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Did You Know
From PsychWiki - A Collaborative Psychology Wiki
Archives for weekly "Did You Know..."
March 1st
... Have you ever had a great research hypothesis but lacked the data to test it? If so, The 2012 Research Challenge is a great opportunity for you to get those data. This contest is open to individuals and small teams (five or fewer people). See the 2012 Research Challenge website for full details.
January 1st
... "Feelings of power help people think more analytically", at least that is a conclusion from a recent study in which subjects asked to remember instances where they exerted control over others subsequently showed more analytical thinking compared to those asked to remember instances where they had been controlled by others.
November 6th
... for Halloween "Parents who plan to encourage giving up candy should be sure not to take it right away, says Brian Wansink, a Cornell University food behavior scientist and author of "Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think." According to this article, there is a "psychology principle called "the endowment effect." It refers to kids feeling a sense of ownership and putting a high value on candy they haul in.
October 30th
... Healthline provides a very comprehensive overview of bipolar disorder as a critical starting point for individuals and/or their loved ones.
October 23rd
... according to an article in Medical News Today, "People who have a preference for eating sweet things tend to have sweeter dispositions and are more likely to help people in need, compared to those who opt for savory foods or nothing at all, researchers from North Dakota State University and Gettysburg College reported in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
October 16th
... does being embarrassed make you appear more trustworthy? Yes, according to new research in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology that found displaying embarrassment influenced social desirability of the person.
October 9th
... if you teach statistics you may find the website "Book of Odds" an interesting way to provide real-world context for statistical analyses of everyday issues. The website provides a way to teach a better understanding of probability with interactive visual displays of universal topics relevant to our daily lives.
September 18th
... the Collective Undergraduate Research Project is intended to foster students' learning experience while generating data that can meaningfully contribute to the field of psychology. The goal is to encourage students conducting research for course credit to focus on similar questions while still allowing them to address research questions that are personally interesting.
September 11th
... the American Psychologist journal has an issue devoted to peer-reviewed articles of the "social, political and psychological impacts of the nation's worst terrorist attack in "9/11: Ten Years Later". The special issue "illustrates how psychology is helping people understand and cope with 9/11's enduring impacts. It also explores how psychological science has helped us understand the roots of terrorism and how to prevent further attacks."
September 4th
... the federal government is seeking comments on how to improve protections for human research participants, while also facilitating research and reducing burdens on investigators. HHS is seeking public input before making any changes to the regulations. All comments must be received by 5pm on September 26, 2011, with more information found here.
August 28th
... the Social Psychology Winter Conference will be held January 5-7, 2012, Park City, Utah. The conference location is the Park City Peaks Hotel. The conference combines some very pleasurable skiing with quality talks. The typical day includes skiing or other recreation from morning until 4:00 p.m. followed by talks from 4:30 to 7:30.
August 21st
... technology meets psychology as they have "apps" for each of the seven deadly sins, including emotions (pride, lust), cognitions (envy, greed) and behaviors (sloth, gluttony, wrath).
August 14th
... Alan Reifman has a new website "Practical Statistical Resources" that contains article references, online tutorials/calculators, and other sources about statistics, with the goal to help people branch out from their current statistical repertoire and/or trouble-shoot common roadblocks with various techniques.
July 31st
... "Google Is Destroying Our Memories, Scientists Find", is the title of a news article about research from Columbia University that conducted four studies showing "We are becoming symbiotic with our computer tools, growing into interconnected systems that remember less by knowing information than by knowing where information can be found"
July 17th
... the Social Psychology Network (SPN) has a Facebook page. SPN offers a wealth of free resources about social psychology. With more than 1,500 members from 44 countries, SPN is one of the world's oldest, largest, and most international online communities in psychology. Since the Network was founded, its web pages have been visited more than 200 million times.
July 10th
... professors at Wake Forest University have recently developed a website devoted to the study of Character with funding from the John Templeton Foundation. The site states that "The past 30 years have seen a resurgence of interest in character, particularly in the areas of psychology, philosophy, and theology" so the site is devoted to resources on character from all perspectives.
July 3rd
... the Thirteenth Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology will be held January 26-28, 2012, in San Diego, California. The submission process is now open until July 15th.
June 12th
... the voice level of your mate may predict whether they will cheat or stay faithful. According to a report in ScienceDaily, "When choosing a partner, women believe the lower the man's voice, the more likely he's going to cheat. Conversely, men think a woman with a higher voice is more likely to be unfaithful, researchers have found."
June 5th
... do you suffer from the "Couch Potato Effect"? In a research article, researchers at Idaho State University investigated if watching others complete a goal reduces our own desire to complete that goal. The researchers found reduced motivation after watching someone else complete the same activity.
May 29th
... there is a week-long summer program that brings together scholars, students, and professionals to explore how the tools of psychology can be used in a wide range of effective conservation and sustainability practices. The Conservation Psychology Institute takes place July 25-29 in Antioch University New England, Keene, NH.
May 22nd
... "Young children may have memories stretching back to late infancy, but these memories fade away as childhood proceeds, a new Canadian study finds." Learn more about the study in this article about how some children could recall memories from before 2 years of age.
May 15th
... is there an advantage to depression? In a recent article in ScienceNews about a research study in the upcoming Journal of Abnormal Psychology, researchers showed that "Depression may prompt an analytical thinking style suited to solving sequential problems, such as deciding when to stop a house hunt and purchase a property or when to stop playing the field and marry a suitor".
May 8th
... the APA Committee on Early Career Psychologists(CECP) has re-launched the listserv for early career leaders. The ECPLN is an online network of support and information sharing for early career leaders and aspiring leaders in APA governance, divisions and State, Provincial and Territorial Psychological Associations (SPTAs).
May 1st
... "psychology researchers Azim F. Shariff at the University of Oregon and Ara Norenzayan at the University of British Columbia found that undergraduate college students who believe in a caring, forgiving God are more likely to cheat.", according to a recent article that describes two experiments testing how religious beliefs affect decisions to cheat.
April 24th
... there is a One Click Personality Test at youarewhatyoulike.com/ developed by David Stillwell of Nottingham University and Michal Kosinski of Cambridge University. The predictions are based on the data compiled from Facebook.
April 17th
... the Review of Undergraduate Research in Psychology, a student publication of Yale College, is now accepting submissions from undergraduates for the 2011 edition of our journal. The Yale Review of Undergraduate Research in Psychology is an annual journal that showcases the best and most original research in psychology conducted by undergraduates from around the world.
April 10th
... elevators make us charitable! In a recent JESP article reported in Scientific American, the authors tested the notion that metaphors influence our thinking, namely that "height is often used as a metaphor for virtue: moral high ground, God on high, looking up to good people, etc." "In a series of four different studies, the authors found consistent support for their predictions. In the first study they found that twice as many mall shoppers who had just ridden an up escalator contributed to the Salvation Army than shoppers who had just ridden the down escalator. "
April 3rd
... "When choosing a partner, women believe the lower the man's voice, the more likely he's going to cheat. Conversely, men think a woman with a higher voice is more likely to be unfaithful, researchers have found." according to a research study reported in ScienceDaily. "The reason voice pitch influences perceptions of cheating is likely due to the relationship between pitch, hormones and infidelity," according to the article.
March 27th, 2011
... a new site, Science of Relationships, was recently created that seeks to promote the scientific study of relationships to the public by making research findings accessible to non-academics. The site features answers to questions that readers have submitted about relationships, summaries of journal articles, applications of relationship research to popular culture examples, and links to relationship research stories in the media.
March 20th, 2011
... the 9th Annual Psychology Summer Institute. will be held July 17–23, 2011 in Washington DC. Participants receive mentoring and training to help them transform concepts into grant proposals, postdoctoral fellowship ideas, publications, innovative treatment models, or program evaluations. All projects must focus on issues affecting ethnic minority communities.
March 13th, 2011
... visualize eating healthy and you may increase your chances of actually doing it! According to a new research study participants asked to visualize healthy eating habits and writing a concrete plan to achieve their goals were significantly more likely to act on those intentions and eat healthy.
March 6th, 2011
... we may be more moral than we believe. In a study published in Psychological Science, researchers asked participants to indicate how likely they would be to cheat on exam if they knew they would not be caught, and in another condition the researchers measured the degree of actual cheating on the exam. Participants cheated less than expected, and also showed less physiological response from the conflict over whether or not to cheat.
February 27th, 2011
... Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) creates and hosts videos/podcasts of interviews, events and documentaries featuring SPSSI members describing how their research provides insight into the causes and possible solutions of today's pressing social issues, with the most recent entitled "The Road to Psychology-Community Partnerships: Collaborating on Social Issues for Social Change".
February 20th, 2011
... In-Mind Magazine, an international magazine focused on communicated Social Psychology to public, is looking for new editors. The position entails peer-reviewing papers, corresponding with authors, and general website duties. The goal of the quarterly magazine is to demystify social psychological research and to invite people to engage in our findings in an accessible manner.
February 13th, 2011
... psychologists are testing and proving ESP! In an upcoming issue of JPSP (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology), Daryl Bem, an emeritus professor at Cornell, reports 9 experiments involving more than 1,000 participants that finds evidence of ESP. Dr. Bem even went on the Colbert Report to defend his findings.
