Research on sleep deprivation by psychologists Todd Maddox and David Schnyer featured in "Science Daily"
"A new study in the journal Sleep shows that sleep deprivation causes some people to shift from a more automatic, implicit process of information categorization (information-integration) to a more controlled, explicit process (rule-based). This use of rule-based strategies in a task in which information-integration strategies are optimal can lead to potentially devastating errors when quick and accurate categorization is fundamental to survival.
Read more in Sleep Deprivation Can Negatively Affect Information Processing | Maddox Web Page | Schnyer Web Page
(posted 11/03/09)
Art Markman writes about taxing bad habits in the "Houston Chronicle"
According to psychology professor Art Markman, it takes more than willpower to break a bad habit. In an Op-Ed article published in the Houston Chronicle on November 1 he states that, "There are many good arguments against adding another tax to the rolls in the United States. As a psychologist, though, I'm more interested in one bad argument that is often made against such sin taxes: the willpower argument." Read more... | Markman Web Page | Markman's "Ulterior Motives" blog
(posted 11/02/09)
Psychology undergraduates to present research at the 1st Annual Student Research Forum
Two Psychology students are among several Liberal Arts students who will be presenting their research at the 1st Annual Student Research Forum, hosted by LAUNCH. It will be held Wednesday, November 11, from 5 to 6:30 p.m., in the Joynes Reading Room of the Carothers Dorm.
James Hammond
English and Psychology
The Memory of Darkness-Race and Fantasy in Medieval Romance
Martinque Jones
Psychology
The African American Dream: A Progressive Discussion of Academic Achievement in African American Students
Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from current Liberal Arts students about their research projects, learn more about LAUNCH (Liberal Arts Undergraduate Research Chapter), and support your peers!
(posted 11/10/09)
Research by Sam Gosling and Sonoma State University psychologist Laura Naumann to be published in December 2009 "Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin"
"Despite the crucial role of physical appearance in creating first impressions, until now little research has examined the accuracy of personality impressions based on appearance alone. These findings will be published in the December 2009 issue of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin."
Read more in "First Impressions Count When Making Personality Judgments, New Research Shows"
(posted 11/04/09)
See Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin | Paper is available online as Downloadable PDF | Gosling Web Page | Naumann Web Page
Russell Poldrack writes about multitasking and information overload in the Huffington Post
"I will start by admitting up front that I am an information junkie. Try as I might, it's difficult for me to make it through an hour-long meeting without peeking at my iPhone at least once to check my email, and I have, on more than one occasion, come close to hurling myself down the stairs as I try to read emails while descending. Why would I do things that place me in such clear social and physical peril? Part of the answer lies in the brain's response to novelty." Read more in "Multitasking: The Brain Seeks Novelty" | Poldrack Web Page
(posted 11/02/09)
Kim Fromme's Bar Lab featured in UT blog "Further Findings"
"You go to a bar on Austin’s Sixth Street to see and be seen. You go to the Bar Lab to be watched. You go to both to drink. The Bar Lab is exactly that: A bar laboratory. It’s where Kim Fromme, a professor in the Department of Psychology, and her students conduct research on college students and drinking." Read more in "Belly up to the lab"... | Fromme Web Page | Sahara Lab
(posted 10/28/09)
Paper by Marlone Henderson published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
Assistant Professor Marlone Henderson's paper, "Psychological distance and group judgments: The effect of physical distance on beliefs about common goals" has been published in the October 2009 issue of the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. The article is available online as a PDF download.
Read article | Henderson Web Page
Art Markman, co-author of "Tools for Innovation", quoted in The New York Times
In an article discussing the importance of linking an innovation to something familiar, Art Markman, Annabel Irion Worsham Centennial Professor of Psychology and Marketing and co-editor of Tools for Innovation, says that, “What category you place something in has a huge influence on how you view its basic properties...The category signals not only a set of features to expect, but at a more basic level, when and how you should use the novel item."
-Art Markman, in "It’s Brand New, but Make It Sound Familiar", The New York Times, October 3, 2009
Tools for Innovation was named by BusinessWeek magazine as one of their top summer reads on innovation.
Read article | Markman Web Page | "Tools for Innovation"
Sam Gosling writes about mixed signals in Psychology Today cover article
In the September 2009 issue of Psychology Today, social psychologist Sam Gosling discusses the difference between how we see ourselves and how others see us.
"How well we understand ourselves has a profound impact on our ability to navigate the social realm. In some areas, we know ourselves better than others do. But in other areas, we're so biased by our need to see ourselves in a good light that we become strangers to ourselves. By soliciting feedback from other people, we can learn more about ourselves and how we're coming off. Only by understanding how we're seen can we make sure we're sending the right signals. To be understood by others, in other words, the first step is understanding ourselves."
-Sam Gosling, "Mixed Signals", Psychology Today
Read article online...
Gosling web page
Newsweek cover story discusses Psychology student and faculty research on the development of racial discrimination in children
Research by Drs. Rebecca Bigler and Brigitte Vittrup, as presented in this week's Newsweek cover story, "Is Your Baby Racist", reveals the importance of having explicit conversations about race in terms children can understand.
"For decades, it was assumed that children see race only when society points it out to them. However, child-development researchers have increasingly begun to question that presumption. They argue that children see racial differences as much as they see the difference between pink and blue—but we tell kids that "pink" means for girls and "blue" is for boys. "White" and "black" are mysteries we leave them to figure out on their own."
