My daughter Karen is presenting at the Reputation Institute in New Orleans today, but later this month, she and her sister Kristin will be attending & presenting at The Association for Psychological Science Convention in Washington D.C.
Here is what I am reading today:
“Wine connoisseurs recognize the vintage at the first sip, artists see subtle color variations and the blind distinguish the finest surface structures. Why are they considered superior to non-specialists in their field?”
“Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee have for the first time successfully characterized the earliest structural formation of the disease type of the protein that causes Huntington’s disease. The incurable, hereditary neurological disorder is always fatal and affects one in 10,000 Americans.”
“It stands to reason that a well-loved child can become a loving adult. But what prepares us to make a strong commitment and work out differences with an intimate partner? And what happens when one person is more committed than the other?”
“Convergence: connecting levels of analysis in psychological science. In the past of field harbored distinct and often competing schools of thought that tackled different problems and produced findings that often appeared to diverge. Today, investigators attack shared problems at complementary levels of analysis and produce results that converge. Studies of people in the social world, mental systems of cognition and emotion, and biological mechanisms of the genome and the nervous system interconnect and yield an integrated psychological science. The 23rd annual APS Convention displays, and celebrates these advances in our field.”
7 Comments
Annadavis · May 21, 2011 at 12:08 pm
On “Learning by interpreting the details”:
As usual, this article prompts numerous questions in my mind. I wondered about the ages of the participants. Learning has to occur differently at different ages (as a result of decreased plasticity) — yes? Speaking of plasticity, does this study suggest that when it comes to learning, the prefrontal cortex remains more plastic than the visual center?
Vix · May 21, 2011 at 5:03 pm
I am very proud of Karen. She has been doing well in school and I appreciate that.
nreyes · May 21, 2011 at 5:23 pm
“Love That Endures”
I especially enjoyed this article because in this current stage of life, relationships and commitments are likely to play a more important factor in college life than any other developing period I’ve lived through. In reading this, it made me aware that some factors to look into a successful relationship is the compatibility and level of commitment my romantic partner and I choose to go. This article shows that the kind of relationship that sees more of teamwork and cooperation, rather that the relationship that allows one member to take upon the stronger role (which therefore can result in disparate commitments), is proven more successful in family and parenting skills. This is something definitely I would share with friends who seem to be looking for “Mr. Right”!
corrieesmon · May 22, 2011 at 8:57 pm
on “Love that endures”
I struggled in relationships all through my life, I grew up in a far than perfect house and there just was no love really. My mom and I were close though.
It took 20 plus years of dating and 3 failed marriages for me to get it right finally. I always looked for the relationships I knew couldn’t last. The real jerks for boyfriend type.
Robert Landon · May 22, 2011 at 10:04 pm
The article regarding Huntington’s Disease appears to be great news! I found a couple parts of this article to be interesting in particular. The research materials (HFIR, Bio-SANS) appears to be a great method that will potentially help researchers find more about the nature of other protein diseases, which is great news. Also, the author only briefly mentions that, “researchers think the clumping may actually be a kind of biological housecleaning.” I wonder why the brain would make deposits over the toxic material, rather than attempting to break it down? It seems that the plaque formation is a lose-lose situation rather than a potential solution. Definitely an interesting article.
noheli20 · May 22, 2011 at 11:05 pm
Huntington’s Disease Protein
After attending the genetic counseling presentation given by the club I am currently in called the Huntington disease awareness project, I found this to be outstanding news! this breakthrough is remarkable. the first sub-nanoscale snapshots of HD protein, now that they are familiar with the stucture they can start looking for a cute! I cant believe that researchers believe Bio-SANS will help for the study of other protein aggregation processes, involved in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, i am so excited about the up coming news in this. these 3 diseases have played a big role in my family, it is something i have become really passionate about finding new research for. Thank you so much for sharing this article with us
noheli20 · May 22, 2011 at 11:18 pm
what happens when one person is more committed than the other? this is one of the most pro-founding questions in relationships.
it has been my personal observation that the person who loves the least is the person that holds the power in the relationship.
in this article they stated this in a different way but i thought it was relatively the same as my conclusions. They stated that “when a weak link and a strong link pair up, the one with less investment has more influence” I think it is very interesting that they studied that the strong links come from a supportive and involved mothering in childhood, and in contrast a weak link is someone with one of their foots out of the door. A relationships has always been seen as something that has to be 50% 50% in order to be successful, however in my opinion, I rather give 100 % of myself and expect nothing in return, i wouldnt want to just give 50% . people might think that my strategy would be unsucceful, but in reality, i would want to find a strong link that would also think the same way i do and give me 100% . It is a different way of thinking but it is just something i have come to realize over the years, I do not want to just meet “half way”
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