Katie Bolzendahl

Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task This study explores the neural and behavioral consequences of LLM-assisted essay writing. Participants were divided into three groups: LLM, Search Engine, and Brain-only (no tools). Each completed thr...

"Over four months, LLM users consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels."

arxiv.org/abs/2506.08872

...The goal is to erase the historical achievements of feminist movements, collectives, and networks to promote laws and politics for gender equality." - Dr. Flávia Biroli

“Political actions to suppress the gender equality agenda in public policy are intimately connected to violence against women in politics – and more generally in society....

Excited to be on the panel for this important event! All-star line up includes keynote by @mlkrook.bsky.social, panel w/ moi, #jeanetteashe, @erintolley.bsky.social, #wenonahall, & @bittner.bsky.social! Comments from @slweldon.bsky.social!

Poster of a young boy and girl at the beach on the left, on the right are the event listings for Holocaust Memorial Week.

Fantastic, important, pressing conversations in honor of OSU's Holocaust Memorial Week. Note this virtual event: “Global Challenges to Democracy and Human Rights,” April 25, 10am – 12pm (PST)
holocaust.oregonstate.edu#eventstart

First page of chapter 6 "Masculinities and Political Ideology in the United States"

...higher support for traditional masculinity among Black and Asian men emerged as (predicted) inroads for conservative electoral gains. Recent election outcomes suggest this was the case.

With co-authors @cantonwiner.bsky.social and #TaraDWarner, we contributed "Masculinities and Political Ideology in the US." Some notable findings: conservatives are not as hegemonically masculine as some might argue, but...

Masculinity in American Politics How elements of masculinity manifest themselves in all aspects of American political lifeWhile hardly a new phenomenon, masculinity—which includes elements...

What a fantastic start to my day: My copy of Masculinities in American Politics, edited by the brilliant #MonikaLMcDermott and @dancassino.bsky.social arrived!! This NYU Press book is *perfect* for scholars, teachers, and students.
nyupress.org/978147983071...

The root that tears apart your foundation begins as a seed of distrust, hate, and blame.

The seed that grew into a dictatorship in Europe didn’t arrive overnight.

It started with everyday Germans mad about inflation and looking for someone to blame.

The flying public needs answers. How many FAA personnel were just fired? What positions? And why?

Warren on Elon Musk destroying the CFPB: "It is a little like a bank robber saying, 'I know what let's do. Let's fire the cops, turn off the alarms,' just as the robber decides to stroll into the lobby of the bank."

This is an absolutely astonishing report.

DOGE did a complete takeover of CFPB’s systems at the root.

This is identical to worst case scenarios for the most devastating cyberattacks by foreign actors, only this is an *internal* threat

This is a good way of putting it. Democracy requires bureaucracy and fixed rules; since collective decisions can be made only occasionally, the system has to be on autopilot most of the time. A system based on personal hierarchy and domination can rely more on command and less on administration.

Now adding "destroy higher education" to the mix

Hear me out —

If parents call colleges freaked about their FAFSA data being leaked, schools may have to issue statements — which would reach a whole lot more families about how warped this is.

Organizing isn’t always calling electeds. Sometimes it’s just calling people with a bigger megaphone.

The keywords “female” and “woman” under new NSF guidelines will lead to grant desk rejection, but not “man” or “male.”

RFK Jr. and his family stand to profit off lawsuits against vaccines. An HHS Secretary shouldn't have a financial interest in making our country sicker. I’m demanding RFK Jr. recuse himself from any work on vaccine policy while he has a financial interest in the outcome.

We can’t just get caught in the headlines, we have to call out every illegal, unconstitutional and dangerous act this administration takes.

Don’t just focus on the spotlight, keep your eyes on what they’re trying to do in the shadows.

As of this morning, the Trump administration removed the Climate and Environmental Justice Screening Tool (CEJEST). Don't worry; we have the code and data backed up.

FYI - email from USDA to all employees.

Found this on LinkedIn - looks like a great panel!

It's a great honor to be invited to give this talk at the @ipp-csic.bsky.social! Huge thanks to @martafraile.bsky.social for making this happen.

I'm excited to share findings from collaborative work w/ @hildecoffe.bsky.social on gendered political participation in Europe. Please join!

A doctor’s letter to United Healthcare for denying nausea meds for a child on chemo

Meanwhile over at the bad place

Screenshot of the article. Title: The Color of Ideas: Racial Dynamics and Citations in Economics. Authors: Marlene Koffi, Roland Pongou, and Leonard Wantchekon. NBER Working Paper No. 33150. Published November 2024. JEL No. A14, I23, J15. Abstract reads: This paper investigates the existence of racial disparities in the dissemination of ideas using the paper citation network in economics. Exploiting a comprehensive dataset of over 330,000 publications from 1950 to 2021, combined with manually collected data from the CVs of thousands of economists, we document that papers authored by non-White scholars (Black, Hispanic, or Asian) receive 5.1% to 9.6% fewer citations than those authored by White scholars. The citation gap remains or even amplifies with increasing author seniority and conventional quality indicators and is especially pronounced for Black authors. Moreover, papers authored by non-White scholars are less likely to serve as citation bridges and are less often cited by highly cited papers as measured by the centrality indexes, limiting both their direct and indirect influence. Our analysis indicates that this disparity is not attributable to differences in research quality, author ability, or visibility. Rather, it is largely driven by homophily in citation patterns and racial clusters in networks, where scholars tend to cite authors from their racial group. These findings can be rationalized by a simple theoretical model where citation costs and peer-review preferences influence citation behavior. Then, we provide suggestive evidence that reducing information friction—thereby lowering the cost of citing—could reduce the racial citation gap by up to 50%. Finally, using natural language processing, we highlight the complementarity across racial groups in research and discuss potential losses from racial barriers to idea diffusion.

When people ask me why I don't care about my h-index, citations, etc., I point out that racism means that's a losing game. Cause this ain't just in economics.

www.nber.org/papers/w33150

2025 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Keynote | Institutional Diversity

I just got my ticket! So excited to have Sociologist Dr. Ruha Benjamin as the MLK Jr Day keynote at OSU!! (virtual attendance is also possible)

diversity.oregonstate.edu/2025-dr-mart...

One wild aspect of elected office is way Republicans use LGBTQ politicians as a confessional booth.

Nearly every day in the Montana House, Republicans would apologize for their votes, tell me they wish the culture war would move on, etc.

But rarely would they actually change their vote.