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Psychologist Dr. Benjamin Rosenberg is giving out grades this spring -- and not just to his students. He also is giving out grades to the Houston Astros through Psychology Today.

Dr. Rosenberg, an assistant psychology professor in the School of Liberal Arts and Education, has started writing a new blog for the bi-monthly magazine with his colleague, Dr. Bret Levine, called the "Intangibles of Sports.” It covers the intersection between psychology, neuroscience, and all things sports and teams.

Their was a report card, from a psychological and research perspective, analyzing how the Astros recently handled their public apology in spring training after an extensive Major League Baseball investigation found them guilty of an illegal sign-stealing scandal. The elaborate sign-stealing scheme occurred during the Astros’ 2017 and 2018 seasons. The team won the World Series in 2017 and advanced to the American League Championship Series in 2018.

Dr. Rosenberg and Dr. Levine are currently co-editing a book on the science of team chemistry in sports. They have tapped two other separate groups of researchers (two psychologists and three economists) to contribute to chapters. Psychology Today declined to publish an excerpt of the book, but, even better, it offered them a blog. Dr. Rosenberg and Dr. Levine will be writing about the intersection of social science and sports.

In graduate school at Claremont Graduate University, Dr. Rosenberg and Dr. Levine created a now-defunct blog that combined social science, data, and sports analysis. They have a cadre of posts from that blog that they are going to rework for the new Psychology Today blog, such as examining the upcoming NFL draft and team cohesion in the NBA.

In January, Dr. Rosenberg lent his expertise on scientific strategies to a article entitled “How to Give Yourself a Pep Talk” about research showing that self-talk has a positive effect on self-confidence and self-efficacy.

Dr. Rosenberg’s research extends from research methods and statistics to survey design to health behavior and messaging focused on the restriction of behavioral freedom. In November of 2019, he was featured in a article on vaping about the psychological risks of flavored vapes.