In Journal Club, students and professors talk together about exciting new psychology research. By reading and discussing a short, current article, students learn necessary skills about understanding and interpreting psychological research.
Schedule for Fall 2026
Tuesday, October 27, 4:30-5:30pm, Centenary Square 210
Discussion led by Dr. Pete Zunick (PSY357 Attitudes & Persuasion)
How do Adults Think, Feel, and Behave Toward Teenagers? Measuring and Understanding Adults’ Attitudes Toward Teenagers
Lukas J.Wolf, Vlad Costin, Marina Iosifyan, Alexander Nolan, Elizah-Marie Hurst, Sara Ascensão, Colin Foad , Geoffrey Haddock, & Gregory R. Maio
Despite the pervasiveness of adult–teenager relations, research has largely neglected adults’ attitudes toward teenagers. Eight studies (N = 3,517) examined the content of adults’ attitudes toward teenagers and developed a 14-item measure that assesses three factors: openness intentions, negative beliefs, and positive emotions regarding teenagers. Openness intentions involve empathic orientations and predict more contact with teenagers and more donations to a charity benefiting teenagers. Negative beliefs involve self-oriented and conservative orientations and predict desires to control teenagers (e.g., social dominance orientation, opposing voting rights for 16–17 year olds). Positive emotions involve higher personal well-being and predict more forgiving evaluations and decisions regarding norm-defying teenagers (e.g., teenage suspects). These factors were invariant across the United Kingdom, the United States, and South Africa. Together, the findings offer fundamental new insights about adults’ attitudes toward teenagers and enable future research into how these attitudes influence adult–teenager relations and teenager well-being.
Wednesday, November 4, 4:30-5:30pm, Centenary Square 210
Discussion led by Dr. Jarret Richardson (PSY319 Psychopharmacology)
Post-Retrieval Extinction Attenuates Alcohol Cue Reactivity in Rats
Roberto U. Cofresí, Suzanne M. Lewis, Nadia Chaudhri, Hongjoo J. Lee, Marie-H. Monfils, & Rueben A. Gonzales
BACKGROUND—Conditioned responses to alcohol-associated cues can hinder recovery from alcohol use disorder (AUD). Cue exposure (extinction) therapy (CET) can reduce reactivity to alcohol cues, but its efficacy is limited by phenomena such as spontaneous recovery and reinstatement that can cause a return of conditioned responding after extinction. Using a preclinical model of alcohol cue reactivity in rats, we evaluated whether the efficacy of alcohol CET could be improved by conducting CET during the memory reconsolidation window after retrieval of a cue-alcohol association.
METHODS—Rats were provided with intermittent access to unsweetened alcohol. Rats were then trained to predict alcohol access based on a visual cue. Next, rats were treated with either standard extinction (n=14) or post-retrieval extinction (n=13). Rats were then tested for long-term memory of extinction and susceptibility to spontaneous recovery and reinstatement.
RESULTS—Despite equivalent extinction, rats treated with post-retrieval extinction exhibited reduced spontaneous recovery and reinstatement relative to rats treated with standard extinction.
CONCLUSIONS—Post-retrieval CET shows promise for persistently attenuating the risk to relapse posed by alcohol cues in individuals with AUD.
Thursday, November 12, 4:30-5:30pm, Centenary Square 210
Discussion led by Dr. Adam Blancher (PSY362 Foundations of Psychopathology)
Smartphone Ownership, Age of Smartphone Acquisition, and Health Outcomes in Early Adolescence
Ran Barzilay, Samuel D. Pimentel, Kate T. Tran, Elina Visoki, David Pagliaccio, & Randy P. Auerbach
OBJECTIVES: Given concerns regarding health implications of adolescent smartphone use, we tested abstract associations of smartphone ownership and age of smartphone acquisition with depression, obesity, and insufficient sleep in early adolescence. We hypothesized that smartphone ownership, especially at a younger age, would be associated with worse health outcomes.
METHODS: The sample included 10 588 participants from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. Mixed-effects logistic regression models tested associations of smartphone ownership and age of first smartphone acquisition, reported by caregivers, with depression, obesity, and insufficient sleep at age 12 years. Among participants who did not own smartphones at age 12 years, we tested associations of recent acquisition of smartphones with outcomes in the subsequent year. Models were adjusted for demographic and socioeconomic variables, ownership of other devices, pubertal development, and parental monitoring.
RESULTS: At age 12 years, compared with not owning a smartphone (n = 3849), smartphone ownership (n = 6739) was associated with higher risk for depression (odds ratio [OR] 1.31, 95% CI: 1.05–1.63), obesity (OR 1.40, 95% CI: 1.20–1.63), and insufficient sleep (OR 1.62, 95% CI: 1.46–1.79). Younger age of smartphone acquisition was associated with obesity and insufficient sleep (for each earlier year of acquisition, OR 1.09, 95% CI: 1.02–1.16, and OR 1.08, 95% CI: 1.02–1.12, respectively). At age 13 years, among 3486 youth who did not own a smartphone at age 12 years, those who had acquired a smartphone in the past year (n = 1546) had greater odds of reporting clinical-level psychopathology (OR 1.57, 95% CI: 1.12–2.20) and insufficient sleep (OR 1.50, 95% CI: 1.26–1.77) compared with those who had not (n = 1940) after controlling for baseline mental health and sleep. Results were consistent across several sensitivity analyses.
CONCLUSIONS: Smartphone ownership was associated with depression, obesity, and insufficient sleep in early adolescence. Findings provide critical and timely insights that should inform caregivers regarding adolescent smartphone use and, ideally, the development of public policy that protects youth.
How Should I Prepare for Journal Club?
Before attending, you should read the assigned article and come prepared to discuss questions such as:
- What were the authors trying to discover?
- How did they investigate their question?
- What strengths and limitations do you see in the study?
- How do the findings connect to broader issues in psychology?
- How might the findings relate to everyday life?
You do not need to fully understand every aspect of the article before attending. Journal Club is a place to ask questions, work through ideas, and practice thinking like a psychological scientist. Journal Club is most valuable when participants share questions as well as ideas; curiosity and thoughtful engagement are more important than having all the answers.
Why Should I Attend Journal Club?
Journal Club provides an opportunity to:
- Learn about current topics in psychological science
- Develop confidence reading psychological research
- Practice discussing and evaluating scientific evidence
- Connect ideas from coursework to real research
- Engage with faculty and students who share an interest in psychology
- Earn extra credit, if offered by your professor
If you have questions, please contact Dr. Amy Hammond in the Psychology Department.