Science Brief Archive

2013

January
Can psychological science serve the public good?
See video of Nancy Cantor’s keynote address at the APA Science Leadership Conference.

February
Blindness: remapping the brain and the restoration of vision
Sensory substitution technology enables sight without visual input
Michael Proulx

2012

January
Looking on the bright side across adulthood
Eye tracking reveals changes in emotion regulation with age.
Derek M. Isaacowitz

February
The selective effects of emotional arousal on memory
Arousal enhances memory for high-priority information, reduces memory for low-priority information.
Mara Mather and Matthew Sutherland

April
Psychosocial stress and cardiovascular disease: An exposure science perspective
Ecological Momentary Assessment enables a more precise understanding of risk factors.
Thomas Kamarck

May
Attention as a central mechanism of socioemotional development
Recent research suggests new interventions for anxiety in children and adults.
Koraly Pérez-Edgar

September
The intricate lives of bottlenose dolphins
Scientists reveal complex and variable forms of social and hunting behavior.
Janet Mann

October
More than words: disfluencies, emphasis and gesture aid in communication
Recent experiments show long-term effects on listeners' understanding and memory.
Duane G. Watson

2011

January
Socioeconomic health disparities: A health neuroscience and lifecourse perspective
Brain development helps explain the link between childhood environment and adult health.
Peter J. Gianaros

February
Building biases: Word learning as a developmental cascade
Examining children’s behaviors in real time illuminates the mechanisms of long-term knowledge change.
Larissa Samuelson

March
The structure and consequences of repetitive thought
How what’s on your mind, and how, and how much, affects your health.
Suzanne Segerstrom

April
Neural circuits underlying behavioral flexibility
Multiple brain regions work together to adapt behavior to a changing environment.
Stan B. Floresco

May
Reading facial expressions of emotion
Basic research leads to training programs that improve people’s ability to detect emotions.
David Matsumoto and Hyi Sung Hwang

July
Motivating creativity at work: The necessity of others is the mother of invention
The combination of intrinsic motivation and taking other people's perspectives is the best route to creativity on the job.
Adam M. Grant

September
Back to school: Dealing with academic stress
Simple psychological interventions can reduce stress and improve academic performance.
Sian Beilock

October
What we remember (and forget) about positive and negative experiences
The affective responses we experience about an event influence what we later remember about that event.
Elizabeth A. Kensinger

November
A cultural species: How culture drove human evolution
A multi-disciplinary framework for understanding culture, cognition and behavior.
Joseph Henrich

2010

January
Rational Behavior in Rats
Research concerning the comparative analysis of learning and cognition in pigeons, rats, and humans, with primary interests in spatial and causal cognition, behavioral variability, and problem solving behavior.
Aaron P. Blaisdell

February
Keeping Marriages Healthy, and Why It’s So Difficult
Research focusing on how marriages change or remain stable over time, and in particular how relationship maintenance is constrained or enhanced by the contexts in which it takes place.
Benjamin R. Karney

March
Mapping the Social Space of the Face
Research focusing on the cognitive and neural mechanisms of person perception with a particular emphasis on the social dimensions of face perception. The span of his research ranges from the social consequences of rapid, initial person impressions to the basic neural mechanisms underlying such impressions.
Alexander Todorov

April
How We Organize Our Experience into Events
Research focusing on event perception and spatial cognition, using converging cognitive neuroscience methods.
Jeffrey M. Zacks

May
Addressing Tobacco-Associated Health Disparities through Behavioral Science
Research including theoretical, behavioral, experimental, and applied investigations of tobacco use, cessation, and relapse prevention.
Monica S. Webb

June
Culture and Self-Expression
Cultural differences in verbal expression lead to distinctive patterns of cognitive performance, stress responses, and social support.
Heejung S. Kim

July
Using the lab to understand adolescent risk taking
A simple behavioral task can be used to examine the likelihood and causes of risky behaviors in adolescents.
Carl W. Lejuez

September
Social context influences on children’s peer relationships
Research on parent and teacher influences on children's peer relationships may lead to new interventions for ADHD.
Amori Yee Mikami

October
Understanding the intersection of race and marriage: Does one model fit all?
Longitudinal study is identifying multiple factors affecting marital relationships among African Americans.
Chalandra M. Bryant

November
Relational diversity in higher education: A psychological perspective
An individual-difference approach to investigating group interactions can lead to improvements in the experience and achievement of minority college students.
Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton