Department of Psychology & Neuroscience
"Dealing with coronavirus: it's OK to be anxious." Duke mental health share ways to deal with isolation and anxiety.Full article published in Duke Today April 8, 2020 by Eric Ferreri Right now, it’s OK not to feel OK. In this unprecedented time of coronavirus-prompted social distancing, it’s unlikely that a person doesn’t encounter some level of anxiety or stress. But there are ways to approach it, according to three Duke experts who spoke to media Wednesday. Here are excerpts: ON BEING… read more about P&N Professors Terrie Moffitt and Tim Strauman Share Supportive Guidance in the Challenging Time of Social Distancing »
"We had our lives turned updside down very quickly." As a university community, we face tremendous challenges brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Duke staff and faculty everywhere are stepping up to keep the important work of the university and health system going. Working@Duke highlights these contributions in a new feature titled "Dedicated Devils". With nominations from colleagues, Dedicated Devils will showcase the work of Duke employees who go above and beyond during this trying time… read more about David Rabiner Recognized as 'Dedicated Devil': Rising to the Challenge During COVID-19 »
Right now, it’s OK not to feel OK. In this unprecedented time of coronavirus-prompted social distancing, it’s unlikely that a person doesn’t encounter some level of anxiety or stress. But there are ways to approach it, according to three Duke experts who spoke to media Wednesday. Here are excerpts: ON BEING NORMAL Timothy Strauman, professor of psychology and neuroscience: “If you’re not feeling unsettled and worried and projecting into the future, then you’re not paying attention. This is… read more about Dealing With Coronavirus: It’s OK To Be Anxious »
P&N graduate student Brenda Yang has been selected as one of 100 doctoral students in the United States and Canada to receive a Scholar Award from the P.E.O. Sisterhood. She was sponsored by Chapter AJ of Cary, NC. The P.E.O. Scholar Awards were established in 1991 to provide substantial merit-based awards for women pursuing a doctoral-level degree at an accredited college or university. Scholar Award recipients are a select group of women chosen for their high level of academic achievement and their… read more about Graduate Student Brenda Yang Receives Scholar Award from the P.E.O. Sisterhood »
Katie Dickerson wanted someone to talk to as she navigated the transition from postdoc to assistant professor in Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Duke. A supportive sounding board for her questions about gender, equity, and other issues would be nice, she thought. Back in her grad student days, a book club geared toward women in science served as a safe space for candid discussions. Dickerson asked her colleague Shabnam Hakimi, postdoctoral scholar at the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences (DIBS), to collaborate on a… read more about Confronting Power Dynamics in Academia »
DURHAM, NC -- The stereotype of grumpy old people apparently doesn’t hold up under closer inspection. A new study from Duke and Vanderbilt University psychologists finds that older people are generally more emotionally stable and better able to resist temptations in their daily lives. “There is evidence here that emotional health and regulation improve with age,” said Daisy Burr, a Duke PhD student who led the study with Gregory Samanez-Larkin, an assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience. Their work appeared March… read more about Older People Generally More Emotionally Healthy, Better Able to Resist Daily Temptations »
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused Duke, like many other institutions, to move classes to remote access. Faced with the challenges of learning new technologies while also adjusting to social distancing and working/learning from home, P&N community members are finding ways to adapt in this uncertain time. Professor Ahmad Hariri's children June and James work together on math activities at their dining room table. Many parents are finding creative ways to homeschool while also working from home. "Now we… read more about Faced with the challenges of COVID-19, our community carries on »
“Write!” For Sarah Gaither, this command reminds her what she needs to make time to do. As an assistant professor of psychology & neuroscience at Duke, she balances a robust teaching and research load with administrative duties, meetings with collaborators and students, leadership of the Duke Identity & Diversity Lab and more. Advancing her own scholarship can get squeezed to the margins, but she can’t allow that to happen during this critical period in her career. From manuscripts, grants and book chapters to… read more about A Community That Writes Together »
Hannah Moshontz reflects on the experience of defending her PhD dissertation remotely on March 18, 2020. Moshontz is the first student in the department to do so, with great success! Congratulations, Dr. Moshontz! What was the process of defending your dissertation remotely? It worked a lot like a normal defense: I gave a 40 minute talk to a public audience, and then, with just the committee present, I answered several rounds of questions about the dissertation. The… read more about Hannah Moshontz becomes first P&N student to defend PhD dissertation remotely »
