Advancing knowledge of human development, developmental disabilities, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Learning the value of environmental signals and using that information to guide behavior is critical for survival. Stress in childhood may influence these processes, but how it does so is still unclear.
Dr. Seth Pollak, the College of Letters & Science Distinguished Professor of Psychology, has been named a Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
To slow the progression of COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have recommended wearing face coverings. However, very little is known about how occluding parts of the face might impact the emotion inferences that children make during social interactions.
By Chris Barncard, UW Communications MADISON — The proliferation of face coverings to keep COVID-19 in check isn’t keeping kids from understanding facial expressions, according to a new study by University of Wisconsin–Madison psychologists. It’s easiest to understand the emotions of the people around you by taking in all the hints they’re dropping, on purpose …
Six University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, including Waisman Center investigator and psychologist Seth Pollak, PhD. Pollak is the College of Letters & Science Distinguished Professor of Psychology. At UW–Madison’s Waisman Center, he researches the link between childhood stress and well-being. Pollak’s team has uncovered the …
Facial Movements Are Unreliable Signals of Emotion, Researchers Say Software that purportedly reads emotions in faces is being deployed or tested for a variety of purposes, including surveillance, hiring, clinical diagnosis, and market research. But a new scientific report finds that facial movements are an inexact gauge of a person’s feelings, behaviors or intentions. “It …
How does stress put some children at risk of psychiatric disorders when they grow up? To find out, researchers compared their genomes to those of kids whose childhoods were relatively tranquil.
Individuals who have experienced chronic and high levels of stress during their childhoods are at increased risk for a wide range of behavioral problems, yet the neurobiological mechanisms underlying this association are poorly understood.
Adults who lived high-stress childhoods have trouble reading the signs that a loss or punishment is looming, leaving themselves in situations that risk avoidable health and financial problems and legal trouble.
Waisman Center investigator Seth Pollak’s research was recently highlighted in the American Psychological Association’s Monitor on Psychology magazine. You can read the full story here.
