By Susan L. Serbin, Correspondent

Garnet Valley School District will hold a program focused on the overall well-being of all youngsters. The Monday, Oct. 8 evening at Garnet Valley High School will include a Behavior Health Fair from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., followed by a presentation by nationally known speaker Horacio Sanchez.

Sanchez, author of What Every Parent Should Know, will discuss stress reduction, bullying prevention and brain-based learning, all prime topics in the educational and social development of youngsters.

Sanchez has been a teacher, school administrator, clinician, and mental health director and is now the president and CEO of Resiliency, Inc. His work combines brain research, science, and practice to create a revolutionary framework for understanding childhood development, disorders, and treatment. He is the author of A Mentors Guide to Promoting Resiliency and A Brain-Based Approach to Closing the Achievement Gap, and is considered one of the foremost authorities on child and adolescent behavioral disorders and resiliency practice.

Parents are encouraged to attend the session which is sponsored by REACH 211, an organization of school district personnel and parents working together to promote the strength of each student and the community.

Sanchez, author of What Every Parent Should Know, will discuss stress reduction, bullying prevention and brain-based learning, all prime topics in the educational and social development of youngsters.

Sanchez has been a teacher, school administrator, clinician, and mental health director and is now the president and CEO of Resiliency, Inc. His work combines brain research, science, and practice to create a revolutionary framework for understanding childhood development, disorders, and treatment. He is the author of A Mentors Guide to Promoting Resiliency and A Brain-Based Approach to Closing the Achievement Gap, and is considered one of the foremost authorities on child and adolescent behavioral disorders and resiliency practice.

Parents are encouraged to attend the session which is sponsored by REACH 211, an organization of school district personnel and parents working together to promote the strength of each student and the community.

Continued here:
Youth behavioral expert to speak at Garnet Valley

FORT WORTH, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Active-duty servicemembers are responding to the ongoing economic turmoil by shifting to a less risky approach to family finances.

The First Command Financial Behaviors Index reveals that 52 percent of middle-class military families (senior NCOs and commissioned officers in pay grades E-6 and above with household incomes of at least $50,000) are taking a more conservative attitude toward money as a result of the economy. Top fiscal strategies reported by middle-class military families include:

This more conservative approach to spending and investing comes at a time with many middle-class military families are reporting strong feelings of financial security month to month. The Index reveals that 52 percent of survey respondents do not feel financially stretched and 41 percent feel extremely or very secure financially.

Amid continuing news reports of a global economic crisis and defense downsizing, military families are taking control of their own financial well-being, said Scott Spiker, CEO of First Command. We are seeing a focus on the kinds of conservative spending, saving and investing behaviors that can help active-duty families lower their monetary risks. And as a result they are feeling better about their monthly finances.

About the First Command Financial Behaviors Index

Compiled by Sentient Decision Science, Inc., the First Command Financial Behaviors Index assesses trends among the American publics financial behaviors, attitudes and intentions through a monthly survey of approximately 530 U.S. consumers aged 25 to 70 with annual household incomes of at least $50,000. Results are reported quarterly. The margin of error is +/- 4.3 percent with a 95 percent level of confidence. http://www.firstcommand.com/research

About Sentient Decision Science, Inc.

Sentient Decision Science was commissioned by First Command to compile the Financial Behaviors Index. SDS is a behavioral science and consumer psychology consulting firm with special vertical expertise within the financial services industry. SDS specializes in advanced research methods and statistical analysis of behavioral and attitudinal data.

About First Command

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Economy Prompts Military Families To Reduce Financial Risks, First Command Reports

PORTLAND, OR and SANTA CLARA, CA--(Marketwire - Oct 2, 2012) - DEMO Fall 2012 - Tellagence today is launching a new technology able to predict how information moves across and within any network: social networks, enterprise networks, and eventually, closed networks like the government.The company's first product, Tellagence for Twitter, will be unveiled today at DEMO.

Tellagence is the first enterprise technology to successfully unite human behavioral science with big data computer modeling. By injecting context into the analysis of online connections and conversations, Tellagence can accurately determine the ideal online relationships and most relevant network equations that will motivate individuals to pass along, and ultimately lead people to act upon, your messages.

While many businesses use social media to communicate to their audiences, information delivery is typically based on two flawed practices: Intuition (or gut), which does not systematically analyze relationship context; or Influencers, which blindly targets individuals based on the number of followers they have in an assigned nexus.

Tellagence uniquely bases its solution on the science of human behavior, and is able to:

The result: Tellagence can accurately predict -- and thus identify -- the perfect combination of relationships and information for the most effective, and efficient, delivery of a message.

"Ironically, it is our understanding of the constant presence of change among online relationships that allows us to drive more accurate, effective message delivery," said Matt Hixson, CEO and co-founder of Tellagence. "We are able to effectively predict word of mouth behavior within the millions of big data transactions and help companies predict how to extend their messages and reach their most effective and natural advocates.

"It's like the weather. Just because it rained the last five days doesn't mean it will rain tomorrow.And just because someone talked about, say, the iPhone 5 last week doesn't mean they will talk about it next week.We can help predict the weather for communications, essentially.Many companies are trying, but to our knowledge we are the only company that has successfully taken data prediction to this level and scope."

Tellagence is currently in beta with several major enterprise companies as well as social and interactive agencies.

