News
Professor Larisa Heiphetz has been awarded the Society for Research in Child Development Early Career Research Contributions Award, given to faculty who have "distinguished themselves as researchers and scholars, as evidenced through research, publications, and scholarly activities."
Professor Mariam Aly has been awarded an NSF Career Award, which is a "Foundation-wide activity that offers the National Science Foundation's most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization."
Maya Rossignac-Milon and Kate Turetsky are both the recipients of the Heritage Dissertation Awards. This award recognizes outstanding dissertation proposals in personality and/or social psychology. The award is made possible by the Heritage Wall of Fame initiative of The Foundation for Personality and Social Psychology and additional funding by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.
Attend the Fall Majors Forum to learn more about program planning, get to know other Psychology and Neuroscience & Behavior majors, and prepare for Spring registration!
We are very pleased to announce that we are launching three job searches this fall -- in developmental psychology, behavioral neuroscience, and cognitive neuroscience. The job ads are posted below. Our goal is to get a large pool of excellent candidates for each of the positions, and we're particularly interested in candidates who can contribute to the diversity goals of the Department and the University as a whole.
You are invited the the public presentation of the Global Commission on Drug Policy’s new report on Wednesday, September 26th from 4:00PM - 6:00PM in the Seminar Level Event Space on the 2nd Floor of Faculty House at Columbia University. This event is in conjunction with the Department of Psychology and the Mailman School of Public Health. Please see the attached flyer for more information.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Svetlana Komissarouk, interviewed with "Voice of America" on August 17th. The interview focuses on the motivational and cultural differences of the so-called "sandwich" generations in USA and post-Soviet counties. You can find the interview and learn more by clicking here.
It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our dear colleague Walter Mischel on September 12, 2018. He was the Robert Johnston Niven Professor Emeritus of Humane Letters.
Professor Mischel is revered for his work in self-regulation. He is the author of the popular book The Marshmallow Test: Mastering Self-Control. In it, he describes his groundbreaking studies of young children in the 1960s and 1970s, during which they were given the choice between receiving one immediate treat and receiving two treats 15 minutes later. The tactics used by the youngsters to distract themselves had implications for delayed gratification in adults. For example, when faced with the urge to smoke or a choice between arguing versus compromise, Mischel recommended keeping a goal in mind and focusing on the consequences of losing self-control.
Mischel was born in Vienna but left with his family in 1938 in response to the Nazi annexation of Austria. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where he attended New York University (B.A. in psychology) and City College of New York (M.A. in clinical psychology). He then went on to receive his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from The Ohio State University in 1956. Mischel served on the faculty at the University of Colorado, Harvard University, Stanford University and Columbia University in the City of New York.
"Walter was a living legend in psychology yet a humble mentor and colleague. We will miss him dearly." said Carl Hart, chair of Department of Psychology and the Ziff Professor of Psychology (In Psychiatry).
Mischel is survived by his partner, Michele Tolela Myers; daughters, Judy, Rebecca and Linda; and his grandchildren. Donations in memory of Walter Mischel can be directed to the Celiac Disease Center
Professor Mischel was recently invited to speak in this year's colloquium series. Below is his email sent in response to the invitation. In it, he points to a mechanism for highlighting his work. The link to which he referred is listed below.
" ..I don't do ... formal talks any more. Maybe show the APS Video interview, In the Psychologist's Studio (its at least one hour) and then discuss it further with questions from Nim, Valerie, students etc.?
In 2020, if alive, I turn 90. Might be fun then :-).
I really appreciate your interest."
Professor Larisa Heiphetz has been awarded the 2018 International Social Cognition Network Early Career Award. The award recognizes Professor Heiphetz as a creative and productive young social psychologist, conducting high-impact work on core questions in social cognition.
Professor Shige Oishi has been awarded The Carol and Ed Diener Award in Social Psychology. The award is designed to recognize a mid-career scholar whose work has added substantially to the body of knowledge to the social psychology field and/or bring together personality psychology and social psychology.
All Psychology Postbacs, Psychology Majors & Concentrators, and Neuroscience & Behavior Majors are encouraged to attend, as well as any student with an interest in research opportunities in the Department.
Beginning in Fall 2018, PSYC UN1010 Mind, Brain, & Behavior will no longer be offered. We will instead offer a new course, PSYC UN2430 Cognitive Neuroscience, which will cover most of the same content as UN1010 but at a more appropriately intermediate level.
Michelle VanTieghem, doctoral student in the Developmental Affective Neuroscience Lab (PI: Tottenham), has been awarded an NRSA (F31) grant from the National Institute for Mental Health
Dr. Nim Tottenham and some of her colleagues were recently interviewed on a episode of Circle of Willis titled "Children at the Border" to discuss the developmental consequences of the new US Immigration policy that separates children from their parents once they enter the United States.
The audio recording of the discussion can be found by clicking the link below:
Applications open. Please submit here. Be sure to be in contact with a member of the Psychology faculty to confirm support for your research before submitting your application.