Conducting research with babies invites many unique challenges. For example, infants don’t speak or respond to instructions very well. One of the ways researchers work around this limitation is by presenting images on a screen and measuring various a …
One of the goals of the American Psychological Association is “to advance the communication and application of psychological knowledge to benefit society.” As the head of the Center for Disease Control’s Division of Violence Prevention, Dr. Rodney Hamm …
How does early life stress affect health across the lifespan? This question has intrigued our research team for many years. People who experience early life stress, in the form of poverty, exposure to violence, noise, and other stressors, or who experi …
Note: Everything in the following article and the provided links (at least at the time of posting) is work-safe, though some links may contain explicit language. However, please exercise caution in clicking other links found on the web pages referenc …
In my previous blog post I wrote about the need for applying health research to improve community health. Another glaring need is to conduct research that both test theoretical models and addresses community-relevant questions. What does this mean? Dr. …
A recent McClatchy-Marist poll found that nearly 6 in 10 Americans think a nuclear disaster similar to what happened in March of this year in Japan could happen here. Why do so many people suddenly think that nuclear disaster is likely? Recent research …
Often in academia the direct arrow from research findings to improving the human condition is hard to see. I believe this is a major problem specifically in the area of health and wellness. Governmental organizations, the private sector, and foundatio …
What is the most effective way to study? Psychologists studied this question and their research findings provide helpful strategies and tips that you can use to improve your test-taking performance. Researchers have found that studying and testing in t …
How likely are you to remember this post tomorrow? The question above asks you to make a metacognitive judgment—that is, it asks you to evaluate your own thoughts. People use metacognitive judgments every day, whether it is to believe you know a route …
From the time kids are in preschool, they tend to make and keep more friends of their own ethnicity than of others. In many schools, children form entirely separate peer groups, with European-American (white), African-American, Latino and Asian-America …
The field of developmental psychology is fraught with some very popularized but misunderstood dichotomies. Nature versus is nurture is probably the most well known, but another important distinction is that between competence and performance. Jeff me …
Looking back on social psychology’s greatest hits, my mind always drifts first to studies on conformity, largely because they make such good stories. Take Asch, for instance. Who would’ve thought that so many people would willingly follow the crowd in …
Many individuals find the idea of helping people for a living to be appealing. There is no one path to this type of career. Clinicians, therapists, coaches, social workers, or psychologist, provide psychotherapy and guidance to people. Below are severa …
The field of psychology had its modern origin just over 100 years ago, and yet interest in the field has grown rapidly. Researchers with broad and varied interests have expanded the field, and as a result there are many different subdisciplines. Highli …
Emotions are a central component of the human experience. They facilitate social interactions, allow us to both appreciate and create powerful works in arts and literature, and guide us in achieving personal goals. These are only a few of the myriad …
In the poor, rural Gansu province in China, 10-15% of young students need glasses but only 2% of those kids actually have glasses. To follow up on my previous post on the science of charitable giving, in this post I’ll briefly describe a recent study w …
This article originally appeared in the Psychology in Action Newsletter (Issue 5, Part B). If you’re in an introductory psychology class, you’ve probably learned about Freud, Skinner, and Piaget, who were profoundly important in the foundations of psyc …
Up to the minute reporting. This was first posted on the Society for Research in Adolescence’ website. So much interesting research to report on. Today was the day I presented at a symposium I organized that Brad Brown chaired called From Texting to …
Here’s some really interesting information that may change our traditional views about information flow in the nervous system. Neuroscience students learn early on about the mechanics of nerve impulses. It’s important because it’s how neurons, the cell …
This was first posted on Society for Research on Adolescence’s blog… here is link if you want to read more about news from conference from other bloggers as well. SRCD in Montreal, Day 1! One of the first symposiums I attended, bright and early thi …
Anti-aging skin care products are now ubiquitous, and there is some evidence suggesting that ingredients such as vitamin C, derivatives of vitamin A, green tea, and alpha hydroxy acids are effective in reducing wrinkles and increasing elasticity of the …