For a complete look at information on Tellagence, visit our online press page at: Tellagence.com/the-company

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Tellagence Launches Industry-First Technology to Predict Network Behavior

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Washington, D.C. campus of The Chicago School of Professional Psychology (TCSPP) the largest nonprofit, private graduate school devoted exclusively to psychology and related behavioral science will hold its first commencement ceremony October 12 with keynote speaker The Honorable James Kimonyo, ambassador of Rwanda to the U.S. The graduates will be comprised of nearly all women and at least half minority, and will be earning master's degrees in counseling and forensic psychology.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100518/DC07134LOGO)

"The Chicago School of Professional Psychology is honored to have such a distinguished diplomat as Ambassador Kimonyo to provide instrumental guidance to our first graduating class," said Orlando Taylor, Ph.D., president of TCSPP Washington, D.C. campus. "Our students are walking away with not just degrees, but also a global perspective that gives them priceless opportunities to apply their knowledge in diverse communities anywhere in the world."

The institution's Washington campus serves approximately 300 students a little more than 40 percent are African American and nearly 80 percent women and the population is growing exponentially as more students from the local region and nationally enroll at the richly diverse campus.

"We are extremely proud of our first group of students to graduate at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology's Washington, D.C. campus," said Dr. Michele Nealon-Woods, TCSPP's national president. "They are now equipped with invaluable tools from both the classroom and thousands of hours of real-world experience to serve diverse communities and make a truly meaningful difference."

The campus is also preparing to launch its "Center for African Psychology" early next year, where students will have the opportunity to broaden their perspective by visiting African countries to study diverse cultures, and the campus, in turn, will host international students, faculty and partners. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology has a growing international student body with students attending the institution from more than 30 countries. The institution recently announced the winners of its first Global Impact Scholarship, which encourages students to share their journey from their home country, and explore how their experiences combined with their education can give them the tools to apply psychological principles to international settings.

About The Chicago School of Professional Psychology Founded in 1979, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology (TCSPP) is the largest nonprofit, private graduate school devoted exclusively to psychology and related behavioral sciences. It serves more than 4,300 students across campuses in Chicago; Southern California (L.A., Irvine, Westwood); and Washington D.C. The institution is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, and its Clinical Psychology doctoral program in Chicago is accredited by the American Psychological Association. A member of the National Council of Schools and Programs of Professional Psychology, TCSPP is recognized for its distinguished service and outstanding contributions to cultural diversity and advocacy. Its community service initiatives have also earned it recognition on the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for five consecutive years. With more than 20 graduate degree programs, thousands of hours of real-world training, and a wealth of international opportunities, TCSPP is a leader in professional psychology education. To learn more, visit http://www.thechicagoschool.edu.

Contact: Carol Soudah (213) 615-7292 csoudah@thechicagoschool.edu

SOURCE The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

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Rwandan Ambassador to Address First Graduating Class at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology's Washington, D ...

Public release date: 1-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Lori Lennon l.lennon@neu.edu 617-680-5129 Northeastern University College of Science

BOSTON, Mass.-- Fluoxetine was the first drug approved by the FDA for major depressive disorder (MDD) in children and adolescents, and to this date, it remains one of only two selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) registered for treatment of MDD in children and adolescents, despite reports that indicate this class of drugs is associated with side effects, such as agitation, hostility and aggression.

SSRIs have been amongst the most widely prescribed medications in psychiatry for over a decade. While there is a wealth of information regarding their effectiveness and safety in adults, considerably less data exists regarding whether they are safe for children.

A study published in Behavioral Neuroscience by Prof. Richard Melloni of Northeastern University shows that repeated administration of a low dose of fluoxetine to adolescent hamsters dramatically increased offensive aggression and altered the development of brain areas directly associated with controlling the aggressive response. "These data show clearly that repeated exposure to fluoxetine during adolescence directly stimulates aggressive responding and alters the normal development of two important brain systems, i.e., the serotonin and vasopressin neural systems, in a fashion consistent with the expression of the highly aggressive behavioral characteristics."

For over a decade, Prof. Melloni and his team have researched the neural and behavioral consequences of illicit drugs and prescribed medications on the adolescent brain. Importantly, the data collected during the study indicates that clinically relevant doses of fluoxetine, when administered during adolescent development, can dramatically alter the wiring of brain circuits implicated in aggression control. "These data support the notion that interactions between adolescent fluoxetine and the developing vasopressin neural system might underlie fluoxetine-induced aggressive behavior and hint that serotonin, perhaps by acting on vasopressin neurons, may play a more permissive role in this response."

###

For more information on this study, please contact:

Lori Lennon Communications Coordinator/Senior Writer College of Science Northeastern University 617/373.7686 617/680.5129 (cell) l.lennon@neu.edu

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Fluoxetine increases aggressive behavior, affects brain development among adolescent hamsters

To a working scientist, the idea of writing a book can seem daunting. Is it possible to squeeze in writing on top of the research, teaching, and administrative responsibilities that already fill up the day? But many scientists can, and do, author books, whether they be textbooks, nonfiction for a general audience, or other literary departures from the usual grant proposals, research manuscripts, and review articles.

Its infinitely more work than you think, and its also much more satisfying, says Anne Houtman, a behavioral ecologist and head of the School of Life Sciences at the Rochester Institute of Technology, who co-authored the textbook Environmental Science for a Changing World. Ive published a lot of papers, but theres something different about holding a book in your hand, she adds.

