Recently an article in the New York Times caught my eye. It was about something called “toxic stress” and its effect on children. Exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACE), like abuse, neglect, and domestic violence, has long term impacts on a ch …
This post will appeal to you if:1) you want to learn about what personality disorders are 2) you want to sound smart in front of your friends when watching TV 3) you want a “cheat sheet” to study for your upcoming abnormal psychology midterm 4) you lik …
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), a frequently referenced manual of clinical diagnosis published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA), has been called the “Bible” for the field of clinical psychology. Consistent …
Ever felt pain in your body when you see that someone else has been injured? That’s because we are wired to be deeply socially connected. Our brains may be so much larger than other species because that allows us to connect in complex ways with the lar …
Psychology in Action’s Outreach Initiative teamed up with Interaxon, an interdepartmental undergraduate neuroscience educational outreach group at UCLA, to participate in two events with the Los Angeles community. To learn about future I …
Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine is a wrenching and thought-provoking film that finds the legendary auteur taking on very atypical material.
This post is the second in a series on the Wason selection task (Part I), and part of our ongoing series exploring classic experiments and theories in the history of psychological research.In Part I of my series of posts on the Wason selectio …
Today, Nature published evidence that training on a multitasking video game improved older adults’ cognitive ability beyond the scope of the game to untrained aspects of cognition. The article featured a four-year research led …
The following article contains major spoilers of the film Side Effects. If you have not seen the film and do not wish to have key plot points (including the ending) revealed, do not read further.
Many parents have to make difficult choices about how to help their children with an ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) diagnosis. Two treatments have been proven in well-designed and carefully controlled research studies to be effective: …
There seems to be an endless search for how to be more productive and creative in a shorter amount of time. Books, websites, and seminars preach all different techniques to accomplish more with less. The company Coffitivity is trying to do just that, …
Mental Notes Flyer Psychology in Action is proud to announce the second annual Psychology Interdisciplinary Events symposium, Thursday, May 23rd, 2013, from 5 to 7pm in UCLA’s CNSI Auditorium. The discussion will focus on the intersection of …
Guest Author: Valentina Park Much of our daily, personal interactions are based on how we interpret the facial expressions of people we meet. On a basic level, when a person smiles we know we made them happy and when they look angry we may have offende …
Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was a Swiss developmental psychologist. While he made many contributions to the field, his most notable is his systematic study of cognitive development.
As more and more clients are entering therapy with concerns related to abuse, such as domestic violence incidents, it seems prudent to review how these issues might play a role in mental health and treatment. The facts on domestic violence are st …
The idea of the tabula rasa is all but forgotten. Advances in modern genetics have taught us that not only are we not a blank slate at birth, but we are not even simply the product of our genes. The environment interacts with our genes to shape our dev …
This post is part of our ongoing series exploring classic experiments and theories in the history of psychological research.
Israeli scientists and UCLA’s Dr. Martin Monti recently found that former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon demonstrates significant brain activity. Seven years ago Sharon suffered two strokes. The second stroke caused him to lose most of his consciousness. …
This post is part of an ongoing series about applicant interview weekends in Psychology departments. Check back for posts about interviews in other areas of Psychology, and visit our Careers in Psychology section. This post was written by social psycho …
This post is part of an ongoing series about applicant interview weekends in Psychology departments. Check back for posts about interviews in other areas of Psychology, and visit our Careers in Psychology section. Interviewing for doctoral programs in …
This post is part of an ongoing series about applicant interview weekends in Psychology departments. Check back for posts about interviews in other areas of Psychology, and visit our Careers in Psychology section. So you want to be a Health Psychologis …