Department of Psychology & Neuroscience
Each year, Duke Service-Learning recognizes undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, and community partners with the Betsy Alden Outstanding Service-Learning Awards. Betsy Alden was a pioneer in service-learning, beginning her work at Duke during the 1980s. Read more about the legacy of Betsy Alden HERE. Recipients are chosen because they represent an exceptional commitment to the ideals of service‐learning. Each winner receives $150 to further develop his/her community-building and leadership skills. … read more about 2022 Alden Award Winners Represent the Best of Service-Learning »
DURHAM, N.C. – Curious about why some people have been so passionately, often angrily, opposed to vaccination against the COVID-19 virus, a team of researchers with access to rare and unusual insights into the childhood forces that shape our adult lives thought they’d try to find out. “We had so many friends and family who initially said that the pandemic was a hoax, and then refused to wear a mask or social-distance, and kept singing in the choir and attending events,” said Terrie Moffitt, the senior author on a new study… read more about Duke-led Study Finds Vaccine Resistance Comes From Childhood Legacy of Mistrust »
Graduate and professional programs across the university scored highly in U.S. News and World Report’s list of “2023 Best Graduate Schools.” The Duke University School of Nursing ranked second overall in the country. In addition, several MSN Nurse Practitioner specialty programs were highly ranked: Family (first) Adult-Gerontology Primary Care (first) Nursing Administration (first) Psychiatric/Mental Health Across the Life Span (first) Adult-Gerontology Acute Care (second) Duke was ranked second among… read more about Duke Graduate Programs Get High Marks in 2022 US News Rankings »
Duke Psychology & Neuroscience Ph.D. alumni Jessica Cantlon ’07 and Kevin Myers ’99 have received two of the four James McKeen Cattell Fund Fellowships awarded this year. The Cattell award, which has existed for more than half a century, provides financial support of up to $40,000 for each recipient to take an extended sabbatical period to pursue new research in psychological science. Both Cantlon and Myers were consensus top choices among the Cattell review committee, which included Duke professor of Psychology… read more about Duke Ph.D. Alumni Win Sabbatical Award to Pursue New Research in Psychological Science »
“March Madness” has just begun and our Student Spotlight feature for this month, Senior Carla Guedikian, is definitely excited! Carla is an avid basketball player and lover. The Los Angeles native was impressed at how Duke offers a great balance of academics and fun activities upon her campus tour. While this was a heavy influence on her decision to become a Blue Devil, she decided on a study track for Neuroscience prior to her arrival. “Neuro 223 was my favorite course. We met weekly with… read more about Student Spotlight: Carla Guedikian, '22 (Neuroscience) »
Spring Break conjures up images of trips to the beach, but in 2016 Provost Sally Kornbluth had a different idea of how students could get away from the stress of the regular school year. She wanted students to have a chance to explore a subject intellectually without the pressure of grades or credits. Spring Breakthrough gives students a chance to use their week off to learn from a professor and with students outside of their major path. They engage with a course in ways that stimulate curiosity while keeping the subject… read more about Spring Breakthrough Gives Students an Opportunity to Stretch Their Academic Interests »
read more about Duke Study Shows Lead from Gasoline Blunted the IQ of About Half the US Population »
DURHAM, N.C. -- In 1923, lead was first added to gasoline to help keep car engines healthy. However, automotive health came at the great expense of our own well-being. A new study calculates that exposure to car exhaust from leaded gas during childhood stole a collective 824 million IQ points from more than 170 million Americans alive today, about half the population of the United States. The findings, from Aaron Reuben, a PhD candidate in clinical psychology at Duke University, and colleagues at Florida State University… read more about Lead Exposure in Last Century Shrunk IQ Scores of Half of Americans »
Eric Juarez was already planning for a career in higher education policy, so when P&N began analyzing its graduate program, he knew it was a perfect fit. This semester, the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience will complete a year-long assessment of its graduate training program. With particular focus on curriculum requirements, how it determines funding awards in its admissions process, and ways to increase underrepresented student applications and enrollment, the department is… read more about With Help From a Ph.D. Student, the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience Takes a Deeper Look at Its Graduate Training Program »
Tamar Kushnir, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, has been named a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science. As an APS Fellow, Kushnir becomes part of a distinguished group of psychologists whose work has influenced the field of psychological science in important and lasting ways. Fellow status is awarded to APS members who have made sustained outstanding contributions to the science of psychology in the areas of research, teaching, service, and/or application. Elizabeth Marsh, Chair… read more about Tamar Kushnir named as Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science »
We are excited to announce the 2021-2022 Bruner Awardee, Jingxuan Liu! She is a double-major in Psychology and Statistics and is confident that knowledge of statistics will complement her passion for research in psychology. Jing learned about the Award through her mentors Dr. Elika Bergelson and Dr. Bridgette Hard. She was encouraged to apply because of her exemplary demonstration of her passion for psychology, which started in the classroom. “Although I didn’t come to Duke as a psych major, I took Psych 101 during my… read more about Senior Jingxuan "Jing" Liu Receives 2021-2022 Jerome S. Bruner Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research »
It is our pleasure to feature Sophie Hurewitz in the resurgence of our Student Spotlight! While some of you all may already know her as the president of the Neuroscience Majors Union (NMU), here is a chance to learn more! She hails from our nation’s capital and has been a shining star in the Neuroscience Department. “I am fascinated by early childhood neurological development and behavior with a particular interest in neurodevelopmental disabilities. Majoring in neuroscience has allowed me to pursue these… read more about Student Spotlight: Sophie Hurewitz, '22 (Neuroscience) »
Most multiple-choice questions do not assess higher-order thinking—you either know the answer or you don’t—and if you do know the correct choice, it does not reveal depth of knowledge. Minna Ng, Assistant Professor of the Practice of Psychology and Neuroscience, discusses how to construct multiple-choice questions to better assess learning in an article published in The Teaching Professor. The full text of the article is available in .pdf form below… read more about Six guidelines for making the most of your multiple-choice questions »
From how we say ‘hello,’ to the side of the road we drive on, all societies have conventional norms – or ‘rules’ – that shape people’s everyday lives. A new study shows that children worldwide will challenge peers who break the ‘rules’: children not only conform, but want others to conform too. But how they challenge rule-breakers varies between cultures. Led by the University of Plymouth, UK and Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, the study analysed the behaviour of 376 children aged 5 to 8 eight different societies… read more about Children Challenge ‘Rule-Breakers’ Differently Across Cultures »
DURHAM, N.C. – You’re starting to tell that old story to a couple of new friends, and suddenly another person who was there says ‘no, it wasn’t like that!’ Without a video recording to settle the dispute, it’s pretty hard to know who has the real memory and who has an adapted version. Perhaps it’s no big deal to ‘misremember’ like this in a social setting, but it’s quite another in a courtroom or classroom. It turns out that human memory can be edited on the fly, creating memories that are nowhere near set in stone. A… read more about An Element of Surprise is the Recipe for Creating False Memories »