...from "Is Your Baby Racist", Newsweek, 09/14/09
Read more...
Rebecca Bigler web page | Gender & Racial Attitudes Lab | Children's Research Lab | Brigitte Vittrup web page
Art Markman blogs in Psychology Today
"School is back in session in Texas and many other parts of the country, and kids all over are flocking back to the classroom. The setup of a typical classroom is pretty similar to what it has been for 100 years. The teacher sits in the front of the room. The students are in desks in rows.
Setting up a classroom in this way assumes that the purpose of school is to train the minds of students. And as far as it goes, that is probably right. The problem is that we also assume that training the mind is something separate from the body."...Art Markman, "Educating mind and body I: Body affects memory" in Psychology Today online.
Read Art Markman's blog, "Ulterior Motives: How goals, both seen and unseen, drive behavior" in Psychology Today online...
Art Markman's web page
(August 2009)
New Chairs of Psychology for the 2009-2010 Academic Year
On September 1, 2009 Developmental psychologist Jacqui Woolley will assume her new position as interim chair of the Department of Psychology for the 2009-2010 academic year. Clinical psychologist and Director of Clinical Training, Caryn Carlson, is now Associate Chair of the Department. She will continue in this role when James Pennebaker returns from leave in August 2010.
Jacqueline Woolley Web Page
Caryn Carlson Web Page
Psychology Department welcomes three new faculty members
The department is pleased to announce the addition of three new faculty members beginning in Fall 2009.
Kathryn Paige Harden, Ph.D
Assistant Professor of Psychology (Clinical)
Dr. Harden received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Virginia. Her research is broadly concerned with adolescent developmental psychopathology. Web page
Russell A. Poldrack, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology and Neurobiology, (Cognitive)
Director of the Imaging Research Center
Dr. Poldrack received his Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His primary research interests are in the cognitive neuroscience of learning and memory, decision making, and executive function, using neuroimaging as the primary method to examine these questions. Web page
Elliot M. Tucker-Drob, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychology (Individual Differences & Evolutionary Psychology)
Dr. Tucker-Drob received his Ph.D. in 2009 from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, where he was involved in research on cognitive aging. Web page
(August 2009)
Psychology staff member's home featured in the New York Times
The home of Gary Zuker, senior systems analyst, is featured in the July 30, 2009 edition of the New York Times. The house is a 900 square foot cottage he built himself out of straw and clay. Read more...
Juan Dominguez awarded grant from the National Institutes of Health
Juan Dominguez, assistant professor of psychology in behavioral neuroscience, was recently awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health. The grant funds total $401,360 ($275,000, direct cost). The proposed studies will examine regions of the brain mediating gender-sensitive behavioral differences in response to administration of cocaine.
Dr. Dominguez received his Ph.D. from the University of Buffalo. Before joining the UT faculty in 2008, he was an assistant professor of psychology at American University in Washington, DC. The goals of his lab are to elucidate the underlying neural and endocrine mechanisms regulating motivated behaviors, specifically, using the study of sexual behavior as a prototypic model for understanding motivation, its acquisition and associated disorders.
Juan Dominguez Web Page
Bas Rokers, Larry Cormack, and Alex Huk article to be published in Nature Neuroscience
In a forthcoming article to be published in the prestigious
journal Nature Neuroscience, the authors (who are all affiliated
with both the Department of Psychology and the Center for
Perceptual Systems) show that a specific brain area is responsible
for computing the three-dimensional trajectories of objects (for
example, whether an object is flying towards or away from your
head). This brain area (known somewhat enigmatically as hMT+)
had previously been linked to the computation of two-dimensional
motion (such as occurs on a TV screen or in the images on the
retinas in the back of the eyes), but the computation of three-
dimensional motion had been thought to occur elsewhere. The
results will force other scientists to rethink the way in which motion
and depth are computed and integrated in the human brain.
(posted July 2009)
Read the advanced online version of article...
Cormack Web Page | Huk Web Page | Rokers Web Page
Click on the image for a larger view.
Psychology Department welcomes new students to the "Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE)"
Front row (left to right): Virgina Pinto (UT), Victoria Rodriguez (St. Edwards), Kelly Banneyer (Rice U), Melissa Flores (UT)
Back row (left to right): Fabian Aguirre (SURE Coordinator), Patricia Moreno (UT), Estelle Anuwe (Baylor U), Sally Rocel (UTEP), Carlos Vargas (UTEP)
SURE is a summer internship program for undergraduates from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups who are interested in research in psychology. It provides stipends for students to conduct 2 months of full-time (40 hours/week) summer research under the supervision of a UT-Austin Department of Psychology faculty member. This is the fourth group of students enrolled in the program, which launched in the summer of 2006.
Fabian is a graduate student researcher in Dr. Manuel Ramirez' Multicultural Psychology Lab, which, among its other goals, seeks to encourage undergraduate students from underrepresented ethnic/racial groups to pursue careers in social science research and mental health service. (posted July 2009)
Read more about the SURE program....
