Category: Interdisciplinary

  • I’ll take one Lassie, no wait…make that an Air Bud

    I’ll take one Lassie, no wait…make that an Air Bud

    A study published in PLOS ONE looked at 100 films that featured a dog as a main character from 1939 to 2003 along with the number of registrations with the American Kennel Club by breed in the 10 years before and after each film

  • Memory in the Mountains: How Cognitive Psychology Can Improve Rock Climbing

    Memory in the Mountains: How Cognitive Psychology Can Improve Rock Climbing

    “You can never climb the same mountain twice, not even in memory. Memory rebuilds the mountain, changes the weather, retells the jokes, remakes all the moves.” – Lito Tejada-Flores, Extreme Skiier, Climber and Author             As Lito Tejada-Flores alludes, rock climbing and mountaineering depend as much on human memory as the physical environment in which…

  • Rapid Reaction – The Suicide of Robin Williams

    “O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done, The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won, The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring; But O heart! heart! heart! O the bleeding drops of red,…

  • Awe: Why It’s Important, and How to Feel It

    Awe: Why It’s Important, and How to Feel It

    Jason Silva – Shots of Awe Have you ever gazed up at the starry sky and felt amazed by its vastness? Or have you looked over the abyss of the Grand Canyon and found your breath catch in your throat? If so, you probably felt awe, a “feeling of wonder and astonishment experienced in the presence of…

  • What is color (in vision)?

    What is color (in vision)?

    Roses are red, Violets are blue, And you probably think That the sky is blue too. Color, however, exists only in the mind: Color is our experience that maps onto the physical luminance properties of visible light and visible-light reflectance properties of objects. Psychologists call this color perception, to recognize that color is more a property…

  • iLoveYou, iLoveYouNot: The Psychology of Online Dating & Romantic Relationships

    When I first saw the movie “You’ve Got Mail” at the ripe old age of 8, the idea of developing a relationship through online chatrooms seemed novel, unconventional and even…creepy? Fast-forward 15 years later, where one in ten people are using an online dating website, and much of the stigma associated with this activity has declined.…

  • “Criminally Minded: The Psychology and Law of Culpability” Symposium – May 16, 4pm

    “Criminally Minded: The Psychology and Law of Culpability” Symposium – May 16, 4pm

    Criminally Minded: The Psychology and Law of Culpability Psychology in Action is proud to announce the third annual Psychology Interdisciplinary Events symposium, Criminally Minded: The Psychology and Law of Culpability, to be held Friday, May 16th, 2014, from 4 to 6pm in UCLA’s CNSI Auditorium.  The discussion will focus on legal and psychological issues regarding mens rea.  The…

  • Communicating the Value of Research: A Two-Way Street

    Communicating the Value of Research: A Two-Way Street

    Seven months ago I found myself seated across the table from a dear friend at a small restaurant in Eugene, Oregon, mere weeks from the start of my graduate career. Over dinner and a few drinks, we got to talking about the enormity of this undertaking, exploring all of the parts associated with finally going…

  • Family Life for Working Parents: Is the home a haven or a source of stress?

    Family Life for Working Parents: Is the home a haven or a source of stress?

    Human beings are social by nature, and it is fascinating that the way we interact with each other has a profound impact on both psychological and physical health. Stephen Lepore & Tracey Revenson captured this sentiment well by stating that “social relationships are often a complicated brew of interactions that are at turns pleasant and…

  • Python for the Social Sciences: Toolkit Essentials

    Python for the Social Sciences: Toolkit Essentials

      Why Py? Why should psychologists, or social scientists more generally, care about programming? The fact is anyone who uses softwares for data analysis relies on programming and many wonderful tools exist to give researchers improved control over their data for more efficient workflow. Although learning programming may seem an insurmountable task, with the right…