Your July 2025 reads

This month’s featured titles include a look at the world’s first advice column, self-help for parents, and a scholarly book on Venezuela.

Psychology Faculty win 2025 SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence

Psychology faculty members Felix Thoemmes and Karl Pillemer were selected for 2024–25 State University of New York (SUNY) Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence.

Why are lefties more creative? Turns out, they’re not

“The data do not support any advantage in creative thinking for lefties,” said Daniel Casasanto, associate professor in the Department of Psychology and College of Human Ecology, and director of the Experience and Cognition Lab. “In fact, there is some evidence that righties are more creative in some laboratory tests, and strong evidence that righties are overrepresented in professions that require the greatest creativity.”

Where the gender bias grows: Coming-of-age novels rife with stereotypes

An article published June 7, 2025, in the Journal of Research on Adolescence by researchers including Department of Psychology faculty Jane Mendel and Misha Inniss-Thompson, highlighted the issue of rigid gender stereotypes in novels aimed at young adults. The Cornell researchers used computational text analysis to sift through every word of more than 300 American coming-of-age novels published over the last 100 years.

Conspiracy theorists unaware their beliefs are on the fringe

Overconfidence is a hallmark trait of people who believe in conspiracies, Cornell psychology researchers have found.

Emotion – not just action – helps brain define, divide events

Study participants who watched scenes from popular movies showed emotion plays a larger role than previously understood in establishing event boundaries that help structure attention and memory.

Why our attempts to avoid emotional discomfort often backfire

"As a clinical psychologist, I’ve learned that moments of anxiety can be golden opportunities to learn to tolerate distress," A&S psychology major Alissa Worly Jerud ’08 writes.

Staff graduates recognized for academic achievements

More than two dozen staff members who earned degrees at Cornell or other institutions this year while also working at the university were celebrated in a ceremony June 10.

Study shows how city life shapes music choices

Living in a metropolis broadens our musical horizons, and makes our playlists less alike.

US Rep. Beth Van Duyne ’95, Brooks School dean to discuss policy at Reunion

The discussion will explore the intersection of public policy, politics and civic engagement.

Brain-inspired AI model learns sensory data efficiently

With brain mechanisms as a guide, Cornell researchers are designing low-energy robotic systems inspired by biology and useful for a wide range of potential applications.

Roper Center announces 2025 student fellows advancing public opinion research

This year’s cohort includes the W.E.B. Du Bois Fellow and three Kohut Fellows. These emerging scholars will advance data-driven research by contributing original scholarly work that uses Roper iPoll’s extensive survey archive.

They fled Afghanistan together – and now they're graduating

After escaping the Taliban, nine women matriculated on the Hill; the first to complete their degrees are in the Class of ’25

Surgeon General nominee is a prescription for ‘pseudoscience’

The nomination of Dr. Casey Means is the latest example of the administration’s disregard for scientific expertise and evidence-based policy, says a Cornell University expert.  

'Every single course was mind-bending and life-changing'

Elizaveta Zabelina is a Robert S. Harrison College Scholar who is also majoring in mathematics and psychology.

'As an Afghan woman, simply being at Cornell was an act of resistance'

Diana Ayubi is a psychology major.

'Academic life becomes much more interesting when you see how its different areas can support one another.'

Aerin Mok is majoring in psychology and anthropology.

'I truly feel prepared for any challenge coming my way'

Michael Wu is a psychology major.

'The class challenged me to build a more intentional future'

Kimberly Bond is majoring in statistics and psychology.

'I have learned to navigate academic spaces on my own terms'

Kendahl Wesley is a psychology & Africana studies major.

Cornell Center for Social Sciences awards grants, invites new proposals

The Cornell Center for Social Sciences has awarded spring Seed Grants and the inaugural Grant Preparation Funds to support impactful social science research. Faculty can now apply for up to $115,000 in funding, with the next deadline approaching on June 1.

Brain’s ‘blue spot’ key to healthy aging, early Alzheimer’s detection

Specialized MRI scans revealed dramatic changes over the human lifespan in the locus coeruleus, a finding that helps characterize healthy aging patterns.

Alumna earned congressional arguing chops on campus

Rep. Beth Van Duyne ’95, who represents Texas’ 24th Congressional District, recently won re-election to her third term.

Ask an Ambassador: How research makes a difference

Gloria's lab uses MRI imaging to study how exercise might be a powerful therapeutic treatment for Parkinson's Disease.

Finding friendship at first whiff

Two women meeting for the first time can judge within minutes whether they have potential to be friends – guided as much by smell as any other sense, according to new Cornell psychology research.