Peter MacNeilage' "Origins of the Left & Right Brain" published in Scientific American
Peter MacNeilage, professor of psychology in the areas of Cognition and Individual Differences and Evolutionary Psychology, is the author of an article published in the July 2009 issue of Scientific American. "Origins of the Left & Right Brain" proposes that, "The division of labor by the two cerebral hemispheres--once thought to be uniquely human--predates us by half a billion years. Speech, right-handedness, facial recognition and the processing of spatial relations can be traced to brain asymmetries in early vertebrates." Dr. MacNeilage is the author of The Origin of Speech, which was published last year. His main research interest is in the evolution of complex action systems, which has led him to develop theories of the evolution of handedness and the evolution of speech. (posted June 2009)
Read "Origins of the Left & Right Brain" (PDF)
MacNeilage Web Page
Andreana Haley to receive grant from American Heart Association
Andreana Haley, assistant professor of clinical psychology, has been awarded a $140,000 grant from the American Heart Association to study the neurocognitive effects of treated hypertension in a multiethnic sample. The grant is for a two year period.
Dr. Haley received her Ph.D. at the University of Virginia in 2005. She has been teaching at the University since 2007, after two years as a Dementia Research Fellow at Brown University, and as a visiting research fellow at the Center for Neurological Imaging at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Her research examines the biological underpinnings of cognitive impairment associated with aging and dementia. (posted June 2009)
Haley Web Page
Hongjoo Lee earns research grant to pursue studies of mental health effects of hormone replacement therapy
Hongjoo Lee and Michele Rountree, assistant professors at The University of Texas at Austin, are among 10 tenure-track faculty members in Texas to receive research grants totaling $150,000 from the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health. They will study the effects of menopause and hormone replacement therapy on attention and memory, using an animal model mimicking abnormal neural activities often seen in many mental disorders. (posted June 2009)
Read article| Hongjoo Lee Web Page | Michele Rountree Web Page
Marc Lewis' speech at May 2000 psychology commencement is one of "10 stellar commencement addresses" according to USA Today
Clincal psychology professor Marc Lewis has been named as having given one of the "10 stellar commencement addresses" in USA Today (05/13/09). Dr. Lewis' address was given on May 19, 2000 at the University of Texas Psychology Department's commencement ceremony. (posted May 2009)
Read more...
Read full text of Lewis speech | Marc Lewis Web Page
NIH grant awarded to Robert Josephs and Peter Giancola to study effects of alcohol on aggression
Peter Giancola (University of Kentucky) and Robert Josephs have been awarded $730,000 from the National Institutes of Health to study the effects of alcohol on aggression. Their project has two overarching goals: 1) Identify neuropsychological and personality traits that place an individual at risk for behaving aggressively when intoxicated, and 2) Determine how alcohol intoxication leads to aggression by examining its effects on cognitive and emotional factors. (April 2009)
Josephs Web Page | Giancola Web Page
Psychology research utilizing Diffusion Tensor MRI (DTI) technique to be published in the Journal of Neuroscience and the journal Sleep
Do individual differences in White Matter microstructure predict cognitive or genetic vulnerabilities? That is a question being asked by researchers in the Department of Psychology here at UT by using a technique referred to as Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI).
The left hand figure shows the relationship between cognitive vulnerability to sleep deprivation and a composite measure of white matter microstructure in the genu of the corpus callosum. The right hand figure shows the relationship of the same measure of WM microstructure in a critical frontal-limbic pathway and 5-HTTLPR genetic status, that has been related to depression vulnerability.
In a recently accepted paper in the Journal of Neuroscience, Jenni Pacheco, Chris Beevers and David Schnyer demonstrated that people at genetic risk for depression show alterations in a critical limbic-frontal white matter pathway that has been postulated to be involved in the cognitive control of emotion. Further, in a second study, Chris Beevers, Jenni Pacheco, Peter Clasen, and David Schnyer found that smaller prefrontal white matter volume predicted delayed disengagement of attention from emotional stimuli among people at genetic risk for depression. Finally, in an article recently accepted in the journal Sleep, Matt Rocklage, Jenni Pacheco and David Schnyer demonstrated extensive white matter differences that predict cognitive vulnerability to the effects of sleep deprivation. Together these papers reveal the importance of considering white matter structure when brain mapping mental abilities. (April 2009)
David Schnyer Lab | Chris Beevers Lab
Special Issue of Visual Neuroscience, based on CPS "NETI" workshop, now in print
In 2008 the Center for Perceptual Systems sponsored a workshop titled "Natural Environments Tasks and Intelligence (NETI)." The purpose of NETI was to promote a new research strategy in perception and perceptual neuroscience called "Natural Systems Analysis". A special issue of the journal, Visual Neuroscience, based on this meeting, is now in print. The issue includes three articles from psychology/CPS faculty labs (Geisler, Hayhoe and Ballard).
Organization for next year's meeting (NETI 2010) is currently in progress. (April 2009)
View PDF of the cover, inside cover, and first page of special issue
VNS Web Site | Center for Perceptual Systems
UT sex researchers identify correlation between sexual motives and satisfaction
Sexual satisfaction in both males and females is often related to motives for having sex, UT researchers have found.
Psychology graduate student Kyle Stephenson is leading the analysis of data collected for several years through 2008 from nearly 1,000 UT undergraduates in psychology professor Cindy Meston’s Sexual Psychophysiology Laboratory. In addition to studying satisfaction, the lab also examines various other aspects of sex, including arousal and dysfunction.
“There were some interesting gender similarities,” Stephenson said. “Self-esteem motives — for example, if people have sex to feel better about themselves — were associated with decreased satisfaction in both men and women.”
