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Clinical Scientist Training Initiative
The Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology (SSCP) wishes to announce the second annual “Clinical Scientist Training Initiative” grant program. Applications are invited for small (up to $1500), non-renewable grants for training programs at the predoctoral, internship, or postdoctoral levels to launch new projects or support ongoing initiatives that are designed to more effectively integrate science and practice into their training program. Applications are due by March 31, 2012, and funds will be distributed during the summer of 2012. Application instructions are available at: https://sites.google.com/site/sscpwebsite/awards.
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Neuroscience Pioneer Will Speak at APS Convention
Imagine waking up every morning for 50 years without any recollection of what you had done or whom you had met the day before. Henry Gustaf Molaison — known only as HM prior to his death in 2008 — experienced this degree of amnesia after a brain surgery in 1953 that cured his epilepsy but destroyed his ability to form new memories. APS Fellow and Charter Member Brenda Milner is widely recognized for her work with HM. Milner, who is considered one of the most important neuroscientists of the 20th century, will be speaking about her career with social psychologist and writer Carol Tavris at the 24th APS Annual Convention in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
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Act Your Age
There is no denying that in Western society, youth is valued. It is estimated that in 2008, more than £16 billion was spent on anti-aging products the United Kingdom. In 2006, Americans spent over $45 billion on cosmetics, plastic surgery, and hormone therapy. Despite this massive effort to combat aging, there is little research on the social consequences of attempting to look younger. Psychological scientists Alexander Schoemann and Nylar Branscombe (University of Kansas, Kansas, USA) investigated how young adults evaluate older adults who attempt to make themselves look younger. Most research has been done on in-group-out-group interactions.
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When Kids Know Better
In case you missed it, the cameras were rolling at the APS 23rd Annual Convention in Washington, DC. Watch Alia Martin from Yale University and Kelcey Wilson from Quinnipiac University present their poster session research on “When Kids Know Better: Paternalistic Helping in 3-Year-Old Children.” One challenge we face in helping others is that sometimes the best way to help is by not doing what is requested. Martin, Wilson, and collaborators showed that 3-year-old children can override a communicated request and, as a result, provide the most useful means of helping another person to achieve her goal.
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APSSC Award Winners Talk About Identity and Race
Eighty-three years after the birth Martin Luther King, Jr., psychological scientists continue to investigate race, cultural identity, and prejudice. Three APSSC Award presentations at the APS 23rd Annual Convention in Washington, DC addressed how these factors influence health and social interaction. Watch Sabrica Barnett (The City University of New York), Bryan Jensen (Brigham Young University), and Lillian Polanco (Hunter College) present their research. Designing effective methods to combat prejudice is still a challenge for researchers. To learn more, read Wray Herbert’s blog on the problem with “colorblindness” or recent research on anti-prejudice messages from Psychological Science.
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Meet Your Brain
In December, 2.4 millions viewers watched APS Fellow Bruce Hood deliver the Royal Institution of Great Britain Christmas Lectures. The lectures were started in 1825 and target a teenage audience. They have been delivered by prominent scientists including David Attenborough and Richard Dawkins. Hood’s three-part lecture series, entitled “Meet Your Brain,” explores how the human brain functions, interprets the outside world, and guides social interaction. The first lecture, “What’s in your head?” explains how the human brain constructs its own version of reality. In this clip about how the eyes and the brain work together, Hood makes some surprising observations about human vision.