February 6th, 2011
... there is a camp for high school students held June 26th-July 1st by Gettysburg College called Camp Psych that offers a window into how psychological science works by receiving hands-on experiences that introduces them to research in psychology in a fun, challenging, and engaging environment.
January 30th, 2011
... the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships creates "podcasts" in which they select two significant papers recently published in JSPR and interview the authors in which they explain things with as little jargon as possible and focus on real-world applications.
January 23rd, 2011
... APA will sponsor four Advanced Training Institutes (ATIs) in the summer of 2011 hosted at major research institutions across the country, including Nonlinear Methods for Psychological Science and Exploratory Data Mining in Behavioral Research.
January 16th, 2011
... you can have free access a new public dataset containing daily responses as well as pre- and post-test personality information of over 3000 participants. The Berlin Diary Study (BDS) has collected data on personality, self esteem, positive and negative affect, contact and conflicts with family, and other variables. A handbook describing the data is available.
January 9th, 2011
... psychology can help with achieving your New Year's resolutions. In a recent article in the LA Times, psychologists offer advice and "tips on how to increase your chances of actually keeping that promise to yourself."
January 2nd, 2011
... SPSSI set up the Sages Program to encourage our retired members to apply their knowledge to helping solve social problems or to assist policy makers to solve social problems. Proposals are invited that use social science research findings to address social problems, and are due by February 15th.
December 26th, 2010
... NIH has launched the Basic Behavioral and Social Science Opportunity Network (OppNet) after many years of APS advocacy. OppNet will fund at least $120 million of basic behavioral science through 2014. The details of the initiative can be found in a APS Observer article.
December 19th, 2010
... the Social Personality and Health Network (SPH Network) was recently formed to promote interaction among investigators interested in issues at the interface between social and personality psychology and health. The SPH Network gathers for scientific meetings and promotes the development of relationships and collaborations among its members through an active listserv and website.
December 12th, 2010
... "tilting your head can make you hotter", according to research reported on CBS News.com in which evolutionary psychologists studies "whether the angle people viewed each other from was a factor in determining masculinity, femininity and attractiveness."
December 5th, 2010
... APA has a wiki for practicing psychologists called PsycLINK - The Practice Wiki which is a place to share resources, professional experiences, useful links and any other information you think colleagues would find helpful in their work.
November 28th, 2010
... you can ski and network at the same time. The Social Psychology Winter Conference is scheduled for January 6th to the 8th, 2011 at Park City, Utah. The conference provides a casual and relaxed setting for the exchange of ideas among researchers on a broad range of social psychological topics.
November 21st, 2010
... using a iPhone app called TrackYourHappiness, Harvard psychology researchers sought to identify factors associated with greater happiness. "The study authors Matthew Killingsworth and Daniel Gilbert were able to tease out that that mind-wandering was in fact the cause of much of the unhappiness."
November 14th, 2010
... the deadline for submissions the upcoming Western Psychological Association (WPA) Conference is fast approaching, midnight (PST) on November 15. The 2011 WPA Convention will be in Los Angeles from April 28 to May 1, 2011 at the Wilshire Grand.
November 7th, 2010
... that animals need play time too. According to a recent news article, "Gordon Burghardt, a psychology professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville says by more accurately defining play and watching it in the animal kingdom, humans may better understand themselves" and that play time has been observed "in species not previously thought capable of play, such as fish, reptiles and invertebrates."
October 10th, 2010
... to help facilitate the sometimes challenging process of teaching research methods and statistics in psychology we (Gary Lewandowski, Natalie Ciarocco, and David Strohmetz) created a website devoted to peer-reviewed resources for teaching these topics called TeachPsychScience which provides: PowerPoints, exemplar studies, class demonstrations, class/lab activities, assignments, student practice exercises, and links to web-based resources.
October 3rd, 2010
... in a recent article about journal citation data, the authors find that social/personality psychology is a hub within psychology, and that JPSP is identified as a "knowledge broker" that "absorbed and integrated knowledge from many other subfields and disseminated value-added knowledge to various consumers" (p. 355).
September 26th, 2010
... there was a recent replication of the Milgram Experiment on French TV disguised as a reality TV show. What was the source of the compliance? Was it the hostess and a chanting audience urging on the contestants? Was it the idea of trying to "win" a reality TV show? Decide for yourself by reading more about the event.
September 19th, 2010
... there is a new database of faces for psychology research. The Radboud Faces Database (RaFD) is a set of pictures of 67 models (including Caucasian males and females, Caucasian children, both boys and girls, and Moroccan Dutch males) displaying 8 emotional expressions. The RaFD in an initiative of the Behavioural Science Institute of the Radboud University Nijmegen, which is located in Nijmegen (the Netherlands), and can be used freely for non-commercial scientific research by researchers who work for an officially accredited university.
September 12th, 2010
... the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students (APAGS) is collecting self-nominations from science students who would be interesting in attending the Fall APAGS meeting as observers. This is a leadership development opportunity, and is geared particularly to those who are in the first three years of graduate training. If you would like to volunteer, please send a brief note stating your interest along with an abbreviated C.V. by Tuesday, September 7 to science at apa.org. Write "APAGS Leadership Development Opportunity" in the subject line.
September 5th, 2010
... with the increasing call for reporting effect sizes (ESs) and associated confidence intervals (CIs) in journals, the first journal to adopt the practice reports on its effectiveness for the past few years, including statistics on usage, conclusions on reporting practices, and techniques for reporting summary statistics.
August 29th, 2010
... the Society for Psychological Study of Social Issues has a newsletter column on an interesting topic by Martin Greenberg called, "The Flawed Lecture Technique as a Way of Increasing Student Involvement".
August 22nd, 2010
... there is a new MS program in Psychology at Arizona State University located in the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences. The program is research oriented and is most appropriate for students who wish to pursue a research-based or applied career in psychology or related fields.
August 15th, 2010
... a new professional society has formed - Society for Clinical and Social Psychology (SCSP) - which intersects the field of social and clinical psychology. Membership includes subscription to journal, newsletter, updates, and opportunity for collaboration.
August 8th, 2010
... a recent informal poll of graduate students in social psychology found that 77.8% reported the highest priority over summer is manuscript writing. In the Graduate Student Section of SPSP - Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the most recent edition of the newsletter, FORUM, has an article about "Tips and Strategies for Staying Productive over Summer!" which provides some useful tips and advice from fellow graduate students about how to approach summer in the most productive way possible.
August 1st, 2010
... robots may soon teach your class. A recent New York Times article discusses how researchers are developing highly programmed machines that can engage people and teach them simple skills, and that "Researchers say the pace of innovation is such that these machines should begin to learn as they teach, becoming the sort of infinitely patient, highly informed instructors that would be effective in subjects like foreign language or in repetitive therapies used to treat developmental problems like autism."
July 25th, 2010
... are informed citizens better citizens? In recent research reported in Boston, political scientists found that new facts do not necessarily change people opinions. People who are politically partisan sometimes even strengthen their beliefs in the face of new facts that counter their strongly held stances.
July 18th, 2010
... Is the Science in Social/Behavioral Science Useless? That is the title of a forthcoming article by Thomas Scheff. See his website, article #76, for his upcoming article in Contemporary Sociology in which he discusses the misuse of statistics in the social and behavioral sciences, including the debate between significance and effect sizes.
July 11th, 2010
... the Fulbright Scholar Program for US Faculty and Professionals for 2011-2012 is now open. The Fulbright Scholar Program offers 20 awards in teaching, research or combined teaching/research in psychology, including two Fulbright Distinguished Chairs. Even better, faculty and professionals in psychology also can apply for one of the 175 "All Discipline" awards open to all fields. For more information, visit www.cies.org/Webinar.
July 4th, 2010
... there may be an overlap in the brain for physical and social pain. In a recent article in Psychological Science entitled, "Acetaminophen Reduces Social Pain: Behavioral and Neural Evidence", participants taking acetaminophen for 3 weeks reported a decrease in daily hurt feelings compared to the placebo group. Acetaminophen is designed for treating physical aches and pains, but maybe it also treats social ones.
June 27th, 2010
... money increases your life satisfaction but not happiness. According to a new research reported in the Washington Post, a survey of more than 136,000 people in 132 countries found that day-to-day positive feelings of happiness were associated with having friends and family, feeling in control, and feeling respected.
June 20th, 2010
... money may decrease your ability to savor everyday experiences. In a recent article entitled, "Money Giveth, Money Taketh Away: The Dual Effect of Wealth on Happiness", participants manipulated to feel rich (compared to feeling poor) reported a lower ability to savor positive emotions and exhibited less enjoyment of life's everyday experiences.
April 18th, 2010
... your happiness level decreases from age 18 to 50, and then your happiness level increases until age 85, at which point you have more happiness than where you started at age 18, according to a research study published online May 17 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Read more in this New York Times article about which factors make people happy based upon age-related changes.
April 11th, 2010
is there a psychology behind taxes? With tax day almost upon us, Bill Congdon of the Brookings Institution was interviewed about his study of the behavioral patterns behind taxes in which he describes examples of irrational economic behavior and smart consumer behavior when it comes to taxes and refunds.