Read more in the March 23 edition of The Daily Texan...
Researchers find that well-timed timeout is more effective in wiping out memory response to fear stimulus
"Marie Monfils, an assistant professor of psychology at The University of Texas at Austin, has taken advantage of a key time when memories are ripe for change to substantially modify memories of fear into benign memories and to keep them that way. The finding is a significant advance in learning how memory can be manipulated in rodents. It also could indicate a potential treatment for humans suffering from anxiety-related disorders."...Tim Green, UT Office of Public Affairs (April 2009)
Read more...
Dr. Monfils paper has been published this week in Science Express, an online publication of Science. Read "Extinction-Reconsolidation Boundaries: Key to Persistent Attenuation of Fear Memories
UTmost names Psy 301 "Introduction to Psychology" classes one of top 3 "most interesting" for Spring 2009
Juan Salinas' and Deborah Stotes' "Introduction to Psychology" classes tied as UTmost's 3rd "most interesting class" of Spring 2009. Their interviews have been published in the March 13 issue of UTmost, which is published by Texas Student Media.
Download PDF with interviews...
Memorial Service Scheduled for Clarke Burnham
The Psychology Department has just learned that Clarke Burnham died on the morning of March 13, 2009. Although Clarke's death from cancer was not entirely unexpected, it occurred more quickly than anyone thought. The funeral will be on Monday at 10 AM at All Saints Episcopal Church at 209 West 27th Street.
Clarke started in the Department of Psychology in 1965 after completing his PhD with Leon Festinger at Stanford. Clarke, who was primarily interested in perception and cognition, was a mainstay of the Psychology Department for a generation. He single-handedly ran the graduate program from 1982 until his retirement in 2005. From 1996 until his retirement, Clarke served as the chair of the university IRB. Indeed, when he retired, it took two people in the Psychology Department and half a dozen in the IRB office to replace him.
The loss of Clarke, and recently, Carl Creeger, sadden us all. Our hearts are with their families and loved ones.
Read more about Dr. Burnham in the CLA College News....
Memorial Service Scheduled for Carl Creeger
Carl Creeger, a long-time staff member in the Psychology Department and Center for Perceptual Systems, died on March 4, 2009 at the age of 54. Carl worked as the department's electronics expert for many years before moving to the laboratories of Bill Geisler, Randy Diehl, and Duane Albrecht as a computer programmer and designer of computer interfaces. According to Bill Geisler, "he contributed greatly to all of our research programs and he deserves a good bit of the credit for whatever success we achieved. Carl was a very friendly and easy-going person who was fun to be around and to learn from. He will be greatly missed."
A memorial service will be held for Carl at the Pickle Road Compound (202 Pickle Rd) on Saturday, March 21, 2009, at 1:30 p.m. For more information and to RSVP if you plan to attend, please download the PDF or DOC file. (March 2009)
Dominguez paper published in The Neuroscientist
Recent research by assistant professor Juan Dominguez has just been published in the February issue of The Neuroscientist. The title of the paper is "A Role for Preoptic Glutamate in the Regulation of Male Reproductive Behavior". Dr. Dominguez is one of several new faculty members who joined the Department in 2008. He currently teaches Psy 301: Introduction to Psychology. (February 2009)
Read abstract of "A Role for Preoptic Glutamate in the Regulation of Male Reproductive Behavior" | Juan Dominguez Web Page
Zenzi Griffin in Omaha World-Herald article on word choice errors
The Omaha World-Herald refers to cognitve psychologist Dr. Zenzi Griffin, as "an expert on the psychology of language, especially errors speakers make in word choice." The column discusses Dr. Griffin's findings on the reasons why a person can be called by the wrong name.
Read "Cleveland Evans: What's your name again?"
Dr. Griffin received a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology (with a minor in Linguistics) from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign in 1998. She joined the Psychology faculty in 2008, after teaching at Stanford University and Georgia Tech. She teaches PSY 418 (Statistics and Methods) and PSY 394U (Human Language Processing).
Zenzi Griffin's Web Page
Cindy Meston in New York Times Magazine report on female sexuality
In an article titled "What Do Women Want", in the January 25, 2009 edition of The New York Times Sunday Magazine, researchers who study human sexuality discuss their findings. Among those mentioned in the article are Cindy Meston and the Sexual Psychophysiology Laboratory. (January 2009)
Read more in "What Do Women Want?" | Sexual Psychophysiology Laboratory
Psychology researchers study the human condition in the College of Liberal Arts' Life and Letters
Psychologists at the University of Texas feature prominently in the current issue of the College of Liberal Arts' "Life and Letters" newsletter.
You can visit the Center for Perceptual Systems to study perception under natural conditions and in real-world situations with psychologists Wilson Geisler, Mary Hayhoe, Dennis Mcfadden, Larry Cormack, Eyal Seidemann, and Randy Diehl.
In "Children and Family" the research of developmental psychologists Catharine Echols, Les Cohen, Rebecca Bigler, Judith Langlois and Jacquline Woolley focuses on the lives of children while broadening our understanding of the human mind and behavior.
The research of social psychologists Jamie Pennebaker, Cindy Meston, David Buss and Bill Swann highlight the complex interactions between people in intimate relationships.
