Shop

A while back, the Michigan Alumnus magazine invited reminiscences on Drake's Sandwich Shop, the longtime campus-area hangout that closed in the 1990s. I sent in a blurb and, while I don't believe it got published in the paper copy of the publication, it was included in this online version, along with lots of other people's recollections.

Visiting with Jean Twenge

While in Los Angeles about a week ago, visiting my family and my undergraduate alma mater UCLA, I was pleased to be able to attend a talk there by Jean Twenge, a fellow Michigan psychology Ph.D. Jean, who went through the UM program about a decade after I did, has been on the faculty at San Diego State for several years and thus is only a couple hours down the road from L.A.



I've also written a song about Jean and her research.

Yost Ice Arena Remains College Hockey Mecca

Earlier this month, USA Today published an extensive profile of Yost Ice Arena, where some of my fellow students and I enjoyed many an evening rooting on the Michigan Wolverine hockey team. As the article notes, longtime UM coach -- and former NHL great -- Red Berenson took over the reins in 1984; that is the same year my graduate-school cohort arrived.

Hazel Markus Wins Major APA Award

Hazel Markus, who spent roughly a quarter-century at the University of Michigan as a graduate student and then social psychology professor before moving to Stanford, has been named as a 2008 Distinguished Scientific Contribution award recipient from the American Psychological Association. This designation is a highly prestigious honor that is bestowed upon only three individuals per year (see here for a list of all-time winners). Congratulations to Hazel!

Greg Diamond Updates Friends on His Goings-On

Greg Diamond, the social scientist-turned-lawyer who went through Michigan's social-psych graduate program with my cohort, recently released a year-end "newsletter" about what's going on in his life. With his permission, I am providing a link to it (click here).