The Science of Screen Time

The subject of screen time is a hot debate right now among parents and scientists alike. Screens, including smart phones, tablets, computers, and televisions, are becoming more and more ingrained into everyday life, which begs the question: What are the effects of all these screens on children’s development?On one hand, we know intuitively that gluing...

Feb 2019

How does Early Life Stress Affect Children’s Ability to Learn About Rewards?

We know (and it’s been discussed on this blog!) that people who have experienced early life stress, such as child abuse, neglect, or extreme deprivation (such as institutional care during infancy) are more likely to develop behavioral and mental health problems. For example, they are more likely to be socially isolated, commit crimes, and develop psychological...

Jun 2018

How to Enhance Language Development in Babies and Toddlers

One of the things I’m usually asked about as a developmental psychologist is if I think people are screwing up their kids. It’s usually a joke, but I do think there is a ton of confusion about the “best methods” of parenting and what parents can do to put their child on a healthy path. While I don’t think there’s one best method of parenting, I do think...

May 2018

Academic Job Market Interviewing & Negotiation

I've been wanting to write a post on some academic job market insights that I learned this past year. Some of them are things that I read on others' blog posts that were extremely true (and that I wanted to emphasize here) and others are ones that I learned on my own (sometimes the hard way). These insights are going to be more fitting for someone looking...

Apr 2018

Impostor Syndrome: Why does it happen and what can we do about it?

I’ve been thinking about impostor syndrome a lot lately. Impostor syndrome is the inability to internalize accomplishments, or believing you actually deserve the things that you’ve accomplished, and the fear that you’ll be exposed as a fraud. I’ve been thinking about it much more frequently due to the fact that I was on the academic job market from...

Apr 2018

How does the anti-vax movement use psychology to endanger public health? Highlighting fear and misinformation behind the Minnesota measles outbreak

There are a lot of things that make my blood boil, but hurting and deceiving others for profit is near the top of that list. That's why today's topic is about the Minnesota measles outbreak, a sad example of how certain people use psychology to deceive and manipulate others. Once we understand how people use psychology for deception, we can start to...

Jun 2017

Cool new child development research!

I've had a packed couple of weeks hearing about a lot of interesting science and psychology research! I went to the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) conference in Austin, TX, where I heard many fascinating research findings, got to hang out with friends in the area, and ate my weight in barbecue and donuts. I love conferences for the...

Jun 2017

How do family and friends affect my health?

As promised, we’re going to talk about what protects us from stress and improves our physical and mental health. This topic is especially interesting to me, and I hope it will be to you, too!I’m sure all of us have been in a scenario similar to the following: You’re at home sitting on your couch after a long day. You’re in a bit of a bad mood, feeling...

Jun 2017

Does childhood stress affect mental health, too?

You might have noticed that when something bad happens in your life – you lose a job, go through a breakup, or someone close to you passes away – you’re more likely to feel sad. It probably doesn’t take a psychologist to point that one out! However, the more bad things that happen to you, especially the bad things that are really severe (like being...

Jun 2017

Does stress during childhood affect children's current and future physical health?

I remember having a lightbulb moment my first summer after finishing high school. I was working in my rural South Dakota hometown as a nurse aide in our hospital, trying to get as much experience in the medical field as possible before starting college as a pre-med student. Since it was a small community hospital, I got see a wide range of medical problems...

Jun 2017