Sometimes books come out of teaching a course for which there is no suitable textbook. Or maybe theres something youve always been curious about that you want to explore more deeply than your own research allows. I wrote about the mystery of altruism, says Oren Harman, chair of the Graduate Program in Science, Technology and Society at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, and the author of The Price of Altruism: George Price and the Search for the Origins of Kindness (which won a Los Angeles Times Book Prize for the best science book of 2010 and was featured in The Scientist, September 2011). This is an issue I had been thinking about since I was a kid, he says. I found that kind of passion to be a great way to embark upon a writing project.

The Scientist spoke with researchers turned authors, science journalists, book publishers, and even the editors who hold significant sway over the book youll end up writing. Heres what they had to say.

Wait for tenure For the purposes of a tenure committee, books are not considered peer-reviewed publications. Even though textbooks are often more peer-reviewed than anything youll ever write again in your life, Houtman saysevery single chapter is reviewed by a dozen academics, in addition to editorsthe work is not considered peer-reviewed, and therefore doesnt count toward tenure at most institutions.

Plus, adds Michael G. Fisher, executive editor for science and medicine at Harvard University Press, writing a book takes up so much time, people will wonder why you arent doing research.

Start small If youre interested in writing for a more general audience, one way to test the waters is to write shorter pieces, such as essays for The Chronicle of Higher Education (or The Scientist), op-eds for newspapers, or even book reviews for journals. Its a way to kind of exercise those muscles, says University of Minnesota evolutionary biologist Marlene Zuk, the author of several popular science books, most recently Sex on Six Legs: Lessons on Life, Love, and Language from the Insect World, from which she adapted an essay for the January 2012 issue of The Scientist. You should know that you like doing that kind of writing, and you should be able to do it in a way that people are going to find interesting.

Those interested in writing textbooks can also start small by writing individual chapters in edited books, adds Harvey Pough of the Rochester Institute of Technology, who has written several higher-level textbooks, including Vertebrate Life, the most widely used textbook for vertebrate zoology courses.

Prepare for endless edits If youre thinking about writing a textbook, keep in mind that it may never really be finished. Many textbooks, especially at the introductory level, require regular updating. Most biology textbooks are on a 3-year cycle, Houtman says. Thats good and thats bad. On the one hand, if it does well and you keep doing editions, then you have a revenue stream for a really long time. . . . This can be your retirement, she says. But that also means that as soon as you put it to press, its time to start preparing for the next edition.

Read You should read not only how-to tomes, but books that exemplify your intended genre. This is particularly true if you want to write for a general audience, says Zuk, who is often surprised to find colleagues who are interested in writing a popular book, but have not read any. Why would I have read them? Zuk recalls people asking. Im not part of that popular audience. But to get a feel for what a general audience likes, you have to become a part of it.

Excerpt from:
So You Want to Write a Book?

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/bfkv4d/encyclopedia_of) has announced the addition of Elsevier Science and Technology's new report "Encyclopedia of the Human Brain, Four-Volume Set" to their offering.

In the past decade, enormous strides have been made in understanding the human brain. The advent of sophisticated new imaging techniques (e.g. PET, MRI, MEG, etc.) and new behavioral testing procedures have revolutionized our understanding of the brain, and we now know more about the anatomy, functions, and development of this organ than ever before. However, much of this knowledge is scattered across scientific journals and books in a diverse group of specialties: psychology, neuroscience, medicine, etc. The Encyclopedia of the Human Brain places all information in a single source and contains clearly written summaries on what is known of the human brain.

Covering anatomy, physiology, neuropsychology, clinical neurology, neuropharmacology, evolutionary biology, genetics, and behavioral science, this four-volume encyclopedia contains over 200 peer reviewed signed articles from experts around the world. The Encyclopedia articles range in size from 5-30 printed pages each, and contain a definition paragraph, glossary, outline, and suggested readings, in addition to the body of the article. Lavishly illustrated, the Encyclopedia includes over 1000 figures, many in full color. Managing both breadth and depth, the Encyclopedia is a must-have reference work for life science libraries and researchers investigating the human brain.

Author:

Vilanayur Ramachandran is Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition and professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, San Diego. He is additionally an adjunct professor of biology at the Salk Institute.

Dr. Ramachandran obtained an MD from Stanley Medical College and PhD from Trinity College at the University of Cambridge, where he was elected a senior Rouse Ball Scholar.

He has received many honors and awards including a fellowship from All Souls College, Oxford, an honorary doctorate from Connecticut College, a Gold Medal from the Australian National University, and the Ariens Kappers Medal from the Royal Nederlands Academy of Sciences for landmark contributions in neuroscience.

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/bfkv4d/encyclopedia_of

Source: Elsevier Science and Technology

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Research and Markets: Encyclopedia of the Human Brain, Four-Volume Set

PeopleAnswers HR Solution to Help Hire Right Employees to Support Growth and Continue Quality In-Home Health Care

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PeopleAnswers and AccentCare, Inc., one of the nations largest home health care companies, today announced a new software licensing agreement. AccentCare will use PeopleAnswers HR solution for pre-employment selection to help identify and hire its sales and clinical management team across the companys 10-state service area.