April 4th, 2010
... merely thinking about fast food can induce impatient behaviors and choices outside of the eating domain. In a recent article in Psychological Science by Zhong and DeVoe, researchers found that "found that mere exposure to fast-food symbols reduced people's willingness to save and led them to prefer immediate gain over greater future return, ultimately harming their economic interest."
March 28th, 2010
... the 2010 Mind & Life Summer Research Institute will take place in Garrison, New York, June 14-20. The theme of the Summer Research Institute is Human Development, Education and Contemplative Practice. The purpose is to advance collaborative research among developmental, neuroscientists, and educational researchers and practitioners.
March 21st, 2010
... the Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Lab at Harvard University is seeking to hire one or two full-time research assistants to begin in Summer or Fall 2010. These positions are ideal for recent college graduates or individuals looking to re-train in psychology/cognitive neuroscience.
March 14th, 2010
... the New England Psychological Association is hosting a conference in October 2010 at St Michaels College Colchester Vermont, and the proposals are due June 2, 2010. The NEPA conference also has a companion conference, New England Conference for Teachers of Psychology, held the first day of the NEPA conference.
March 7th, 2010
... Global Pulse 2010 is a 3-day, online collaboration event, that will bring together individual socially-engaged participants and organizations from around the world. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is sponsoring the Global Pulse 2010, in partnership with the Departments of State, Education, Commerce, and Health and Human Services. Global Pulse 2010 is an online "virtual" event. Registration is FREE and participants can join from any computer with internet access. The event will be live, over the span of 3 days from March 29th to March 31st.
February 28th, 2010
... Professor Jack Dovidio's Yale Intergroup Relations Lab (YIRL) is accepting applications for volunteer research assistants for the summer of 2010. Applicants should be available for at least 8 weeks, mid-June - August. The ideal candidate is a motivated undergraduate or recent graduate with a keen interest in social psychology. To learn more about our lab, please visit our website. Interns work approximately 20-30 hours a week, which includes data collection, analysis, study design, and lab meetings.
February 21st, 2010
... the APA Science Directorate is pleased to sponsor its annual travel award competition for graduate students of psychology who will present research at the APA Convention. This year's Convention will be held August 12-15, 2010, in San Diego, California. Graduate students who are the first author of a poster or talk are eligible to apply for one of this year's grants of $300 each. The deadline for applications to arrive at APA is April 1, 2010.
February 14th, 2010
... "Smart men are less likely than dumb ones to cheat on their partners, according to a British study that was reported in the Daily Telegraph." From this article you can read how the researchers analyzed two large U.S. surveys that looked at the IQs and social attitudes of thousands of adults and adolescents. The finding was that "more intelligent men are more likely to value monogamy and sexual exclusivity than less intelligent men."
February 7th, 2010
... the Society for the History of Psychology now has a new, permanent website that will allow members to find the latest information on the history of psychology community. The society is an international organization of scholars, teachers, and members whose interests and scholarship are concerned with understanding the historical events and important people who have shaped the development of psychological thought and practice.
January 31st, 2010
... there is a website about Eigenfactors which is a measure of the overall value provided by all of the articles published in a given journal in a year. The website also maps the structure of academic research, including interactive maping of academic fields and information about why Eigenfactors are useful for determining journal impact.
January 24th, 2010
... there is a new trial skills journal called the Jury Expert published by the American Society of Trial Consultants that features social sciences research articles by academics with commentary by trial consultants as well as articles on litigation advocacy skills by experienced trial consultants. The journal is free and open to subscribers.
January 17th, 2010
... do animals have emotions? Learn about the emotional life of animals on a blog from Mark Bekoff from the Psychology Today website that explores how/if animals think and feel, including morality, spirituality, love, and how animals think about us.
January 10th, 2010
... there is scientific proof people are happier on weekends! Using pagers with 74 adults over the course of three weeks participants were randomly paged throughout the day and asked to rate their activities. The findings were that "Men and women alike feel better — emotionally and physically — from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon, regardless of their age, education, salary, marital status or how many hours they work, the study says. It's published in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology."
January 3rd, 2010
... thinking you have more self-control ironically leads you engage in my tempting situations and are thus more likely to give in to temptation. See this article about how "students who were made to feel fatigued were less confident in their ability to control fatigue and were less willing to put off studying for exams" whereas "Smokers who were led to believe that they had superior self-control were more willing to keep a proscribed cigarette in their proximity, and, as a result, they were more likely to smoke it."
December 27th, 2009
... there is a Graduate Student Conference on Psychology and Policy Making at Princeton University on February 19-20, 2010. The conference aims to provide an exciting intellectual forum for graduate students in the social sciences who are interested in the ways that psychological processes influence policymaking and whose research integrates ideas and methods from both Political Science and Psychology.
December 20th, 2009
... The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., announced the launch of the Basic Behavioral and Social Science Opportunity Network (OppNet) on November 18, 2009. OppNet is a trans-NIH initiative to expand the agency's funding of basic behavioral and social sciences research (b-BSSR). See the list of funding opportunities.
December 13th, 2009
... each year Stanford University hosts the Summer Institute in Political Psychology, which is held this year on July 11th to July 30th. The Summer Institute will offer 3 weeks of training in political psychology for up to 60 participants, including graduate students, faculty, professionals, and advanced undergraduates. The activities includes lectures by internationally-recognized experts, discussion groups and interest group metings, and certification at completion.
December 6th, 2009
... APA Division 1 (Society for General Psychology) has established the Anne Anastasi Graduate Student Award to encourage the work of graduate students. To apply for this award, see this link which provides information about the application materials and selection criteria. The winner will receive a certificate and a $300 honorarium.
November 29th, 2009
... psychology can help with relieving holiday stress! According to this article, the The American Psychological Association found in 2008 that eight out of 10 people anticipated a stressful holiday season, largely because of the economy. The article then discusses psychology-related steps to reducing stress.
November 22nd, 2009
... that a Study Abroad program is beneficial to graduate students in psychology for a variety of reasons. According to this report in "Psychology International" from APA, students from the Social Equity and Global Diversity program discuss their expeirences, including how study abroad programs help with motivation for further study, promotes diversity, and immerses doctoral students in novel educational experiences.
November 15th, 2009
... that PsycINFO Database is nearing 3 Million Records!. PsycINFO is a bibliographic database that covers peerreviewed journals, professional books, and dissertations dating back as early as the early 1600s. Other interesting facts include that almost 400 (or 17%) publish in a language other than English; 29 languages are represented and that more than 1,500 (or 63%) are published outside of the United States.
November 8th, 2009
... a new online database of prejudice and conflict reduction studies, including a bibliography of approximately 1,000 empirical reports of interventions to reduce prejudice and/or intergroup conflict. Visitors can do a keyword search to find specific types of interventions or outcome measures. Users can export the studies they select into a bibliographic list in APA format.
November 1st, 2009
... there is a new blog from "Psychology Today" called Positivity from Barbara Fredrickson, a social psychologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The blog discusses the insights from Science on the art of living, such as Who Chooses Hope? and The Draw of Susan Boyle.
October 25th, 2009
... the 2009 SPSP Theoretical Innovation Prize this year went to "Thought speed, mood, and the experience of mental motion" authored by Emily Pronin and Elana Jacobs of Princeton University and published in volume of 3 of Perspectives in Psychological Science. Check out the article here. The prize recognizes theoretical articles that are especially likely to generate the discovery of new hypotheses, new phenomena, or new ways of thinking within the discipline of social/personality psychology.
October 18th, 2009
... a new journal is accepting manuscripts online - Social Psychological and Personality Science (SPPS) is a new quarterly journal to be published January, 2010, from the Association for Research in Personality (ARP), the European Association of Social Psychology (EASP), the Society of Experimental Social Psychology (SESP), the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), and co-sponsored by the Association for Asian Social Psychology (AASP) and Society of Australasian Social Psychologists (SASP).
October 11th, 2009
... research shows there is a 9.7 percent increase in happiness in Fridays compared to Mondays. A New York Times article presents happiness chart showing the happiness index developed by Facebook, the social networking web site. With two years of anonymous data from 100 million users in the United States, the results reveal facinating aspects of our happiness-driven culture.
October 4th, 2009
... there is a website dedicated to the methodological issues and strategies of conducting online research. WebSM.org is designed for all types of users, not just social scientists interested in conducting online research. It has a huge bibliography, software tools for web surveys, and a community of users, guides, forums, and other useful resources...
September 27th, 2009
... is there a "Psychology of Twitter"? Does it satisfy basic needs? Is it a gigantic art project? Why do people twitter? The following blog entry discusses whether psychological knowledge can help understand the breadth and depth of the twitter revolution.
September 20th, 2009
... the Social Psychology Winter Conference will be held in Park City, Utah, on January 7-9, 2010. The conference provides a casual and relaxed setting for the exchange of ideas among researchers on a broad range of social psychological topics. See the Conference Website for copies of programs from previous years to provide you with a sense of the breadth of the topics.
September 13th, 2009
... the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) has established a fund devoted to increasing diversity within personality and social psychology. As part of this initiative, there is a new Diversity Travel Award. Eligible graduate students are invited to apply for travel awards to attend the SPSP annual conference in Las Vegas from January 28-30, 2010.
