What is Positive Psycholgy?

Hi Everyone!

As we head into the 2013 and many people are making New Year's resolutions and trying to make changes to improve their lives, I thought it might worth sharing this video with you on What Positive Psychology Is to make sure the information you are using to help you improve, is credible and based on research. Good Luck!

Dr. Paul Bloom - The Psychology of Everything

Hi Everyone!

I have a wonderful video for you to watch. It is by Dr. Paul Bloom of the psychology department at Yale Univeristy. In this video, "The Psychology of Everything", Dr. Bloom explores the fascinating field of psychology through 3 topics, Compassion, Racism, and Sex. The video is about 48 minutes, but it will go by very quickly! :-) I hope you enjoy it!

Dr. Nicki Crick Has Passed Away

Hi Everyone!

You may recall at the beginning of the term when we discussed Bullying behavior for the Social Module I discussed Dr. Nicki Crick's research on Girls Relational Aggression. It is with great sadness that I let you all know she passed away on Oct 28th.  Dr. Crick had a brief battle with cancer at the young age of 54 yrs.

I've only been able to locate one video thus far. It is only 6 min but it discusses her work with preschoolers at the University of Illinios so it is quite interesting. The best way to honor her is to use what her research has found to help others and perhaps some of you might think of actually furthering her findings and continuing the work she started one day.

Speaking to Children About Sandy Hook

Hi Everyone!

I've had many people asking about how to speak to children about the tragedy in Newton, CT , so I wanted to post some links from the APA which may be helpful to you. The APA has a page Reacting to the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting. You will find tips for managing the distress, making sense of the tragedy, tips for talking to children about it, and how to build resilience.

In addition, the APA has posted its link to learn more about Autism.

If the APA offers more in the future I will certainly come back & update this. I hope this is helpful!

HBO: Project Nim

Hi Everyone!

On December 20th HBO will broadcast "Project Nim." In 1973 Nim was born in captivity and raised by a NY family. While he learned to communicate with humans, when he was reintroduced to the wild he could not adapt and survive. Unfortunately, circumstances led him to be a test subject in a medical lab. Despite chimpanzees typical longevity of 60 years, Nim died at 26 yrs. This show will discuss the history of Nim and controversey of how he was treated.

Teenagers...It's the Brain!

Hi Everyone!

Ever wonder why teenagers seem to think, talk and generally behave so different? It's the brain! :-)  Cognitive neuroscientist Sarah-Jayne Blakemore explains a bit of the changes in the brain in this short TED video!

The Demise of Guys?

Hi Everyone!

This was filmed in March 2011 so not that long ago. Dr. Zimbardo provides an update on males in education and in relationships. It is short, just about 4 min, but full of a lot of information.

Its Not the Psychopaths!

In light of the recent shootings in the media, this article "Why Mass Killers Aren't Necessarily Psychopaths" by Linda Thraysbule might help clarify some myths.

Less is Just as Pleasurable!

Hi Everyone!

Dr. Rozin reported at the APA annual meeting that we get the same amount of pleasure from smaller portions as larger portions of food. He also stated we find more pleasure from the main course of the meal than the dessert! Whats more, your memory of the pleasure is also the same. He feels American restaurants will soon be serving smaller portions like other countries have for some time now. So try smaller portions and see what happens. Are you just as gratified and adding the wonderful benefit of staying fit!

Are you Stressed? Might Be Your Boss!

Hi Everyone!

Another presentation at the APA annual meeting discusses research finding "bad managers are the culprits behind enormous health costs." Dr. Robert Hogan found that "seventy-five percent of working adults say the worst aspect of their job — the most stressful aspect of their job — is their immediate boss." There is a buffer...what was my post right before this one....being physically fit! The more fit you are the more you are able to handle stress. This of course might be directly related to the job you have also. Are you sitting all day? Get up! You might even want to do you job like this guy! :-)

Get Fit...Get Smart!

Hi Everyone!

At the APA annual meeting research was presented which found the fitter a child is the higher grades will be. Now this is not cause & effect, but they do rule out some other factors. Lets think, if you body, which includes your brain is fit does it makes sense it can learn and remember? :-)

Make the Connection!

Hi Everyone!

Scientific American has an article "Why Is Memory So Good and So Bad" by Julian De Freitas. In this article it explains some recent research including a review in which Harvard and MIT researchers reinforces past conclusions that hving "meaning" is what enhances memories. If you recall Herman Ebbinghaus' research also concluded this. So try to connect or "hook" the new information you are trying to remember to your pre-existing stored memories.

Gender Differences in Depression

Hi Everyone!