Cody Kommers, a PhD student at Oxford University, interviewed P&N Professor Michael Tomasello on the podcast Cognitive Revolution, aired March 10, 2020. The episode, #18: Michael Tomasello on Writing for Young People, reveals a side of Tomasello that many might not know, from how he became and academic ("I just switched from one side of the desk to the other") to the influences of Jerome Bruner, Lev Vygotsky, and Jean Piaget, to the… read more about Professor Michael Tomasello interviewed on podcast, Cognitive Revolution »
Psychology & Neuroscience Professor Greg Samanez-Larkin and colleagues Daisy Burr, Jaime Castrellon, and David Zald share their findings in an article discussing the advanced ages of the U.S. President candidates. They found evidence that older adults are better at keeping their emotions and impulses in check. Read more in The Atlantic. read more about The Upside to Having an Old President »
In an article discussing how psychological research focuses heavily on people in U.S. and other affluent Western countries, Psychologist Sarah Gaither discusses her study of identity, including how people conceptualize racial categories. Much of her work focuses on biracial children, a group that is often shunted into one racial category, or simply excluded from studies altogether. Read more in the Atlantic. read more about The Problem That Psychology Can’t Shake »
Irwin Kremen, PhD, a Duke Professor of Psychology, rose to international acclaim as a collagist, sculpture artist, and painter. Kremen died Feb. 5, 2020 at the age of 94. Kremen joined the Duke faculty in 1963 and continued his academic career in psychology at Duke until he retired as an emeritus in 1992. Kremen taught classes specializing in personality theory; later in his career, he developed an innovative course at Duke called "Art and its Making" in which he brought well-known artists to Duke to be… read more about Irwin Kremen, Duke Professor of Psychology and Internationally Acclaimed Artist, Dies at 94 »
UPDATE as of March 11, 2020: To minimize potential health risks amid COVID-19 concerns, Duke University has cancelled all Duke-sponsored in-person events; therefore, the North Carolina Cognition Meeting scheduled for March 21st, 2020 is cancelled. All registrants will receive a refund. Duke University's Psychology & Neuroscience Department will proudly host the 2020 Annual Meeting of the North Carolina Cognition Group. The annual conference will take place on March 21st, 2020… read more about Duke Hosts Annual Meeting of the North Carolina Cognition Group »
Warren Meck, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, who studied how humans perceive time, died on January 21, 2020. Read the full article published 1/23/20 in Duke Today: Duke Flags Lowered: Psychology Professor Warren Meck Dies. read more about Duke Flags Lowered in Honor of P&N Professor Warren Meck »
P&N Professors Avshalom Caspi & Terrie Moffitt, and Duke Postdocs Leah Richmond-Rakerd & Renate Houts publish paper in Nature Human Behavior: "Clustering of health, crime and social-welfare inequality in 4 million citizens from two nations." Abstract: Health and social scientists have documented the hospital revolving-door problem, the concentration of crime, and long-term welfare dependence. Have these distinct fields identified the same citizens? Using administrative databases linked… read more about P&N Professors Caspi & Moffitt and Duke Postdocs Richmond-Rakerd & Houts Publish New Research Findings »
Michael A. Wallach, PhD, noted research psychologist and influential Duke professor has died at 86. (Michael A. Wallach Obituary in The News& Observer) In a letter to faculty, Chair of the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience Scott Huettel shared his memories of Michael, stating: “I first met Michael as a graduate student many years ago. His signal traits were not just the depth of his thinking, but his straightforward kindness. He modeled the sort of respectful collegiality – whether interacting… read more about Influential Professor Emeritus Michael A. Wallach Dies at 86 »
P&N graduate student Matthew Bachman and Professor Scott Huettel publish paper in Nature Human Behavior: "Motivated control as a bridge between neuroeconomics and cognitive neuroscience." read more about P&N Graduate Student and Professor Co-Author Paper in Nature Human Behavior »
In a message to P&N faculty, Department Chair Scott Huettell stated: "Over the past decade, Henry has built a world-class research program that has provided important insights into the functioning of the basal ganglia (and of key circuits for learning and action, more generally). I can personally attest that when I teach the traditional explanation about how these regions contribute to reward learning, I now have to include a discussion of Henry’s work, which challenges that story with compelling evidence. His… read more about Dr. Henry Yin Promoted to Full Professor »
The Duke University Department of Psychology and Neuroscience is pleased to announce that senior Maria Naclerio (Psychology Major, Neuroscience/Chemistry Minors) is the recipient of the 2019-2020 Jerome S. Bruner Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research. Naclerio’s research centers around transformative emotions, including awe and salient, strong emotional experiences. Her senior thesis project investigates the role of the emotion of awe in religious self-sacrifice by… read more about Senior Maria Naclerio Receives 2019-2020 Jerome S. Bruner Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research »
