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Michele Berger

Articles from Michele W. Berger
How parenting affects antisocial behaviors in children
Rebecca Waller, an assistant professor in Penn’s Psychology department, studies antisocial behaviors and parent-child interactions.

Rebecca Waller, an assistant professor of psychology, studies antisocial behaviors and parent-child interactions.

How parenting affects antisocial behaviors in children

In a recent study of the parental caregiving environment, psychologist Rebecca Waller found that within identical twin pairs, the child who experienced harsher behavior and less parental warmth was at a greater risk for developing antisocial behaviors.

Michele W. Berger

The iconic species of the Galápagos, in photos
Fish near Santiago Island, Galápagos (©Walter Perez)

El Niño of 2015-2016, which warmed the surface waters of the Pacific Ocean, was then the strongest such event in almost two decades, according to NASA. But when El Niño ended, the cold waters around the Galápagos returned, bringing with them loads of nutrients, fish populations like this one near Santiago Island exploded. (©Walter Perez)

The iconic species of the Galápagos, in photos

A new book co-authored by Michael Weisberg and a naturalist guide from the Galápagos reveals unseen behaviors of some of the islands’ best-known animals.

Michele W. Berger

A new take on the 19th-century skull collection of Samuel Morton

A new take on the 19th-century skull collection of Samuel Morton

After unearthing and analyzing handwritten documentation from scientist Samuel Morton, doctoral candidate Paul Wolff Mitchell drew a new conclusion about the infamous 19th-century collection: Though Morton accurately measured the brain size of hundreds of human skulls, racist bias still plagued his science.

Michele W. Berger

What happens to the brain after a traumatic injury?
TBI Football Research Senior Justin Morrison (left) and researcher Michael Sangobowale with Ebony Cook, a patient in for a follow-up visit after her apartment ceiling caved in on her. It’s part of an ongoing clinical trial on traumatic brain injury that sees patients five times each, at 72 hours following injury, then again at two weeks, three weeks, six months, and a year later.

What happens to the brain after a traumatic injury?

Two undergrads interning with Penn Medicine’s Ramon Diaz-Arrastia spent the summer looking for biomarkers in the blood of TBI patients, and studying whether the generic form of Viagra might help promote recovery after such an injury.

Michele W. Berger

How do stereotypes affect what people think is fair?
brain_stereotypes

How do stereotypes affect what people think is fair?

Stereotypes systematically affect what people think is fair, according to new research from psychologist Anna Jenkins. The findings make it possible to predict how people will treat members of different social groups.

Michele W. Berger

Exploring the human propensity to cooperate
Exploring the human propensity to cooperate

Exploring the human propensity to cooperate

Working with a nomadic group in Tanzania, one of the last remaining nomadic hunter-gatherer populations, Penn psychologists show that cooperation is flexible, not fixed.

Michele W. Berger

A neural link between altruism and empathy toward strangers
University of Pennsylvania psychologist Kristin Brethel-Haurwitz studies extraordinary altruism through people who have donated a kidney to a stranger.

University of Pennsylvania psychologist Kristin Brethel-Haurwitz studies extraordinary altruism through people who have donated a kidney to a stranger.

A neural link between altruism and empathy toward strangers

Studying the brain activity of people who have donated a kidney to a stranger, psychologist Kristin Brethel-Haurwitz found a clear link between real-world altruism and empathy, particularly in regard to the pain and fear of strangers.

Michele W. Berger

Collective grief over loss from Brazil’s National Museum fire
Fire at the National Museum of Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro, on September 2, 2018. Photo by Felipe Milanez

Fire at the National Museum of Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro, on September 2, 2018. Photo by Felipe Milanez

Collective grief over loss from Brazil’s National Museum fire

Members of the Penn Museum’s archeological community discuss the devastation felt over the destruction of an invaluable piece of world history.

Michele W. Berger

Can social media networks reduce political polarization on climate change?
Arctic_sea_ice

Can social media networks reduce political polarization on climate change?

A study from the Annenberg School for Communication shows that exposure to anonymous, bipartisan social networks can lead liberals and conservatives to improve their forecasting of global-climate trends.

Michele W. Berger

A squirmy, slimy, crunchy new potential staple of the American diet
Eating Bugs

Psychologist Paul Rozin thinks insects should be the next big food group in the U.S. All it takes, he suggests, is a little more exposure to move beyond the disgust factor.

A squirmy, slimy, crunchy new potential staple of the American diet

Psychologist Paul Rozin discusses how it’s possible to get past the ick factor of eating bugs (the key is exposure), and how the insects actually taste. It’s all part of his research focusing on the emotion of disgust as it relates to food.

Michele W. Berger

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