Lisa Fazio
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lkfazio.bsky.social
Lisa Fazio
@lkfazio.bsky.social
21K followers 2.8K following 1.8K posts
Associate prof of psychology Vanderbilt Univ, studies how adults and children learn true and false information, she/her, lkfazio.com
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lkfazio.bsky.social
Parts 3 and 4
have all been clear that this compact is an illegal overreach, but Vanderbilt's leadership has instead tried to remain neutral. The original letter from Secretary of Education Linda McMahon states that the compact is "largely in its final form" and asks for "limited, targeted feedback." However, there are no minor changes that will make it acceptable. As MIT and other leading institutions have done, it is essential to reject the entire idea of trading away institutional, faculty and student freedoms for government benefits. Vanderbilt's non-response allows and, in fact, encourages the administration to continue to negotiate "special deals" with institutions rather than following our laws and constitution. While I greatly appreciate the Chancellor's acknowledgement that "academic freedom, free expression and independence are essential for universities," such reassurances read hollow without transparency about the feedback given to the administration and the willingness to publicly call a spade a spade. The current proposal is unacceptable and universities should refuse to voluntarily trade away their independence and rights to free expression. University leaders must take a stand for our democracy My message to Chancellor Diermeier (and all university leaders who may soon be faced with a similar choice) is simple. Take a stand. Have the courage to say that this unconstitutional proposal is unacceptable. Freely acknowledge all of the things your university is doing well and where you have room to grow. Like all institutions, universities are imperfect and can always be improved. University leaders should feel free to implement reforms to improve their institutions and align closer to their values and mission. But do not negotiate with the people who are trying to destroy you. Universities can and should have open conversations with the federal government about how to improve higher education in the United States. But they should never sign an agreement that compromises their independence and constitutional rights. In their ideal form, universities can serve as models of possibility for society -spaces for pluralism, fierce inquiry and evidence-based debate. They should also be institutions with clear values and the spine to stand up for the rule of law, the Constitution and our democracy. Lisa Fazio is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Human Development at Vanderbilt University.
October 25, 2025 at 3:52 PM
lkfazio.bsky.social
Parts 1 and 2
THE TENNESSEAN CONTRIBUTORS Opinion This piece expresses the views of its author(s), separate from those of this publication. Here's why Vanderbilt's response to the Trump higher ed 'compact' is not enough | Opinion The Nashville university cannot afford to remain neutral on the Trump administration's "compact" agreement. Lisa Fazio Guest Columnist Oct. 24, 2025, 5:07 a.m. CT Key Points Al-assisted summary The Trump administration proposed a "Compact for Academic Excellence" to nine universities, offering federal benefits for restrictions on university operations. Most of the invited universities, including MIT and Brown, have rejected the proposal, though some remain open to negotiation. The author, a Vanderbilt professor, argues the university should outright reject the compact instead of just providing feedback. On Oct. 1, the Trump administration sent a "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education" to nine universities including Vanderbilt University here in Nashville. The compact promises preferential access to federal grants and contracts in exchange for wide-ranging restrictions on university admissions, tuition, grading, student discipline, campus speech and protest rules, faculty and staff hiring, athletics and many other domains. The demands in the compact have been described as "overreaching government coercion," "extortion," "blatantly illegal," and "the most sweeping pile of unconstitutional conditions that any American constitutional lawyer has ever seen in the wild" by legal experts from across the political spectrum. In addition, more than 330 former senior national security and law enforcement professionals who served under both Democratic and Republican administrations describe the compact as "an indicator of authoritarianism" and a "direct assault on the rule of law." In this context, it is clear why universities should be absolute in their rejection of the administration's demands. The nine invited institutions have taken different paths in their responses to the compact. MIT quickly and definitively rejected the proposal, stating, "we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education." Need a news break? Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more! Other universities followed suit with some rejecting the entire premise of a compact in any form (Brown University, University of Southern California, Dartmouth University, University of Virginia) and others rejecting this version but either implicitly or explicitly remaining open to negotiation on future versions (University of Arizona, University of Pennsylvania). Only the University of Texas at Austin has yet to make a public statement. Vanderbilt should reject the compact outright My own university, Vanderbilt, has decided to take another path. Relying on the technicality that the administration only asked for feedback, not acceptance or rejection, Chancellor Daniel Diermeier is providing "feedback and comments" to the administration. Standing alone and forging your own way is often admirable. However, in this case, Vanderbilt is failing in its moral responsibility to push back against rising authoritarianism and political coercion. Vanderbilt should not in good conscience participate in negotiations over unconstitutional restrictions on its speech or the speech of its faculty and students. The Vanderbilt senate, undergraduate students and even a current Vanderbilt trustee
October 25, 2025 at 3:52 PM
lkfazio.bsky.social
Currently listening to my favorite Dark Academia Classical playlist on Spotify (h/t @shannimcg.bsky.social) while the bass from ESPN Game Day set up/audio test rattles my office windows and somehow it all works
Photo of campus lawn with the ESPN game day set being constructed Photo showing just how close the set is to my window. It's very close.
