Health, Equity, & Data: Transforming Research in Southern New Jersey

Carla Villacis, a Data Science Master’s student at Rutgers University-Camden, has transitioned from a background in Psychology to a role as a research coordinator at the Senator Walter Rand Institute for Public Affairs. Through her work on projects ranging from health needs assessments to initiatives promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, Carla discovered the need to… continue reading

Replicating and validating the Positive Mental Health Questionnaire and its correlates with measures of psychological well-being

Author: Gabriela Cabarcas | Psychological Sciences Abstract: Positive mental health is recognized as a multidimensional construct essential for successful functioning in society and for navigating key developmental and occupational pathways, including academic life, relationships, and workforce participation. Instead of defining mental health solely as the absence of psychological difficulties, contemporary public health and psychological frameworks… continue reading

The “Acting White Accusation” and Its Impact on Asian College Students

Author: Amy Senanayake | Psychological Sciences Abstract: Social identity theory suggests that racial or ethnic identity and a sense of belonging are central to self-concept (Tajfel & Turner, 1979). Threats to one’s social identity, such as cultural invalidation, are experiences in which an individual’s racial identity is denied or questioned and may be associated with… continue reading

Signal Detection Theory’s Learning Problem

Author: Calvin Nguyen | Psychological Sciences Abstract: Signal Detection Theory (SDT) has proven to be a successful explanation for several observed regularities in the experimental data. The basic framework of signal detection theory is that people have the cognitive ability to detect a signal from background noise. However, in most classical SDT experiments, researchers analyze… continue reading

A century of smiles: Changes in facial expression in portrait photography 1920-2020

Author: Cameran Hartranft | Psychological Sciences Abstract: We report the results of two studies examining changes in the expression of positive emotion in portrait photography from 1920 to 2020. It is well known that display rules for facial expression differ across cultures, but it is unclear whether the same is true across historical periods. It… continue reading