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By Shira Polan

Reprinted from Cornell Daily Sun, Feb. 17, 2015young couple

While many college students may be familiar with the idea of “hooking up” as a routine social interaction, Trenel Francis ’16 analyzed the phenomenon more closely in a study she performed last summer with the University of Cincinnati.  Francis set out to see whether hooking up — which she defines as “a short-term, casual sexual encounter between two uncommitted partners” — has any effect on how future relationships are perceived.

“I directly worked with [a University of Cincinnati graduate student] who had been working on two projects at the time,” Francis said. “The first was on couples’ interactions via a private therapy study and the second was about hooking up. The latter sounded more interesting to me, as well as more relevant to a college experience, so I decided to focus on hook-up culture.”

A human development major and education minor, Francis became involved in her research last year through the Robert E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program, which provides research support to undergraduate students from underrepresented minority groups or low-income families.

“One of the things [the program] wants you to do is to get undergraduate research experience,” Franci said.  “I applied to a number of research programs outside of Cornell and was accepted into the University of Cincinnati’s Research Experience for Undergraduates program for psychology.”

Using data procured by Prof. Sarah Whitton and graduate student Eliza Weitbrecht of the University of Cincinnati, Francis focused on analyzing future relationship expectations of “emerging adults” based on three variables — the perceived value of being in a long-term relationship, perceived likelihood of marriage and the intention to be in a long-term relationship in the future. All of the participants were also asked whether or not they have hooked up with someone.

“We focused on the period of ‘emerging adulthood’ because it is a unique life period in which many young adults have the opportunity to explore their sexual identity,” she said. “We found that hooking up is one of the more prevalent behaviors that emerging adults tend to engage in. Emerging adulthood occurs between the ages of 18 and 25, which usually coincides with college years.”

Hookup chart

According to Francis, the study evaluated 287 University of Cincinnati undergraduates based on frequency of hook-ups and number of hook-up partners. Of the total participants, 136 had participated in hook ups and 151 had not.

“We asked, ‘how important to you is being in a long-term committed relationship in the future?’ The participants had to rank this importance on a scale of zero to three, with zero being not important and three being extremely important,” Francis said. “For those who hooked up, their average value was about 1.41, while those who never hooked up had an average value of 1.71, and there was a statistically significant difference between the two.”

The findings of the study, according to Francis, were fairly surprising.

“We found that those who had hooked up before were more likely to place a lower value on long-term relationships,” she said. “But despite the prevalence of hooking up and the current trend towards the delay of the onset of marriage, the vast majority of participants still plan on getting married in as early as five years and value being in a long-term relationship in the future.”

However, Francis added that the lack of explicit use of the word “future” in the poll questions and the fact that over half of the participants were freshmen may have influenced the results.

“It could be that some of the participants interpreted the question of the importance of being in a long-term relationship as right now as opposed to some time in the future,” Francis said. “Fifty-four percent of the participants were freshmen so it could be that they were thinking ‘presently.’”

Francis also said she thought it would be helpful to follow up with the participants of the study to see if they committed to their predicted behavior.

“It would be nice to see whether or not participants who had hooked up ended up actually having long-term relationships or getting married,” she said.

Francis, who is currently is studying abroad in London, said she plans to explore other psychological topics that affect college students once she returns to the United States. According to Francis, she is set to work with Prof. Robert Sternberg, human development, on her next project.

“I’m interested in Cornell or other Ivy League students’ perceptions of their own intelligence,” she said.

Following her time at Cornell, Francis said she plans on participating in Teach For America or a similar education fellowship before pursuing her PhD in either education or education administration.

“I’m actually torn between teaching kindergarten or first grade and teaching high school,” she said. “They’re obviously very different and I love kids, but my dream as far as teaching is concerned might be more fulfilled by teaching older children.”

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0825_12_089.CR2Professor Jane Mendle was named a Institute for the Social Sciences (ISS) fellow-in-residence for the 2015-16 academic year. The program, which is open to associate and assistant professors, “gives exceptionally strong social science faculty members a semester away from the daily demands of teaching and departmental service to advance and publish their scholarship.” ISS fellows are nominated by their department chairs and deans, and selected by an interdisciplinary review committee in a university-wide competition.

More information on the ISS fellowship program and the Institute for the Social Sciences is available in the Cornell Chronicle.