The Graduate School has announced the recipients of its 2020 Dean's Awards, which recognize outstanding efforts in mentoring, teaching, and creating an inclusive environment for graduate education at Duke. The recipients will be honored at a reception on Wednesday, March 25. Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring Faculty William Darity, Samuel DuBois Cook Distinguished Professor of Public Policy Jennifer Roizen, Assistant Professor of Chemistry David Wong, Susan Fox Beischer and George D. Beischer… read more about 10 Dean’s Awards Recipients Named for 2020 »
The annual P&N Holiday Party was held on Thursday evening at The Rubenstein Arts Center at Duke University (“The Ruby”), a 70,000+ square foot hub for artistic production, opened in 2018. The evening included a delightful food and drink menu, live Jazz music from Peter Lamb and the Wolves, custom, on-demand poems from the Poetry Fox, and a visual art exhibit The Art of Mental Health (curated by a group of clinical… read more about P&N Celebrates the Holiday Season »
Higher education institutions like Duke are gateways to opportunity and success for many low-income and first-generation college students. They are also home to professors who once stood in those students’ shoes and used their education to get into academia. Here are some professors from Duke who were low-income, first-generation (LIFE) college students. Jen’nan Read: Sally Dalton Robinson professor of sociology, chair of the department of sociology Jen’nan Read was born in the United States and moved to… read more about Professors from low-income first-generation backgrounds are ready to help Duke students »
Kevin LaBar, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and CCN Associate Director, has earned the lifetime distinction of AAAS Fellow. Dr. LaBar and six other Duke faculty members are among the 2020 inductees to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, an honor bestowed upon members by their peers. Dr. LaBar was cited for "distinguished contributions to the study of the neuroscience of how emotional events modulate cognitive processes in the human brain." read more about Professor Kevin LaBar Named Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science »
DURHAM, N.C. – Seven members of the Duke University faculty have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as a AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers. Duke’s 2020 inductees are among 443 new fellows this year who are being recognized for scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. They are: Ravi Bellamkonda, Ph.D., Vinik Dean of Engineering and Professor of Biomedical… read more about Seven From Duke Named Fellows of American Association for the Advancement of Science »
The exploration the public lives of the “first ladies” of America’s Christian evangelical megachurches and an intimate portrait of the joys and hardships of rural life in Appalachia are among the new noteworthy books by Duke authors this fall. Many of the books, including new editions of previous titles, can be found on the "Duke Authors" display shelves near the circulation desk in Perkins Library. Some are available as e-books for quick download. Most can also be purchased through the Gothic Bookshop. [Duke Today will… read more about Fall Books: Clean Hands, Aging Brains, Evangelical Women and Other Great Reads »
Dr. Elika Bergelson, Crandall Family Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience has received the Steve Reznick Early Career Award from the Cognitive Development Society. Bergelson was recognized for her research on how babies and infants learn language skills by interacting with their environments. The award recognizes outstanding contributions by young scholars in the field of cognitive development, as well as their potential to become leaders in the discipline. Read more in an article… read more about Elika Bergelson Wins Early Career Award from the Cognitive Development Society »
P&N Ph.D. student Jaime Castrellon was awarded Best Poster at the Society for Neuroeconomics Annual Meeting in Dublin, Ireland on October 4-6, 2019. For two consecutive years, Castrellon’s posters have been selected and featured at the conference as Poster Spotlights: brief talks to the entire conference audience prior to the poster session. Each year Castrellon went on to win the Best Poster Award; he is the first conference presenter to receive the award twice. Castrellon’s… read more about P&N Ph.D. Student Jaime Castrellon Wins Best Poster Award for the Second Time at the Society for Neuroeconomics Annual Meeting »
Congratulations to Elika Bergelson, Crandall Family Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, for receiving the Early Career Award from the Cognitive Development Society, an honor awarded only twice! The award “recognizes a young scholar who has made outstanding research contributions to the study of cognitive development, and who shows continued promise to be a leader in the field." Bergelson’s work focuses on early language development and has been supported by NIH, NEH, and NSF… read more about P&N Faculty Member Elika Bergelson Receives the Early Career Award from the Cognitive Development Society »