Celebrated bonobo Kanzi honored in workshop

Kanzi's legacy and the relation between great apes and language will be explored in a Humanities Lab Workshop on April 19.

Engaged Opportunity Grants fuel community-engaged learning for students

Seven projects are receiving a boost from the latest round of Engaged Opportunity Grants, awarded two times a year by the Einhorn Center for Community Engagement to teams of faculty or staff and their community partners.

Cornell Center for Social Sciences names 2025-26 Faculty Fellows

12 faculty members from seven colleges have been named 2025-26 Faculty Fellows with the Cornell Center for Social Sciences.

Students gain decision-making insight from alumna Cheryl Einhorn

“If you’re outside of your comfort zone, then you’re on the right track."

Power of babble: Babies elicit simpler speech from adults

Across languages and cultures, parents simplify their speech in response to babies’ babbling and early speech, supporting language development, new Cornell research finds.

Short and sweet: Supportive texts give partners a boost

Supportive texts from a significant other can help people cope with stressful events in their daily lives, Cornell psychology research finds.

Folk icon Peter Yarrow ’59, of Peter, Paul and Mary, dies at 86

Musician Peter Yarrow ’59, who drew early inspiration from his time at Cornell before joining the legendary folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, died Jan. 7 in Manhattan.

‘Politics, not policy’: Meta ending fact-check program

Psychology professor Gordon Pennycook, a misinformation expert, says he supports using crowdsourced fact-checking, "but removing third-party (professional) fact-checking strikes me as a major mistake.”

We mimic each other, like it or not

Mimicry appears to be a fundamental behavior that helps people understand each other, not just when they get along, new Cornell psychology research finds.

PRYDE Scholars spend summer helping celebrate 4-H’er contributions to communities

Two Human Development majors from the Department of Psychology coordinated a virtual showcase celebration to acknowledge and celebrate state 4-H youth and the contributions they have made to their communities.

Bringing visibility to Indigenous children in development science

Prof. Adam Hoffman spearheaded creation of a special section aimed at highlighting the psychological and developmental experiences of Indigenous children in the November 2024 issue of Child Development, the field’s leading journal.

Could ‘inoculation’ limit election misinformation?

A popular strategy for combating misinformation can help people distinguish truth from falsehood – when combined with reminders to focus on accuracy, Cornell-led research finds.

‘Birding buddies’ build social and science communication skills

Cornell students and high school students with disabilities or communication challenges met for 12 weeks to explore birds and build communications skills.

Empowering online communities with NSF grant

Nori Jacoby, assistant professor of psychology, has been awarded an NSF fellowship for a project to develop algorithms to more effectively harness the intelligence of crowds by improving the quality of collective evaluations

AI succeeds in combatting conspiracy theories

Conversations with large language models can effectively reduce individuals’ belief in conspiracy theories, a finding that offers new insights into the psychological mechanisms behind the phenomenon as well as potential tools to fight conspiracies’ spread.

New Faculty: Nora H. Prior

Nora H. Prior, Psychology

New Faculty: Nori Jacoby

Nori Jacoby, Psychology

From portfolios to pizza, fall A&S career events explore diverse fields

"Cornell alumni are generous with their time and efforts to assist students, to answer questions from students, or connect them to people and places."

New A&S dean relishes ‘life in a university’

Peter John Loewen says he's excited to support faculty in their research, meet students and showcase the value of a liberal arts education.

Timely responses – even from a car – drive babies’ learning

The timing of others’ reactions to their babbling is key to how babies begin learning, Cornell developmental psychologists found – with help from a remote-controlled car.

Moral psychology summer institute hosted at Cornell

Directed by College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) faculty in psychology and philosophy, the NEH-funded institute featured presentations from many leading figures in moral psychology, which studies human thought and behavior in ethical contexts

Nexus Scholars study climate change inequality and infant language learning

The program provides undergraduates with summer opportunities to conduct research with and be mentored by faculty from across the college.

Cornell expert on SCOTUS ruling in social media dispute

The Supreme Court has sided with the Biden administration over how far the federal government can go to combat controversial social media posts; associate professor of psychology Gordon Pennycook, who studies misinformation, comments.

Peter Loewen named dean of Arts and Sciences

Coming from the University of Toronto, where he was the director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, Loewen began his five-year appointment as the Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Aug. 1.

'I am grateful that my A&S education has taught me to be a contributing member of society with an open mind and room for learning new things.'

Wynne Williams-Ceci is a psychology and College Scholar major.