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Lindsay France/University Photography Robert Sternberg, professor of human development, speaks about his new book "The Modern Land-Grant University" during a Feb. 10 Sesquicentennial Lecture in Mann Library.
Lindsay France/University Photography
Robert Sternberg, professor of human development, speaks about his new book "The Modern Land-Grant University" during a Feb. 10 Sesquicentennial Lecture in Mann Library.

 

By Abigail Warren
Reprinted from Cornell Chronicle, Feb. 12, 2015

Robert Sternberg, professor of human development, speaks about his new book "The Modern Land-Grant University" during a Feb. 10 Sesquicentennial Lecture in Mann Library.

Robert Sternberg called on American universities to re-examine their goals and apply land-grant values to their admissions and teaching in a Feb. 10 Sesquicentennial Lecture in Mann Library.

A psychologist and professor of human development at Cornell, Sternberg spoke about his 2014 book, “The Modern Land Grant University,” and drew on his administrative experience at Tufts and Yale universities and the University of Wyoming to discuss problems in U.S. education.

The Morrill Land Grant Acts of 1862 and 1890 granted federal land to the states for them to sell and raise funds to establish land-grant colleges, whose missions include service and community engagement.

Despite outstanding land-grant universities like Cornell, Sternberg said, many private and public institutions fail to use admissions and teaching models that emphasize engaged, applied and creative learning.

“Many private institutions, when they admit students, focus on entry value. How high are SATs, grades, etc.,” Sternberg said. “Land grants’ emphasis is on value added. They ask, ‘How much can we add to the student and [how much can] this student add to the university and the world?’”

Sternberg said land-grant universities adhere to values and “have a broad sense of what abilities are [in the admission process].” In contrast, many private universities focus on test scores that measure analytical skills and memory.

Competitive universities often admit students with high GPAs and SAT scores who lack creativity, Sternberg said. While analytical and memory skills are important, he said, top students and leaders need to be urged to develop other leadership skills to be “world changers.”

“We want to build ethical leaders who have the creative skills and attitudes to generate new ideas; the analytical skills to ensure that the ideas are good ones; the practical skills to implement their ideas and persuade others of the value of these ideas; and the wisdom-based skills to ensure that the ideas help to achieve a common good, through the infusion of positive ethical values.” Land-grant universities like Cornell, he said, are taking notable strides to do so.

An experiment Sternberg launched at Tufts called the Kaleidoscope project changed the admissions application to include optional creative, analytical, practical and wisdom-based questions to measure a wider array of abilities.

Responses to the Tufts admissions application were predictors of extracurricular and leadership success and did not show significant differences between ethnic groups as traditional test scores do. Sternberg said a wider diversity of abilities often correlates with greater ethnic diversity.

“Land-grant universities may take students with a broader range of SAT scores, because their mission is to get the students who are going to make the university and world a better place. These are the students who are not just good scholars, but the future leaders who will enrich their societies.”

Abigail Warren ’15 is a writer intern for the Cornell Chronicle.

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Reyna_Valerie_web

Reprinted from the Association for Psychological Science's Journal, Observer, Feb., 2015

A high-quality journal of juried review articles on issues of broad social importance is needed now more than ever. Psychological science is directly relevant to the most pressing social, economic, and health problems of our day, yet is vastly underutilized. To be sure, PSPI has increased the uptake of behavioral research in policy and practice, but so much more potential exists. Building on the success of prior editors, I want to propel the scientific and practical influence of behavioral research forward.

This journal should influence — and be influenced by — the latest scientific theories as well as speak to the mysteries of human conflict, motivation, achievement, learning, feelings, disorders, and decision making.

Why theory? We need evidence-based theory in order to understand how to apply what we learn about human behavior. Theory explains and predicts behavior, so that it is possible to know what the “active ingredient” is when interventions change behavior. Theory also explains and predicts who will benefit from specific practices and policies. Therefore, I will emphasize causal mechanisms when appropriate, with a view to understanding how to generalize results of research to policy and practice. There is no reason why PSPI cannot be a cutting-edge theoretical and translational journal, and its audience should encompass scientists, practitioners, and policy makers.

Another important role of PSPI is to reconcile different viewpoints from researchers across disciplines.Scholarship means taking account of all of the relevant prior evidence, not just evidence produced by those with similar worldviews. Psychology as a cumulative science, in which current work builds on prior findings and ideas, is crucial for scientific and social progress. I have had the opportunity to interact with scholars from many different disciplines, and I will draw on those experiences to build bridges between psychology and other disciplines.