Demand continues to rise for in-home health care services, a trend that fuels our rapid growth but never distracts us from our goal to provide patients, clients and their families with compassionate, quality care

Demand continues to rise for in-home health care services, a trend that fuels our rapid growth but never distracts us from our goal to provide patients, clients and their families with compassionate, quality care, said Chris Knipp, senior vice president and chief human resources officer, AccentCare. PeopleAnswers combines behavioral science with technology to create a sophisticated yet easy-to-use tool to help us identify high-caliber candidates for these critical roles who will fit our service-oriented culture and potentially advance within the company.

AccentCare will initially use PeopleAnswers employee assessment software to identify, select and hire sales, account management and clinician leadership personnel nationwide, roles critical to the companys success. To help select the best candidate matches, PeopleAnswers will identify the Behavioral DNA of existing employees in these roles to create customized, behaviorally based Performance Profiles. Hiring managers will use PeopleAnswers as a guide for interview content, onboarding, employee development and succession planning. PeopleAnswers will integrate with the applicant tracking system AccentCare currently uses to create a seamless recruitment process.

While the home health care industry readies itself for significant growth and change, AccentCare is preparing to succeed by ensuring it has the right staff on board, said Gabriel Goncalves, CEO and president, PeopleAnswers. The PeopleAnswers team has developed a patented, science-based HR solution proven to help managers hire the right candidates to enhance care while also improving employee retention.

About AccentCare

AccentCare, Inc., headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is one of the nations leaders in home health care services. Nearly 20,000 highly trained, dedicated professional caregivers provide comprehensive services that range from personal, non-medical care to skilled nursing, rehabilitation and hospice. AccentCare has over 125 locations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Washington.

About PeopleAnswers

PeopleAnswers, voted one of Dallas best places to work, provides patented next-generation, web-based talent assessment systems to help maximize the quality of every hire, reduce turnover and streamline the selection process. Clients are from multiple industries including financial services, healthcare, hospitality, property management and retail. For more information, please visit http://www.PeopleAnswers.com and http://blog.PeopleAnswers.com/.

Originally posted here:
AccentCare Selects PeopleAnswers for Pre-Employment Screening

(PR NewsChannel) / September 27, 2012 / LONDON

"Supermarket Shoppology" will help readers see through retail sales tricks and become a smarter shopper

Unpacking the bags from a trip to the supermarket can be a frightening reminder of exactly how much was just spent. According to Phillip Adcock, a behavioral expert with more than three decades of human analysis, supermarket bills are topped only by mortgages. His new book will help readers to become smart shoppers and cut down on the grocery bill without cutting down on the groceries.

Wanting to help people become smart shoppers based on innate scientific principles, Adcock has written Supermarket Shoppology: The Science of Supermarket Shopping, and a Strategy to Spend Less and Get More. The insight the book offers provides an insiders guide to the methods supermarkets use to influence shoppers, coupled with a logical method to retain control of the desire to spend by offering tips on how to save money.

The influence that stores have engineered results in the average household spending more in the supermarket than on anything else, except the mortgage, said Adcock.

Adcock feels that Supermarket Shoppology could become a Bible for those who are quick to throw the contents of every shelf into their shopping cart. The book aims to explain what techniques the supermarkets use to influence even the most discerning shopper. It also offers sound techniques and strategies on how to save money by spending less and getting more, avoiding buyers remorse and spending more wisely.

Human evolution has a powerful effect on how we shop. In the book I explore the basis of our evolutionary development while explaining how it still drives us to the checkouts with full carts Adcock adds.

The explanation is followed by a logical and practical step-by-step approach to becoming smart shoppers, and becoming able to make more calculated decisions and ultimately develop into a wiser shopper with hard earned cash.

Readers will also be treated to an interesting insight into the process from the retailers end. With billions spent every year on marketing, advertising and research, all aimed at influencing the captive in-store audience, Adcock delivers advice for taking back control and not succumbing to the every wish of consumer engineers.

Put simply, Supermarket Shoppology aims to bring the fast-buying supermarket-a-holic back to their senses; turning them into more considerable shoppers with more money left in the bank and more in their kitchen cupboards Adcock concludes.

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Behavioral expert exploits tactics used by retailers, aids readers in becoming smart shoppers

CARY, N.C., Sept. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Leveraging 18 years of experience in studying and shaping human health behavior, MicroMass Communications has formed a new consulting practice to help life science companies meet the growing demand for patient-centricity, an approach that drives positive patient experiences and outcomes, both of which are critical areas of focus in the new healthcare environment.

The new division, the MicroMass Health Behavior Group (www.micromasshbg.com), specializes in identifying ways of motivating patients and other audiences to adopt behaviors that lead to better health outcomes. Behavioral science has always been central to MicroMass campaigns for full-service clients, but the newly formed Health Behavior Group will now provide consulting services, giving pharmaceutical companies greater access to the agency's unrivaled behavioral expertise.

"With patient-centricity affecting the entire healthcare sector, we developed a more robust agency model to help marketers arrive at effective business solutions," said Alyson Connor, MicroMass partner and senior vice president of strategic and behavioral sciences. "Many healthcare marketers seek patient insights and strategic counseling for specific campaigns, while others seek insights and counseling to drive their broader marketing efforts." She says the MicroMass Health Behavior Group is structured to meet both kinds of needs, leveraging the agency's extensive experience and intellectual property on human health behavior to help marketers better understand and shape customer behaviors.

