Behavioral Policy Speaker Series: Anuj Shah *10, "Varieties of Applied Psychology"

Applying psychology to confront social issues raises several challenges: theory often comes up short in suggesting solutions, while intuitively appealing solutions seem atheoretical. In this talk, Shah discusses these challenges in the context of psychological research on poverty, violence, and policing. He considers how psychology takes on a different shape when it is developed in the service of understanding social issues rather than describing the mind more generally.