September 6th, 2009
... APA is an accredited non-governmental organization (NGO) at the United Nations. It is affiliated with the Department of Public Information, accorded special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, and accredited to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). There is also a recent call for applications to volunteer to Represent APA and Psychology at the United Nations in New York.
August 30th, 2009
... Cognitive Daily, a science blog has an interesting article about "Fake videos lead to real confessions" in which "Confronted with fake video evidence, nearly everyone confesses. In a simulated "crime," researchers were able to induce false confessions -- but fewer people were willing to rat out others." Learn more here.
August 23rd, 2009
... the very human phenomenon that "we tend to prefer people who behave the same way we do in social interactions" also exists in other species. A recent Time Magazine article about psychology talks about an article in Science about the advantages of mimicry.
August 9th, 2009
... can you name these great minds of psychology? A website on the history of psychology, called Classics in the History of Psychology has a key to the faces so you can check your results.
August 2nd, 2009
... how well do you think you know psychology? AllPsych Online - The Virtual Psychology Classroom has interactive quizzes to test your practical knowledge of psychological theory and principles, including personality psychology, social psychology, sensation and perception, research methods, and motivation/emotion.
July 26th, 2009
... that SPSSI (Society for Psychological Study of Social Issues) established a blog for Early Career Scholars for discussions, sharing viewpoints, and posting comments. Blog entries include "Grant Writing- No Map and No Compass" and "Controlled Chaos: Collecting Materials for Administrative Reviews".
July 19th, 2009
... are you interested in International Psychology? The APA has an International Affairs section, including online versions of their newsletter, Psychology International. See also the useful links on resources concerning international psychology.
July 12th, 2009
... the Society for Terrorism Research (STR) is launching their new flagship journal Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression. They are also announcing a call for papers on a rolling basis – there are no deadlines for submissions.
July 5th, 2009
... only 8% members of the Scientific Research Society agreed that "peer review works well as it is." (Chubin and Hackett, 1990). The International Symposium on Peer Reviewing: ISPR held July 10-13, 2009 in Orlando, Florida, is designed to address the peer review process and apply scientific and engineering research and methods to the peer review process.
June 28th, 2009
... when feeling a loss of control you are more likely to see images in noise, form illusory correlations in stock market information and even perceive conspiracies and develop superstitions. According to a recent news article researchers found that people try to maintain their sense of control and reduce uncertainty by finding patterns when none exist.
June 21st, 2009
... it is better to compliment a person for who they are than for what they have accomplished. A recent news article describes how researchers manipulated compliments and found that appreciating someone for their inherent qualities rather than their accomplishments makes people more likely to feel safe, less defensive, and more secure.
June 14th, 2009
... the William T. Grant Foundation published the Grant Scholars Program Brochure with the upcoming Scholars applications due July 8th. Eligibility information, examples of successful proposals, and additional resources are available through the website.
June 7th, 2009
... the Association of Internet Researchers is an academic association dedicated to the advancement of the cross-disciplinary field of Internet studies. It is a member-based support network promoting critical and scholarly Internet research independent from traditional disciplines and existing across academic borders. They have a free open-access mailing list, an annual Internet Research Conference, and maintain publications.
May 31st, 2009
... ... PsySR (Psychologists for Social Responsibility), which is an independent, non-profit organization that applies psychological knowledge and skills to build cultures of peace with justice, a new brochure entitled "Psychology for Social Change: Strategies That Work" that provides important examples of the crucial role that psychological knowledge and best practices can play in addressing today's urgent social and environmental challenges.
May 24th, 2009
... that the British Journal of Social Psychology now allows short reports in addition to the traditional full-length articles. Another change to the journal is the inclusion of invited agenda articles in the first part of every volume. Russell Spears from the University of Cardiff will contribute the first invited agenda article to appear in the March issue of 2010.
May 17th, 2009
... the APSSC Online Funding Database is a collection of potential funding sources for students in psychology. It was created to provide students with information about grants and fellowships available to undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral students in psychology. There are over 160 sources in the database, and it includes funding opportunities in diverse locations such as Australia, Canada, the European Union, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
May 10th, 2009
... there is a website that will send you free e-mailed updates of academic conferences matching your interests, available dates and preferred destinations. There is also a search function to search a database of conferences. Conference Alerts can also be used to promote conferences.
May 3rd, 2009
... Society for the Teaching of Psychology (APA Division 2) sponsors programs at conferences including invited addresses, papers, symposia, and teaching activity exchanges at the APA convention, as well as topical conferences such as the 3-day gathering in September, 2003: "Taking Off: Best Practices in Teaching Introductory Psychology".
April 26th, 2009
... researchers in the UK tested the commonly help misconception of "Beer Goggles" by having people in bars and cafes look at photos of women and comment on their age and attractiveness. According to the study in the British Journal of Psychology, drinking alcohol reduced the attractiveness of the opposite sex (contrary to the idea of "Beer Goggles") and made no difference to a man's ability at guessing a woman's age.
April 19th, 2009
... Time Magazine has a new article about the social psychology of the recession and what psychology has to say about whether or not Americans who are cutting back because of the recession will eventual return to their original high level of spending. In discussing the psychology of self-control, a recently published psychology article about self-control is discussed that explains how self-control may be contagious.
April 12th, 2009
... "x-phi" aka Experimental Philosophy has recently received a renewed interest in science. Learn more from this blog about the depth and breadth of the field including links to related e-philosophizing.
April 5th, 2009
... PsychRadio is a new podcast by Christopher Moyer from the University of Wisconsin - Stout. With a grant from the Association for Psychological Science, the show started a year ago providing insights into how psychology affects our lives. Learn more from a recent news article.
March 29th, 2008
... that applications for the 2009 Summer Institute on Social/Personality Psychology and Health are due on March 31. Sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, the Summer Institute held July 21-23, 2009 in Rockville, MD, seeks to enhance cross-disciplinary collaborations between social/personality psychologists and cancer control researchers to promote novel approaches to cancer prevention and control research questions.
March 22nd, 2009
... SPSSI confers two annual awards for SPSSI Outstanding Teaching and Mentoring. One award will be given to a teacher/mentor from a department that grants masters or doctoral degrees, and the other award will be given to a teacher/mentor from a department that is undergraduate-only. Recipients receive $400 and a plaque and will be invited to share their teaching/mentoring experiences at an upcoming SPSSI conference.&
March 15th, 2009
... doodling improves your memory. According to a study published in the Applied Cognitive Psychology, those given a doodling task while listening to a boring message had 29 percent better recall compared to those who did not doodle. One interpretation is that doodling prevents or reduces daydreaming during the boring message.
March 8th, 2009
... the generally accepted assumption by rational choice theorists that people should cooperate very little when there are short-term incentives to act selfishly has been challenged by a new article in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology that finds "consistent contributors" can influence a group to become more efficient by making cooperative, collective behavior seem acceptable and appropriate, and thereby encouraging others to act similarly.
March 1st, 2009
... how can we improve psychological science? The most recent issue of Perspectives on Psychological Science is devoted to a series of articles from leading psychologists that make suggestions about how our conduct of psychological science might be improved.
February 22nd, 2009
... adolescents are currently the defining users of the Internet. They spend more time online than adults do, and they use the Internet for social interaction more often than adults do. A current article in Current Directions in Psychological Science explains a decade of research into why older studies show detrimental effects of internet use while more recent studies show the opposite.
February 15th, 2009
... putting Psychology into action, a group of psychology students from University of Wisconsin teamed up with the Humane Society to help shelter dogs make a good first impression by teaching them behavioral techniques learned from their psychology class. Read more about it at this new article.
February 8th, 2009
... buying experiences -- such as vacations, going to the theater or renting a sailboat -- gave people more happiness than buying material things. Read more in this news article about research by Ryan Howell from San Francisco State University that will be published later this year in the Journal of Positive Psychology.
February 1st, 2009
... that APA Division 2 - TeachPsych.org publishes electronic versions of scholarly volumes devoted to teaching and psychology ("E-books") including guides to graduate student training in the teaching of psychology, developing and sustaining the undergraduate research experience in psychology, and preparing graduate students to become the new psychology professoriate.
January 25, 2009
... the Internet is causing a new revolution in the publication process for researchers because it is now possible to have peer-reviewed journals reviewed and published online that are freely available and have no administrative costs. With digital dissemination there are no needs for funds (to pay for printing the journal) so the journal can be totally open access. Here is a list of open access journals.
January 18, 2009
... there is a compendium of information on the study of singles called the Institute for the Study of Social Change that has resources for research and teaching including an annontated bibliography and links to relevant resources.
January 11, 2009
... new research suggests that a bad impression early in a relationship is worse than betraying trust later in the relationship. In research reported in the December issue of the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, researchers investigated why first impressions count so much in a relationship.
January 4, 2009
... the Fetzer Institute announces the availability of $1 million total funding to support scientific research projects on compassionate love in a relational context (marital relationships, parent-child relationships, familial relationships, intergroup relationships, and relationships between religious and cultural groups).
December 28, 2008
... the American Philosophical Society has a Lewis and Clark Fund that provides funding for exploratory field studies for the collection of specimens and data and to provide the imaginative stimulus that accompanies direct observation. The deadline to apply is February 15th.
December 21, 2008
... that altruism and generosity make us healthier and happier. In the spirit of the upcoming Holiday Season, check out this blog by Stephen G. Post about the joy of giving.
