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PsychOS Presents: The Third Annual Back-to-School Pubcrawl!
Archived on Oct 3rd 2011

Friday, Sept. 23rd 7PM at Soprano's Karaoke
Tickets are $15 - gets you into 3 bars, 2 free drinks, an awesome Freud themed t-shirt and a goody bag filled with Tight & Bright treats!

Tickets will be on sale Friday, Sept. 16th, Monday, Sept. 19th & Tuesday, Sept 20th from 10AM to 4PM in COR A171

You can also email psychos@uvic.ca to reserve your ticket

PSYC Co-op application deadline September 15
Archived on Oct 3rd 2011

Psychology Co-op is accepting applications for admission. If you are in 2nd or 3rd year* and have a B+ average in all your psych courses you are eligible to apply. Applications are available in the Social Sciences Co-op office, SSM A204. The application deadline is September 15th.

*4th year students may be eligible. Please contact Barb Fisher bfisher@uvic.ca for more information.

CPA Certificate of Academic Excellence Recipients for 2011
Archived on Oct 3rd 2011

Every year, the Canadian Psychological Association seeks nominations for the CPA Certificate of Academic Excellence, which recognizes the best Honour's, Master's and Doctoral theses/dissertations in Psychology departments across the country.  Students are nominated by their departments and receive a certificate and their names will be listed in the fall issue of CPA's news magazine Psynopsis and on the CPA website.

Congratulations to the following students who were nominated by the department and are the recipients of the CPA Certificate of Academic Excellence for 2011:

Honour’s thesis:
Chelsea Durber
Drew Halliday
Sarah Jarvis
Master’s thesis:
Jacob Grand
Jonathan Rush
Paweena Sukhawathanakul
Doctoral Dissertation:
Colleen Bezeau
Rachel Yeung

Bonnie Leadbeater | Anti-Bullying Program

UVic psychologist Dr. Bonnie Leadbeater was interviewed by 'A' News yesterday for their coverage on a provincial announcement about funding for the existing anti-bullying program "Roots of Empathy."   Video    Related

Michael Masson | Scents & Sensibility
Archived on Oct 3rd 2011

While homeowners go to great lengths to make their homes picture perfect, any lingering odours in the house might mean they take away unpleasant memories of their stay. But most people often don't realize there is a problem. "It's a blind spot for most people," says UVic psychologist Dr. Michael Masson.  National Post

Robert Gifford | The dragons of inaction
Archived on Oct 3rd 2011

UVic environmental psychologist Dr. Robert Gifford has published an article in the APA's American Psychologist. The May/June 2011 edition of the academic journal is a special issue on psychology and climate change.  Edition

2010 CCDP Teaching Assistant Award Winners
Archived on Oct 3rd 2011

Megan Caines, Julie Irwin, Lisa Reddoch, and Megan Yim are the recipients of the 2010 CCDP Teaching Assistant Award. Details here.

Martin Smith on the Culture of Drinking

The Saanich News continues its series on alcohol use in Greater Victoria with a bold theory: the more intelligent you are, the more alcohol you tend to drink. UVic evolutionary psychologist Dr. Martin Smith loves to discuss this theory, whose research springs from work by a London-based psychologist. Martin thinks the theory, although surprising, is at least partly true.  Saanich News

 

Psyc Grad Students win National Awards
Archived on Oct 3rd 2011

Details here.

Lindsay: Soldier’s discipline helps against-the-odds recovery from brain injury
Archived on Oct 3rd 2011

Canadian Forces Captain Trevor Green, whose brain was severely injured five years ago during an incident in Afghanistan, has been documenting his remarkable recovery with the help of UVic psychologist Steve Lindsay and National Research Council neuroscientist Ryan D'Arcy (a UVic alumnus). Globe and Mail

 

Leadbeater on CBC
Archived on Oct 3rd 2011

UVic psychologist Dr. Bonnie Leadbeater was interviewed on CBC Radio Victoria this morning (03/31/2011) about the two boys who murdered local teen Kimberly Proctor. She discussed issues affecting societal intervention for extreme cases such as this (with both boys having shown early signs of psychological disorder) and lack of knowledge about available mental health programs for youth in general.

Lindsay on Greene in Reader's Digest
Archived on Oct 3rd 2011

In the April edition of Reader's Digest, there is a story about Trevor Greene, who was in a coma but thanks to his fiancée has been brought back from the brink. The project led by UVic psychologist Dr. Stephen Lindsay with Ryan D'Arcy is briefly described in this article, with UVic being mentioned twice (pages 57 and 61).

Gifford on BC Carbon Tax Third Anniversary
Archived on Oct 3rd 2011

The New York Times is reporting this morning that the BC carbon tax is nearing its third anniversary loved by some, hated by others, and yet forgotten by many Canadians. UVic environmental psychologist Dr. Robert Gifford is quoted in this coverage.  NYT 

MacDonald Named Research Excellence Award Recipient
Archived on Oct 3rd 2011

Congratulations to Dr. Stuart MacDonald, who has been selected as the 2011 recipient of the Faculty of Social Sciences Research Excellence Award. Stuart will be presented the award at the annual awards ceremony for Social Sciences, March 31 beginning at 3:30 (Michelle Pujol Room in the SUB).

TAUGHT@UVIC Deemed Huge Success
Archived on Oct 3rd 2011

15-30 minute presentations by six UVIC Psychology professors (Drs. Bub, Smith, Lindsey, Niehaus, Stinson, and Tanaka) on their latest research or hot topics revolving psychology. More here.

Award Honours UVic Psychology Pioneer Catherine Mateer
Archived on Oct 3rd 2011

Acclaimed clinical neuropsychology professor and University of Victoria administrator Dr. Catherine Mateer is the inaugural recipient of a new award from the BC Psychological Association, created in her name—the Catherine Mateer Scientist-Practitioner Award. More...

Our Psi Chi Chapter Won!
Archived on Oct 3rd 2011

The UVic chapter of Psi Chi won the 2011 Psi Chi Regional Chapter Award for the Western Region. In addition to the glory, our chapter will receive $500 and a commemorative plaque. Thanks to those who have been active in making this year’s Psi Chi so awesome. Thanks especially to Tamara Meixner and Chelsea Durber, who took the lead on this effort and wrote the 12-page application for this award.

Trash Talk with Dr. Robert Gifford
Archived on Oct 3rd 2011

UVic environmental psychologist Dr. Robert Gifford is quoted in a local Press Group article about garbage around Greater Victoria.  Victoria News 

Danu Stinson: No such thing as a free hug in Victoria?

January 21 was apparently National Hug Day. UVic psychology professor Dr. Danu Stinson explains the importance of touch in human development, for this local Press Group coverage.  Saanich News 

Bonnie Leadbeater, Psychology / Youth Against Cancer (UVic student group)
Archived on Oct 3rd 2011

Victoria bans teens from using tanning beds

Greater Victoria has become the first region in BC and only the third in Canada to ban the use of tanning beds by teenagers. UVic psychologist Dr. Bonnie Leadbeater is quoted about peer pressure, in the Globe and Mail coverage this morning, and a student representative provides comment for the Times Colonist.

 

Dr. Cathy Costigan responds to recent MacLean's article
Archived on Oct 3rd 2011

A recent article in Maclean’s magazine titled “Too Asian” includes citations attributed to me suggesting that my research shows that it is unsurprising that Asian students are segregated on college campuses.  Research in the United States has explored the experience of peer discrimination among Chinese adolescents, documenting the high rates of discrimination and exploring some of the reasons behind this ethnic bullying.  In this respect, the author correctly represented our interview. 

We regret that overall our research was misrepresented, or simply not represented, in this article.  Our research has no bearing on issues related to Asian university students or university student life in general. Instead, our Intercultural Family Study is an investigation of cultural adaptation, family relationships, and psychological adjustment among immigrant Chinese families who have children in high school.  In this research program, we have found that adolescents who feel more positively about being ethnically Chinese also tend to report better psychological adjustment in terms of higher feelings of self-esteem and fewer symptoms of depression.  We also found that the more experiences adolescents have with peer bullying, the lower their psychological adjustment. Finally, our research has found that adolescents reporting stronger feelings of ethnic identity are less negatively affected by the stressors of lower academic achievement and peer bullying. That is, feeling positively about one’s ethnic identity appears to be protective against risks related to achievement and discrimination.   

These are the issues that I discussed with the author of the MacLean’s article. Any extension from these research findings were made by the author of the article and are not conclusions that we have drawn from our research.

 

Catherine Costigan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology

Dr. Robert Gifford on the subject of secondary suites
Archived on Oct 3rd 2011

UVic researchers wade in on the subject of secondary suites.  Oak Bay News

Dr. Holly Tuokko in the Globe and Mail
Archived on Oct 3rd 2011

Don't call West Vancouver's Village at Park Royal a mall. The shopping centre is marketed as a lifestyle centre with a design that encourages customers, a majority of whom are older than 55, to spend the day. UVic's Centre on Aging's business-friendly awards are mentioned in this Globe and Mail piece, and director Dr. Holly Tuokko is quoted.  Globe and Mail 

Dr. Bonnie Leadbeater on CTV news
Archived on Oct 3rd 2011

UVic researchers Drs. Sibylle Artz and Bonnie Leadbeater spoke with CHEK News this week about the Kimberly Proctor murder; both have conducted research on anti-violence and teen bullying. As columnist Jack Knox wrote yesterday, "Victorians thought they had seen the crime [Reena Virk's murder] that would always leap to mind when Canadians spoke of teen-on-teen violence. But now we have this, the chilling, premeditated brutalization and murder of an 18-year-old girl by two boys." Leadbeater also provided comment last night to CTV News.

Dr. Danu Stinson on Heartbreak
Archived on Oct 3rd 2011

UVic Psychology, Assistant Professor Danu Stinson appeared on Shaw TV October 20, 2010. She was interviewed on the subject of Heartbreak. Watch the video here.

Climate change a scare and a bore but worthy of serious thought
Archived on Oct 3rd 2011

UVic psychologist Robert Gifford is co-editor of a landmark American Psychological Association report, Psychology and Climate Change, on the psychological hurdles people face when they try to stop polluting. Courier-Mail (Australia)

UVic Psi Chi Debate: Is Monogamy Natural?
Archived on Oct 3rd 2011

View the video featuring Dr. Jeffrey Niehaus and Dr. Martin Smith

Computer games help autistic children
Archived on Oct 3rd 2011

UVic cognitive scientist Dr. Jim Tanaka's research on how computer games help children with autism to read facial expressions is featured in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Dr. Tanaka is collaborating with Marni Bartlett, a computer vision scientist at the University of California, on a new version of Let's Face It! that will look and feel more like real-world interactions, using a webcam to detect the expressions children are making.     Pittsburgh Post-Gazette  Related