Psychology

In its April education section, the Baltimore Sun published an article on programs that prepare students to provide effective, evidence-based care for patients. UMBC’s Psychology Training Clinic, part of the Psychology Training, Research, and Services Center at the South Campus Research and Technology Park, was featured in the article. Rebecca Schacht, a clinical assistant professor of psychology and director of the clinic, was quoted extensively in the story and discussed the new clinic, which provides low-cost therapy for people struggling with anxiety, depression, substance abuse and post-traumatic stress syndrome. Graduate-level students provide care under supervision of licensed psychologists. “This is really the standard for… Continue Reading UMBC’s Psychology Training Clinic Featured in the Baltimore Sun’s April Education Section

Psychology Research Professor and Professor Emeritus Robert Provine has been in the news recently for his research on crying. In an article published in Canada’s Globe and Mail, Provine shared insight about his work. He discussed how someone else’s crying “is appealing to you to provide caregiving, and at least sympathy,” which can be emotionally tiring, if not exhausting. “Dealing with crying people can be ‘expensive’ in the sense that they have needs that you’ll be expected to meet,” said Provine. He also discussed how the idea of crying making someone feel better is “complicated”: “Some people may report it feeling good, but… Continue Reading Robert Provine, Psychology, in the Globe and Mail and New York Magazine

Psychology Research Professor and Professor Emeritus Robert Provine was recently interviewed by Radio National (RN) in Australia about his research on yawning, sneezing, and hiccuping. Provine’s interview appeared on the RN program “The Body Sphere” and the title of the segment was “Breathing Through Pain.” “One of the most striking things about contagious yawning is that it reminds us that we are not a conscious being with total voluntary control of our behavior. When you see someone else yawn, you don’t decide, I’m going to do what that person over there just did. We simply do it,” Provine said during… Continue Reading Robert Provine, Psychology, on Australian National Radio

In the wake of three hit-and-run accidents in the Baltimore region, the Baltimore Sun recently published an article addressing the question of what leads someone to flee an accident where another person may have suffered harm? Psychology professor Carlo DiClemente was quoted in the article and discussed how alcohol, a factor in about 30 percent of traffic fatalities nationally, can amplify emotions of fear, shame, and guilt which overwhelm self-control. “Rational decision-making is clearly difficult in an intoxicated state, particularly as blood-alcohol levels increase,” said DiClemente. “Fear and escape motivations kick in and, without good executive functioning, make flight more probable.” DiClemente, who researches… Continue Reading Carlo DiClemente, Psychology, in the Baltimore Sun

Each year, EDGE.org poses an annual question to leading scientists, philosophers, and artists to tackle some of the world’s most complex issues. The responses are featured as a collection of online essays that is later published as part of a high-profile and top-selling series of books for a general audience, and the annual event draws global news coverage. As he has for all ten of EDGE’s events, Psychology Research Professor and Professor Emeritus Robert Provine contributed to this year’s question: “What do you think about machines that think?” In his response titled “Irrational Machines and Humans,” Provine wrote that humans should… Continue Reading Robert Provine, Psychology, Responds to EDGE Annual Question

Psychology Professor Carlo DiClemente has been appointed to the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The council advises and makes recommendations to the U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) secretary, and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) director on research program and policy matters in the field of alcohol abuse and alcoholism. The council consists of 15 members appointed by the HHS secretary who are leaders in scientific disciplines relevant to NIAAA activities, including public health, behavioral and social sciences, public policy, law, health policy, economics, and management. DiClemente’s… Continue Reading Carlo DiClemente, Psychology, Appointed to National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism