Issues

Spring 2015

50 years later, recalling a founder of Head Start A half century ago, Cornell developmental psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner gave Congressional testimony that eventually led to the creation of the Head Start program.

Language-loss study reveals early signs of Alzheimer's disease Loss of early childhood language skills, rather than those skills attained later in life, might be a predictor for Alzheimer's disease, according to a new Cornell study.

Stephen Ceci elected to National Academy of Education Stephen Ceci, Cornell’s Helen L. Carr Professor of Developmental Psychology, has been elected to the National Academy of Education for his outstanding scholarship on education.

18 Cornellians win SUNY Chancellor's Awards for Excellence Eighteen students, faculty and staff in Cornell's contract colleges have won State University of New York (SUNY) Chancellor's Awards for Excellence for 2015.

Lehman Fund makes 10 awards for China Study Fourteen Cornell scholars received 2015 awards from the Jeffrey S. Lehman Fund for Scholarly Exchange with China.

Prevailing over pain Human Ecology's Translational Research Institute for Pain in Later Life, received a $1.95 million grant from National Institute on Aging.

Anthony Burrow among faculty saluted by OADI
Cornell’s Office of Academic Diversity Initiatives held its second annual awards, named after George Washington Fields and 9 other Cornellian trailblazers.

Students in the News

Smart choice: Award-winning app connects patients and hospitals
Department of Human Development graduate, Anna Zhu '14, developed an app to help patients find the hospital that best matches their health needs.

HD Students present their research at 30th CURB forum
HD students were among the 120 undergraduates who presented their research at Duffield Hall as part of the annual event hosted by the Cornell Undergraduate Research Board (CURB)

New Resources

Urie: The scientist who remade the field of human development Fifty years after the launch of Head Start, Urie Bronfenbrenner-one of the architects of the federal program for underserved families-is remembered as a giant in his field. Former students, research partners, and Cornell faculty members share their thoughts on the late Bronfenbrenner's legacy as a scholar, mentor, researcher, and champion for youth and families. Also in this issue: A tour through 150 Years of Big Red fashion; gerontologist Karl Pillemer's latest book, sharing elder wisdom on love and marriage; long-running, legendary courses in the College of Human Ecology; alumni and campus updates and special sesquicentennial content.

> The Memory Factory

Winter 2015

Fuzzy reasoning by patients may lead to antibiotic resistance
Valerie Reyna's "fuzzy-trace" theory explains why patients demand antibiotics even though they may be suffering from a virus.

Book urges scientists to wrestle with ethical dilemmas
A new book edited by Cornell psychologist Robert Sternberg, “Ethical Challenges in the Brain and Behavioral Sciences: Case Studies and Commentaries," offers real-world case studies.

Elder-to-elder abuse is common in nursing homes
Nearly one in five nursing home residents in 10 facilities across New York state were involved in at least one aggressive encounter with fellow residents during the four weeks prior to a study by researchers at Cornell and Weill Cornell.

Institute for the Social Sciences supports faculty research
Institute for the Social Sciences grants support several faculty research projects in human development, government, communication, engineering and anthropology.

Karl Pillemer to lead Bronfenbrenner Center
Cornell gerontologist Karl Pillemer will become director of the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research Jan. 15, taking over for John Eckenrode, who has been the center's director since it was founded in 2011.

Book offers advice for and by academic leaders
The new book "Academic Leadership in Higher Education: From the Top Down and the Bottom Up," co-edited by Cornell professor Robert Sternberg, offers advice for new faculty administrators.

Students in the News

Trenel Francis '16 analyzes 'hook-up culture'
While many college students may be familiar with the idea of “hooking up” as a routine social interaction, Francis analyzed the phenomenon more closely in a study she performed last summer with the University of Cincinnati.