October 24, 2025 at 8:37 PM
lkfazio.bsky.social
Me to my husband after pulling out the next Halloween advent calendar ghost - "Oh, look, he's got a basketball"
Husband - "umm, that's a pumpkin"
Me - "ohhh"

You can take the girl out of Indiana but you can't take the Indiana out of the girl 😂
Hand holding a small plastic figurine. It's a white ghost with black eyes and nose that's partially covering an orange pumpkin The bottom of the figurine showing the bottom of the orange pumpkin The pumpkin has ridges and a yellow line at the bottom which totally makes it look like a basketball!!
October 16, 2025 at 5:00 PM
lkfazio.bsky.social
Today's episode of "how is that comfortable?"
Two dogs on a dog bed. The large doberman on the left is sleeping normal. The black and white Shepard mix on the right has her body on the bed and her head on the floor
October 11, 2025 at 2:46 PM
lkfazio.bsky.social
Lol, I was cleaning out old boxes and found this box of thumb tacks that my parents gave me when I left for college. They're from the Princeton University store which means they were purchased sometime before my dad graduated in 1978.

Apparently I own antique thumb tacks 😂
Blue cardboard box reading 100 Noesting thumb tacks plated steel No. 4 1/2 in. There's a small white price sticker - Princeton University store A202 .70
October 9, 2025 at 6:23 PM
lkfazio.bsky.social
Today's Halloween advent calendar ghost is flipping off the world. Feels appropriate.
Small white plastic ghost figurine with an angry face flipping the bird with both hands
October 7, 2025 at 10:43 PM
lkfazio.bsky.social
Being greeted by a giant dinosaur in the Pittsburgh airport never gets old 🦖 See you tomorrow Pitt!
Mounted T. Rex skeleton in between two escalators
October 5, 2025 at 11:11 PM
lkfazio.bsky.social
Look at that face!! (This is her look at how cute I am, don't you want to give me belly rubs and attention pose)
Black and white Shepard mix laying on her back with her legs tucked in, ears big and a ridiculous look on her face. She's very cute and wants belly rubs.
October 1, 2025 at 9:14 PM
lkfazio.bsky.social
Apparently this is comfortable?
Black and white Australian shepherd mix sleeping on the carpet. Her body is vertical while her head is pitched back 90 degrees.
September 16, 2025 at 5:46 PM
lkfazio.bsky.social
Amazing - purchased and picked up an inspirational print from @megstampede.bsky.social as well.
Ink drawing of a fox braving the wind with the quote "I know the wind is strong but so are you..."
September 16, 2025 at 2:48 PM
lkfazio.bsky.social
World's very much out of my control, but I can sew fun Halloween clothing.
Photo of a man in a black Polo shirt with small white ghosts all over.
September 13, 2025 at 7:28 PM
lkfazio.bsky.social
Honored to receive the Chancellor's Award for Research for this co-authored paper on the psychology of misinformation. It was really affirming to receive recognition for this research while the field is under attack and misinfo grants are being cancelled. 1/

www.nature.com/articles/s44...
A fancy silver mint julip cup engraved with Chancellor's Award for Research and my name sitting on a wooden shelf with a poster reading "Science and everyday life cannot and should not be separated" - Rosalind Franklin, a glass lego figure, and some other knickknacks Photo of all the awardees with Vanderbilt leadership. Lisa's in a green dress and holding a silver cup
September 4, 2025 at 9:10 PM
lkfazio.bsky.social
So Vandy has a women's volleyball team again for the first time in 45 years (which is very exciting!). To celebrate they're playing a match tonight on the lawn right outside my office window. All very cool except they keep testing the sound system and shaking my windows with the bass 😂
View outside my office window of the temporary court and bleachers
August 29, 2025 at 4:57 PM
lkfazio.bsky.social
Here we go again! Orientation time at Vanderbilt. As stressed as I am about the end of summer it's great to welcome students back to campus and feed off their excitement. Universities are really cool places where people learn and grow and discover new things! That's worth celebrating!!