Cognitive psychologist Arthur Markman discusses psychology as a commodity with a high value to consumers, clinical psychologist Christopher Beevers researches who might be vulnerable to depression, and Theresa Jones examines the neurobiology of learning and memory and neural plasticity after brain damage.
And finally, those who worked with and studied under David Cohen will want to read about his passion for Shakespeare during his retirement and the final years of his life in "The Bard and Human Condition".
Download "Life and Letters" (PDF)
High hormone levels in women may lead to infidelity, study shows
Women with high levels of the sex hormone oestradiol may engage in opportunistic mating, according to a new study by psychology researchers at The University of Texas at Austin.
Doctoral candidate Kristina Durante and Assistant Professor of Psychology Norm Li published their findings in the article "Oestradiol Level and Opportunistic Mating in Women" in the Jan. 13 issue of Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Biology Letters. (January 15, 2008)
Read more about the study| Read the article: "Oestradiol Level and Opportunistic Mating in Women"
Women with higher estrogen levels more likely to shop for mates, UT study finds (Austin American-Statesman, January 16, 2009)
New study is one of the most popular stories on Yahoo
Li Lab: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Understanding Human Behavior
Gosling book one of New Scientist's Editor's Picks for 2008
Sam Gosling's first book, "Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You" (Basic Books) has been selected as one of the Editor's Picks for 2008 by New Scientist.
"New Scientist" Editor's Picks 2008 | Snoopology Web Site | Gosling Web Page
Art Markman quoted in CNN article on anger and the Internet
"We've all had interactions with unpleasant people, but we don't confront them. We take it out elsewhere," he said. "What the Internet has created is groups of people where there are no repercussions with being too aggressive."
--Art Markman, in "#@*!!! Anonymous anger rampant on Internet", CNN.com, November 3, 2008
Markman Web Site
Project piloted in David Schnyer's graduate fMRI analysis course published in the Journal of Neuroscience
CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW TO VIEW SLIDE
Dasa Zeithamova, Todd Maddox and David Schnyer had their article - "Dissociable Prototype Learning Systems: Evidence from Brain Imaging and Behavior" accepted in the Journal of Neuroscience. This is a project that Dasa designed and piloted in the graduate fMRI analysis course offered by Dr. Schnyer. She then followed up with a full study in his lab. This is data from UT's own 3T MRI and demonstrates the resources available to graduate students so that with good ideas they can move their projects forward to publication in top tier journals. (December 2008)
Read article (PDF download)
James Pennebaker's research featured in NYTimes: Site tracks candidates' words in '08
"James W. Pennebaker’s interest in word counting began more than 20 years ago, when he did several studies suggesting that people who talked about traumatic experiences tended to be physically healthier than those who kept such experiences secret. He wondered how much could be learned by looking at every single word people used — even the tiny ones, the I’s and you’s, a’s and the’s.
That led Dr. Pennebaker, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas, down a winding path that has taken him from Beatles lyrics (John Lennon’s songs have more “negative emotion” words than Paul McCartney’s) all the way to terrorist communications. By counting the different kinds of words a person says, he is breaking new linguistic ground and leading a resurgent interest in text analysis."
--Jessica Wapner, "Scientist at Work: He Counts Your Words (Even Those Pronouns)", The New York Times, October 14, 2008
Read more... | Pennebaker Web Site | Wordwatchers: Tracking the Candidates' Words in the 2008 Election
Review of Peter MacNeilage' "The Origin of Speech" in London Times Literary Supplement
Peter MacNeilage's recently published book, "The Origin of Speech" was reviewed by N. J. Enfield in the September 12 issue of the London Times Literary Supplement. Enfield describes the book as "a sustained argument for the importance of bodily action in the development and evolution of psychological processes -- in this case, those processes that control the production of speech. He despairs of the lack of attention that action in this sense has received in the psychology of language. Not only does MacNeilage deliver a relentless attack on Chomskyan rationalism and its disembodied Cartesian assumptions, he points out that even the empiricists, who put bodily experience centre-stage, 'didn't ascribe an important role to action'."
-N. J. Enfield, "It's a Leopard!", Times Literary Supplement, September 12, 2008, pg. 12
Peter MacNeilage Web page | The Origin of Speech
Psychology students participate in the Intellectual Entrepreneurship Pre-Grad School Internship program
Psychology students Xuan Le, Rachel Roos, Jennifer Krug, Ana Lucia Hurtado, Jesus Correa, Julie Milligan Hughes, David Lewis, Simine Vazire, Nairn Ramirez-Esparza, and John Dennis have written about their experiences in the Intellectual Entrepreneurship Pre-Grad School Internship program (see links below). The program is sponsored by the Vice President for Diversity and Community Engagement (DDCE). IE's mission is to educate "citizen-scholars"--individuals who creatively utilize their intellectual capital as a lever for social good. (October 2008)
Xuan Le | Rachel Roos | Jennifer Krug | Jesus Correa | Julie Milligan Hughes | David Lewis | Simine Vazire | Nairan Ramirez-Esparza | John Dennis | Ana Lucia Hurtado
NEW PSYCHOLOGY FACULTY, FALL 2008
ZENZI M. GRIFFIN, Professor; Ph.D., University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Research Interests: cognition, psycholinguistics, language production.
Web Page
HONGJOO (JOANNE) LEE, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Yale University
Research Interests: Roles of amygdala-dopamine systems in learning and memory.
