4/22
Psychology
Remote learning affected high schoolers’ social, emotional health
Research from Angela Duckworth and colleagues found that teenagers who attended school virtually fared worse than classmates who went in person, results that held even when accounting for variables like gender, race, and socioeconomic status.
Damian Pang may have discovered a new type of memory
The Penn LPS Online Certificate in Neuroscience let Pang gain additional knowledge and skills while still working full time as an airline pilot out of Hong Kong.
Dolores Albarracín appointed Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor
Albarracín will be the Alexandra Heyman Nash University Professor, with joint appointments in the Annenberg School for Communication and the Department of Family and Community Health in the School of Nursing.
A link between childhood stress and early molars
Penn researchers discovered that children from lower-income backgrounds and those who go through greater adverse childhood experiences get their first permanent molars sooner.
2021 cohort of Postdoctoral Fellows for Academic Diversity named
The competitive program, managed by Office of the Vice Provost for Research, is designed to support early career researchers and scholars while enriching the Penn community.
Scientists say active early learning shapes the adult brain
Through the Abecedarian Project, an early education, randomized controlled trial that has followed children since 1971, Penn and Virginia Tech researchers reveal new discoveries about brain structure decades later.
A mental health checkup for children and adolescents, a year into COVID
As a whole, this group experienced a significant short-term psychological toll. Though the long-term consequences aren’t yet known, particularly given how the year disproportionately exacerbated adverse childhood experiences, Penn experts remain cautiously optimistic.
Morality isn’t fixed but changes around close relationships
Research from MindCORE postdoc Daniel Yudkin found that the importance people place on certain moral values shifts depending on who is around in a given moment.
Mental Health Awareness Month happenings for Penn faculty and staff
For Mental Health Awareness Month, the Division of Human Resources is hosting faculty and staff events focused on caregiving support, mindfulness, and nutrition, among other areas of need.
What happens in the brain when we imagine the future?
Research from neuroscientist Joseph Kable finds that two sub-networks are at work, one focused on creating the new event, another on evaluating whether that event is positive or negative.
In the News
Expect to see AI ‘weaponized to deceive voters’ in this year’s presidential election
Cristina Bicchieri of the School of Arts & Sciences says that AI-generated misinformation exacerbates already-entrenched political polarization throughout America.
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Can money buy you happiness? Yes, it can. However…
Research by Matthew Killingsworth of the Wharton School reveals there is no monetary threshold at which money's capacity to improve well-being diminishes.
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Philadelphia hospital program adds psychologists to bridge mental health services for trauma survivors
A new psychology team at the Penn Trauma Violence Recovery Program has provided about 46 survivors with short- and long- term therapy, featuring remarks from Elinore Kaufman and Lily Brown of the Perelman School of Medicine.
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Early humans had ADHD, scientists say after making people play game online
A collaborative study by researchers from Penn suggests that the impulsive component of ADHD may provide a competitive advantage to learn from rivals and “catch” new methods of achievement.
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Why hasn’t the new me shown up yet?
In his book “What You Can Change and What You Can’t,” Martin Seligman of the School of Arts & Sciences says that some personal qualities and habits can’t be changed without extreme difficulty.
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The real reason you’re obsessed with spicy food
Paul Rozin of the School of Arts & Sciences agrees that it’s actually the pain that keeps us coming back for more spice.
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