New Resources

Elaine Wethington on Cities and the Life Course

Fall 2014

	Ceci, Williams find ‘changing landscape’ for women in science A comprehensive review of why female academics are underrepresented in math-intensive fields by Steve Ceci and Wendy Williams points to a surprising conclusion – bias in hiring and promotion is not the culprit – the roots of the problem begin much earlier.
	Young children actively transmit culture Social context influences children’s transmission of information, perhaps playing a role in the dissemination of cultural conventions from a young age, finds a recent study by Tamar Kushnir, Marianella Casasola, and graduate student Chris Vredenburgh.
	Reminiscing can help, not hinder, some mind-bending tasks New research led by Cornell neuroscientist Nathan Spreng shows for the first time that engaging brain areas linked to so-called “off-task” mental activities can actually boost performance on some challenging mental tasks.
	Sense of purpose might ease diversity anxiety Envisioning an increasingly diverse America causes anxiety for a lot of white people. Except, that is, whites with a defined “purpose in life,” a study by Anthony Burrow found.
	Gist, not rational analysis, cuts risky behavior Teaching adolescents to think more simply and categorically about risks helps them make healthier choices, finds a recently published, randomized experiment by Cornell psychologist Valerie Reyna.

Summer 2014

	Study cracks brain’s emotional code The human brain turns feelings them into a standard code that objectively represents emotions across different senses, situations and even people, reports a new study by Cornell neuroscientist Adam Anderson.
	Book lauds land-grant university model The land-grant university, 150 years after its inception, remains an extraordinary and compelling model for higher education, with ideas and ideals relevant to even the most elite academies, contends Robert Sternberg in “The Modern Land-Grant University.”
	Book examines hows and whys of economic choices Drawing on perspectives from the early roots of psychology through the latest neuroscience, the new volume edited by Valerie Reyna and graduate student Evan Wilhelms introduces what we know about how and why people make decisions with economic consequences.
	Poor neighborhoods – not poor parents – pack on pounds By age 2, poor children have gained more weight than those who are better off. But after age 2, neighborhood poverty, not family poverty, is linked to weight gain, finds a new study by Gary Evans.
	Girls’ perceptions drive sexual behavior Jane Mendle’s latest research suggests that genetic factors related to how sexually mature a girl thinks she is influence her sexual behavior, above and beyond her actual physical development.
	Online avatar helps demystify breast cancer risk Valerie Reyna and colleagues developed a computer-based system using artificial intelligence designed to mimic one-on-one human tutoring to help women understand breast cancer genetics.
	Kids’ earliest memories might be earlier than they think The very earliest childhood memories might begin even earlier than anyone realized – including the rememberer, his or her parents and memory researchers, according to new research by Qi Wang.
	Survey: ‘Mostly heterosexuals’ have more health problems The largest minority on the sexual-orientation spectrum – the mostly heterosexuals, estimated at around 7 percent of the general adult population – report more health problems than heterosexuals and somewhat fewer than bisexuals finds a review by Ritch Savin-Williams.
	Institute for the Social Sciences grants awards Nathan Spreng is among those who received research awards from the Insititute for the Social Sciences in the Fall of 2013 for research on Brain Network Dynamics.

Students in the News

	Win or lose, this computer game teaches biology Andrew Jefferson, a graduate student in the field of human development, is spearheading development of video games to teach young people about science.
	Undergrads convey their research prowess at forums More than 20 of the students presenting at the Cornell Undergraduate Research Forum were HD majors or worked with a professor in the department.

