Presents Michael J. Meaney as one of the winners of the American Psychological Association's Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions (2012). Michael J. Meaney has taken the phenomenon of "handling" of newborn rats and opened a new area of investigation that has given new meaning to epigenetics via his work demonstrating transgenerational…

This article considers scientific and public understandings of climate change and addresses the following question: Why is it that while scientific evidence has accumulated to document global climate change and scientific opinion has solidified about its existence and causes, U.S. public opinion has not and has instead become more polarized? Our…

This article addresses the nature and challenge of adaptation in the context of global climate change. The complexity of "climate change" as threat, environmental stressor, risk domain, and impacting process with dramatic environmental and human consequences requires a synthesis of perspectives and models from diverse areas of psychology to…

An appreciation of the psychological impacts of global climate change entails recognizing the complexity and multiple meanings associated with climate change; situating impacts within other social, technological, and ecological transitions; and recognizing mediators and moderators of impacts. This article describes three classes of psychological…

Psychology has neglected the study of variation across cities. An urban psychology is needed that takes seriously such variation and focuses on strengths and assets contributing to the good life as much as on problems of urbanization. To illustrate the value of an urban psychology, we describe studies of character strengths among residents in the…

Climate change and degradation of the environment are global problems associated with many other challenges (e.g., population increases, reduction of glaciers, and loss of critical habitats). Psychological science can play a critical role in addressing these problems by fostering a sustainable environment. Multiple strategies for fostering a…

Approximately 1.7 million children have parents who are incarcerated in prison in the United States, and possibly millions of additional children have a parent incarcerated in jail. Many affected children experience increased risk for developing behavior problems, academic failure, and substance abuse. For a growing number of children,…

Reviews lessons learned from research in Antarctica with relevance to understanding human behavior in other isolated and confined environments. Outlines four distinct characteristics of psychosocial adaptation to such environments and discusses some of the benefits for individuals seeking challenging experiences. (Contains references.) (SLD)

The impact of stressful life events on health has been the object of inquiry for decades. Health care professionals have studied how stressful life events may precipitate or contribute to the onset of illness. Traumatic events and experiences can profoundly affect physical and psychological well-being, which in turn may predispose an individual to…

In this criticism of an article by Herrnstein, B. F. Skinner notes that a science of behavior must deal with both phylogeny and ontogeny and that Herrnstein did not point toward a rapprochement in his article. (AM)

Argues that the key question in psychotherapy and rehabilitation is not can we change a person's personality, but rather what behaviors can and should; and how do we maintain the behavior that we have changed. Several behavior innovation programs are examined. (Author/JM)

The issues which this article examines include the multiple determinism of behavior, the role of context, the multiple goals of personality measurement, the "subject" as potential expert and colleague, the analysis of environments, and the role of person variables. (Author)

Outlines a biopsychosocial model for perceived racism as a guide for future research, reviewing how racism has been conceptualized in scientific literature, examining research on the existence of intergroup and intragroup racism, presenting a contextual model for systematic studies of the biopsychosocial effects of perceived racism in African…

Findings concerning characteristics of recently arrived youth and of longtimers in colleges and in correctional institutions are compared. It is noted that coercion both on entering a correctional institution and thereafter, has much to do with the nature and degree of peer influence therin. (Author/AM)

Schools have a responsibility to match curricula to each child's needs and talent. While cognitive functioning is usually assessed to determine this match, motivation and adjustment are equally important determinants of intellectual competence and should also be evaluated. (Author/GC)