Insights on love with UBC Psychology postdoctoral researcher Alec Beall
In advance of Valentine’s Day, UBC’s Faculty of Arts asked scholars from Economics, Psychology, English and Philosophy to share their insights on how to think about love, what it means to say “I love you,” and the best way to improve one’s love life. Alec Beall is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow who studies romantic relationships and sexual attraction from an evolutionary theoretical perspective. […]
Textbook lesson in savings for UBC students
Students at the University of British Columbia (UBC) have saved over $1 million through the Open Textbook Project, which provides flexible and affordable access to higher education resources. Advanced Education Minister Andrew Wilkinson visited a social psychology class at UBC today to talk to students about how they have benefitted from the use of open […]
February Lab of the Month: Facing social anxiety with UBC's Interpersonal Lab
Feeling socially anxious isn’t uncommon–despite the notion that people are social animals. It’s a natural feeling and one based out of fear. Fear of rejection, fear of scrutiny, and fear of negative evaluation are just a few of the body’s responses that occur in social situations. In some cases, this anxiety is so severe it […]
Lung cancer patients with anxiety, depression die sooner: new study
Patients who experience anxiety and depression after being diagnosed with advanced lung cancer are more likely to die sooner, according to new research from UBC Psychology and BC Cancer Agency. The study, published this month in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, is among the first to examine the effect of anxiety and depression on […]
Walking the talk: Language Sciences at UBC
There is a certain buzz in the air at the University of British Columbia; scientists, administrators, graduate students, and undergraduate students are all talking. They’re talking about a new initiative that brings together scholars from across the university, united by their common interest: language sciences. The initiative is UBC Language Sciences, a platform for inspiring collaboration […]
Professor Ara Norenzayan: What can evolution tell us about morality?
What can evolution tell us about morality? UBC Psychology professor and “Big Gods” author Dr. Ara Norenzayan seeks to answer this question in an essay for the Center for Humans & Nature, titled “What can cultural evolution tell us about the human conquest of the planet?”. Dr. Norenzayan explains the role that cultural evolution has played in […]
Baby Talk: How language learning begins before birth
Explore the secrets of early childhood development with UBC Psychology professor Dr. Janet Werker as part of the University Killam Professor Lecture series. Dr. Werker will host a special screening and discussion of the acclaimed documentary Babies, directed by award-winning filmmaker Thomas Balmès. Babies joyfully captures on film the earliest stages of the journey of […]
January Lab of the Month: A new model of suicide with the Personality, Emotion, and Behaviour Lab
Dr. David Klonsky on the psychology of suicidal behaviour, insights into suicide, and how we can show support and help prevent suicide.
The Centre for Gambling Research at UBC discovers new treatments for problem gamblers
After looking at images of slot machines and roulette, problem gamblers experience increased activity in the same part of the brain that lights up when drug addicts have cravings, according to a new study out of the Centre for Gambling Research at UBC. The findings, published today in Translational Psychiatry, suggest that this part of […]
Q&A with PhD candidate Ashley Whillans: Why do we give?
The holiday season is a time of giving, but the reasons why people donate to charity aren’t well understood. UBC psychology PhD candidate Ashley Whillans is the lead author of a study published this month in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology that looks at the effect of wealth on willingness to donate to charity. […]