Web Page
JUAN M. DOMINGUEZ, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., University of Buffalo
Research Interests: Neural regulation of motivated behaviors, esp. mating; sexual behavior as a prototypic model for understanding motivation and its associated disorders; neuroendocrinological factors of depression and addiction.
Web Page
CRISTINE LEGARE, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., University of Michigan
Research Interests: Cognitive development, conceptual development and causal reasoning, knowledge acquisition and learning, culture and cognition.
Web Page
MARLONE HENDERSON, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., New York University
Research Interests: Attitudes, social judgments, negotiation.
Web Page
Clinical Psychology graduate student Reagan Wetherill interview on ABC News
Reagan Wetherill, graduate student researcher in Kim Fromme's "Sahara Lab", makes an appearance in an ABC News video that explores the phenomenon of student binge drinking. Reagan has studied binge drinking and its negative consequences for six years.
View video | Read more about Reagan's research | Sahara Lab
Text analysis software shows potential for application to EDD (Electronic Deception Discovery)
" James Pennebaker at the University of Texas developed a text analysis software, "Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count," that gained acceptance among linguists who study deception.
Pennebaker's research found that individuals who try to deceive generally use fewer first person pronouns (I, me, my) and exclusive words (e.g., except, but, without), and more negative emotion words (e.g., hate, worthless, and sad) and action verbs (e.g., walk, move, go).
David Skillicorn, of Queen's University, combined Pennebaker's findings with computer science tools such as singular value decomposition."
Read more in Electronic Deception Discovery: A New Kind of Search, Law Technology News.
Language and Health Psychology Lab
Students mark 21st birthdays with 'extreme' drinking binges
Kim Fromme's research on extreme drinking binges among college students is the focus of a USA Today feature.
"College students today celebrate 21st birthdays with an average of 12 drinks for men and nine for women, finds the most in-depth picture yet of the consequences of extreme partying.
The University of Texas-Austin research found 78% of students cited ill effects, including hangovers (54%). Of 44% who had blackouts, 22% found out later they had sex, and 22% got in a fight or argument. And 39% didn't know how they got home."
Read more in the August 27, 2008 issue of USA Today
Sahara Lab | Fromme Web Page
PSYCHOLOGY STUDENT COMPETES IN BEIJING OLYMPICS
Former UT psychology student and softball pitching standout Cat Osterman is making her second Olympic appearance in Beijing after helping Team U.S.A. to a gold medal at the Athens Games in 2004. She is a five-time National Player of the Year who led the Longhorns to the Women's College World Series in 2003, 2005 and 2006. Osterman lives in Chicago, where she is the assistant softball coach at DePaul University. She will blog about her experiences this summer on her personal Web site "Bound for Beijing."
Read Cat's blog... | Liberal Arts Athletes Head to the Olympics
ARTHUR MARKMAN AND THE PSYCHOLOGY OF COMPETITION
Some athletes play to win, and others play not to lose
Art Markman will be studying the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics to examine if the games confirm the findings in his research on the psychology of competition.
"Markman is interested in situational factors that could explain why some athletes thrive under pressure while others 'choke.'"
Read more in the August 7, 2008 issue of The Daily Texan...
Visit Art Markman's Similarity and Cognition Lab
RUSSELL JACKSON RECEIVES HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION SOCIETY POST-DOCTORAL AWARD IN KYOTO, JAPAN
Former UT Psychology student, Russell Jackson, travelled to Kyoto, Japan to accept the Postdoctoral Research Competition award from the Human Behavior and Evolution Society. This award consists of a cash prize and recognition at the annual meeting of the HBES. It is one of three HBES awards and the only one for recent PhD graduates.
Dr. Jackson received this award for research in which he discovered ubiquitous large-magnitude visual illusions. He predicted these illusions from a research approach that he developed while at UT (evolved navigation theory) that focuses on how the environments in which human's evolved may have shaped perceptual and navigational mechanisms. He conducted some of the research for which he won the award in collaboration with Larry Cormack, with whom he worked as a graduate student.
Dr. Jackson joined the psychology faculty at California State University at San Marcos as an Assistant Professor after receiving his PhD in Psychology from UT in 2007 under the mentorship of Dr. Cormack. (July 2008)
More on Dr. Jackson...
THE SECRETS IN YOUR STUFF
Sam Gosling's research featured on ABC's "NIGHTLINE" and the NEW YORK TIMES
ABC's "NIGHTLINE" featured a segment on Dr. Sam Gosling's research on personality and personal living spaces. The video follows Dr. Gosling as he examines the office environment of a colleague at New York University and the home of a ABC News correspondent.
Sam is also mentioned in an article on the subject of architectural design in the New York Times. See "Home is Where the Head Is". (July 2008)
Read more in The Secrets in Your Stuff | Gosling Web Site | Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You
ULTERIOR MOTIVES: ART MARKMAN BLOGS IN PSYCHOLOGY TODAY
Teens don't "do drugs" they "smoke joints
"The middle-school where one of my kids goes finally sent around the dreaded email that every parent fears. A couple of kids had been caught with drugs at school and the appropriate authorities had been notified. I much preferred the notifications we got when the kids were in elementary school telling us that a child had lice or strep..." (July 2008)
Read more in "How goals, both seen and unseen, drive behavior"
Visit Art Markman's Similarity and Cognition Lab
THE "SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE (SURE)" KICKS INTO GEAR
Fabian Aguirre leads a discussion at the first meeting of this summer's SURE participants. From left to right: Diandrea Garza, Antoinette Wilson, Tracie Pulido, Fabian Aguirre, Tonantzin Juarez, Ricardo Santos
SURE is a summer internship program for undergraduates from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups who are interested in research in psychology. It provides stipends for students to conduct 2 months of full-time (40 hours/week) summer research under the supervision of a UT-Austin Department of Psychology faculty member. This is the third group of students enrolled in the program, which launched in the summer of 2006.
