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25th Biennial Meeting of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development
The International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development will hold their 25th Biennial Meeting on The Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, from July 15–19, 2018. The conference will feature a jam-packed scientific program featuring scholars and students from around the world, who are carrying out research on human development from infancy to late life. From early 2017, students and scholars are invited to submit abstracts on their research for selection to be part of the scientific program. Research on all segments of lifespan development are welcome. For more information about the conference, please click here. For registration pricing and information, please click here.
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New Research From Clinical Psychological Science
Read about the latest research published in Clinical Psychological Science: Attentional Bias Dynamics and Posttraumatic Stress in Survivors of Violent Conflict and Atrocities: New Directions in Clinical Psychological Science of Refugee Mental Health Kim Yuval, Ariel Zvielli, and Amit Bernstein Survivors of violent conflicts and forcibly displaced persons are at risk for experiencing posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms. The researchers investigated a promising target for treatment: attentional bias (AB). AB is often conceptualized as a static trait, but new research is suggesting that it may be better described as a dynamic process.
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A Harvard psychologist explains why forcing positive thinking won’t make you happy
The Washington Post: All people, at times, fill up with grief, spill over with joy, or tremble with anger. Most of us are taught early on to manage these emotions by sharing and reveling in the positive ones, while repressing or apologizing for the negative ones. Either way, we learn not to probe our feelings too deeply. In her new book, “Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change and Thrive in Work and Life,” Harvard Medical School professor and psychologist Susan David explains and then challenges this reflexive ways of handling emotion. David argues that we should instead pay close, yet detached attention to our internal experiences.
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We’re All a Little Biased, Even if We Don’t Know It
The New York Times: One of the newest chew toys in the presidential campaign is “implicit bias,” a term Mike Pence repeatedly took exception to in the vice-presidential debate on Tuesday. Police officers hear all this badmouthing, said Mr. Pence, Donald J. Trump’s running mate, in response to a question about whether society demands too much of law enforcement. They hear politicians painting them with one broad brush, with disdain, with automatic cries of implicit bias. He criticized Hillary Clinton for saying, in the first presidential debate, that everyone experiences implicit bias. He suggested a black police officer who shoots a black civilian could not logically experience such bias.
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How to vote for president when you don’t like any of the candidates
The Washington Post: How do voters select a candidate when no one they like is on the ballot? Behavioral scientists have studied decision-making — including voting — for decades. However, researchers usually give respondents at least one appealing option to choose from. This led us to wonder: What do voters do when they consider all of the options bad? Do they fall back on party affiliation, or simply toss a coin? This question is especially appropriate in the current presidential election because the two front-runners have the lowest favorability ratings ever. Read the whole story: The Washington Post
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‘Brain-training’ games help you play said games, not much else
Chicago Tribune: Spend enough time playing "brain-training" games, and you'll get pretty good at games. But you won't necessarily get better at anything else. That's the conclusion of an extensive review published in the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest this week. A team of psychologists scoured the scientific literature for studies held up by brain-training proponents as evidence that the technique works - and found the research wanting. Read the whole story: Chicago Tribune
