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Corinna E. Löckenhoff
Cornell University http://www.human.cornell.edu/hd/healthyaging What does your research focus on? My research examines age differences in personality and emotions and explores their influence on health-related decisions and outcomes. A central goal is to understand how age groups differ in their approach to healthcare choices and to find ways to optimize such choices across the life span. Another line of my research examines life-long trajectories in people’s personality traits and their relation to mental and physical health. What drew you to this line of research? Why is it exciting to you?
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Angelica Ronald
Birkbeck, University of London, UK http://www.bbk.ac.uk/psychology/our-staff/academic/angelica-ronald http://www.gel.bbk.ac.uk What does your research focus on? What causes people to have mental health problems across the lifespan. My research has so far focused on neurodevelopmental disorders, in particular, autism spectrum conditions. I am just starting a new project on the causes of psychotic experiences in adolescence. Both of these projects involve a longitudinal twin design to estimate the role of genetic and environmental influences on these conditions, as well as molecular genetic association designs.
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Amie Grills-Taquechel
University of Houston What does your research focus on? My primary research program focuses on examining developmental pathways to childhood anxiety disorders, as well as developing and evaluating prevention/intervention programs for childhood anxiety-related problems. My work in this area has examined the roles of peer (e.g., bullying and friendship quality), familial (e.g., parental anxiety and stress), and academic variables (e.g., achievement, attention) in the development of pediatric anxiety. I also have a secondary area of research, which pertains to risk and resiliency factors involved in the development of anxiety and related difficulties following traumatic events.
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Alan Castel
University of California, Los Angeles http://castel.bol.ucla.edu/ What does your research focus on? I study memory, metacognition and cognitive aging. I am interested in age-related differences in memory and cognition and how people make judgments and predictions about memory performance. Specifically, I am very interested in how people remember important information, and if older adults learn to remember important things at the expense of less important information. If you know you can’t remember everything, how do you prioritize what is important to remember? Does this same ability to focus on important information also make one a good student?
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Psychopathic Personality: Bridging the Gap Between Scientific Evidence and Public Policy
Read the Full Text The word “psychopath” brings to mind diverse and often conflicting images, from the superficially charming and manipulative corporate boss to the coldly violent serial killer. Although the public has a fascination with psychopathy, there are still misconceptions and uncertainty about what it means to be a psychopath. How does psychopathy develop? At what age can it be diagnosed? Is it necessarily linked with violence? Is treatment possible? This new, comprehensive review summarizes what is known about psychopathy from psychological science.
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Learning by Reflection
In case you missed it, the cameras were rolling at the APS 23rd Annual Convention in Washington, DC. Watch Meera Komarraju from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale present her poster session research on “Learning Styles and Academic Motivation in College Students From India.” Komarraju and her coauthors — Steven J. Karau, Corey Tincher, and Varsha S. Godbole — studied the learning and information-processing strategies used by students at two universities in India. The scientists found that student with reflective learning strategies (i.e., strategies that connect course material with personal experiences and outside knowledge) also displayed more intrinsic motivation.