PSPI connects members of the Association for Psychological Science (APS) to members of the public — including policy makers. It should also serve as the go-to source for behavioral scientists from different disciplines because it provides the most rigorous evidence and the most exciting ideas about the most important issues.

About Valerie F. Reyna

Incoming PSPI Editor Valerie F. Reyna is a professor of human development at Cornell University, where she is also director of the Human Neuroscience Institute, codirector of the Cornell University Magnetic Resonance Imaging Facility, and codirector of the Center for Behavioral Economics and Decision Research. Her research integrates brain and behavioral approaches to understand and improve judgment, decision making, and memory across the lifespan. Her recent work has focused on the neuroscience of risky decision making and its implications for health and well-being, especially in adolescents; applications of cognitive models and artificial intelligence for improving understanding of genetics (e.g., in breast cancer); and medical and legal decision making (e.g., about jury awards, medication decisions, and adolescent culpability).

In addition to being an APS Fellow, Reyna is a fellow of the Society of Experimental Psychologists, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and several divisions of the American Psychological Association, including the Divisions of Experimental Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Educational Psychology, and Health Psychology. She has been a Visiting Professor at the Mayo Clinic, a permanent member of study sections of the National Institutes of Health, and a member of advisory panels for the National Science Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, and the National Academy of Sciences. She has also served as president of the Society for Judgment and Decision Making.

Reyna helped create a new research agency in the US Department of Education, where she oversaw grant policies and programs. Her service also has included leadership positions in organizations dedicated to creating equal opportunities for minorities and women, and on national executive and advisory boards of centers and grants with similar goals, such as the Arizona Hispanic Center of Excellence, National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health, and Women in Cognitive Science.

2015 Psychological Science in the Public Interest Editorial/Advisory Board

 

APS Past President Mahzarin R. Banaji, Harvard University
Past APS Board Member Stephen J. Ceci, Cornell University
APS William James Fellow Uta Frith, University College London, United Kingdom
APS Past President Morton Ann Gernsbacher, University of Wisconsin–Madison
APS Fellow John B. Jemmott, III, University of Pennsylvania
APS William James Fellow Daniel Kahneman, Princeton University
APS Past President Elizabeth F. Loftus, University of California, Irvine
APS Fellow Marcus E. Raichle, Washington University in St. Louis
APS Past President Henry L. Roediger, III, Washington University in St. Louis
APS Fellow Daniel L. Schacter, Harvard University
APS William James Fellow Richard M. Shiffrin, Indiana University
APS Fellow Keith E. Stanovich, University of Toronto, Canada
APS Fellow Laurence Steinberg, Temple University
Cass R. Sunstein, Harvard University
APS Fellow Wendy M. Williams, Cornell University
APS Fellow Christopher Wolfe, Miami University

Valerie Reyna can be contacted at ReynaPSPI@cornell.edu.

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Elaine Wethington at Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University

Published on Jan 21, 2015

While the demographics of the life cycle favor men’s ability to pair and re-pair more than women’s, Pepper Schwarz, Professor of Sociology, University of Washington, argues that everyone is more likely to mate in cities. Professor of Human Development, Cornell University, Elaine Wethington considers the need to recast the aging population, who are increasingly healthy into their late 80’s, as an important social resource. Moderated by Senior VP of The California Endowment, Anthony Iton.

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By Ted Boscia
Reprinted from Cornell Chronicle, Jan. 12, 2015

Cornell gerontologist Karl Pillemer, the Hazel E. Reed Professor in the Department of Human Development, will become director of the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research (BCTR) Jan. 15.

Pillemer succeeds John Eckenrode, professor of human development and BCTR director since its founding in 2011, who will continue as director of the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect.

Named for the late Cornell developmental psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner, whose research helped to inspire the federal Head Start program, the BCTR brings together Cornell social and behavioral scientists and real-world practitioners to disseminate research findings to community programs supporting human health and development and to develop, evaluate and disseminate innovative social and behavioral interventions. Home to more than 20 projects focused on nutrition, youth development, parenting, health care, aging and related issues, the center includes more than 120 Cornell faculty affiliates.

“Human Ecology has embraced translational research as its approach to extension and outreach, and the Bronfenbrenner Center is creating a better marriage between science and service,” Pillemer said. “It is a great honor to lead a center associated closely with Urie, whose human ecological approach set the standard for many of us working to create a seamless connection between research and practice.”

