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Python for the Social Sciences: Toolkit Essentials
Why Py? Why should psychologists, or social scientists more generally, care about programming? The fact is anyone who uses softwares for data analysis relies on programming and many wonderful tools exist to give researchers improved control over their data for more efficient workflow. Although learning programming may seem an insurmountable task, with the right…
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Acute vs. Chronic Stress: Can it ever be both?
In the field of health psychology, there is still much debate as to what constitutes an acute stressor versus a chronic stressor. The importance of this clarification is crucial for researchers in this field, because stress is a key factor in many areas of research including coping processes, health behavior, disease progression, and psychoneuroimmunology among…
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Reinforcement vs Punishment: from Animal Training to Theology
Ever felt “positively punished” when your dog-trainer or psychologist inundate you with these lingo?
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Celine Dion: “The Power of Love” or the Power of Dopamine?
Celine Dion I’m not sure about you, but when I hear Celine Dion belting out the last chorus of “My Heart Will Go On”, I seem to disconnect from reality and become totally immersed in a wave of emotion (one might even say that it’s a wave strong enough to sink a cruise ship). Although…
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Outreach Event: Brain Booths!
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 Interaxon events, please visit their web calendar. On Saturday, October 19th, 2013, Psychology in Action and Interaxon members hosted a “Brain Booth” at STEAM Nation in Culver…
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Psychology Classics: Wason Selection Task (Part II)
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 selection task, I detailed the development of the task (Wason, 1966), the discovery of the…
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ADHD Medication and Risk for Later Alcohol and Drug Use
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: behavioral management (also known as parent training) and medication (typically Ritatin or Adderall). Medication treatment has raised concerns about…
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Improve creativity by working in a coffee shop
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, but in a unique way.
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“Mental Notes: Music, Cognition, & the Brain” Symposium – May 23, 5pm
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 music, psychology, and neuroscience. The event is completely FREE and open to the general public! We hope to see you there!…
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Got Issues: Blame Your Grandma
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 development, however, it is not only OUR…