Psychology in Action

Tag: psychology

  • Want to Get Involved in Research? Try these Tips!

    Interested in getting involved in research? Here are some tips for getting started in research, which is a great way to learn more about psychology, develop your interests, and gain valuable experience! 

  • ‘Tis the Season for Giving!

    It’s that time of year again, where malls and websites (and hopefully some local businesses, too!) are overrun with holiday shoppers hoping to score the perfect gift to give a loved one. But why are we so obsessed with finding that perfect present? Recent research by Tristen Inagaki, a fourth year graduate student in the…

  • The Economy and Changing Gender Roles

    I opened the Atlantic this week to read the cover story, with the subheading “In today’s economy, men are falling apart. What that means for sex and marriage.” The article includes personal anecdotes, historical notes on the history of marriage, sociological examples of on-Western cultures, and theories on marriage and love. Particularly interesting were theories…

  • The Convenience of Therapy on your Computer

    Finding a good therapist is important. As a graduate student in clinical psychology, I am often asked where to find one. Typically, I would recommend the psychology clinic associated with my university, or point them in the direction of therapists who use empirically supported treatments. Yet, there remains several obstacles for reaching a therapist. These include…

  • Gene linked to psychological resources

    UCLA psychology graduate student Shimon Saphire-Bernstein and Dr. Shelly Taylor identified the first gene to be linked to the psychological resources of optimism, self-esteem and mastery (the belief that you have control over your own life). They have been getting major media attention for their great scientific contribution. Check out the UCLA press release here. 

  • Schoolyard Picks: How People Evaluate Friend Potential in Others

    We all use a variety of clues to figure out whether a person we’re interacting with is going to like us. After all, being rejected hurts, and we typically would rather not pursue a friendship with someone who might reject us. To determine whether we’re likely to be rejected by a potential friend, we might…

  • Perceptual Learning: Applications to Education

    My lab at UCLA has been in the news twice recently, which is very exciting for us! You may have seen this article in the NYTimes last week or this interview on CBS’ The Early Show this morning. Both stories are about perceptual learning and its applications to education. I thought in this post I…

  • Investigative Interviewing and the Detection of Deception – Professor R. Edward Geiselman, UCLA

    Information is the lifeblood of investigations and it is the ability of investigators to obtain useful and accurate information from witnesses that is most crucial.  Yet full and accurate memory recall is difficult to achieve.  The Cognitive Interview (CI) technique developed by Geiselman and Fisher is a systematic approach to interviewing witnesses toward increasing the…

  • How effective are political campaign advertisements?

    While the media buzz surrounding the 2012 Presidential Election is just starting up, now is as good a time as any to think about how effective political advertisements really are at influencing our candidate choices.  Every election season, political candidates shell out thousands and even millions of dollars on televised campaign advertisements.  But how persuasive…

  • Children with ADHD have greater likelihood of trying substances and developing substance use disorders.

    Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most commonly diagnosed disorders in childhood. In fact, estimates of the rates of ADHD had found that between 5-10 percent of all children meet diagnostic criteria for the disorder. Children with and without ADHD, at a group level, show several differences, including poorer school performance, more…