December 14, 2008
... the Student Section at APS has a new bi-annual online publication written specifically for undergraduate members called The Undergraduate Update with information about research in psychology, how to get in to graduate school, and other professional development issues.
December 7, 2008
... ChangingMinds.org is the largest site in the world on all aspects of how we change what others think, believe, feel and do. The site contains information and research into the techniques and principles behind persuasion.
November 30, 2008
... there is an overlap between Psychology and Philosophy called "Experimental Philosophy. Learn more about Experimental Philosophy at the Experimental Philosophy Page, including press coverage of the topic, explanations of the field, and listings of people who conduct Experimental Philosophy research.
November 23, 2008
... when was the term "debriefing" first used? The term debriefing, borrowed from British military jargon, was first used in its psychological context in an article by Stanley Milgram published in the American Psychologist. Milgram used the term to describe the postexperimental measures taken in his studies of obedience. Learn more fun historical facts about psychology from "Today in the History of Psychology" from APA Historical Database Online.
November 16, 2008
... the color red makes men amorous? According to a recently published study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, two University of Rochester psychologists conducted a series of experiments that showed that red makes men feel more amorous toward women, even though males aren't aware of the impact red has on their feelings.
November 9, 2008
... that TeachPsych.Org develops and distributes a variety of peer-reviewed teaching and advising materials through the Office of Teaching Resources in Psychology, including providing services to teachers of psychology at all levels on behalf of The Society for the Teaching of Psychology.
November 2, 2008
... does your personality influence who you vote for? With tomorrows upcoming Presidential Election in the US, a recent article from Science Daily describes research on the personality characteristics of liberals and conservatives. How do you match up?
October 26, 2008
... there is a new website called Psychologists for Social Responsibility which is an independent, non-profit organization started over 25 years ago that applies psychological knowledge and skills to build cultures of peace with justice. The new site includes a variety of features aimed at building community, including a "What's New" section, "PsySR Member Perspectives," the "PsySR Blog," and other opportunities to contribute your knowledge to our collective effort.
October 19, 2008
... the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP) has a Self-Scoring Exercise on APA Style and Research Language that gives students the opportunity to act as editors by correcting errors in a mock discussion section. In checking the errors they have located against the corrected version of the discussion section, students learn how to use APA style and obtain resource information for their future writing projects.
October 12, 2008
... there is a new website for those interested in the study of power, status or influence, called the PSI Network. The website aims to help scholars publicize and share recent and ongoing research through several tools: a searchable database of research articles; a list of current works in preparation or under review; and a compendium of teaching syllabi.
October 5, 2008
... AllPsych Online - The Virtual Psychology Classroom provides a psychology reference section, including a 500+ word psychology dictionary, biographies of famous psychologists, an extended timeline of psychology history, recommended books, and more.
September 28, 2008
... a leading research on happiness has a blog about the "How of Happiness". See recent posts about "How To Remain Happy When the Financial World Crumbles" and "Can Anything in Life Ever Surpass Winning 14 Gold Medals?".
September 21, 2008
... a generous gift by Robert Cialdini to the Foundation for Personality and Social Psychology has endowed an annual award for a published paper that employs primarily field research methods and contexts. Eligible papers are those published as papers in peer-reviewed journals or as book chapters during calendar year 2007. The deadline for nominations is October 6, 2008. For more information, see this page.
September 14, 2008
... each year Beloit College conducts the MindSet survey to identify the experiences that have shaped the lives, and formed the mindset, of students starting their post-secondary education this fall. The Mindset List was initially a witty way of saying "watch your references" to teachers would wanted a list of real-world examples that entering college students would understand and respond to. Over time the list has turned into a globally reported and utilized guide to the intelligent but unprepared adolescent consciousness.
September 7, 2008
... the Wisdom Research Network from the University of Chicago has launched a new web site in its effort to cultivate interdisciplinary research on the nature and benefits of wisdom. This international networking utility enables scholars and scientists from all academic disciplines to exchange ideas through online discussion forums. Wisdom-related news and recent publications are posted regularly, along with updates on the progress of the current Defining Wisdom grant competition.
August 31, 2008
... a new psychology organization was recently founded -- The International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA). The purpose of this organization is to promote the science and practice of positive psychology and to facilitate communication and collaboration among researchers and practitioners around the world who are interested in this new field. See here for benefits of membership and the upcoming First World Congress of Positive Psychology.
August 24, 2008
... the Office of Teaching Resources in Psychology (OTRP) has a new resource: "Enhancing the Physiological Psychology Course through the Development of Neuroanatomy Laboratory Experiences and Integrative Exercises" by Steven A. Lloyd (North Georgia College & State University). The guide includes 10 assignments, answer keys, and references that reinforce and expand upon students' learning and stimulate interesting class discussions.
August 17, 2008
... with the advent of open source programming there are many more statistical programs other than SPSS and SAS which are equally robust and technologically proficient. Wikipedia has good pages about listing of all statistical programs and descriptive comparison of each.
August 10, 2008
... two long-time instructors of research methodology have developed a new blog called Correlation & Causality Blog which aims to be a one-stop webpage of record on correlation and causality, including information, discussion, and weblinks. Correlation and causality are issues that pervade not only the sciences, but other fields such as philosophy, law, and public policy.
August 3, 2008
... EAESP/SPSSI International Small Conferences provides funding to organize a small conference with a theme related to social issues and international relevance, with the purpose to help strengthen links between the two organizations. Proposals are invited by August 1 for small group conferences to be held in 2009.
July 20, 2008
... Society for the Teaching of Psychology (APA Division 2) publishes Teaching of Psychology, a quarterly journal devoted to the improvement of teaching and learning. Teaching of Psychology is a source book for teaching methods and as a forum for new ideas.
July 13, 2008
... SPSSI provides funding for International Travel Awards to facilitate the participation of international students to participate in SPSSI's biennial conventions. Up to 5 grants, in the amount of $500 each are typically awarded to international scholars for travel to the SPSSI convention. Must be a dues-current SPSSI member, and be enrolled in a program outside of North America to be eligible.
July 6, 2008
... a recent MSNBC article discusses an interesting new study published in the May issue of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology showing that breakups actually tend to be less heartbreaking than we initially fear. And not only is the initial breakup not as crushing as we expect, but the recovery time is also much quicker than we might imagine.
June 29, 2008
... APF offers the Distinguished Teaching of Psychology Award which recognizes a significant career of contributions of a psychologist who has a proven track record as an exceptional teacher of psychology. The awardee receives a plaque, $2,000, and an all-expense paid round trip to the APA annual convention, where the award is presented. See the APF website for details.
June, 22, 2008
... there is a wiki of resources for the teaching of personality psychology called Personality Pedagogy that is sponsored by a grant from APS to establish an online community of teacher-scholars that provides support and resources for the teaching of personality psychology. The resources include links, examples, audio-visual material, slides, discussions, and documents.
June 15, 2008
... there is a podcast series by Christopher Green from York University in Toronto Canada about "This Week in the History of Psychology." Each episode is about 25 minutes in length and is freely available to anyone who is interested in the topic. The focus of each episode is an interview with an expert on a featured event that occurred during that particular week in psychology's past. In addition, each episode begins with brief descriptions of several events from that week and ends with a celebration of the week's birthdays (and other anniversaries).
June 8, 2008
... the American Psychological Foundation is seeking nominations for its 2009 Gold Medal Awards, which recognize life achievement in and enduring contributions to psychology in four categories: Application, Science, Public Interest, and Practice. Eligibility is limited to psychologists 65 years or older residing in North America.
June 1, 2008
... a recent Newsweek article entitled "A Culture Rethinks Psychology" describes how for the first time in its history the Chinese government ordered a large-scale mobilization of mental-health workers alongside disaster-relief personnel to help assist after the recent devastating earthquakes in Sichuan.
May 25, 2008
... the Assembly of Scientist/Practitioner Psychologists (ASPP), a caucus of the Representatives of APA, is providing an expense paid trip to the February 2009 Council meeting in Washington DC for a doctoral student in psychology to become familiar with the governance structure of the APA Council and the caucuses and how they work. At the Council meeting the student who receives the award will be mentored by the Chair of the ASPP. Learn more here.
May 18, 2008
... there is a website that provides resources for teaching social psychology, called CROW -- Course Resources on the Web sponsored by the Associated Colleges of Illinois. The site contains course assignments, activities, lectures, online studies, student resources, and other web-based activities.
May 11, 2008
... the Graduate Student Section of APA, called APAGS, is offering Travel Awards for first-time attendees to the national convention. A total of five $1,000 travel awards will be offered this year. To apply, see the Travel Awards website for information about writing the application essay and submitting it along with your CV by May 22.
May 4, 2008
... there is a website called Statistics.com that offers online courses, tutoring, consultations, discussion boards, and glossary of statistical terms. See the list of courses here and see the list of faculty here.
April 27, 2008
... AllPsych Online - The Virtual Psychology Classroom provides psychology related material such as free e- textbooks for Psychology 101, Statistics, Research Methods, Personality. Each of these texts covers the related theories, research, and psychological phenomena on the topic.
