Understanding mind-wandering could shed light on mental illness: UBC research
If you think the mind grinds to a halt when you’re doing nothing, think again. In a review of mind-wandering research published in the November issue of Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Kalina Christoff, the review’s lead author and a professor in UBC’s department of psychology, proposes a new framework for understanding how thoughts flow—even at rest. The authors […]
Congratulations to our 2016 Robert E. Knox Master Teaching Award recipients
Each year, the Department of Psychology honours two outstanding individuals in the department who have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to the education of students. We are thrilled to announce the 2016 Knox Teaching Award is awarded to assistant professor Frances Chen (Faculty Award) and to our sessional instructor Janel Fergusson (Sessional Award). Please join us in congratulating […]
The psychology of giving: 5 ways giving makes your life better
UBC Psychology professor Dr. Elizabeth Dunn and PhD student Ashley Whillans recently met up with Chimp, a Vancouver-based charitable-giving website. Chimp’s platform, chimp.net, empowers corporations, communities and individuals to act on the human spirit of charity. Dunn and Whillans shared their research on the psychology of giving with the Chimp team at a staff lunch-and-learn. The event, along with some research […]
UBC psychology prof. Andrew Baron weighs in on implicit race bias and the US election
The term “implicit bias” was recently thrust into the U.S. presidential race, when Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton stated that “implicit bias is a problem for everyone, not just police” when asked about racial discrimination during the first debate. Andrew Scott Baron, associate professor and director of the UBC Social Cognitive Development Lab, researches implicit […]
What makes gambling addictive?
Research on gambling addiction often focuses on risk factors in individual people – but is the design of the games themselves part of the problem? In a segment for a Research2Reality web series, Luke Clark, associate professor and director of the Centre for Gambling Research at UBC, tells us how game design shapes gambling addiction. According to Clark, there […]
New research shows we read the body to reveal the mind
New research out of the Department of Psychology finds that people can read others’ attentional states by observing their actions. The study, Humans are sensitive to attention control when predicting others’ actions, shows that many of us have a keen ability to read the attentional states of others through their actions. But this ability is […]
Meet psychology alum and serial entrepreneur Wilson Lee
What can you do with a psychology degree? Wilson Lee (BA ’09, Psychology) is a self-professed ‘serial entrepreneur’. He heads a marketing agency, an event production company, and an ice-cream chain. In May 2016 he was named a BC Business 30 under 30 for his efforts. 30 Under 30 celebrates future business leaders under 30 […]
Prof. Jessica Tracy on how politicians like Trump use hubris to achieve power
Pride is a complex emotion that plays an important role in our lives. In her book, Take Pride: Why the Deadliest Sin Holds the Secret to Human Success, UBC psychology professor Jessica Tracy examines the role of pride in shaping our minds, and how pride helps politicians like Donald Trump attain power. In Take Pride, you use Donald Trump as […]
Therapy dogs from Vancouver ecoVillage are helping UBC students unwind
Studies have shown that therapy-dog visits alleviate stress and improve health and well-being. Dogs are popular visitors in hospitals, senior centres, airports–and now universities. To help students adjust to university life, UBC Psychology is teaming up with the UBC Alma Mater Society and Vancouver ecoVillage to bring their therapy dogs to campus from September 27 to November 7 2016. At these dog […]
A life of research leads to a University Killam Professorship
Dr. Janet Werker began her long, prolific research and teaching career at UBC in 1985. Throughout her entire academic career, she has managed multiple roles at once. Not only is she a teaching professor and researcher who is director of the Infant Studies Centre in the Department of Psychology, she is also the one of […]