Improving childhood learning using interactive media

Heather Kirkorian, Laura M. Secord Chair in Early Childhood Development and Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Wisconsin—Madison began her career as a developmental psychologist at UMass Amherst under the mentorship of Professor Emeritus Dan Anderson. They explored the effects of educational media on childhood learning and attention, seeking out ways to make programming more beneficial.

UMass Amherst research aims to help equip teachers to engage in crucial conversations

Across the U.S., K-12 public school teachers face significant psychological barriers to discussing issues of race and racism with their students, according to new research by a University of Massachusetts social psychologist.

Linda Tropp, professor of psychological and brain sciences, examined how teachers’ implicit racial biases and concerns about appearing racist may affect their intentions and confidence about engaging their students in race talk. The findings were recently published online by the journal Social Psychology of Education.

People diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) can exhibit problem behaviors that result from impulsivity. PhD Student Elinor Waite and Associate Professor Katherine Dixon-Gordon of the Clinical Affective Science Lab (CASL) have theorized that during these impulsive moments, an individual may not have learned from the negative consequences of their past actions. The researchers wanted to find out if emotions affect learning in a way that makes processing potential consequences more difficult. Their study, published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, focused on people at-risk of engaging in suicidal behaviors, testing whether their emotional state could ultimately impede decision-making.

UMass Amherst researchers are implementing NIH-supported, family-centered program to aid immigrants in the U.S.

After years of working with Bhutanese community members in Western Massachusetts, a team led by a University of Massachusetts Amherst researcher has developed a peer-led, family-centered preventive intervention to reduce stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms and promote mental health among immigrants in the U.S.