April 20, 2008
... Lawrence Fellows Postdoctoral program accepts 8 Fellows per year to develop a record of excellence in teaching and research in a liberal arts college setting. The program is a two-year appointment during which they teach courses, offer individualized instruction opportunities to students, and continue their professional activities as scholars and/or performers. These full-time fellowships carry a stipend of $35,000 per year, plus benefits, and a $2500 annual fund to support research, travel, and other initiatives. Applicants must have received the PhD within the past five years.
April 13, 2008
... the Graduate Student section of APA has created the Future Pioneers of Psychology Award to celebrate APAGS 20th anniversary. Four $5,000 scholarships will be awarded to graduate students who best represent future pioneering leaders of psychology. Candidates from diverse science and clinical training programs, as well as from diverse backgrounds, are encouraged to apply. See the APAGS website for more information.
April 6, 2006
... eHarmony Labs is a research group conducting applied research on relationships. The site is designed for the public as well as psychology students, professors, and anyone with an interest in relationship research. The site contains empirical research on the initiation, growth, and maintenance of close relationships, and on-going studies about relationships. They recently launched the eHarmony Labs blog, which includes overviews and commentary about peer reviewed articles and other psychological research.
March 30, 2008
... there is a newly developed international organization for researchers who study motivation, called the Society for the Study of Motivation. The society is an interdisciplinary organization that provides a forum for the exchange of scientific information, fosters discussion of new ideas and findings on motivation among researchers, and encourages exchange and collaboration in research. It will do this through a list serve, online information exchange, annual conferences, and a journal dedicated exclusively to motivation research.
March 23, 2008
... "the best marriages are those where women marry men who are less attractive than themselves". An article in the Journal of Family Psychology found that married men who were better looking than their spouse was more unhappy with the marriage; and married woman better looking than their husbands were content. Why? See this news article for more info.
March 16, 2008
... the Southern Poverty Law Center has resources for teaching the psychology bias and tolerance. The SPLC is a civil rights organization associated with Tolerance.org that provides classroom activities, handbooks, websites, and tolerance educational programs, as well as a Grants Program for teachers and classrooms.
March 9, 2008
... APA has a summer training program for undergraduates called the Advanced Statistical Training in Psychology (ASTP) program which is a 9-day hands-on seminar in which students learn about psychological statistics and research methods. The program also includes instruction in maximizing one's chances of being admitted to graduate school and maximizing one's chances of being happy and successful once admitted. This year's program is held at the University of Maryland, July 12-20. The deadline for applications is March 17th. Financial assistance is available.
March 2, 2008
... the biennial SPSSI Convention provides Diversity Travel Awards and Diversity Poster Awards to promote and recognize outstanding research by graduate students and junior scholars that relates to diversity issues and policy. This year's convention is June 27-29th in Chicago, Illinois. The poster deadline has been extended to March 31. For information and requirements, see the SPSSI Convention website.
February 24, 2008
... the APA Science Directorate has a new program for 2008 -- the Undergraduate Summer Science Fellowships (SSF) which is an expenses-paid summer training program that allows 12 undergraduate students to work with researchers in the Washington, DC area for up to 6 weeks. By experiencing cutting-edge psychological research through hands-on laboratory activities, SSF offers promising students the opportunity to equip themselves with the skills essential to success in graduate school, and gives students who plan to pursue advanced degrees in psychological science the opportunity to be mentored by nationally-known faculty. Students will be provided with travel funds, stipend for living expenses, and a summer salary. Applications are due Monday, March 3, 2008.
February 17, 2008
... the James Marshall Public Policy Fellowship from SPSSI supports a scholar who represents SPSSI in approved policy and advocacy activities in Washington, D.C. The Scholar splits time between SPSSI Central Office and the Government Relations Office of the American Psychological Association (APA) in Washington, D.C. The current stipend is $55,000 per year plus health and vacation benefits. The deadline is March 1st.
February 10, 2008
... APA Science Directorate sponsors Advanced Training Institutes (ATIs) each summer. These intensive training programs are hosted each summer at prominent research institutions across the country. ATIs expose advanced graduate students, new and established faculty, post-docs, and other researchers to state-of-the-art research methods and emerging technologies. There are five ATIs in Summer '08. See the criteria page for application instructions.
February 3, 2008
... there is an online course from the University of New Hampshire about "Preparing to Teach a Psychology Course" from June 1 to July 25 that teaches graduate students and faculty how to design a psychology course, craft a syllabus, complete a statement of teaching philosophy, and complete teaching modules for the course. The online course has been attended by over 200 people from across the globe for the last seven years, and serves an excellent introduction to the skills necessary to teach a psychology course.
January 27, 2008
... new research suggests that being too happy can be a problem. Researchers from the University of Virginia, the University of Illinois and Michigan State University, examined data from the large-scale "World Values Survey" regarding happiness and related constructs. Although happiness is related to many positive outcomes in terms of money, employment, and relationships, the researchers found that those individuals who ranked themselves at the top of the 10-point happiness scale were actually less successful, had less educational achievements, and less political engagement as compared to the more moderately happy people who scored 8s and 9s on the 10-point scale. The theorizing is that being overly happy is counterproductive because there is less motivation to change your behavior to improve your life.
January 20, 2008
... to address the rapidly growing intersection of neuroscience and law, the Law and Neuroscience Project at UCSB received a three-year $10 million MacArthur Foundation grant to bring together social scientists and legal scholars to examine neuroscience applications to the practice of law. The initial focus is on three major research topics in criminal responsibility: Diminished Brains, Addiction, and Decision-making. There is also a Education and Outreach Program designed to inform the public through the media, and to provide training in relevant neuroscience for legal officials. In the next three years, the goals of the Project are to arrange conferences, produce scholarship, create course materials, and aid those doing interdisciplinary research on neuroscience and the law.
January 13, 2008
... there is a website devoted to LGBT issues called AFFIRM: Psychologists Affirming their Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Family that contains information and resources about LGBT issues such as a listserv and sets of bibliographies about various areas in the LGB clinical and research literature.
January 6, 2008
... EAESP / SPSSI provides funding to you to create your own International Small Conferences with a theme related to social issues and international relevance, with the purpose to help strengthen links between the two organizations so that members of each have opportunities to discuss research questions of mutual interest. Conference organizers also have the opportunity to facilitate publication of material on the conference topic through the Journal of Social Issues or SPSSI's edited book series. Both SPSSI and EAESP will provide $3500, for a total grant of $7000 to support the selected meeting.
December 16, 2007
... the Grant Institute hosts grant writing workshops for academic researchers, program planners, nonprofit professionals, and public sector administration employees. The workshops are intensive and detailed introduction to the process, structure, and skill of professional proposal writing. The website provides the listings of upcoming workshops, including the "Grants 101: Professional Grant Proposal Writing Workshop" to be held at University of San Diego, January 9-11, 2008. All participants will receive certification in professional grant writing.
December 9, 2007
... European Association of Experimental Social Psychology (EAESP) hosts a Summer School every two years, and this year the 2008 Summer School is in Cardiff, Wales, UK. The main goal is to familiarize students with the latest theoretical, methodological, and empirical developments in specific subfields of social psychology. An equally important function is to facilitate contact among young scholars from different countries, encouraging collaborative relationships and research. To learn about the Summer School and how to apply by the January 15th deadline, see the Summer School website. To learn how SPSP will help defray the cost of travel, board, lodging, and registration, see the SPSP website.
December 2, 2007
... that there is a new website on reducing stereotype threat that includes a review of research on its causes, consequences, and means for reducing its impact. Stereotype Threat refers to being at risk of confirming, as self-characteristic, a negative stereotype about one's group. Stereotype threat produces numerous negative consequences including self-handicapping and reduced performance, and the website describes research into the underlying mechanisms and how to reduce stereotype threat. The site is targeted to multiple communities including research scholars, college faculty, teachers, and the general public.
November 25, 2007
... that APA has an Online Psychology Laboratory that provides interactive resources for the teaching of psychological science. OPL offers new and classic studies in psychology that students can participate in, and then analyze data from the experiences. The peer-reviewed materials include online studies and correlational studies, large data sets, demonstrations, and teaching aids. If you are a teacher, links to related pedagogical tools are located in the resources section of this site. All resources contained in OPL have been reviewed by an Advisory Board comprised of faculty from high schools, community colleges, and university campuses. There is also a Teacher Tour section to help teachers learn how to use OPL to teach psychology.
November 18, 2007
... the Student Section at APS is seeking nominations for "Champions of Psychology" for the APS Observer. If there is anyone whom you admire -- a teacher, researcher, mentor, or advisor -- or has had a positive influence on you, nominate them to be profiled in the Observer as a Champion of Psychology. International nominations are encouraged. For more information, contact the Student Notebook Editor found on this page.
November 11, 2007
... what happens when you put good people in an evil place? Does humanity win over evil, or does evil triumph? These are some of the questions posed in the simulation of prison life conducted in the summer of 1971 at Stanford University. The official website of the Stanford Prison Experiment has a slide show of the experiment and materials used in the study. The website also provides selected lectures and presentations to help teachers more effectively explain what the experiment tells us about the nature of human nature.
November 4, 2007
... this week marks the 50th week of posting "Did You Know"s, so we have created an archive page of all the past week's entries for "Did You Know...".