Light up white sign of the letters V and U on a green lawn in front of a classic university building with columns.
August 18, 2025 at 5:58 PM
lkfazio.bsky.social
Key insight from @tressiemcphd.bsky.social on AI

When we read a summary we know that it's not interactive or relational like learning from a human. Interacting with generative AI feels relational but isn't. People don't yet know how to interact with that type of source and it leads them astray.
We know for a fact that we are more likely to trust information, especially novel information, when it feels like we get that information in a relationship. That's why when you go to the library to answer a question and all else fails you, what do you do? You go to the librarian, right? Because what we want is a human being to help us make sense of what we don't know. With SparkNotes, that's not a risk. You know that the book is not interactive. You know that it is not intended to be something that you necessarily trust like you would a teacher or a librarian. I think the risk of A.I. is that it shrouds what is fundamentally just summaries of commonly held interpretations of the text, but it delivers it in a way that feels relational. That's why when you see these horror stories which, admittedly, right now are still extreme use cases but these horror stories of people who think that they have fallen in love with their A.I. or they reanimate a dead loved one as an A.I. The risk of that is that your brain actually doesn't do a great job of parsing when the computer voice is a computer versus when it is a human voice.
August 12, 2025 at 1:58 PM
lkfazio.bsky.social
She melted
Two dogs on a bed. The smaller black and white dog is half on the bed (back half) and half on the floor. It looks like she's melting.
July 13, 2025 at 9:47 PM
lkfazio.bsky.social
Made a makeshift pillow bolster for the dog bed. And yet...
Large dog bed on their floor. A doberman is curled up comfy on the pillow corner. The other dog is instead sleeping on the floor in between the bed and the wall. It does not look comfy but she seems to like it.
July 9, 2025 at 10:22 PM
lkfazio.bsky.social
Lol, moving offices & I found my collection of Duke Lemur Center notebooks 😂

When I was a grad student at Duke my ex worked at the center and I was an occasional volunteer tour guide. They had awesome hard cover notebooks in the gift shop that I used throughout grad school and postdoc #GotLemurs?
A collection of six hardcover notebooks of different sizes. Some have an Aye-aye holding a sign reading "Got Lemurs?" And others have the official logo of the Duke Lemur Center and the website lemur.duke.edu
June 20, 2025 at 5:46 PM
lkfazio.bsky.social
That's it folks! Irish dancers closing out #sarmac2025
June 14, 2025 at 8:27 PM
lkfazio.bsky.social
Now a very Nashville talk!! Researchers from Ireland (Cian James) had people play a detective game about a country music star who wants to make a comeback but he keeps posting about conspiracy theories online. You're part of the PR team trying to reign him in. #sarmac2025 29/
LERO Google IRISH RESEARCH COUNCIL An Chomhairle um Thaighde in Eirinn UCC Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh, Eire University College Cork, Island Nashville Pl - Developing a Serious Game to Teach Critical Appraisal of Conspiracy Theories Dr. Cian James O'Mahony University College Cork
June 14, 2025 at 11:49 AM
lkfazio.bsky.social
How can we correct conspiracy belief #sarmac2025
Ryan Balzan uses clinical training to reduce delusions in schizophrenia. Train ppl to not jump to conclusions- there is no water in the picture below (it's a wall)
Cognitive bias correction -similar idea for broad population, effective in a pilot 28/
Photo of what looks like a tree and lake shore but the lake is actually a white wall Sustained and "Sleeper" Effects of Group Metacognitive Training for Schizophrenia A Randomized Clinical Trial Steffen Moritz, PhD; Ruth Veckenstedt, PhD: Christina Andreou, MD, PhD: Francesca Bohn, MSC Birgit Hottenrott. Dipl-Psych; Lucy Leighton, MSC: Ulf Köther, Dipl-Psych: Todd S. Woodward, PhD: András Treszi, MD: Mahesh Menon, PhD, Brooke C. Schneider, PhD: Ute Pfueller, PhD, Daniela Roesch-Ely, MD JAMA Psychiatry. 2014:71(10):1103-1111. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.1038 Graph showing large benefits even months later
June 14, 2025 at 11:49 AM
lkfazio.bsky.social
Finally Rebecca Wheeler-Mundy using a mock trial to teach about the psychology of law & justice in Master's course. Goal is to think about how we can apply psych to criminal justice system. Complex case with lots of roles for students (prosecutor, defense, witnesses, juror etc). Students love it. 9/
