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How Food Companies Market to Children Online
Keeping children eating healthy foods is one of the most important things one can do as a parent. And one of the most difficult. It’s probably no surprise that most food companies market directly to children, spending $1.6 billion a year to do so. In fact, in 2006 the Institute of Medicine concluded that food…
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Flashbulb Memories: Traumatic Events and the Details We Remember
This past weekend, many of us took some time to remember the events of September 11, 2001. Between all of the news specials, memorial openings, and documentaries, many of you probably also thought about your personal experience of the day. Where were you when you found out? What were you doing? Who was with you?…
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Gene linked to psychological resources
UCLA psychology graduate student Shimon Saphire-Bernstein and Dr. Shelly Taylor identified the first gene to be linked to the psychological resources of optimism, self-esteem and mastery (the belief that you have control over your own life). They have been getting major media attention for their great scientific contribution. Check out the UCLA press release here.
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Music Cognition
One of the most fascinating and quickly growing subareas of psychology and the cognitive sciences is music cognition, the interdisciplinary study of how the brain processes and perceives music. Music cognition is driven primarily by the perception of tempo and pitch, as well as the important concept of expectation.
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Schoolyard Picks: How People Evaluate Friend Potential in Others
We all use a variety of clues to figure out whether a person we’re interacting with is going to like us. After all, being rejected hurts, and we typically would rather not pursue a friendship with someone who might reject us. To determine whether we’re likely to be rejected by a potential friend, we might…
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Tackling the Admissions Process: What to Know about Applying to Graduate School in Psychology
If you’re considering a graduate degree in psychology, you may be wondering about how to tackle the potentially daunting application process. However, some key information can help to demystify the process
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APA Resolution Supporting Marriage Equality
Yesterday the American Psychological Association passed a resolution supporting full marriage equality for same-sex couples by a unanimous vote of 157-0. Although the full text of the resolution is not yet available, the APA has supported same-sex marriage for several years, always citing peer-reviewed research to support their views. This quote from The Examiner is…
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I WANT MY FAME TV: VALUES ON TV FOR CHILDREN 1967-2007
It’s an age-old refrain — adults claim that kids today are completely different from when they were growing up, usually for the worse. And that claim often extends to the TV shows that kids are exposed to – more sex, less depth, endless shows about celebrities and reality TV show stars. But hasn’t Hollywood always…
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Red scare, quite literally
The color red is commonly used to caution us. Used prominently in alerts ranging from stop signs to warning labels, we generally associate red with some kind of threat or danger. Some have even suggested that athletes whose team color is red dominate more than those with other team colors (although having been a Stanford…