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OppNet Announces its First FY2014 RFA
OppNet, NIH’s Basic Behavioral and Social Science Opportunity Network, announces its first FY2014 RFA: Short-term mentored career enhancement awards in the basic behavioral and social sciences: Cross-training at the intersection of animal models and human investigation (K18: RFA-DA-14-002) For more information visit: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-DA-14-002.html Application due date: December 11, 2013, by 5:00 p.m.
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Scientists Will Discuss Paul Meehl’s Legacy at the 25th APS Annual Convention
Paul Meehl is known for bringing the power of statistics to bear on the field of clinical psychology. In his 1954 book, Clinical Statistical Prediction: A Theoretical Analysis and Review of Evidence, he showed that statistical formulas were better than, or at least equal to, clinicians at predicting things such as what sort of treatment would best benefit a mentally ill person. A decade after Meehl’s death, the process of ensuring that patients are receiving mental health care that is based on sound science continues — and Meehl’s legacy remains relevant.
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How to deal with jerks: Give ’em the silent treatment
NBC: Giving someone the silent treatment may not always be such a bad thing. It may actually be a good way to deal with someone who is acting like a jerk, a new study finds. ... The silent treatment is not always motivated by an intent to harm another person or punish their behavior, said study author Kristin Sommer, Ph.D, an associate professor of psychology at Baruch College, City University of New York. "It may be used as a way to offset feelings of fatigue or depletion associated with the expectation of an unpleasant interaction," she explained. Read the whole story: NBC
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21 minutes to a happier marriage
The Boston Globe: How much time do you have to put in to improve your marriage? Maybe less than you think. A team of psychologists surveyed heterosexual married couples over the Internet about their relationships every four months for two years. After the first year, the survey also asked half of the couples to write for seven minutes about reappraising their disagreements from a neutral third-party perspective. Read the whole story: The Boston Globe See Eli J. Finkel at the 25th APS Annual Convention.
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Into The Hole: Terror And Survival
I know an artist who has a special interest in holes. He laboriously sculpts geometric holes in the earth, and then recreates them elsewhere. I recently saw, in a Chicago gallery, a hole he had sculpted in California, surrounded by outsize photographs of other similar holes. The overall effect was seductive and mysterious. Not everyone finds holes seductive and mysterious. Indeed, some people find holes—and images of holes—deeply upsetting, even terrifying. These people suffer from a common but little known phobia known as trypophobia. Phobias are by definition irrational and excessive, and indeed trypophobia sufferers recognize that their fear is unreasonable.
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Summoning the Past: Why This and Not That?
The Huffington Post: My memory baffles me. There is no rhyme or reason to what I recall and what I forget, whether it's today's to-do list or recollections of childhood. Important information vanishes, yet I have a random collection of odd facts and memory traces taking up space in my mind. ... The results supported the scientists' idea. As summarized in an article to be published in the journal Psychological Science, words for animate objects were much more likely to be remembered than were words for inanimate objects. Indeed, animacy was one of the most potent influences on retention and recall -- along with imagery.