October 28, 2007
... there is a blog from Harvard Law School called The Situationist that examines social science research applied to legal thought using a "situationist" perspective founded in social psychology. The blog is part of the Project on Law and Mind Sciences and is a forum scholars, students, lawyers, policymakers, and interested citizens to examine, discuss, and debate the effect of situational forces – that is, non-salient factors around and within us – on law, policy, politics, policy theory, and our social, political, and economic institutions.
October 21, 2007
... there is a psychology podcast at The PsychFiles.com designed for students and teachers of psychology. Episodes are typically 20-25 minutes and each maps onto a specific topic, chapter, or current event in the field of psychology. In addition to the podcast, the website contains references to articles, downloadable concept maps, and interactive quizzes. The podcast is free and can be easily subscribed to in iTunes. New episodes are released about every 2 weeks. See this week's podcast here.
October 14, 2007
... when was the first psychology experiment conducted? Was it B.C. or A.D.? Find out the answer to that question and more information about the history of psychology at the Psychology Museum and Resource Center at Oklahoma State University.
October 7, 2007
... there are macros for SPSS and SAS that simultaneously perform the different types of mediational analysis for the (1) Baron & Kenny method, (2) sobel method, and (3) bootstrapping method. Preacher and Hayes provide macros for simple mediation and multiple mediation as well as provide papers describing the basics behind mediation and how to use the macros to conduct simple and multiple mediational analysis.
September 30, 2007
... the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) has established a fund devoted to increasing diversity within personality and social psychology, and creating a climate supportive of a diverse membership. As part of this initiative, the Diversity and Climate Committee offers Undergraduate Registration Awards and Graduate Travel Awards for the 2008 conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For eligibility and application information, see the Awards section of the SPSP 2008 Conference web site.
Septmeber 23, 2007
... the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) is accepting nominations for the Gordon Allport Intergroup Relations Prize honoring the memory of the late Dr. Gordon W. Allport, a founder and past president of SPSSI. An award of $1000 is given to "the best paper or article of the year on intergroup relations". The research area of intergroup relations includes such dimensions as socioeconomic status, age, gender, and ethnicity. Entries can be either papers published during the current year or unpublished manuscripts. Applications must be received by October 5, 2007. The winners will be announced by December 5, 2007. Learn more on the SPSSI page.
September 16, 2007
... the 2008 American National Election Study (ANES) national survey, called the "2008 Time Series" survey, is now accepting proposals for questions to be added to the survey. The 2008 ANES will continue a 50+ year tradition of interviewing a large, nationally representative sample of American adults face-to-face in their homes for over an hour twice, once just before the 2008 election and again just afterward. The ANES is a data center that produces high quality data on voting, public opinion, and political participation to serve the research needs of social scientists, teachers, policy makers and journalists who want to better understand the theoretical and empirical foundations of national elections. See the official website for more information.
September 9, 2007
... there is a SPSS listserv where experts can answer your questions. While there are many useful books about SPSS, the great benefit of the internet is instant (and free) access to people who know the answers to your questions about using SPSS. There is also a SPSS Group in "GoogleGroups" which may answer your questions, and Raynald's SPSS Tools website says he can also answer questions directed to him about SPSS. You can also learn more about online SPSS tutorial on Psychwiki's SPSS page.
September 2, 2007
... the Student Section at APS is looking for motivated individuals to serve as reviewers for the Student Grant Competition and/or the Student Research Award competition. Reviewing is not a huge time commitment and looks great on your vita by providing experience with the review process. Undergraduate and graduate Student Affiliates are eligible to be reviewers for an APSSC competition. For more information about reviewing for either or both competitions, and to learn how to become a reviewer, see the APS Student Section website (APSSC).
August 26, 2007
... there is a new peer-reviewed journal dedicated to international research in social psychology as well as a forum for scientific discussion and debate called Social Psychology. The first issue of Social Psychology will appear in January 2008, and there will be four issues per year. The journal welcomes empirical and theoretical contributions to basic research in social psychology, to methodology and philosophy of science related to social psychology, as well as contributions covering research in any of the applied fields of social psychology, such as economics, marketing, politics, law, sports, the environment, or health. Learn more at the journal website.
August 19, 2007
... APS Student Section (APSSC) has a Mentorship Program designed to help undergraduate students navigate their current research plans and future career goals in the field of psychology. Are you an undergraduate student looking for the inside scoop about all things related to graduate school and research? Join the APSSC Mentorship Program, a program which aims to set you up with a graduate student who has been through the whole process and can help you begin your own. Both graduate and undergraduate students are welcome to apply.
Or, do you have just a few questions you would like to ask, but do not feel like you need a peer mentor? Send any graduate school or professional development questions to the Undergraduate Advocate listed on this page, and she will contact graduate students and faculty as needed to find solid answers to your concerns.
August 12, 2007
... there is a daily blog about news items relevant to the history of psychology drawn from journals, conferences, other internet sites, general news, and etc. The website, Advances in the History of Psychology also includes commentaries and reviews of issues and ideas relevant to the history of psychology. Readers can submit opinions and comments as well about each article.
August 5, 2007
... the APS Student Section (APSSC) is seeking articles from graduate and undergraduate student affiliates for the Observer, the monthly newsletter of APS. This is an excellent opportunity to publish your ideas and build your resume at the same time. For more information, see the "Student Notebook Editor" on the APSSC webpage.
July 29, 2007
... there is a Yahoo Group devoted to sharing information and resources about Psychometric Social and Organizational Assessment Tools for psychologists, researchers, managers, students, social workers, social/ behavioral scientists and HRD specialists. PsychoMetry-Tests shares information/resources on using, administering, and analyzing scales for purposes of academic research, social development, personality development and management practice. Resources include case studies, articles, answers to other member's queries, public-domain scales/tests, announcements regarding conferences/workshops/jobs etc. The group also intends to develop an online repository/handbook of psychometric social/organizational assessment instruments through member inputs.
July 22, 2007
... there is software called Interaction! created by a graduate student in the Information Systems department at Arizona State University which tests interactions between dichotomous, categorical, or continuous variables. Given that statistical programs like SPSS do not provide "point-and-click" commands for analyzing interactions, this software is very helpful, especially since it also plots interaction graphs.
July 15, 2007
... that the deadline for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) 9th Annual conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is this Friday July 20, 2007. Submissions may be in the form of symposia or poster presentations and must be submitted electronically via the conference web site. The conference is held on February 7-9, 2008.
July 8, 2007
... the Relationship Researchers Interest Group (RRIG) within Society for Personality and Social Psychology presents an annual award to a relatively new investigator who has made an original and important contributions to relationship research. The recipient of this award will be invited to give an award address at the 2008 SPSP Close Relationships Preconference. The primary selection criterion is an outstanding record of original research in the general area of close relationships. Because this award recognizes a new investigator, nominees will typically have received their PhD within the past 8 years, and will most often be Assistant Professors. Nominations can be sent electronically to Nancy Collins, co-chair of the 2008 RRIG Awards Committee. The deadline is July 15, 2007.
June 31, 2007
... the SPSP Graduate Student Committee (GSC) is starting a new "Monthly Discussion Question" feature on the graduate student listserv. We hope that through monthly discussions, graduate students will be able to gain valuable information from each other and share their experiences and knowledge on the topics. Please feel free to send any feedback you have about the monthly discussions. Learn more about the GSC and the listserve here.
June 24, 2007
... Psychology Without Borders offers Mission Awards for research and action oriented projects that help further knowledge and resources that facilitates intervention, research, education, policy development and community building in areas impacted by terror or disaster, with the overarching goals of alleviating psychological suffering and enhancing knowledge that can benefit future survivors of terror or disaster. Projects of $5,000 - $10,000 (USD) will be funded with an expected project duration of one year. Application are due by Friday, September 14th. Learn more at PsychWiki's Grant Funding page, or visit the PWOB website.
June 17, 2007
... there is a new website by psychology researchers called YourMorals.Org where you can learn about your own morality while contributing to scientific research on moral psychology. You can explore your own morals by taking online surveys which generate feedback about your answers. To learn more about moral psychology, you can also see the webpages of the researchers here.
June 10, 2007
... the deadline for the Theoretical Innovation Prize from SPSP is June 29, 2007. The Theoretical Innovation Prize recognizes an article or book chapter judged to provide the most innovative theoretical contribution to social/personality psychology within a given year. Any kind of innovative theoretical contribution can be considered for the prize, including presentations of new theories, new theory-based integrations of disparate areas of inquiry, and significant extensions of existing theories to new areas of inquiry. Eligible articles are those published as papers in peer-reviewed journals or as book chapters during calendar year 2006. Books and unpublished manuscripts are not eligible. To nominate an article or chapter for consideration, see this webpage.
June 3, 2007
... the Publications Committee and the Executive Committee of the Society for Personality & Social Psychology (SPSP) have opened nominations for editorship of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (PSPB). The editor's term will be for four years. Receipt of manuscripts will begin October 1, 2008 or earlier. The editor's stature in the field should be commensurate with PSPB's high quality and impact; the editor typically holds the rank of professor. Nominations, which may include self-nominations, should be in the form of a statement of one page or less. Submission of a CV is helpful but not required. All inquiries or nominations should be submitted to Richard Petty via email or regular mail which can be found here.