Fabian is a graduate student researcher in Dr. Manuel Ramirez' Multicultural Psychology Lab, which, among its other goals, seeks to encourage undergraduate students from underrepresented ethnic/racial groups to pursue careers in social science research and mental health service.
To break the ice and get students comfortable speaking in front of the group, each student had to introduce another student as the most interesting person they have ever met. In this picture, Ricardo and Tracie are getting to know Diandrea before they introduce her to the rest of the group.
Read about the SURE program...
WHAT DO SEX, TWINS, SPOTTED HYENAS, ADHD, AND SEXUAL ORIENTATION HAVE IN COMMON?
DENNIS MCFADDEN'S research on otoacoustic emissions (OAEs), to be published in the July 2008 issue of Perspectives on Psychological Science, is featured on the APS (Association for Psychological Science) website. Mcfadden's lab has been examining the use of simple, noninvasive measures to reveal the invisible processes of human prenatal development. The primary measures have come from the auditory system: otoacoustic emissions, which are sounds produced in the inner ear, and auditory evoked potentials, which are brainwaves evoked by acoustic stimuli. Both of these measures appear to be affected by how much exposure to testosterone a fetus receives during prenatal development. Dr. McFadden and his long-time collaborator, Edward Pasanen, have obtained auditory measures from opposite-sex and same-sex twins, ADHD and non-ADHD children, heterosexual and nonheterosexual males and females, and normal and androgen-treated spotted hyenas, rhesus monkeys, and sheep.
Read the current version of "What Do Sex, Twins, Spotted Hyenas, ADHD, and Sexual Orientation Have in Common?"
AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN PROFILES JAMES PENNEBAKER
Stateman reporter Chris Garcia writes about James Pennebaker in the April 13, 2008 edition of the Austin American-Stateman:
"Pennebaker has authored a passel of groundbreaking studies, most importantly in social psychology with emphases in health, language and personality, that have seismically altered the field. Beyond an ocean of scientific journals, the mainstream media persistently cites his work and solicits him for insights." ...Chris Garcia, "For famed UT psychologist James Pennebaker, work is play"
Read more...
Pennebaker Web Site
SAM GOSLING'S RESEARCH FEATURED ON "HOW STUFF WORKS" WEBSITE
Sam Gosling has been fighting to expand research in the area of animal personality and gained media attention for his research in dog personality. Because dogs cannot tell us about their feelings and behavior, Gosling compared how observers interpret personality in other humans and in dogs.
...Jane McGrath, "Do animals have personalities"
Read more...
RESEARCHING FIRST IMPRESSIONS IN THE AGE OF ONLINE PROFILES
Sam Gosling, writing in the Psi Chi National Honor Society's online magazine:
A flurry of recent news articles has highlighted a new challenge faced by college students: giving the wrong impression about our personalities through our online profiles. Much of this interest can be attributed to the popularity of MySpace®, Facebook®, and other social-networking websites visited by over 10 million people each month (Nielsen/Netratings, 2007). The news articles often caution us about posting information that could disrupt others (particularly potential employers) from seeing us accurately (or at least as we see ourselves). But don’t we want to avoid giving anyone an inaccurate impression of what we are like? How can psychological research help us with this issue? Read more...
Sam Gosling Web Page
Psi Chi National Honor Society (UT Chapter)
(March 2008)
MICHAEL MAHOMETA LEADS 2-DAY WORKSHOP ON SPSS IN MAY 2008
Dr. Michael Mahometa, who graduated from UT-Austin with a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology and is now a statistical consultant with the Division of Statistics & Scientific Computation, is teaching a workshop, "Introduction to SPSS" in May 2008. The workshop is one of many being offered by the UT Summer Statistics Institute from May 27-30, 2008. Read more...
NEW BOOKS BY PSYCHOLOGY FACULTY TO BE PUBLISHED IN SPRING 2008
We are pleased to announce the publication of Peter MacNeilage's book, "The Origin of Speech" (Oxford University Press) in April 2008.
PETER MACNEILAGE has written over 120 papers on the topic of complex action systems and their evolution. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Acoustical Society of America, and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioural and Social Sciences...from book jacket
The Origin of Speech "combines a critique of the Non-Darwinian approach to speech of Noam Chomsky with a presentation of two Neodarwinian theories regarding the evolution of speech production. According to the "Frame/Content" theory, the mouth close-open alternation underlying the basic consonant-vowel syllable of speech had its origin in the cyclical mouth movements of chewing, sucking, and licking. According to the "Postural Origins" theory, both right handedness and the specialization of the left cerebral hemisphere for speech had a deep heritage in a left hemisphere specialization for the control of the body under routine circumstances."
...Peter MacNeilage, Professor of Psychology
Read more...