Pillemer joins the BCTR with extensive experience guiding translational research projects. He co-directs the Translational Research Institute on Pain in Later Life, a joint project with Weill Cornell Medical College researchers and community-based health-care partners to help older adults prevent and manage pain, and the Translational Research Priorities in Palliative Care Project. He founded the Cornell Legacy Project, a national social science survey to collect elder wisdom on love and marriage, work and careers, parenting and other topics.

“Karl is well-positioned to lead the center thanks to his deep ties with community partners across the state and with Cornell Cooperative Extension, the Cornell Office for Research and Evaluation and Weill Cornell Medical College, all of whom are vital partners in achieving the college’s translational research goals and in fulfilling Cornell’s land-grant mission,” said Alan Mathios, the Rebecca Q. and James C. Morgan Dean of the College of Human Ecology. “I am excited to see how the center will evolve under Karl’s direction, and I am grateful for John Eckenrode’s tremendous guidance of faculty, staff and students to deliver translational programs in its first three years.”

Under Eckenrode, the center developed an Innovative Pilot Study Program, awarding up to five grants annually to faculty teams leading research intended to influence real-world practice and policy. Its Research Navigator Initiative, which builds ties between faculty experts and CCE partners, has reached more than 100 extension educators and executive directors.

“It has been a tremendous honor to help launch the BCTR and work with our talented faculty and staff,” Eckenrode said. “I am sure the center will flourish under Karl’s leadership given his experience, skills and vision for the future.”

Pillemer intends to build on the center’s successes and to recruit more faculty members from across Cornell to pursue translational research. He also wants to deepen ties with Cornell University Cooperative Extension-New York City, calling it an “on the ground research-ready organization reaching thousands of city residents,” and the statewide 4-H program, which, he said, “can serve as a living laboratory to better understand and promote positive youth development.” Finally, he wants to enhance the center’s communications platforms, using social media and other nontraditional channels to deliver research findings to the public.

“The center is in a strong position, with a number of excellent projects with a broad community base and solid grounding in research,” Pillemer said. “I’m excited to help continue and strengthen this excellent work.”

Ted Boscia is director of communications and media for the College of Human Ecology.

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By Karene Booker
Reprinted from Cornell Chronicle, Jan. 8, 2015

Years in graduate school, teaching and research do little to prepare professors for administrative posts. Now, a compendium of advice for new faculty administrators, written by experienced academic leaders across the country, aims to fill the void.51CH6HgCPmL__SX331_BO1,204,203,200_

“Academic Leadership in Higher Education: From the Top Down and the Bottom Up” offers readers a view of leadership from many different perspectives and levels within the university.

“Faculty often go into leadership roles feeling fairly clueless,” said Robert Sternberg, professor of human development in Cornell’s College of Human Ecology and senior co-editor of the book published by Rowman & Littlefield. “The chairs, deans, provosts, university presidents and chancellors who so generously contributed chapters did so because they realize that people new to academic leadership desperately need advice.”

Despite the many perspectives presented, common themes emerge in the book. The vital importance of strategic planning, for example, is highlighted by Alan Mathios, dean of the College of Human Ecology. His chapter discusses developing the college’s mission statement and creating a culture of community. Emphasizing educational and scientific leadership rather than administration, Charles Brainerd, chair of the Department of Human Development, demonstrates another theme – staying connected to your academic discipline. Sternberg concludes the volume with a distillation of the top 10 pieces of advice, starting with “don’t compromise on ethical principles.”

While the book is written for faculty members who are in, or are thinking of entering, academic-leadership roles, it offers insights into leadership and academia that may appeal to many other readers.

Sternberg co-edited the volume with Elizabeth Davis, president of Furman University; April C. Mason, provost and senior vice president of Kansas State University; Robert V. Smith, vice president of Collaborative Brain Trust University Consulting; Jeffrey S. Vitter, provost and executive vice chancellor at the University of Kansas; and Michele Wheatly, former provost and vice president for academic affairs at West Virginia University.

Karene Booker is an extension support specialist in the Department of Human Development.

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By H. Roger Segelken
Reprinted from Cornell Chronicle, December 16, 2014

VR

When the doctor says, “I could prescribe antibiotics for your sniffles, but it’s probably a virus – not bacterial,” do you decline? Many patients expect antibiotics, although overprescription is a major factor driving one of the biggest public health concerns today: antibiotic resistance.

