Psychological Sciences

Psychologists and psychiatrists have sometimes struggled to keep up with the multiplying mental health challenges posed by the pandemic and other recent events, but through studies and interventions, Vanderbilt faculty members are providing new insights into the crisis—as well as the best evidence-based solutions for overcoming it. Read More

Depression in parents can lead to reduced empathy toward their children, which puts the children at risk for long-term negative impacts. Read More

The stresses placed on families, combined with the closure of classrooms and child care during the COVID-19 outbreak, heightens the risks of domestic abuse and neglect, according to a new Vanderbilt University report published online in "Pediatrics," the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Read More

With families facing unprecedented stress during the COVID-19 crisis, parents need to prioritize mental wellness in order to be present for their children, Vanderbilt psychology professor Bruce Compas says. Read More

Object recognition and facial recognition may seem like similar abilities, but new research from Vanderbilt finds that these behaviors are on the opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to physical signatures in the brain.  Read More

Psychology professor Lisa Fazio conducted a study to see if asking people to explain why a headline is true or false affected their intention of sharing it on social media. Read More

Vanderbilt neuroscientist James R. Booth is releasing two large scale neuroimaging datasets on reading and language development to support other researchers studying how academic skills develop in childhood. Read More

A new Vanderbilt report finds that children are highly influenced by what they overhear adults say about others. Read More

Participate in this study. Vanderbilt University has been awarded a $3.2 million grant by the National Institutes of Health to better understand how children who are deaf or hard of hearing excel at reading. Millions of children are hearing impaired and these individuals tend to have below-average… Read More

More complex math concepts can be easily introduced through simple games and tasks at home, according to a new Vanderbilt report. Read More

Vanderbilt study finds little ones need to interact with real, live humans in order to learn new information. Read More

New findings from an ongoing 45-year Vanderbilt study reveal that patterns found in test scores and a psychological assessment measuring the personal values of nearly 700 intellectually gifted adolescents were highly predictive of the distinct fields of eminence they would occupy by age 50. Read More

“Math and Logic in Monkeys, Children and Remote Cultures,” will take place Thursday, April 11 at Hobbs Hall. Read More

Vanderbilt neuroscientist James R. Booth is making available the largest known neuroimaging dataset on math development. His goal is to support the work of other researchers working to understand how arithmetic skills develop in childhood. Read More

There may be a "sensitive period" in which stress is more likely to affect brain development in adolescence, according to Kathryn L. Humphreys, assistant professor of psychology at Vanderbilt and lead author of a new study. Read More

The practice of separating immigrant children from their parents is very likely to lead to negative effects on emotional and mental health in adolescence. Read More

Ansari will challenge the common assumption that symbols for numbers acquire their meaning by being mapped onto the pre-existing, phylogenetically ancient system for the approximate representation of non-symbolic numbers. Read More

Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Special Education Laurie Cutting has received a $3 million NIH Merit Award from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Read More

Patterning and spatial activities like block play are simple yet powerful activities in which preschoolers develop early math skills, according to a growing body of research by Vanderbilt scholars. Read More

A new Vanderbilt study challenges the causal role of the Approximate Number System in mathematical ability. Read More