May 27, 2007
... that APA's Committee on International Relations is developing a psychology speaker's bureau for the United Nations by compiling a list of APA members living in the New York, New Jersey, Connecticut area who would be willing to speak without charge at the UN and who are considered experts in their field and effective speakers. There are several categories or topic areas that often come up at the UN, such as children's mental health, disarmament, women's mental health, Indigenous People, racism and related intolerances, physical health (especially HIV/AIDS), disaster relief, aging, human rights, refugees, peace and security, humanitarian affairs, poverty, family, and etc. If you are interested in becoming a speaker, contact the President of your APA division.
May 20, 2007
... deadlines are fast approaching for APA Awards. June 1st is the deadline for submitting nominations for the APA Scientific Awards Program and then June 15th is the deadline for the APA Graduate Research Scholarships in Psychology. See PsychWiki's Grant Funding page for funding opportunities.
May 13, 2007
... the placebo effect can cause you to become healthier! A recent article in Newsweek by Wray Herbert* reports on a research study in the February issue of Psychological Science in which two Harvard psychologists researched the placebo effect by visiting hotels in the Boston area and informing half of the cleaning staff that the tasks they performed every day (making beds, cleaning bathrooms, etc) was enough daily exercise to meet U.S. Surgeon General's health recommendations. The other half of the participants were not told the same information. At the end of one month, the now exercise-savvy maids not only perceived themselves as being healthier and more active than before, but they actually had lost weight, while improving BMI, fat distribution & systolic blood pressure.
* Wray Herbert is the Director of Public Affairs for Association for Psychological Science who writes a column for Newsweek.com called "Mind Matters", and who has a weblog of recent newsworthy research findings called "We're Only Human...".
April 29, 2007
... that there is a new social perception website - www.youjustgetme.com - started by psychology researchers where you can judge others and get judged by others on a range of personality traits; the website will then generate feedback on how you are seen and how accurately you see others. Guess random people's personality. Invite your friends to guess yours. In about a tenth of a second, people make up their minds whether others are likable and competent. But are they accurate? See for yourself.
April 22, 2007
... the Society for Judgment and Decision Making (SJDM) invites abstracts for symposia, oral presentations, and posters on any topic related to judgment and decision making for the 2007 conference to be held in Long Beach, CA on November 17-19, 2007. The deadline for submissions is July 1, 2007. Three awards are available: the Best Student Poster Award is given for the best poster presentation whose first author is a student member of SJDM, the Hillel Einhorn New Investigator Award is intended to encourage outstanding work by new researchers, and the Jane Beattie Memorial Fund subsidizes travel to North America for a foreign scholar in pursuits related to judgment and decision research, including the SJDM conference.
April 15, 2007
... the SPSSI Michele Alexander Early Career Award for Scholarship and Service (Alexander Award) award was established in 2005 to recognize early career excellence in scholarship as well as in service. For this award, scholarship is defined in terms of substantive academic (theoretical, empirical, or applied) contributions to the psychological study of social issues, while service is defined as professional and/or community service. To be eligible for the award, the nominee should be a member of SPSSI and have received her/his Ph.D. within the last 5 years. Applications must be received by May 1.
April 9, 2007
... that the first-ever joint meeting of the International Colloquium on Conflict and Aggression (CICA) and the International Society for Terrorism Research (STR) will be meeting on September 27-30, 2007 in Madrid, Spain. The submission deadline of May 1st is fast approaching. See the conference website for more details about the conference.
April 1, 2007
... there are many different short-term statistics and methodology workshops being offered this summer in psychology departments around the United States. Dr. Alan Reifman has collected together a compendium of such programs on his statistics blog. Many deadlines are fast approaching! Also, many workshops offer travel funds and fellowships to qualified applicants so be sure to look carefully through the requirements for each workshop before applying.
March 25, 2007
... the International Society for Research on Emotion (ISRE) is launching a new journal-- Emotion Review. Emotion Review will publish articles presenting new theories, offering conceptual analyses, reviewing the literature, and debating and critiquing conceptual issues about emotion, with emotion broadly defined. It will publish reports of empirical studies when they make a substantial theoretical contribution.The first issues will appear in January, April, July and October of 2009.
March 18, 2007
... that SPSP and Social Psychology Network have collaborated on a Mentorship Program to facilitate the career development of students who come from underrepresented groups. In this program, students can email a faculty mentor of their choice with career-related questions or requests for assistance. More than 300 volunteer mentors are available through a mentor database searchable by keyword, research interests, school, or geographic region. See the Mentorship Program website for more information, including how to become a faculty mentor.
March 11, 2007
... the 10th annual Sydney Symposium of Social Psychology will be held at the Coogee Bay Hotel, March 13-15. The aim of the Sydney Symposia is to provide new, integrative insights into key areas of contemporary research in the field. Each Symposium deals with an important current theme in social psychology. This year's theme is "Social Relationships: Cognitive, Affective and Motivational Processes". The tentative program can be found here.
March 4, 2007
... the APA Board of Scientific Affairs (BSA) is soliciting nominations for a relatively new award that recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to psychological science through service as members of federal or non-federal research funding, regulatory or other agencies. This Meritorious Research Service Commendation honors contributions to the field that directly or indirectly advances opportunities and resources for psychological science.
February 18, 2007
... new research in the upcoming March issue of Psychological Science suggests that efforts to increase improved statistical practices in psychological research may be paying off... See the following article to learn more about how psychology journals are increasingly changing emphasis away from null hypothesis testing to estimation of effect sizes.
February 11, 2007
... the Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP-Psychology) at the University of Utah offers a 8-10 week internship from June 2 through August 3 for both undergraduate and pre-masters level graduate students from underrepresented groups in psychology. During the summer semester, students conduct original research with a faculty mentor and attend weekly seminars on preparation for a research career in psychology. See the application for more information including the March 5th deadline and the stipend amount which covers travel, room & board, and tuition for all students selected into the program.
February 4, 2007
... some University websites provide free access to online articles such as the University of California's eScholarship Repository with over 15,640 papers, and the University of Connecticut's Digital Commons Repository.
January 28, 2007
... the University of Pittsburgh has a global repository of lectures called Supercourse where 38,000 scientists in 151 countries share for FREE a library of over 2,800 lectures on various health related topics, many of which are relevant to conducting psychology research, such a section on Basic Concepts, Principles, and Methods.
January 21, 2007
... NIH has developed a new web-based tool that allows you to determine the dollars awarded by NIH to any organization or department. The tool will allow you to download aggregate data, on a per fiscal year basis, so that you can conduct your own analysis. Look up any psychology department, including your own, to see total dollars awarded to the department and the number of grants awarded by NIH.
January 14, 2007
... that there is a list serve dedicated to positive psychology. You can browse the archives and subscribe/unsubscribe at the APA Listserv Homepage for positive psychology.
January 7, 2007
... Researchers at Binghamton University have measured holiday spirit! A field study throughout the Binghamton community during a five-day period from December 16-20 used a scoring system to identify the houses and businesses with the most holiday decorations. The data was then converted into a topographical map of the city to show clusters of high and low density of holiday spirit. See the full story to learn why researchers believe that community spirit is a type of "social capital" that can influence neighborhood-related concerns like crime and healthy child development.
December 17, 2006
... the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) holds a biannual Summer School for predoctoral students to learn the latest theoretical, methodological, and empirical developments in personality and social psychology. The NSF funded summer school is a two-week intensive program for 100 graduate students held this year at the University of Texas in Austin. The fee for each student is $200, and a limited number of scholarships are available. The application deadline is January 31, 2007.
December 10, 2006
... a recent survey by William Buskist & Jessica Irons published in the APS Observer found teaching experience and skills matter in today's academic job market for new Ph.Ds. See the following article which details why its important to obtain teaching experience as a graduate student and why many PhD programs don't encourage or provide these critical teaching skills - Teaching Matters.
December 3, 2006
... eBay buyers and real-estate brokers are using the power of social psychology in action by applying the insights from a recent JPSP article by Ku, Galinsky, and Murnighan that used online auctions to show that lower starting prices result in higher final prices. See the following recent newstories about how "eBay sellers go back to school" and about how a real estate broker uses the science of social psychology to list a three bedroom home for $1.
November 26, 2006
... the American Council of Learned Societies created a project called the Social Science Translation Project (SSTP) with financial support from the Ford Foundation to bring together a group of translators, editors, and social scientists to discuss problems arising from the translation of a variety of texts that employ social-scientific concepts.
November 19, 2006
... there is an entire website devoted to the "Jigsaw Classroom" learning technique at http://www.jigsaw.org/ created by Elliot Aronson himself.
November 12, 2006
... the Gallup Organization is undertaking a 100 year survey where they ask people in over 130 countries around the world the same base of questions concerning topics like progress toward development goals, and satisfaction in various life domains.
November 5, 2006
... Association for Psychological Science (APS) has a weblog of recent newsworthy research findings in psychological science called "We're Only Human..." by the Director of Public Affairs Wray Herbert who is also a columnist for Newsweek.com for the "Mind Matters" column.
October 29, 2006
... there is an online effect size calculator on the Lyons & Morris website that allows you to calculate r, d, and z from different test statistics like t-test, ANOVA, chi-square, p-values, etc.