Jessica Brueggeman to Lead New GroupJessica Brueggeman, a 12-year veteran of MicroMass, has been appointed to lead the new practice. As vice president, Health Behavior Group, she will oversee the agency's staff of behaviorists to deliver evidence-based business strategies that can be applied across multiple audiences, including patients, healthcare providers, caregivers and payers.

"We're seeing tremendous interest from clients and prospects in crafting a truly patient-centric approach to marketing," she said, noting that the future success of pharma companies will depend on how well they function as agents of behavioral change.

"As pharma shifts its focus from products to health outcomes, it's essential to understand what motivates patients to take appropriate actions regarding their health," she said. "Formalizing MicroMass's behavioral services into a dedicated consulting group gives us the opportunity to partner with clients to help them build new capabilities in behavior change."

Formerly director of behavioral services at MicroMass, Brueggeman brings extensive experience in behavioral science, public health, nursing and pharmaceutical marketing to her new role. She has worked in a wide range of therapeutic areas, including metabolic diseases, respiratory diseases, oncology, neurology and nephrology. She has also conducted research and written articles on a variety of health-behavior topics, including the MicroMass Metabolic Mindset study and an independent MicroMass analysis of patient support programs in 13 chronic diseases.

Brueggeman earned a Master of Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a Bachelor of Science in nursing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

About MicroMass Communications, Inc.MicroMass is a healthcare marketing agency specializing in digital, relationship marketing, and non-personal promotion. The company's unique expertise in human health behavior allows for the creation of highly effective solutions for patients and healthcare providers. Building off a foundation in behavioral science, MicroMass translates academic rigor into practical marketing solutions. Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Cary, N.C., MicroMass has created award-winning programs for some of the most respected names in the life sciences. For more information, visit http://www.micromass.com.

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MicroMass Launches Health Behavior Group to Help Life Science Companies Improve Patient Health Outcomes

September 21, 2012

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports Your Universe Online

Emotional memories can be erased shortly after they are formed through behavioral intervention alone, without the aid of medications, according to a new study published Thursday in the journal Science.

The breakthrough offers a major step forward in understanding where fearful memories are processed in the brain, and how to permanently erase them. The research could be particularly helpful for people suffering from conditions such as anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, the researchers said.

When a person learns something, a lasting long-term memory is created through a process of consolidation, which is based on the formation of proteins. When we remember something, the memory becomes unstable for a short time, and is then restabilized by another consolidation process. In other words, we are not remembering what originally happened, but rather what we remembered the last time we thought about what happened.

The studys researchers sought to examine whether disrupting the reconsolidation process that follows upon remembering something could affect the content of memory.

They showed a small group of study participants a neutral picture while simultaneously administering an electric shock so that the picture came to elicit fear, triggering the formation of a fear memory.

The same picture was then shown to the participants the following day, but without an accompanying shock, in order to activate this fear memory (the beginning of the reconsolidation process).

Although seeing the picture again reactivated the original fear memory, it also, theoretically, made the memory easier to erase.

The researchers then divided the subjects into two groups. The first subgroup was repeatedly shown the picture, without the shocks, in order to disrupt their reconsolidation process so they would stop associating one with the other.

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Fearful Memories Can Be Permanently Erased

Public release date: 30-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Elaine Bible ebible@sfsu.edu 415-405-3606 San Francisco State University

Leaders often use rousing speeches to evoke powerful emotions, and those emotions may predict when a group will commit an act of violence or terrorism, according to new research published in the journal Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression. Analysis of speeches delivered by government, activist and terrorist leaders found that leaders' expressions of anger, contempt and disgust spiked immediately before their group committed an act of violence.

"When leaders express a combination of anger, contempt and disgust in their speeches, it seems to be instrumental in inciting a group to act violently," said David Matsumoto, professor of psychology at San Francisco State University.

As part of a five-year project funded by the U.S. Department of Defense's Minerva Initiative, Matsumoto and colleagues studied the transcripts of speeches delivered by the leaders of ideologically motivated groups over the past 100 years. The analysis included such speeches as Osama bin Laden's remarks leading up to the bombings of embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

The researchers analyzed the pattern of emotions conveyed when leaders spoke about their rival group and examined speeches given at three points in time before a specific act of aggression. They compared the results with the content of speeches delivered by leaders whose groups engaged in nonviolent acts of resistance such as rallies and protests.

Among leaders of groups that committed aggressive acts, there was a significant increase in expressions of anger, contempt and disgust from 3 to 6 months prior to the group committing an act of violence. For nonviolent groups, expressions of anger, contempt and disgust decreased from 3 to 6 months prior to the group staging an act of peaceful resistance.

Matsumoto says the findings suggest a leader's emotional tone may cause the rest of the group to share those emotions, which then motivates the group to take part in violent actions.

"For groups that committed acts of violence, there seemed to be this saturation of anger, contempt and disgust. That combination seems to be a recipe for hatred that leads to violence," Matsumoto said.

Anger, contempt and disgust may be particularly important drivers of violent behavior because they are often expressed in response to moral violations, says Matsumoto, and when an individual feels these emotions about a person or group, they often feel that their opponent is unchangeable and inherently bad.

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Leaders' emotional cues may predict acts of terror or political aggression

R. Duncan Luce, a UC Irvine mathematical psychologist who received the National Medal of Science in 2005 for his pioneering scholarship in behavioral sciences, died Aug. 11 at his home in Irvine after a brief illness, the university announced. He was 87.

