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.