New Resources

	Embryos, stem cells, human meaning and policy
	Media Literacy

Spring 2014

	Study: Facial expressions evolved from optical needs The near-opposite facial expressions of fear and disgust are rooted in emotional responses that exploit how our eyes gather and focus light to detect an unknown threat, found a study by Cornell neuroscientist, Adam Anderson.
	Low-income home strife drives earlier teen sex Environmental influences – rather than genetic propensities – are more important in predicting the age when adolescents from stressful backgrounds become sexually active, reports a recent study by Jane Mendle.
	Adapted arthritis program boosts participation Enhancing an arthritis program’s content and delivery with help from community partners improved program attendance, while maintaining the same physical and mental health benefits as the original, reports a recent study by Cary Reid and Karl Pillemer.
	Child abuse and neglect rise with income inequality Income inequality increases the risk of child abuse and neglect according to a nationwide study by John Eckenrode and colleagues.
	Book highlights memory’s role as social glue Memory’s crucial impact on our ability to establish and maintain social bonds is the focus of Nathan Spreng’s new book.
	New institute focuses on human brain research The new Human Neuroscience Institute in Cornell’s College of Human Ecology, directed by Valerie Reyna, aims to advance research on the neural basis of human behavior.
	Study: Ads can influence ‘smart’ false memories Consumers who have a propensity to think more about decisions produce more false memories than those who process information at a more superficial level found a new study by Charles Brainerd and colleagues.
	New project to explore natural mentoring Steve Hamilton has received funding from the William T. Grant Foundation for a study that aims to improve our understanding of natural mentoring relationships.
	Young ‘pranksters’ skewed landmark sexuality study A widely cited study in the mid-1990s appears to have misrepresented the number of homosexual and bisexual youth potentially because questions were answered incorrectly either on purpose or through misunderstanding, according to Ritch Savin-Williams.

Students in the News

Hooking up for the ‘wrong reasons’ tied to poorer health
College students’ intentions for engaging in casual sex influence how it affects their mental and physical health, reports a recent study by graduate student Zhana Vrangalova.

New Resources

	Study reveals origins of facial expressions
	Sternberg on culture, intelligence and education
	Minority youth see science as a ticket up

Winter 2014

	Robert Sternberg joins Human Development’s faculty Psychologist Robert J. Sternberg has been appointed professor of human development at the College of Human Ecology, effective Feb. 1.
	Two neuroscientists join Human Development’s faculty Last fall, the department of Human Development welcomed two more neuroscience researchers, husband and wife Adam Anderson and Eve DeRosa, from the University of Toronto.
	Book debuts brain models of risky decision-making Valerie Reyna’s new book aims to help us understand the neural roots of bad decisions, synthesizing the research and introducing new models of brain function to explain and predict risky behavior.
	Sex abuse triggers early puberty and its problems Sexually abused girls reach puberty before other girls, a new study by Jane Mendle finds, and early puberty increases their risk of having emotional problems.
	Age changes how young children read social cues When learning from adults, children use social cues to figure out what actions are important, but they read these cues differently depending on their age reports a study by Tamar Kushnir.
	Scars of childhood poverty found in adult brain scans The chronic stress of childhood poverty can trigger physical changes that have lifelong psychological effects, a study of adult brains by Gary Evans has shown.
	Genes predispose some people to focus on the negative Some people are genetically predisposed to see the world darkly, according to a study by Adam Anderson.
	Study: Mom’s favorite child tends to stay the same Similarities in personal values and beliefs between an adult child and an older mother keeps that child in favor over the long-term, and that preference can have implications for mothers’ long-term care, reports a new study by Karl Pillemer.

Students in the News

New project aims to engage youth in neuroscience
Students in Reyna’s lab are working on a new initiative to translate her research into hands-on activities for teaching middle-school youth about the brain, health, and science.

New Resources

	HD faculty discuss neuroscience
	Juries and neuroscience expert evidence
	The self in time and culture – book talk
	Sexual fluidity of men and women
	Diverse brains: Difference is not always a deficit
	Decision quality and cognitive processing
	Demographics: sexual health
	Gender and sexual health series

Events

Book Talk: The Neuroscience of Risky Decision Making. February 10, 2014 from 12:00pm to 1:00pm, Mann Library, room 160.

