Psychology in Action

Tag: psychology

  • How Does Early Life Stress Affect Health Across the Lifespan? — Professor Shelley Taylor, UCLA

    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 experience a harsh early family environment in the form of conflict-ridden, cold non-nurturant parenting, or…

  • Are you more of a conformist during flu season?

    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 giving a blatantly wrong answer about line length? And then, of course, there’s Milgram. It…

  • Career Options for How to Become a Therapist: Multiple Pathways Exist

    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 several popular avenues to becoming a professional therapist. Psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a medical doctor that…

  • What are the Areas of Study within Psychology?

    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. Highlighted here are several key areas of psychology. Biological psychologists apply biological principles to…

  • Emotional Control: Strategies we use for regulating our emotions

    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 ways that demonstrate the important role emotions play in our lives.  In a letter…

  • Society For Research in Child Development – Day 2

    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 Social Networking Sites to Virtual Worlds: Examining Youth Media Practices.  Many of…

  • Are the mind and body separate? They may be in perception

    In the history of thought, the idea that the mind and body are separate has been hotly debated. Probably the most famous statement of mind/body dualism is from the philosopher René Descartes, who in the 17th century argued that there are two different kinds of stuff in the world: stuff extended in space (such as…

  • Desirable Difficulties in Math Teaching

    Continuing in the spirit of my last post, which overviewed the desirable difficulties literature, and Carole Yue’s recent post on how desirable difficulties can improve induction tasks, today I’m highlighting some recent research on applying such difficulties to math learning and practice.  As a quick recap, desirable difficulties are adjustments to teaching that slow down…

  • ADHD and Memory: Differences in What is Remembered

    Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD (formerly known also as ADD) are classically seen as the kids in class who have trouble staying in their seats and paying attention during long lessons. Underlying these problematic behaviors is a confluence of factors, with evidence pointing to genetics, neural function, and environmental factors (including parenting…

  • How little does it take to make someone racist?

    Suppose I told you today that, from now on, you would be identified in your work place or school as being on the Blue Team. Then I listed a group of peers you didn’t know well as also being on your team. Another group would be the Red Team. A few weeks go by, during…