This is a short (3:33m) video where Dr. Brizendine explains the gender differences in depression and extends upon Dr. Tannen's Gender Communication differences. Dr. Brizendine explains how women overlap or finish each other's sentences and men think we are interrupting when we do this but it is just a gender difference in communication.

Get Intelligent!

Hi Everyone!

Would you like to boost your intelligence? It isn't enough to just recognize you made a mistake. You have to want to improve. Researchers at University of Michigan have found those who focus not only on whether they made mistake or not but also how they can improve are more likely to make fewer mistakes in the future. You have to believe you can improve and then focus on how you can improve when you fail...So don't just look at what questions you got wrong on the exam but why you did and how you can improve for next time! :-)

Tai Chi & Fibromyalgia

Hi Everyone!

Here is an article in the NY Times today discussing research published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine on the benefits of Tai Chi for those with Fibromyalgia.

Groupthink: Challenger's Roger Boisjoly

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In intro & Social Psych our text discusses the Challenger explosion for the concepts Groupthink. Today there is an article that Roger Boisjoly, one of the most strongest voices trying to warn NASA about the faulty 0-Rings on the rocket boosters has died.

NPR has several audio reports. The 2nd one demonstrates the communication problems of Groupthink! Again Groupthink also was the issue for Columbia's explosion when the insulating tiles came off during take off.

The last audio discusses the label of Bisjoly being "a complainer" and we also discuss the harm of Positive Thinking and "being a team player."

This is Psychology: Climate Change

Hi Everyone!

I'm sooo excited! :-) I just received an email from the APA which is perfect timing for your Sustainability asgn! Check out this short video series called "This Is Psychology" discussing how Climate Change is in the field of Psychology & mentioning a special issue of the American Psychologist which came out this past May-June devoted to Climate Change. We do not have this publication in our LRC currently. The APA is sending it to me & I will let you know as soon as it is here & available for you to look at if you like. Here is a list of the articles in the issue.

The APA has a variety of resources I would like to offer you. The first is a brochure entitled Society's Grand Challenge: Global Climate Change. The brochure states, "most scientists recognize that human behavior is the main cause of today’s climate crisis. Understanding that behavior, and learning how to change it, is one of our best hopes for a solution. Whether the goal is to reduce carbon emissions or to help vulnerable populations deal with rising sea levels and changing weather patterns, it is clear that values, beliefs, thoughts, and social relationships are key." Further we discussed Altruism in our Social Modules. They state "for someone who holds altruistic values, the next step toward pro-environmental behavior is belief—the belief that nature is inherently fragile, interconnected, and threatened by human activity. The combination of altruistic values and an ecological worldview generates what Stern calls a personal norm—a sense of moral obligation to act. The combination of a person’s knowledge along with features of the social situation provide opportunities to act on those norms, resulting in behaviors ranging from turning off unneeded lights to buying energyefficient
cars and home appliances to signing petitions and voting for politicians who share one’s concerns." We have been discussing stress recently and they point out that "psychological research can provide insights into climate-change-related stress and coping that will help individuals and communities deal with changing conditions in healthy, productive ways.
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The APA has a small article on "Changing Minds To Prevent Climate Change" and in it they describe a Task Force which was put together to "outlines ways psychology can help people adopt more environmentally friendly behaviors as well as ways policymakers can publicize such practices and, whenever appropriate, weave behavioral research into environmental laws and regulations to make them more effective." You may recall the video I showed you with Dr. Daniel Gilbert of Harvard University explaining how people error in estimating the odds of gains and the value of those gains. The task force points out "well-researched psychological principle that people tend to discount future gains and losses plays a large part in their unwillingness to take climate change seriously." This is exactly in line with what Dr. Gilbert explained. They state it is the field of psychology which looks into what motivates, or demotivates behavior, thus changing people's behavior related to climate change. In addition the task force discusses how ignornance of Climate Change & how effectively changing behavior hinders progress and the effects of not making changes will have be "psychologically devestating." It is for this reason the task force "suggests that information about environmental sustainability be infused into psychological curriculum so that budding psychologists are equipped with the right tools to encourage environmentally friendly behavior."

Though all subfields of psychology have interest in Climate Change, here is a short article on specific fields of psychology which are involved, in particular my degree Industrial Psychology. Here is an explanation about what Conservation Psychology is.

Hopefully, after looking at these materials you will understand even more why I have Sustainability as a part of this coursel. I also want you to realize this is will be very vital area of psychology in the future & one you might want to consider! Any questions let me know!

Anything Boys Can Do...

Hi Everyone!

Here is a small article from Scientific American called "Anything Boys Can Do..." which explains howvariability in the difference between men and women math abilities are not proving to be as strongly related to genetics as was once thought. Society and Cultural factors are proving to be much stronger. This would suggest the gap could be closed even more than it has been in recent years! :-)