Fall 2013

	Experts explore roots of healthy aging Researchers gathered on campus Oct. 3-4 for the Fourth Biennial Urie Bronfenbrenner Conference, “New Developments in Aging, Emotion and Health” to better understand the interplay between emotions and health across the lifespan.
	Breakthrough discerns normal memory loss from disease A new method for analyzing data from simple memory tests reliably distinguishes memory declines associated with healthy aging from the more-serious memory disorders years before obvious symptoms emerge.
	Memory-related brain network shrinks with aging Research by Nathan Spreng find that brain regions associated with memory shrink as adults age, and this size decrease is more pronounced in those who go on to develop neurodegenerative disease.
	Life purpose buffers bad moods triggered by diversity Being in the minority in an ethnically diverse crowd is distressing, regardless of your ethnicity, unless you have a sense of purpose in life, reports a study led by Anthony Burrow.
	Research finds kids share when it’s done by choice New research by Tamar Kusnir suggests that allowing children to freely choose to give valuable possessions to another leads them to share more in the future.
	Book shows how family, culture shape personal stories Qi Wang’s new book combines theory, research, examples and personal anecdotes to convey a message: The stories we remember and tell about ourselves are conditioned by one’s time and culture.
	Nearby daughter most likely to be mom’s caregiver Among adult siblings, the daughter who lives closest is the most likely to become the caregiver when their mother experiences health problems reports Karl Pillemer.

Students in the News

	Human Ecology students dive deep into research Undergraduates in the field of Human Development worked on summer research projects from child development to neuroscience.
	Undergrads go to camp – and study teen transitions A team of undergraduates working with Jane Mendle piloted a study testing expressive writing interventions with adolescent girls at 4-H Camp Bristol Hills this summer.
	Summer interns present research at poster session Six undergraduates in the field of human development were among the 26 students participating in the the CCE internship program this summer.

Summer 2013

	Study: Agents like Snowden prone to irrational decision-making U.S. intelligence agents – like the embattled Edward Snowden – are more prone to irrational inconsistencies in decision making than college students and older adults, a new study by Valerie Reyna finds.
	Extroverts have more sensitive brain-reward system A new study by Richard Depue highlights the role of brain chemistry in extraversion and reports that reward-context associations play a significant role in sustaining extroverted behavior.
	Poor planning skills contribute to income-achievement gap Children from low-income families tend to do worse at school than their better-off peers. Their poor planning skills have been found to be a reason for the income-achievement gap, reports a new study by Gary Evans.
	Book looks at the ties that bind and buoy us Cindy Hazan’s new book provides a scientific road map to human attachments from infancy through old age.
	Faculty, staff, students win SUNY awards for excellence Four faculty and staff members in Human Development have been named 2013 winners of State University of New York Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence.
	Study uncovers why women remember events better A new study by Qi Wang identifies a key element in why women are typically better at remembering past events than men.
	Study: Women reject promiscuous female peers as friends HD graduate student Zhana Vrangalova is lead author of a study that finds promiscuous women don’t prefer other promiscuous women as friends.
	American, Nepalese kids a world apart on social duties A cross-cultural study by Tamar Kushnir finds that American and Nepalese children differ on their perception of free will – American children are more prone to acknowledge one’s freedom to violate social codes.
Students in the news
	Cornellians awarded a record 28 Fulbright awards Jeffrey Valla, graduate student in the field of human development, has received a Fulbright award to study in India.
	Top seniors and their teacher-mentors honored The Cornell Merrill Presidential Scholars Program honored outstanding graduating seniors, among them Anne Laurita Mendham ’13.

New Resources

	Strategic variability in risky choice
	Interview on risk taking with Valerie Reyna
	Cornell Institute for Women in Science – videos
	Adolescent Development Toolkit
	ACT for Youth website

