Description: When I first started teaching introductory psychology a few decades ago I used to tell students that they had most of the largest number of brain neurons they would ever have at the time they were born. After their birth the number of brain cells dropped due to things like attrition and pruning (neurons… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Human Development
Happy Without a Valentine
Description: Remember how sad Charlie Brown was when he did not get a single Valentine? The social norms of romantic love are burning brightly at the center of all that is involved in Valentine’s Day. Today (well tomorrow actually) having a Valentine is more difficult unless they are already holed up with you in whatever… Read more »
This is Your Brain on Lonely
Description: Being lonely is not an enjoyable experience and in many ways that I suspect you are aware of or could guess at, it is not good for you either. But how does prolonged loneliness effect your brain and why might it be useful and important to know how loneliness impacts people’s brains? Think about… Read more »
Transgenerational Neural Impact of Early Neglect
Description: You have likely heard about the research looking at the longer term imp0acts of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s) on later development and functioning as children grow into adulthood. In has supported and spurred on an ongoing push for early intervention with at-risk families in an effort to minimize the existence of or to mitigate… Read more »
Breakthroughs and Discoveries in Psychological Science in 2020
Description: How would you decide which Psychological research articles were the 10 most important of 2020? Well, you could read a lot and come up with your own list but that would not be very scientific would it? So, what would you use for metrics? Well, how about the impact articles have on society in… Read more »
Emerging Adults and Parents’ Levels of Psychological Control
Description: There has been quite a bit of speculation about what is “wrong” with emerging adults (18- to 29-year-olds) these days. This typically occurs as part of reflections upon the significant rise (jump) in levels of anxiety among undergraduate student in general and first year students in particular. Putting aside non-useful hypotheses such as that… Read more »
Psychology of Covid-19: The Big Picture After
Description: Psychology tends to focus on the experience or behaviors of individual people. While social psychologists DO study people’s behavior in social situations and groups and developmental psychologists examine the effects of early social/relational experiences on later behavior the outcomes examined are those of individuals for the most part. So, if we are to speculate… Read more »
Psychology of Covid-19: Other “Pandemics” – Domestic Abuse
Description: Here is a rather disturbing thing to think about in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is very possible that once we get it under control we will then have to pivot quickly to deal with a number of related “pandemics” involving things like mental illness, anxiety, stress, un (or under) employment, debt, and… Read more »
Psychology of Covid-19: Masks and Emotions – The Kids May Be All Right!
Description: We are all wearing masks these days (or should be). I have posted previously about research suggesting that adults experience functional prosopagnosia (the lack of the ability to recognize people when one see’s them) when others are wearing masks covering their mouth and nose. A related, important question concerns how children manage socially when… Read more »
Into Post-Pandemic with Telehealth and Teletherapy
Description: Think back to one year ago, call that point in time up and try and remember what you thought about everything then. OK a big ask but one year ago would you have even thought about the possibility of accessing therapy services by phone or via video chat (I would bet you had not… Read more »
Books for Success!
