The doors of the Dell Medical School have opened for its first class of future doctors, and they are on a mission to get the training they need to make a difference in the lives of future patients, their communities and even medicine itself. Of the 50 members in the school’s inaugural class, three graduated […]
Department of Psychology
We’re Not Going to Eat It: Channeling Teens’ Appetite for Rebellion
During this school year in Texas we’re likely to see between 15 and 20 percent of teens with obesity and more than 15,000 cases of preventable forms of youth diabetes. We can do better, and it starts with the messaging teens receive. School administrators and parents currently try to explain to teens how their food […]
The Campaign for Your Vote: Just Add Brand Power
After months of being bombarded by pollsters, campaign ads and the most outlandish sound bites on repeat, the moment will come for you to finally cast your ballot. Whom will you choose? “The presidency is the one office that represents the American people: all their wishes, dreams, desires, hopes, fears and everything else,” says history […]
Forever Shakespeare: The Making of an Icon
Editor’s note: As the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death approaches, five UT Austin scholars share how they celebrate his work and his ultimate staying power. In 10 years, people won’t care about Kim Kardashian’s face-contouring regimen or that she had 35 million Twitter followers. But William Shakespeare? Four centuries after his death he’s still […]
Give it a Rest
Scientists have already established that resting the mind, as in daydreaming, helps strengthen memories of events and retention of information, but in a new twist, UT Austin researchers have found that the right kind of mental rest and reflection can actually help boost future learning. How our brains capture and store new information is heavily […]
Depression: Making Treatment Personal
For the estimated 350 million people worldwide who suffer from depression, the health consequences go far beyond “feeling down.” In fact, it is a leading cause of disability worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people with symptoms of depression will never receive treatment, and for those diagnosed with major […]
Little Words Can Mean A Lot
The smallest, most forgettable words in admissions essays — such as the, a, to, I and they — can tell us in advance how students will perform in college, according to a new study at UT Austin that included computerized text analysis of 50,000 admissions essays written by prospective college students. How a student uses small words, the study revealed, is related […]
Boston Bombing Shows the Power of Familial Ties
For many, the recent trial of Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has relit the inevitable question: “How could they?” One answer lies within something called familial ties, and they’re more powerful and prevalent than most people realize. Although the trial and sentencing may bring some closure, we should also not forget the overwhelmingly spontaneous humanity […]
We Need to Protect Ourselves From Our Phones
When it comes to cellphones, we are no better than trained rats in a box. Just the other day, I was stuck behind a driver playing with a cellphone while driving. I have gotten used to assuming that everyone doing something silly on the road is driving while distracted. In Austin, San Antonio and several […]
It’s Plainer to an Explainer
Asking children to come up with explanations — even to themselves — enhances their cause-and-effect learning abilities, according to new research by Cristine Legare, associate professor of psychology. The study, published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, shows that young children who come up with explanations while learning are able to connect new ideas […]
Keeping A Pulse On Population Health
A few years ago, a Plan II Honors student in Marc Musick’s sociology lecture came to him with a question. Musick had been talking about the shortage of doctors in rural and inner city areas. The student had grown up in the Rio Grande Valley and hoped to go on to medical school. Why, he […]
Championing Student Success
We hear a lot these days about the challenges facing college students, from loan debt to an uncertain job market. The College of Liberal Arts has consistently taken the lead in creating innovative solutions for these and other challenges, and our efforts are paying off. The university has sought our college’s leadership on a number of student success initiatives. In 2011 we led […]
Mental Rest and Reflection Boost Learning, Study Suggests
A new study, which may have implications for approaches to education, finds that brain mechanisms engaged when people allow their minds to rest and reflect on things they’ve learned before may boost later learning. Scientists have already established that resting the mind, as in daydreaming, helps strengthen memories of events and retention of information. In […]
Millennial Nation
A Generational Look at Education, Money and Work Empathetic. Impatient. Innovative. Unfocused. Rational. Naive. Excited. These are the words millennials in the College of Liberal Arts use when they’re asked to describe themselves. However, it’s a question they’re not often asked. Plenty of people, from journalists to researchers to employers, are looking to define who […]
Why Mom Called You ‘Fluffy’
When choosing baby names, parents often want something that is pleasing to the ear. Some even turn to alliteration when naming multiple children. But according to a new psychology study from The University of Texas at Austin, parents set themselves up for speech errors when they give their children similar-sounding names. The findings, published in […]
Pillow Wins Presidential Early Career Award
Jonathan Pillow was one of three faculty members from The University of Texas at Austin selected to receive the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their research careers. Pillow develops mathematical models to study how […]
Making the Grade
Strategies for Improving Education in America Few dispute the value of education, but discussions about how our nation should improve it are becoming more intense and polarized. Of all the competing arguments—more technology, smaller classrooms, improved teacher training, universal pre-kindergarten—most people would agree that America’s education system needs to improve, and soon. According to recent […]
Liberal Arts Matter in a STEM World
Isaac Barchasis the director of the Austin Technology Incubator, which helps early-stage technology companies to develop in order to get an initial round of funding from investors. From that perch, you might imagine that he sees science, technology, engineering and mathematics (the STEM disciplines) as the core of economic growth in Austin. And, to be […]
Brain Power
Students are busy scanning a collection of nearly 100 brains preserved from Texas State Hospital patients as part of a unique undergraduate research opportunity at The University of Texas at Austin. A new high-resolution MRI scanner and storage space in the Norman Hackerman Building on campus makes the brain collection and associated data more accessible […]
Genetic Influence on Intelligence Increases Over Time
About 70 percent of a person’s intelligence can be explained by their DNA—and those genetic influences only get stronger with age, according to new research by psychology researchers Daniel Briley, Elliot Tucker-Drob and Paige Harden. Using meta-analytic procedures—the statistical methods used to analyze and combine results from previous, related literature—the researchers examined genetic and environmental […]
Fear Factor
First, let me make a confession. I am Vivian Harris Porche, M.D., an anesthesiologist, and I am afraid of “the doctor.” I am also afraid of receiving injections, getting my blood pressure taken, and being examined. However, this underlying fear did not stop me from my lifelong goal of becoming a physician. Upon entering The […]
Adventures in Online Learning
Exploring the Acronym Jungle of MOOCs, SMOCs and Beyond When Professors John Hoberman and Daniel Bonevac sat down with a small development team in January to create two new online courses, the possibilities of “what if” and “could we” electrified the room. The goal: to deliver 72 hours of traditional coursework in an engaging and interactive […]
Liberal Arts at Work
Nine Ways to Rev Up Your Career Whether you’ve landed your dream job or find yourself repeatedly pushing the snooze button each morning dreading the workday, a liberal arts education may help you forge a better career path and create an environment for innovation and productivity. If you’re like most employed Americans, you will spend […]
Pushing Forward
Social Scientists Identify New Paths to Mental Health for Trauma Victims On a sunny spring afternoon, Kate Jones was anxiously waiting to see her husband cross the finish line at the most prestigious marathon in the world. Then came the boom. Cheers of excitement immediately turned into blood-curdling screams as hundreds of people rushed from […]
U.S. Regions Exhibit Distinct Personalities, Study Shows
People with similar personality types are so likely to cluster in certain areas of the country that a map of the United States can actually be divided into regions with distinct personalities, according to new psychology research from The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Cambridge. The study, co-authored by Samuel Gosling, […]