In 1988, Luce founded and became director of UC Irvine's Institute for Mathematical Behavioral Sciences. He was later named distinguished research professor in cognitive sciences and economics.

His work, according to the university, combined formal math models with psychological experiments to try to understand and predict human behavior, including how individuals and groups make decisions. His studies of decision making and game theory have been applied to the fields of economics, social sciences, psychology and other disciplines.

Luce explained that in his studies he assigned numerical values to psychological experiences and sensory events to allow researchers to accurately measure and compare the occurrences to one another.

For example, light perception can be described in varying degrees from dim to brilliant, with each stage receiving its own numerical figure. Other human experiences could be treated similarly.

"When you can represent these numerically, then you can start writing equations and using the kind of mathematics the physical sciences have generated," Luce said in a 1989 interview with the Orange County Register.

Robert Duncan Luce was born May 16, 1925, in Scranton, Pa., and majored in aeronautical engineering while enrolled in the Navy's accelerated V-12 training program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After World War II, he returned to MIT and switched to mathematics for his doctorate.

"I remember telling my parents I decided to go to graduate school in mathematics," Luce said in the 1989 interview. "My father shook his head and reminded me of the PhDs who were selling apples on the street during the Depression. He thought it was very ill-advised and not a good way to make money. Later on, things turned out reasonably well and he changed his view."

Luce did research at MIT, Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania and the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton before joining UC Irvine's social sciences department in 1972. A few years later he left for Harvard University, where he became chairman of the psychology department. Irvine lured him back in 1988.

Among his academic publications are "Individual Choice Behavior," widely used as a college textbook, and "Games and Decisions," a 1957 study of game theory written with Howard Raiffa.

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R. Duncan Luce dies at 87; UC Irvine mathematical psychologist

Vampire behavioral science and setup work for next week's season-ender were the name of the game in this week's episode of "True Blood," as most of the cast converges on Authority headquarters for the grand finale.

Hive-minded idealists Bill's rapid evolution from sensitive gentleman to power-hungry Lilith freak is one of the weirdest things to happen this season... and apparently, we're not the only ones who think so. Jessica, newly arrived at Authority headquarters, is shocked to see how her maker has changed. Her pleas to return to Bon Temps to warn Sookie and Jason of the Russell threat fail to sway him, and when she tries a bluff that appeals to Bill's newfound faith (giving Jason Stackhouse the gift of fangs), he calls her out with sneering superiority and sends her out to make good on it.

Instead, Jessica slips stakes her security detail and runs for Fangtasia, where Pam gives her a hiding place and us some long-awaited exposition. Namely: nesting behavior, which causes a group of vampires living in one home to act as catty and exclusive as a table of eighth grade mean girls. And at the Authority, the nest has been kicked into overdrive by blood-of-Lilith use... which explains not only Bill's devolvement into this season's biggest douche canoe, but also why the chancellors keep having visions of the bloodied and be-merkin-ed Lilith standing in various hallways and personally selecting them to lead the cause.

But not every Authority figure is on the train to Crazytown. Haunted by visions of the ghostly and disappointed Godric, Nora runs to Eric who, unlike the rest, has been faking his zealotry for forgiveness and makeup sex. And when a pissed-off visiting dignitary from the U.S. government presents an opportunity, Eric kills him and then takes off with Nora for a damage-control "glamouring campaign"... which is, of course, all a ploy to escape. And they do! Which is great, but considering that the big multi-cast-member finale looks to be taking place at the building they just left, they'll probably be back.

Where's Warlow? Back at the faerie bordello, Sookie looks for answers to her plight from an ancient elder faerie who, as Maurella explains, "operates on many frequencies at once" which is a nice way of saying that she's a dyed-in-the-wool weirdo. (She warns Sook that trouble is coming, but she also wants to know if she's "for or against" John Cougar Mellencamp and Boyz II Men.) The only thing that can sober her up? The news of Russell Edginton's return. The Elderfaerie vows that the Fae will fight, and when Russell and Steve find their way to the portal, it looks like she'll vanquish them post-haste... but no, the overconfident Elder makes a wild pitch, hits Jason Stackhouse with the vanquishing intended for Russell, and gets sucked to death in a matter of seconds. The bad news: no more mid-1990s R&B group references. The worse news: Russell's bellyful of blood means that he can now see the incredible, edible fae.

And now, your moment of zen Alcide. Shirtless. With an axe. You're welcome. And though we don't yet know what the werewolf's role in the final episode will be, Alcide and Daddy Herveaux have worked through their issues enough to tag team a marauding pack of babyvamps which sets them up nicely for whatever showdown is in store next week.

What did you think of this week's "True Blood"? Sound off in the comments and on Twitter!

Tags True Blood, TV Recaps

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'True Blood' Recap: 'Sunset'

The wave of new age technologies that are invading the enterprise hasspurred the debate on who sets IT user policy and how organizations cancontrol it. Richard H. Thaler, a Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics, in his paper- "Test, Adapt, Learn: Developing Public Policy with Randomised Controlled Trials" cites two principles that help policymakers create good policies that work for normal people:

- If you want to encourage some activity, make it easy.

- You can't make evidence-based policy decisions without evidence.