Also scheduled for publication is Sam Gosling's first book, "Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You" (Basic Books), due on May 26, 2008.
SAM GOSLING has spent the last decade conducting research on how personality is expressed and perceived in everyday contexts. He has been profiled by the New York Times, Psychology Today, and other publications, and he is featured in Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink. ...from book jacket
Description:
Does what’s on your desk reveal what’s on your mind? Do those pictures on your walls tell true tales about you? And is your favorite outfit about to give you away? For the last ten years psychologist Sam Gosling has been studying how people project (and protect) their inner selves. By exploring our private worlds (desks, bedrooms, even our clothes and our cars), he shows not only how we showcase our personalities in unexpected-and unplanned-ways, but also how we create personality in the first place, communicate it others, and interpret the world around us.
Gosling, one of the field’s most innovative researchers, dispatches teams of scientific snoops to poke around dorm rooms and offices, to see what can be learned about people simply from looking at their stuff. What he has discovered is astonishing: when it comes to the most essential components of our personalities-from friendliness to flexibility-the things we own and the way we arrange them often say more about us than even our most intimate conversations. If you know what to look for, you can figure out how reliable a new boyfriend is by peeking into his medicine cabinet or whether an employee is committed to her job by analyzing her cubicle. Bottom line: The insights we gain can boost our understanding of ourselves and sharpen our perceptions of others. Packed with original research and fascinating stories, Snoop is a captivating guidebook to our not-so-secret lives. ...from book jacket
To read more about the book and see the schedule of the upcoming book tour and speaking engagements check out the Snoopology web site.
"RED, MIND, BLUE MIND": WHAT OUR POLITICAL VIEWS MAY REVEAL ABOUT OUR PERSONALITIES
The research of a team of psychologists including Sam Gosling is featured in the March 3, 2008 edition of Newsweek. The article explores the nature of personal spaces and what they reveal about one's habits of mind, which ultimately link to basic personality traits and how these traits shape political views. Apparently, the tendencies to hold conservative or liberal points of view run deep and the findings of these psychologists' research suggest that "ideology permeates the most basic cognitive machinery we have".
Results of the research will be published in the March issue of Perspectives on Psychogical Science. Read more...
SAM GOSLING'S RESEARCH INTO PERSONAL SPACES FEATURED IN THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND FORBES.COM
"A neatly made bed and an organized CD collection suggest a conscientious person. Upon closer inspection, clothes piled in the closet and books shoved under the bed reveal a last-minute effort to impress. These are the types of clues ferreted out by Sam Gosling, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, and his team of 'scientific snoops.' "
...My Space: I Spy, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 02/22/08
What's Your Office Style?
"...the more research I've done, the more I've come to believe that what's going on outside the mind reflects what's going on inside the mind."
...Sam Gosling, What's Your Office Style? Forbes.com, 02/22/08
IN MEMORIAM: GARDNER LINDZEY, FORMER CHAIR OF DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY
Gardner Lindzey died February 4, 2008 after a brief illness. Dr. Lindzey was chair of the Department of Psychology from 1964-1969 and then served as one of UT's vice presidents until 1975. He was instrumental in transforming the department from a relatively small and unassuming group to a large and internationally-recognized faculty.
Dr. Lindzey was known for his work in social and personality psychology. His edited Handbook of Social Psychology defined the structure of the field for a generation. As the director and president of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in Palo Alto from 1975 to 1989, he brought together the finest intellects in the social and behavioral sciences.
Dr. Lindzey earned his AB degree at Pennsylvania State University in 1943, his MS in 1945, and his PhD in psychology from Harvard University in 1949. He served as president of the American Psychological Association 1966-67 and as president of the American Psychological Foundation 1974-1976. He received an award for scientific reviewing from the National Academy of Sciences and the Dobzhansky Memorial Award for Eminent Research in Behavior Genetics in 1982. (February 2008)
2008 PRO BENE MERITIS AWARD GIVEN TO VICE PROVOST JUDITH LANGLOIS
Judy Langlois, vice provost and the Charles and Sarah Seay Regents' Professor of Developmental Psychology, is one of four recipients of the College of Liberal Arts' 2008 Pro Bene Meritis Award. Dr. Langlois is a leading researcher in children's social development. She has received national attention for her groundbreaking research on infant development and the formation of social stereotypes. Langlois, who earned her doctorate from Louisiana State University, joined the faculty at The University of Texas at Austin in 1973. She has served in several key leadership roles on campus, including past associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and interim dean of the college in 1998 and from 2006 to 2007. (January 2008)
PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCHERS OFFER PERSPECTIVES ON THE PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES
Rebecca Bigler researches gender and racial attitudes and the formation of stereotypes. She has examined children's views of the U.S. Presidency related to race, gender and ethnicity. She can discuss the potential for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama to break the pattern of white males serving in the presidency. Website
James Pennebaker has analyzed language in political speech to evaluate a candidate's psychological state. The researchers found the words used in interviews provide insight into how a candidate thinks and relates to people. They have examined the language and personalities of George Bush, John Kerry, Dick Cheney and John Edwards. Website
Sam Gosling studies how people create environments that provide insights into their personalities and how they would like to be perceived. For example, Gosling and his colleagues at New York University and Harvard University have found differences between how liberals and conservatives decorate their offices or bedrooms. Website
(January 2008)