Spring 2013

	Scientists discover how brains change with new skills Research by Nathan Spreng and colleagues identifies a neural marker for the changes the brain undergoes during skill-training.
	Three on faculty win Guggenheim fellowship Gary Evans, awarded Guggenheim fellowship, will write a book on poverty and child development.
	Preschoolers can discern good sources of information from bad Research by Tamar Kushnir suggests that young children actively evaluate what people know and go to the “experts” for information they want.
	Good night’s sleep linked to happiness Happiness is generally good for sleeping, but when a person’s happiness varies a lot in reaction to daily ups and downs, sleep suffers, suggests new research by Anthony Ong.
	Asian-Americans often feel racial ‘microaggressions’ Research by Anthony Ong and Anthony Burrow finds Asian-Americans experience considerable everyday prejudice and discrimination.
	Wang honored for research on Asian families Qi Wang received the 2013 Outstanding Contribution to Research on Asian/Asian Americans award from the Society for Research on Child Development in April.
Students in the News
	Undergrads unveil science savvy at 28th research forum Presentations by HD undergraduates comprised the majority of the CURB presentations from the College of Human Ecology!
	Students win kudos, cash for service projects HD undergraduate, Sharjeel Chaudhry, receives Robinson-Appel Humanitarian Award of behalf of the PATCH project.
	Caring for difficult elders linked to caregivers’ poorer health HD graduate student Catherine Riffin is the lead author on a study that suggests tending to older loved ones who have bold personalities may be harmful to caregivers’ physical health.

Winter 2013

Brain scan can decode whom you are thinking about
Our mental pictures of people produce unique patterns of brain activation, which can be detected using advanced imaging techniques, according to a new study by Nathan Spreng.

Killing your loved one with kindness can backfire
When a partner’s emotional support is perceived as unhelpful, the well-being of the recipient can be negatively impacted, reports a new study by Ong and Selcuk.

Gene thought to be linked to Alzheimer’s is marker for only mild impairment
Defying a widely held belief in Alzheimer’s disease research, Reyna and Brainerd report that people with a specific gene are more likely to develop mild cognitive impairment – but not Alzheimer’s.

Poor children’s higher weights linked to less access to yards, parks
A recent study by Evans links low-income children’s higher weight in part because they have less access to open green space where they can play and get exercise.

Ceci to receive a top award from academic society
Professor Stephen J. Ceci will receive the Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Child Development Award, April 19 from the Society for Research in Child Development.

MRI to help unlock mysteries of teen risky behavior
A $1.7 million NIH grant will be used to better understand why teens are prone to taking risks. The study will use an MRI to compare brains of teens and adults when faced with risky decisions.

Researchers, practitioners set agenda for palliative care
Cornell researchers met with Ithaca-area practitioners to set a research agenda for the little-studied field, which offers treatments to alleviate pain and suffering for seriously ill patients.

Preference to save the best for last fades with age
People’s preferences for the sequence of good and bad experiences change as they age, reports a new study by Loeckenhoff. Young adults want the good last; older adults want the good and bad mixed.

Students in the News

Caring for difficult elders linked to caregivers’ poorer health
HD graduate student Catherine Riffin is the lead author on a study that suggests tending to older loved ones who have bold personalities may be harmful to caregivers’ physical health.

Teen dating violence linked to long-term harmful effects
HD graduate student Deinera Exner-Cortens is first author on a recent study about the harmful long-term effects associated with violent teen dating relationships.

Students spend summer doing research, outreach
HD students participated in summer extension internships throughout NYS

New Resources

	Positive emotion disturbance
	A social neuroscience perspective on adolescent risk taking
	Neurodevelopmental processes in the emergence of psychosis
	Law and neuroscience: will brain imaging matter?
	Large-scale brain network interactivity and aging
	Women in science video series
	K-12 extension-education modules from CIWS
	Suicide prevention in college settings
	Effective Ways to Communicate Risk and Benefit
	Youth-adult partnerships for change
	Evidence based strategies and practices guide

New Resources
	Fifty Years of Family Change
	Brainfacts.org
	The Dana Foundation
	The Adolescent Health Highlight: Use of Illicit Drugs
	Adolescent Development Toolkit

New Resources
	Science in the courtroom
	Individual variation in functional brain networks in fetuses and children
	Cornell Institute for Women in Science – CornellCast page
	School-Randomized Experiments to Improve Children’s Academic and Social-Emotional Outcomes: Lessons from U.S. and Congo
	Adolescent Development Toolkit

Students in the News

More Stories

> Why Americans are obsessed with telling their own stories

> Focus on protecting elderly from fraud and fleecing

> A five-step guide to not being stupid

> How courts should hear from children

> The myth about women in science

> How children develop the idea of free will

New Resources

> The Memory Factory

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