Dr. Lucija Peterlin Masic of the University of Ljubljana

Ethanol is one of the most widely used legal psychoactive substances with high potential for abuse. Interactions between ethanol and drugs may occur with the concurrent use of ethanol and medicinal products. The elderly frequently use ethanol and prescription drugs together; therefore the risk for side effects is higher. Concomitant use of ethanol and drugs may result in pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic interactions. Pharmacokinetic interactions occur when ethanol directly affects the normal metabolism of the drug and its concentration in the blood. Pharmacodynamic interactions are primarily the result of additive effects of ethanol and drugs on the central nervous system. Therefore, there is a risk of excessive sedation when using drugs that act depressive on the central nervous system. In reality, interactions between ethanol and drugs are often complex, as people may be exposed to more than two psychotropic substances at the same time. In the presentation, I will focus primarily on action of the ethanol on the organism and on providing a better insight into the mechanisms underlying the known pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic drug interactions with ethanol.

Dr. Dominique Vuvan of Skidmore College

Music is an incredible tool for the study of human cognition. This lecture will review work from the Skidmore Music and Cognition Lab guided by three lines of inquiry. First, how does the cognitive system make predictions, and how might different musical contexts shape predictions during listening? Second, how might music serve as a model to investigate the neural substrates of consciousness? Third, how do people differ in their musical processing, and how might the study of these individual differences help us understand neurocognitive function more generally? I will discuss research that employs multiple methods including behavioural measurement, event-related potentials, and brain imaging, in order to make direct connections between the study of musical processing to more abstract questions about human nature.

Jayden Ziegler of Harvard University

Languages differ in how they package the components of an event into words to form sentences. For example, while some languages (like English) typically encode the manner of motion in the verb (e.g., crab-walking), others (like Spanish) more often use verbs that encode the path (e.g., entering). These tendencies lead to biases in learning: children and adults assume that novel motion verbs will reflect the dominant pattern of their own language (manner for English, path for Spanish). Moreover, these biases are flexible: when taught a series of novel motion verbs that all encode path, English speakers will shift to expecting that subsequent verbs will encode path instead of manner. In this talk, I’ll address some limitations of this work (in English) and extend it to new languages: Chinese, Portuguese, and Spanish. I'll conclude by discussing the implications of these results for the architecture of language in the mind.

Amelia Stanton, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Frank Scalzo, Bard College

• Maayan Eldar, Tinybop Inc., Bard class of 2016
• Eva Frishberg, Ideas42, Bard class of 2017
• Helena Wippick, Correctional Association of New York, Bard Class of 2016

Professor Simine Vazire, UC-Davis

Abstract: A fundamental part of the scientific enterprise is for each field to engage in critical self-examination to detect errors in our theories and methods, and improve them. In this talk, Professor Vazire will discuss how well psychology, as a science, has been living up to this ideal, and what principles should guide our efforts to improve our science.

Dr. Richard Friedman (link)

Dr. Diana Sanchez, Rutgers University

Dr. Jonathan Haidt (link)

Michael Mullarkey, The University of Texas at Austin

Panel discussion of internship opportunities

Cynthia Kim and Michelle Miller: Social Work, Mental Health, and Academic Behavioral Medicine: A Social Justice Approach to Clinical Practice, Research, and Teaching in Graduate Medical Education

Dr. Kathryn Tabb, Bard College

Thinking About Genetics When We Think About Each Other

Dr. Erin Sheets, Colby College

It Hurts Because it Matters: Relationship Stress and Depression in Emerging Adults

Stressful life events are known to precede depression, but we may be more reactive to some forms of stress than others. This talk will explore evidence that interpersonal stress – problems with peers, romantic partners, or family – uniquely affects the course of depression. Our longitudinal and experience sampling data suggest that improving social functioning and shifting one’s mindset about interpersonal problems are important aims when treating current depression or preventing future depression in young adults.

Dr. Kristina Rapuano, Yale University

At Risk for Being Risky: Contextualizing Brain Signatures of Vulnerability to Health-risk Behaviors in the Real-world

Dr. Maria Galano, University of Massachusetts–Amherst

Investigating Childhood PTSD: Disparities, Developmental Trajectories, and Intervention

Exposure to traumatic stress is associated with wide-ranging negative outcomes, including increased risk for the development of psychopathology throughout the lifespan. Using a cultural developmental psychopathology lens, I am interested in understanding how the family and social context affect individual pathways to risk and resilience following traumatic stress exposure. A primary aim of this program is to uncover the mechanisms by which early-life violence affects long-term well-being, which I then aim to translate into more refined intervention delivery for trauma-exposed populations. My recent work has centered on the presentation, development, and treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children exposed to chronic violence early in life, with a specific focus on the timing and severity of trauma exposure, as well as on disparities in PTSD outcomes. In this talk, I will discuss the results and future directions of this research.

Kenny Fries, on writing the body different at home and abroad

Dr. Stuart Levine, Bard College

Dr. Frank Scalzo, Bard College

The Psychonomic Society is the international society of Cognitive Psychologists. Professors Hutcheon and Hulbert will be streaming this year's Keynote address over Zoom with interested students. This year's talk is by Dr. Lynn Hasher and is entitled "TMI: Disengagement and Memory". We will provide background, commentary, and a brief post-presentation discussion. There will be something for everyone, even if you don't know your MTL from your LTM. If you are interested, RSVP to Professor Hutcheon prior to noon Wednesday, March 17th. We will make an effort to provide you with an individually wrapped bag of popcorn for socially distanced pick up in Preston prior to the talk. Professor Hutcheon will also send a Zoom link next week for those interested in cognition but not popcorn.

Seniors Diksha Chittavidya-Ananda & Hadley Parum will be giving talks about their senior projects today, Thursday, May 13, 2021 at 4:45pm. These talks will be approximately 20 minutes, with time for questions in between. We invite all students to join to hear about our students’ projects!

Talk: How culture shapes the what, who, and how of social support across diverse groups

The link will be shared through email and flyers posted on campus. Contact Professor Dainer-Best with any questions.

Talk: "We are the glue": Community-based youth workers' conceptions of professional identity in precarious work

The link will be shared through email and flyers posted on campus. Contact Professor Dainer-Best with any questions.

Talk: On the Value of Presence when the World is on Fire: Practicing Social Work and Therapy for People in Crisis

Talk: Characterizing vulnerability to health-risk behaviors in the developing brain

Description: Adolescence is a period of development characterized by changes in brain circuitry suggested to increase vulnerability for risky behaviors. Environmental and genetic factors, such as the obesogenic environment of the modern world or a family history of substance use, may interact with adolescent brain development to heighten vulnerability to certain health-risk outcomes and behaviors (e.g., obesity, substance use). Using a naturalistic design, I will first present evidence of how obese adolescents differentially engage reward circuitry when viewing fast food advertisements, and further, how genetic predisposition for obesity may additionally impact these responses in children. I will then present work using a novel imaging technique to examine a role of cell density—a proposed biomarker of neuroinflammation—in promoting a vicious cycle of diet-induced weight gain in youth. Finally, I will highlight the utility of network-based models in predicting dimensions of risk for future substance use. Characterizing vulnerability through a variety of data-driven and hypothesis-driven approaches may aid in triangulating mechanisms underlying adolescent health-risk behaviors as well as potential targets for early intervention and prevention.

Dr. Sharon Horne (UMass-Boston)

Dr. Tara Mandalaywala (UMass-Amherst)

Dr. Brendan Gaesser (SUNY Albany)