Penn Integrates Knowledge Professors

How unflagged, factual content drives vaccine hesitancy

A new paper from computational social scientist Duncan Watts examines how factual, vaccine-skeptical content on Facebook has a greater overall effect than “fake news,” discouraging millions from the COVID-19 shot.

From Penn Engineering Today

More than two hearts beat as one

PIK Professor Michael Platt and collaborators studied how physiologic measures like cardiac synchrony can guide decision making in groups. Their study found that heart rate synchrony was a much better predictor than standard questionnaire-based surveys.

Nathi Magubane

What predicts human behavior and how to change it

In the largest quantitative synthesis to date, Dolores Albarracín and her team dig through years of research on the science behind behavior change to determine the best ways to promote changes in behavior.

Hailey Reissman



In the News


The New York Times

An epidemic of vicious school brawls, fueled by student cellphones

PIK Professor Desmond Upton Patton says that many schools don’t have a playbook for addressing student violence or helping pupils engage more positively online, in part because few researchers are studying the issue.

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The New York Times

A century-old law’s aftershocks are still felt at the Supreme Court

PIK Professor Karen M. Tani says that granting the Supreme Court the power to set its own agenda has caused it to gravitate toward cases that have preoccupied the conservative legal movement.

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Scientific American

Grumpy voters want better stories. Not statistics

In a Q&A, PIK Professor Duncan Watts says that U.S. voters ignored Democratic policy in favor of Republican storytelling.

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The New York Times

How Kennedy could make it harder for you and your family to get vaccinated

In a co-written opinion essay, PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel explains how Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his allies in the Trump administration could discourage the use and research of vaccines.

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Philadelphia Tribune

Engaging discussion at Center in the Park on conservative agenda Project 2025

At a Philadelphia panel on Project 2025, PIK Professor Dorothy Roberts said that Black women would have even greater numbers of unwanted pregnancies without access to legal contraceptives.

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The New York Times

MacArthur Foundation announces 2024 ‘genius’ grant winners

PIK Professor Dorothy Roberts has been named a MacArthur Fellow for her work on racial inequities in health and social-service systems.

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