The case Focuses on an incident on a train late at night An altercation between two teenagers (13 and 15) and two stockbrokers resulting in the death of Simon Chapman(stockbroker) following a knife thrust to the heart One of the teenagers [FRIEND] (13) was initially arrested, then released after she made a statement blaming [DEFENDANT] (15) [DEFENDANT] is on trial, and the Defence suggest it was [FRIEND] who stabbed the victim The murder weapon was never found, but an identical knife was missing from the block in [DEFENDANT]'s home 'Mock trial' activity Run in the mock court rooms Includes introductions to the jury, plea, examination & cross examination, closing arguments and instructions to the jury Includes visual evidence (injuries, weapon, clothing, train carriage map, police interview transcript) Practicalities of running the mock trial Student volunteers are provided with scripts (full versions for judge & barristers; relevant segments for other witnesses) Reduces barriers to participation All other students form the jury (or juries); 'actors' are observers Script lasts around an hour, followed by deliberation Often time at the end of the session for observations/reflections and discussion on how verdicts were reached Student perception ...Gave an interesting perspective as what jurors might experience during a real trial I really enjoyed the mock trial. It was an interesting and useful way to get hands on experience of this side of forensic psychology. I left feeling like I understood many aspects of it more. I was born and raised overseas. This was the first direct exposure to a UK court trial. For me, it was more real than mock. I experienced the practical aspects of the court trial I appreciated the opportunity to take part in the PSY7050 mock trial. It was one of the most engaging and applied learning experiences I've had on the course, and it allowed me to connect theory to practice in a meaningful way.
June 14, 2025 at 9:17 AM
lkfazio.bsky.social
Next Rachel Watkins on scaffolding instruction and the gradual release model: I do, we do, you do it together, you do it alone. Model a culture of errors where it's okay to be wrong. Importance of wait time and super helpful suggestions for how to narrate that time while students are thinking. 8/
Your Job During Wait Time Narrate Hands "One hand, you say out loud. "Two hands. Now three." You are building momentum. Four hands you say, smiling, relaxed, not rushed. You want hands but especially hands of students who have taken their time. "Five," you say. "Thank you, Kesha. Thanks, Lance, Nice. Now I'm starting to see those hands. Your message is: I notice and I care when you raise your hand and, increasingly, many of your classmates are doing it. "This is a really tricky one. I'm curious about your initial reactions. Get us started and we'll work through it together." "Now I'm starting to see those brave hands. Or you might say, 1 especially love it when students raise their hand when they aren't sure. That shows me fearlessness." "This is a hard question. It requires you to reflect on multiple factors. I'll give you thirty seconds or so." "Once X people have shared their ideas we will move on Prompt Thinking Skills Tm seeing people thinking deeply and jotting down thoughts, il give everyone a few more seconds to do that. "I'm seeing people going back to the chapter to see if they can find the scene/quote/reference/information/framework. That seems like a great idea," Tm hoping someone will be able to connect this scene/quote/reference/information/framework/concept to another scene/quote/reference/information/framework/concept. Ideally X I'm going to give everyone lots of time because this question is tricky. Your first answer may not be the best."
June 14, 2025 at 9:17 AM
lkfazio.bsky.social
Students then try and use effective study strategies - choose goal (eg higher grades, less stress). From the videos what 2 specific strategies are you going to use, how are you going to use it, what obstacles might prevent you from following your plan. Check in every 3-4 weeks, reflection at end 6/
Implementation Project Make initial use of new strategies an empirical question in which students: Collect baseline data Select personalized strategies Design their implementation Review interim data and continue/revise as needed Reflect on final results Honestly, I may not have kept going with computer science because I probably would have assumed it's just not my natural skills. Now that I know that that's not true, it encourages me to keep going with it and just practice more because I know if I practice I'll get better at it.
June 14, 2025 at 9:17 AM