On Stage: Presenting My Research at APA’s Division 10’s Conference

Author: Julia Jackson | Major: Psychology | Semester: Spring 2024

Hello! My name is Julia Jackson, and I am currently an undergraduate student in the Fulbright Honors Program with a Psychology major and a Biology minor. I traveled to Denton, Texas to attend the American Psychological Association’s Division 10: Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts first annual conference. There, I gave a poster presentation titled “The Conundrum of Originality And Utility: Evaluating the Biases In Human Vs. AI-generated Responses On Divergent Thinking Tasks”. My research on this topic was twofold: first, to examine the perceptual differences of originality, usefulness, and appropriateness of ideas generated on commonly used divergent thinking tasks between humans and artificial intelligence models; and second, to examine how people categorize responses that are (or are not) AI-generated vs. human-generated.

To evaluate these aims, we utilized results from a previous study conducted by graduate students in my research lab, Mechanisms of Creative Cognition and Attention (MoCCA). This original study gathered responses from 151 human participants and 151 AI ‘participants’ on the Alternative Uses Task (AUT) which asked people to generate original uses for an item (i.e., Rope; fork) and Consequences Task (CT) which asked people to generate possibly outcomes on hypothetical scenarios (i.e., what would happen if humans no longer needed to sleep; what would happen if humans walked on their hands).  For the present study, we took the top 1% of most original responses from each section (AUT, CT), presented them to our 100 participants, and asked them to rate these responses on originality, usefulness, appropriateness, and how likely they thought each response was generated by a human or AI. Our research works to fight the biases that exist in the use of AI in society and hopefully help explain the effectiveness and applicability of AI in future uses.

This conference provided me with valuable opportunities to interact with professionals in the psychology field. I attended presentations by experts ranging from Professors, industry professionals, to PhD students conducting research in the same field. This opportunity not only expanded my knowledge but it also allowed me to receive feedback on my research and presentation style. I also had the chance to network with individuals at different stages in their academic and professional journeys, gaining insights into future career paths and establishing connections within the psychology field. This trip provided an excellent opportunity to network and further my professional development. In the short time I was there, I met many individuals spanning each extreme of the profession. I was only one of two undergraduates who attended the conference, so I was able to meet individuals in their research and schooling timeline(s) ahead of me. This was very beneficial to me, as I was able to see what it is like to go further in the field, and the things that I could accomplish. This also allowed me to create connections and network with individuals in various levels of the field. This experience taught me many lessons that will be very applicable in my professional future. This poster session differed from the typical one, as each presentation was projected on a screen behind each individual, and a 3-minute presentation was given to the crowd. Due to this, I developed many public speaking skills. The crowd also had an opportunity to ask questions at the end of the presentation, so I learned how to actively listen and actively engage in discussion in a professional setting. For other students, I would highly recommend this conference (or any like it). I learned vital skills that will help me, not only in the psychology field, but in others, and life, as well. Moving forward, I plan to continue my research and explore new avenues of research based on insights gained from the conference. I aim to return next year with more research findings to share and further contribute to the field.