Professor Jennifer Freyd was an invited speaker at the #AfterMeToo symposium organized by Toronto’s Globe and Mail newspaper. This purpose of this symposium was to discuss new policies against sexual misconduct and to explore solutions which could make workplaces safer environments.

Read the Around the O summary of the event, the Canadian Broadcasting Co.’s report of the symposium, or view the symposium in its entirety on The Globe and Mail’s facebook page.

Professor Jennifer Freyd, center, speaks as part of the panel for the #AfterMeToo symposium.

The psychology department is excited to welcome four excellent candidates for the open cognitive neuroscience position. The upcoming dates and times of these candidates’ talks on their work is as follows:

11/28/17 (Tuesday) at 3:00 PM in 145 Crater Lake South

Matthew Nassar (Brown University), Learning as statistical inference: neural and computational mechanisms for normative learning

Talk Abstract: Successful decision-making often requires learning from prediction errors, but how much should we learn from any given error? I will examine this question in detail, drawing on an optimal inference model to formalize how we should learn in dynamic environments and a computationally efficient approximation to provide insight into how we could do so by adjusting the rate of learning from moment to moment. I will show behavioral data validating key model predictions in humans, demonstrate a role for the arousal system in setting the learning rate, and dissect the computational roles of neural subsystems upstream of learning rate implementation. I will explore the possibility that learning deficits might emerge from a failure to correctly determine how much should be learned, rather than a failure to represent prediction errors per se, and provide evidence for such an explanation in the case of healthy aging. Finally I will re-examine neural architecture of error-driven learning in the context of these results and discuss some future directions emerging from this work.

11/30/17 (Thursday) at 3:00 PM in Gerlinger Lounge

Arielle Tambini (University of California, Berkley), Reactivation during awake rest: an opportunity for memory consolidation

12/04/17 (Monday) at 3:00 PM in Straub Hall 245

Anna Schapiro (Harvard University), Learning and consolidating patterns in experience

Talk Abstract: There is a fundamental tension between storing discrete traces of individual experiences, which allows recall of particular moments in our past without interference, and extracting regularities across these experiences, which supports generalization and prediction in similar situations in the future. This tension is resolved in classic memory systems theories by separating these processes anatomically: the hippocampus rapidly encodes individual episodes, while the cortex slowly extracts regularities over days, months, and years. This framework fails, however, to account for the full range of human learning and memory behavior, including: (1) how we often learn regularities quite quickly—within a few minutes or hours, and (2) how these memories transform over time and as a result of sleep. I will present evidence from fMRI and patient studies suggesting that the hippocampus, in addition to its well-established role in episodic memory, is in fact also responsible for our ability to rapidly extract regularities. I will then use computational modeling of the hippocampus to demonstrate how these two competing learning processes can coexist in one brain structure. Finally, I will present empirical and simulation work showing how these initial hippocampal memories are replayed during offline periods to help stabilize and integrate them into cortical networks. This work advocates a new comprehensive, mechanistic view of the remarkable mnemonic capabilities of the human mind and brain.

12/07/17 Thursday) at 3:00 PM in EMU Gumwood Room

Sarah Dubrow (Princeton University), Memories, together and apart: How the brain segments and connects our experiences

All are welcome to attend.

Professor Freyd has compiled a list of evidence-based advice for being an effective and responsible listener when someone discloses sexual assault or harassment to you. The advice was recently posted on the APA’s “Psychology Benefits Society” blog, here.

The University of Oregon’s magazine, Around the O, has a feature story on Nick Allen’s new Center for Digital Mental Health (C4DMH). You can check out the exciting, innovative work about predicting suicidality using mobile devices here.

Caitlin Fausey’s work on how babies learn is featured in the Fall 2017 issue of CAScade magazine. The piece talks about her important research and innovative methods. Great job, Caitlin!

The Department of Psychology is pleased to announce three open positions at the Assistant Professor rank: one in cognitive-neuroscience, one in social-personality, and one in developmental cognitive neuroscience (official application links for the last one coming soon).

Please share widely to invite potential new colleagues to our team of outstanding, innovative, and collaborative researchers and teachers!

An essay by psychology faculty member Dr. Holly Arrow and clinical graduate student Bill Schumacher has been reprinted in Newsweek. Their piece, “Explaining the ‘moral injury’ that leads to military veterans’ suicides”, was posted on Memorial Day. You can read their powerful discussion of guilt, moral injury, and the effects on military veterans here on the Newsweek website.

Wayne T. Westling

Congratulations to Dr. Jennifer Freyd, who has received the University Senate’s 2017 Wayne T. Westling Award. This award is given annually to the person who the Senate’s Committee on Committees determines “has provided exemplary service and inspired leadership over a period of years and has demonstrated a commitment to the principles of shared governance, participatory decision making, and fostering a campus climate of inclusiveness and respect.”

The two criteria for the Wayne T. Westling Award are:

1) Exemplary service over a period of years to the university through participation in university committees, advisory bodies, or faculty elective positions, and

2) Inspired leadership and commitment to the principles of shared governance, participatory decision-making, and fostering a campus climate of inclusiveness and respect.

Congratulations, Dr. Freyd!

Research by department head Ulrich Mayr, graduate student Jason Hubbard, and economics professor Bill Harbaugh was featured in the Spring 2017 edition of Cascade Magazine. The research featured studies altruistic behaviors using neuroimaging methods.

You can read the full interview with Dr. Mayr about this work on the Cascade website.