"These are exactly the principles that CIOs should apply when making decisions and rolling out a workforce technology, be it a social business and collaboration strategy, hardware refresh, tablet deployment, teleworking strategy, desktop virtualization program, or anyother technology program that touches a lot of employees," writes Ted Schadler, Vice President, Principal Analyst at Forrester Research in hisblog.

Be it full-fledged enterprise mobility or accessing corporate e-mail over the phone, there needs to be a specific set of rules and guidelinesincorporated in the user policy that defines who gets to do what, when and where. The conversation titled ' Who Sets IT User Policy? A CIO Power Panel Discussion' at the Computerworld IT Roadmap event held across the three cities of Bangalore Mumbai and Delhi threw up multiple points of view on the ownership of the policies, the implementers and how to gain maximum compliance.

While creating an effective IT user policy falls under the domain of IT, Sudhir Reddy, CIO, MindTree believes that it is not the sole responsibility of IT. "While a large portion of the responsibility restson the shoulder of IT, policy building is a very collaborative and consultative effort," he says.

Sunil Mehta, Sr. VP & Area Systems Director- Central Asia, JWTconcurs, "User policies cannot be developed by IT in isolation and willhave to be a consultative process with the departments involved. IT cannot the big daddy of the organization and dictate terms for everything".

The development of user policy is a balancing act since there are internal stakeholders other than the CIO within the organization and there are customers and external partners. Ranga Raj, CIO, CelStream states, "Organizations need to look at what makes sense keeping in mind the strategies of all parties involved".

Once the user policies are built collaboratively it needs to be communicated to the employees in an easily understandable format. The onus of ensuring user compliancedoes rest with IT. "Even though the development of the policy is a consultative effort, IT still owns it. There will be instances where IT will have to put its foot down and decide the course of action," says Guruprasad Murty, VP-IT & IS, Microland.

Mehta feels that, as the custodian of corporate data, it becomes the responsibility of IT to create the user policies in a way that the users are motivated to follow the guidelines. "We crunch our policies into 5 action points and send those to users along with the detailed policy document that is attached for their reference," he adds.

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Setting IT User Policies That Work

The University of Colorado announced today that it will be accepting proposals from qualified house movers and contractors to relocate three university-owned houses in Grandview Terrace.

The three houses -- 1220, 1243 and 1244 Grandview Avenue -- were all built in the 1920s and cannot be remodeled due to the cost, an estimated $2 million for all three properties. The buildings were vacated when faculty and staff with CU's Institute of Behavioral Science moved into a new building in 2010.

We don't want these buildings to become a neighborhood nuisance, and we want to give the public and members of the community an opportunity to relocate them if that is feasible and people are interested, said CU Interim Vice Chancellor for Administration Jeff Lipton in a statement.

CU originally notified the city in March that it planned to raze five buildings in Grandview Terrace unless someone from the city or residents stepped in to move the structures.

City spokeswoman Jody Jacobson said the city would not be putting in a bid, but is helping to find potential bidders.

"We would like to see these buildings preserved, but the city is not putting in a bid," she said.

The university is not accepting bids on the other two properties in that original memo and are not scheduled to demolish either building. The house at 1232 Grandview Ave. is currently being rented out and CU entered into an agreement with the city to take another look at alternative uses for the property at 1446 Broadway.

CU has no immediate plans to build on the properties, officials say, but instead will use the land for parking in the short term.

The five buildings are all located outside of the "Grandview Preserve," an area defined in a 2001 memorandum of agreement between the city and the university to protect historic buildings.

The university will accept proposals for relocation through Oct. 17. A proposal evaluation and selection period will then be conducted from Oct. 18 through Oct. 25, with contract award notifications going out on Oct. 29.

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CU-Boulder accepting bids to relocate 3 Grandview Terrace houses

Editor's Choice Main Category: Psychology / Psychiatry Article Date: 12 Jul 2012 - 14:00 PDT

Current ratings for: NLP - Eye Movements Don't Indicate Lying

5 (1 votes)

A lot of research has been done to establish whether there is a link between behavior and lying, but no one has looked into the popular notion that eye movement relates to whether a person is being truthful or not.

NLP advocates maintain that a person who is lying often looks up and to the left as you look at them, while a person telling the truth tends to look to the right. The relationship between eye movement and thought is an important part of the NLP framework, which is not only about reading other people but also learning to relate better to people, by having better communication skills.

Professor Richard Wiseman (University of Hertfordshire, UK) and Dr Caroline Watt (University of Edinburgh, UK) investigated the idea by filming volunteer test subjects, as they either lied or told the truth. Their eye movements were then assessed in detail following a predefined method of describing their movement.

In their second study, a different group of people were asked to watch the video recordings and see if they could detect the lies based on the volunteers' eye movements.

Wiseman described the findings as conclusive:

The researchers conducted another trial to cross-check their findings in the real world. They examined press conferences where people were claiming to be victims of crimes or appealing for missing people, where the outcomes were already known.

Dr Leanne ten Brinke noted that:

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NLP - Eye Movements Don't Indicate Lying

30-06-2012 10:25 Study Aid (assessment 1)

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Behavioral Science Study Aid - Video

SACRAMENTO Jacqueline N. Crawley, one of the world's foremost researchers in behavioral neuroscience and a leading investigator using mouse models to develop novel, targeted treatments for individuals with autism spectrum disorder, joins the faculty of the UC Davis School of Medicine and UC Davis MIND Institute in July as the Robert E. Chason Chair in Translational Research.

