UNIT: The Science of Psychology Comprehensive Soldier Fitness and the Future of Psychology, Martin E.P. Seligman and Raymond D. Fowler, American Psychologist, 2011. Psychology has played in pivotal role in the U.S. Army since the early days of World War I with respect to recruit selection and more recently with treatment of psychological disorders among the rank and file. In this article, the authors show how positive psychology is being used to help improve soldiers'' resilience in the face of repeated combat and related stressors in an effort to prevent or reduce anxiety, depression, suicide, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Improving Health, Worldwide, Kirsten Weir, Monitor on Psychology, 2012. Psychologists have an incredible opportunity to promote health and help prevent disease, writes Weir reporting on recent research. One of the greatest threats to human life is malaria, which killed over 650,000 people worldwide in 2010. This is tragic, because the disease is both preventable and curable. A Scientific Pioneer and a Reluctant Role Model, Erin Millar, The Globe and Mail, 2012. From the early days of neurosurgery, Dr. Brenda Milner describes her role as both a researcher and a role model for other female scientists who work in male-dominated fields of study. By working, succeeding, and excelling in a male-dominated area such as neuroscience, Milner was able to challenge stereotypes and break down barriers for others.

That''s So Random: Why We Persist in Seeing Streaks, Carl Zimmer, The New York Times, 2014. Humans can have a difficult time in recognizing patterns; sometimes we see patterns that are not present, and other times we miss patterns occurring in front of us. The ability to understand when an event is random (or not) can have momentous influence on how we make decisions. Why Wait? The Science Behind Procrastination, Eric Jaffe, APS Observer, 2013. Procrastination is more than just putting off a task until tomorrow or having a poor concept of time. Procrastination is more about the inability to self-regulate, even when knowing that delays can lead to harmful or undesired outcomes. Ten Famous Psychological Experiments That Could Never Happen Today, Meredith Danko, Mental Floss, 2013. There are classic studies in the history of psychology that shape some of the basic, core beliefs that psychologists hold about human behavior.

Some of these studies were controversial at the time, and they would be difficult to replicate today due to ethical guidelines. But we can still learn much about human behavior by understanding the outcomes of these classic studies. UNIT: Biological Bases of Behavior Reflections on Mirror Neurons, Temma Ehrenfeld, APS Observer, 2011. Only recently have scientists discovered mirror neurons in humans. These neurons depolarize when we perceive particular activities and engage in similar activities. Mirror neurons appear to be important to learning through observation. Does Thinking Really Hard Burn More Calories?, Ferris Jabr, Scientific American, 2012. After a difficult mental challenge (such as completing a cumulative final exam or finishing the ACTs), how does the mental exhaustion relate to the physical exhaustion exhibited by some? In this article, Jabr reports on recent research that characterizes the energy consumption patterns of an active brain.

A Single Brain Structure May Give Winners That Extra Physical Edge, Sandra Upson, Scientific American, 2012. Reporting on the outcomes of recent research, Upson describes the brain''s insular cortex (also called the insula) and its role in helping athletes anticipate future feelings. A more highly developed insula in athletes may help them with better interoception--the sense of the body''s internal state. Athletes with highly precise interoception may experience a competitive advantage. The New Science of Mind, Eric R. Kandel, The New York Times, 2013. The connections between mind and body are becoming clearer with the advent of researchers attempting to better understand the biology of depression or the effects of psychotherapy. Even at the genetic level, researchers are beginning to understand that small differences in genes can help to explain certain conditions, such as autism or schizophrenia.

How to Spot a Murderer''s Brain, Tim Adams, The Guardian, 2013. The study of neurocriminology involves the exploration of physical, biological abnormalities and their relative contribution in the explanation and motivation of criminal behavior. This field is not without controversy, because many believe that crime is a result of social and environmental factors, and is not genetically predisposed. UNIT: Perceptual Processes Corporeal Awareness and Proprioceptive Sense of the Phantom, Melita Giummarra, et. al., British Journal of Psychiatry, 2010. Amputees frequently report feeling the continued existence and movement of amputated limbs, which is called phantom limb perception. In a research study with 283 amputees, most amputees report that the phantom limb is normally sized and in its normal position; however, the location of the amputation and the conditions under which it occurred seem to influence the perception of phantom sensation.

