Psychology
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VUCast: Building a Better App
In the latest VUCast: See how a School of Engineering senior is improving children’s educational apps; hear about the “revolution” our Senior Day speaker will share with graduates; and learn how Vanderbilt is investing in Tennessee. Watch now! Read MoreApr 29, 2015
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NSF research grant goes to 16 Vanderbilt graduate students
The grant program is aimed at aiding individuals who have demonstrated notable potential early in their research career, as well as promoting diversity in the sciences. Read MoreApr 8, 2015
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Common Core math should include ‘pattern abstraction’
Exposing preschoolers to patterning activities builds the foundation for early math skills. Read MoreMar 18, 2015
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Kudos: Read about faculty awards and achievements
Read the latest roundup of Vanderbilt faculty awards and achievements. Read MoreJan 15, 2015
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Electrical stimulation ‘tunes’ visual attention using long-term memory
Picking a needle out of a haystack might seem like the stuff of fairytales, but our brains can be electrically “tuned” to enable us to do a much better job of finding what we’re looking for. Read MoreJan 7, 2015
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‘White matter’ behaves differently in children with dyslexia
Trans-institutional neuroimaging research at Vanderbilt finds that the brain may be structured differently in children with dyslexia. Read MoreOct 29, 2014
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Metzl on Mental Illness and Gun Violence
After the horrific mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2011, a conservative commentator claimed that “guns don’t kill people—the mentally ill do.” Metzl believes this attitude is based on misconceptions about mental illness and violence that obscure larger issues about gun violence in America. Read MoreSep 26, 2014
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Combined drugs and therapy most effective for severe nonchronic depression
The odds that a person who suffers from severe, nonchronic depression will recover improve substantially when treated by drugs and therapy. Read MoreAug 20, 2014
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Fault trumps gruesome evidence when it comes to meting out punishment
A new brain study has identified the brain mechanisms that underlie our judgment of how severely a person who has harmed another should be punished. Read MoreAug 3, 2014
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Electric “thinking cap” controls learning speed
In a new study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, Vanderbilt psychologists Robert Reinhart, a Ph.D. candidate, and Geoffrey Woodman, assistant professor of psychology, show that it is possible to selectively manipulate our ability to learn through the application of a mild electrical current to the brain, and that this… Read MoreApr 11, 2014
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Vanderbilt expert: Mental illness is often not to blame in mass shootings
When a mass shooting occurs there are often two camps of thought: those who feel the country needs stronger gun laws and those who blame the horrific act on mental illness. Read MoreApr 8, 2014
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America the Beautiful: See an international student’s prize-winning video of the United States
In the latest VUCast: See how an international student is showcasing the United States in a beautiful way; discover how a "thinking cap" could help you learn; and watch a unique forest grow in just one weekend. All this and more in the latest VUCast, Vanderbilt's online newscast. Watch now. Read MoreApr 4, 2014
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Electric “thinking cap” controls learning speed
Vanderbilt psychologists show it is possible to selectively manipulate our ability to learn through the application of a mild electrical current to the brain, and that this effect can be enhanced or depressed depending on the direction of the current. Read MoreMar 21, 2014
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Brain mapping confirms patients with schizophrenia have impaired ability to imitate
A brain-mapping study of patients with schizophrenia has found that areas associated with the ability to imitate are impaired, providing new support for the theory that deficits in this basic cognitive skill may underlie the profound difficulty with social interactions that characterize the disorder. Read MoreMar 14, 2014
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Thesis documenting discovery of famous psychological effect donated to Vanderbilt
The original thesis of John Ridley Stroop, who discovered one of the most famous tasks in cognitive psychology while studying for his doctoral degree at Peabody College, was donated to Vanderbilt by his son Fred. Read MoreMar 3, 2014
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In the brain, the number of neurons in a network may not matter
A study has found that the time it takes neural networks in the brain to make decisions is remarkably stable regardless of size: a finding that could make it easier to achieve the goal of the President's BRAIN Initiative established last spring. Read MoreFeb 3, 2014
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Study gives new meaning to ‘let your fingers do the walking’
A new study has found that skilled typists can’t identify the positions of many of the keys on the QWERTY keyboard and that novice typists don’t appear to learn key locations in the first place. Read MoreDec 4, 2013
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Even in the dark, brain “sees” its own body’s movement
With the help of computerized eye trackers, new research finds that at least 50 percent of people can see the movement of their own hand even in the absence of all light. Read MoreOct 30, 2013
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VUCast: A wireless capsule and hallucinating without drugs
See how a wireless capsule could help during minimally invasive surgeries Why magnesium and vitamin D are a match made in heaven And do you really see the S in the USA network logo? Watch this QuickVU roundup of research stories. [vucastblurb]… Read MoreOct 30, 2013
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Live Science: Conservatives and liberals equally smug, study finds
New research by postdoctoral fellow Kaitlin Toner suggests liberals and conservatives are about equally convinced of the correctness of their views, but extremists are more likely than moderates to feel their views are superior. Read MoreOct 9, 2013