Now researchers at Cornell, George Washington and Johns Hopkins universities have figured out why: “Patients choose antibiotics because there’s a chance [prescription medications] will make them better, and they perceive the risks of taking antibiotics as negligible,” says Cornell psychologist Valerie Reyna.

With her co-authors, the professor of human development has published new research with important implications for communicating about antibiotics: “Germs Are Germs, and Why Not Take a Risk? Patients’ Expectations for Prescribing Antibiotics in an Inner-City Emergency Department,” in the journal Medical Decision Making.

That’s encouraging news for health educators, Reyna says, noting: “Patients might expect doctors to prescribe antibiotics because patients confuse viruses and bacteria – and think antibiotics will be effective for either. Most educational campaigns attempt to educate patients about this misconception. However, we found fewer than half of patients in an urban ER agreeing with the message, ‘germs are germs.’”

Patients who understand the difference between viruses and bacteria – and take antibiotics anyway – are making a strategic risk assessment, Reyna says: “Our research suggests that antibiotic use boils down essentially to a choice between a negative status quo – sick for sure – versus taking antibiotics and maybe getting better. This risk strategy promotes antibiotic use, particularly when taking antibiotics is perceived as basically harmless.”

Fuzzy-trace theory

The Broniatowski-Klein-Reyna study is the first to apply “fuzzy-trace” theory to how people think about antibiotics. The theory predicts that patients make decisions based on the gist (or simple bottom line) of information.

As Reyna explains: “The goal is to make better decisions, getting antibiotics to patients who need them but not overusing them so the rest of the public is safe. Understanding how patients think is crucial because their expectations influence doctors’ decisions.”

Adds David Broniatowski, assistant professor of engineering management and systems engineering at GWU, and the report’s first author: “We need to fight fire with fire. If patients think that antibiotics can’t hurt, we can’t just focus on telling them that they probably have a virus. We need to let them know that antibiotics can have some pretty bad side effects, and that they will definitely not help cure a viral infection.”

The third author is Dr. Eili Klein, assistant professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University and a fellow at the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy.

Reyna is the director of the Human Neuroscience Institute, co-director of the Cornell University Magnetic Resonance Imaging Facility, and a co-director of the Center for Behavioral Economics and Decision Research, all in the College of Human Ecology. She is a developer of “fuzzy-trace theory,” a model of the relation between mental representations and decision making that has been widely applied in law, medicine and public health.

The study was supported, in part, by funds from the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

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By Karene Booker
Reprinted from Cornell Chronicle, December 8, 2014

Ethics book cover

Equipping social scientists for ethical challenges is the aim of a new book, “Ethical Challenges in the Brain and Behavioral Sciences: Case Studies and Commentaries” (Cambridge University Press), edited by Cornell psychologist Robert Sternberg and Susan Fiske of Princeton University. The volume’s eye-opening and cautionary tales about real-world ethical dilemmas are intended not to provide “correct” answers, but to prompt readers to reflect on how to resolve ethics problems before encountering them.

“Students learn a lot of content knowledge in graduate school, but not necessarily much about the ethical expectations of the field,” said Sternberg, professor of human development in the College of Human Ecology.

The advantage of case studies is that the lessons are more concrete and easy to apply than abstract ethical “principles,” he said. “This book provides ethical case studies in the whole range of situations that a behavioral or brain scientist might confront – in teaching, research and service.”

The volume is notable for its breadth – covering topics such as testing and grading, authorship and credit, confidentiality, data fabrication, human subjects research, personnel decisions, reviewing and editing, and conflicts of interest – and for the nearly 60 prominent scientists who took time out to share their wisdom by contributing a chapter. Each chapter includes a first-hand account of an ethical problem, how it was resolved and what the scientist would have done differently. Commentary on the greater ethical dilemmas follows each section, and the book wraps up with a model by Sternberg for thinking about ethical reasoning.

“Ethical Challenges” is intended for students, teachers and researchers in the behavioral and brain sciences. Although it is oriented toward those early in their career, senior faculty will also have a lot to learn from the case studies.

“After almost 40 years in the field, I thought I’d seen it all in terms of ethical challenges - I had no idea just how many different ones there were, and how many I have been fortunate enough not to have encountered … yet,” Sternberg concluded.

Next fall, Sternberg plans to teach a graduate-level course, Ethical Challenges in the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, based on the book.

Karene Booker is an extension support specialist in the Department of Human Development.

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scientist 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.
toddlers 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.
daydreaming 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.
purpose 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.
teen 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.