You Do Not Talk about Fight Club if You Do Not Notice Fight Club: Inattentional Blindness for a Simulated Real-World Assault, Christopher F. Chabris, et. al., i-Perception, 2011. These researchers asked the question about how paying attention to one aspect of the environment can make us blind to other salient events (called inattentional blindness). In a real-world experience, 56% of participants noticed a staged fight during the day, whereas only 35% noticed the fight during the night. An event can occur right in front of us that we do not see. Rethinking Motion Sickness, Peter Andrey Smith, The New York Times, 2013.

Is it that motion sickness causes individuals to lose their balance, or does losing your balance lead you to become motion sick? Interesting motion sickness research is underway both in the lab and on cruise ships. UNIT: Learning Will Behave for Money, Sadie F. Dingfelder, Monitor on Psychology, 2011. By using a contingency management system, good behaviors can be reinforced by giving cash, such as getting HIV-positive methadone patients to take their medication, or convincing pregnant smokers to stop smoking. Dingfelder reports on these and other research efforts that optimize the use of contingency management to positively shape people''s behaviors Phobias: The Rationale behind Irrational Fears, Dean Burnett, The Guardian, 2013. The author addresses details about phobias, including arachnophobia and agoraphobia, as well as some thoughts about how they develop and treatment options. Incentives for Drivers Who Avoid Traffic Jams, John Markoff, The New York Times, 2012. Trying to solve the congestion caused by automobiles often uses the stick approach rather than the carrot, but this researcher is attempting to use game theory to encourage drivers to modify their commute times to less congested times in order to enhance chances at winning an "anti-congestion" lottery.

You Have No Idea What Happened, Maria Konnikova, The New Yorker, 2015. Researchers now understand that memories for emotional events are truly different than memories for regular, everyday events. One''s confidence in a recollection of events may be related to the emotionality of that event. A ''Learning'' Attitude Helps Boost Job Search Success, Scott Sleek, Alexandra Michel, and Anna Mikulak, APS Observer, 2015. When college seniors viewed their job search as an opportunity to learn, they successfully increased their chances of landing a job. Also, researchers reported that a moderate amount of stress helped job seekers be successful--thus, stress is not always universally bad. B.F.

Skinner at Harvard, Gregory A. Briker, The Harvard Crimson, 2014. In this retrospective piece about B.F. Skinner, his graduate school habits and freedom to conduct research at Harvard are discussed and examined. UNIT: Cognitive Processes The Secret Life of Pronouns by James Pennebaker: What Do "I" and "We" Reveal about Us?, Juliet Lapidos, Slate, 2011. In this article, Lapidos reports on recent research that examines the role of pronouns as unexpected keys to communication. For instance, certain words, such as "nice" or "weird," are considered content words.

However, this research focuses on function words, such as pronouns, articles, prepositions, and auxiliary verbs. The Epidemic of Media Multitasking While Learning, Annie Murphy Paul, The Brilliant Blog, 2013. This author describes research suggesting that when students multitask during schoolwork, the learning is less effective and shallower as compared to studying with full attention. Other negative performance effects associated with multitasking, such as more time needed to complete assignments, more mistakes, and lower grades, have also been documented. Pigeons, Like Humans, Can Behave Irrationally, Sandra Upson, Scientific American, 2013. Researchers are exploring the idea that if animals exhibit irrational behaviors (such as gambling), that commonality with humans may lead to some of the underlying brain mechanisms. Using pigeons in a laboratory, the researchers noted that pigeons make common reasoning mistakes similar to compulsive gamblers, such as the sunk cost fallacy. "They are Happier and Having Better Lives than I Am": The Impact of Using Facebook on Perceptions of Others'' Lives, Hui-Tzu Grace Chou and Nicholas Edge, Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 2012.