Crawley comes to UC Davis from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Intramural Research Program, where she led a large behavioral neuroscience laboratory. She is the recipient of numerous national and international awards and honors, including the Distinguished Investigator Award of the International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society; the Special Achievement Award of the National Institute of Mental Health; the National Institute of Mental Health Director's Award; and the Marjorie A. Myers Lifetime Achievement Award of the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society.

Cawley said that she chose to join the faculty at UC Davis because of the opportunity to work with outstanding MIND Institute researchers.

"The MIND Institute is internationally famous for its groundbreaking clinical research into early diagnosis and behavioral interventions for very young children with autism, basic science research into the biological causes of autism, and clinical trials of novel therapeutics for autism and fragile X syndrome," Crawley said. "I look forward to many productive collaborations between with clinical experts at the MIND Institute. Opportunities at the MIND Institute to observe the specific and diverse features of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders will enhance our development of the most analogous mouse behavioral assays. In addition, I anticipate synergistic interactions with MIND Institute investigators pursuing clinical trials with pharmacological interventions."

Crawley currently is engaged in translational research that uses mice genetically engineered to have mutations associated with autism spectrum disorder. Her laboratory at the NIMH developed mouse behavioral assays that mirror the diagnostic symptoms of autism in humans. These behavioral measures are employed to test investigational medications for reversal of social abnormalities, communication deficits, repetitive behaviors and motor stereotypies in the mouse models that are relevant to the core features of autism.

Breakthrough research by Crawley and her colleagues published recently in the journal Science Translational Medicine found that an investigational compound reversed behaviors in two mouse models with behavioral traits that resemble two of the three core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder. The drug successfully increased social interactions and decreased repetitive behaviors in the mouse models.

The work was a landmark achievement because, despite a validated increase in the prevalence of autism in the United States, now estimated at one in 88 children born today by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are no medications specifically developed to treat the condition. Symptoms frequently associated with autism are treated with a variety of medications designed for other neurodevelopmental or psychiatric diseases. For example, a study published earlier this year by the NIMH found that more than half of all school-aged children with autism in the U.S. used at least one psychotropic medication, such as antipsychotics to reduce aggression, stimulants to reduce hyperactive behavior, or mood-stabilizing medications for anxiety and depression.

The study by Crawley and her colleagues suggested that a single compound could effectively target multiple diagnostic symptoms in human subjects with autism.

"Dr. Crawley is one of the leading neuroscientists studying autism, and we are incredibly proud that she has chosen to join the faculty of the UC Davis MIND Institute," said Leonard Abbeduto, director of the MIND Institute. "She has created behavioral assays for documenting social impairment in mouse models of human disorders that are being used in laboratories around the world."

"Her research provides the critical link between researchers working to discover the causes of autism and those working to develop biomedical treatments," Abbeduto continued. "We fully expect that Dr. Crawley will help to accelerate the pace of translating the findings of MIND Institute scientists into efficacious treatments for the core symptoms of autism and related neurodevelopmental disorders."

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Renowned neuroscientist joins MIND Institute

Enlarge Georges Gobet/AFP/Getty Images

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso delivers a press conference after a second day of the European Union leaders summit in Brussels on June 29. Leaders from the 17 countries sharing the euro sealed a dramatic deal Friday to direct emergency measures at crisis-hit Italy and Spain and boost the embattled economy, sending markets sharply upwards.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso delivers a press conference after a second day of the European Union leaders summit in Brussels on June 29. Leaders from the 17 countries sharing the euro sealed a dramatic deal Friday to direct emergency measures at crisis-hit Italy and Spain and boost the embattled economy, sending markets sharply upwards.

Uri Friedman is an associate editor and Hillary Hurd is an editorial researcher at Foreign Policy.

"As a general rule, meetings make individuals perform below their capacity and skill levels," Reid Hastie, a professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, once wrote. "[P]lease, don't just call a meeting and hope the magic happens. Take charge and take personal responsibility for meeting its objectives, whatever they are."

It's advice that European Union leaders would have done well to consider as they kicked off a closely watched two-day summit in Brussels on Thursday, while Italy and Spain watch their cost of borrowing soar. With France and Germany at odds about whether to address the European debt crisis by pooling eurozone debt or better integrating the region financially and politically, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has already tried to tamp down expectations for this week's summit, which is expected to produce a stimulus package and plans for a banking union.

"There is no quick solution and no simple solution," she warned in Berlin on Wednesday. "There is no one magic formula... with which the government debt crisis can be overcome in one go."

The thing is, when it comes to major EU summits in Brussels, the region's heads of state haven't had one go they've had roughly 20 since 2010 (albeit with a changing cast of characters, as 14 of the 27 EU countries have switched leaders since the debt crisis began). And if the previous crisis-management meetings are any guide, we should expect this week's summit to be long on talk of turning points and short on game-changing results. Here's a look at what European leaders have accomplished in their previous gatherings and how they've chosen to frame those achievements.

Action: European leaders discuss troubling developments in Greece, which recently announced that its debt had reached the highest level in the country's modern history and unveiled austerity measures to slash the soaring budget deficit.

Assurances: In a joint statement, the assembled heads of state pledge to "take determined and coordinated action, if needed, to safeguard financial stability in the euro area as a whole." They call on Greece to cut spending and add that "the Greek government has not requested any financial support."

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Foreign Policy: EuroFail