Amy Nusbaum learned from a recent study that a significant amount of college students don’t get enough to eat, so she decided to set up a mini food bank.

“This is a thing I can do right now that’ll help the students right now. And it doesn’t need to be like a huge thing, it’s a mailbox outside of my office, that for most of the last few months I’ve just been buying stuff as it runs out,” said Nusbaum, a doctoral candidate in psychology.

She started to run out of food, but before she made … » More …

While the scientific research behind CBD for pain relief is still lacking, what we do know is very promising. Believe it or not, marijuana has been used to treat pain as far back as 2900 B.C. More recently, scientists have started to discover that specific compounds found in marijuana, including CBD, are to thank for its pain-relieving effects.

Many studies suggest that how CBD works to relieve pain all comes down to the brain. Essentially it boils down to neurotransmitters in the brain. One theory is that it desensitizes a certain receptor that is known to be involved in pain – the TRPV1. This is … » More …

Fatigue and sleepiness on the job significantly raise the odds of officers drawing citizen complaints during their shift, according to a newly published study by a team of sleep specialists.

Their first-of-its-kind analysis finds that public complaints are roughly seven times more likely to occur on shifts with a traditionally high probability of officer tiredness—primarily, night shifts.

The study was led by Samantha Riedy, a PhD candidate in experimental psychology and a graduate research assistant at the Sleep and Performance Research Center at Washington State University (WSU). Joining her were Dr. Drew Dawson, a prominent sleep investigator with Central Queensland University in Australia, and WSU’s Dr. … » More …

Five Washington State University faculty will be speaking around the state about their research in a new partnership of the Thomas S. Foley Institute of Public Policy and Public Service and Humanities Washington, a nonprofit that aims to foster thoughtful conversation and critical thinking.

For the next two years, WSU’s “Foley Fellows” will be among more than 30 speakers that provide free public presentations on science, politics, music, philosophy, spiritual traditions, and more in dozens of communities throughout Washington.

The collaboration is the brainchild of Cornell Clayton, director of the Foley Institute and himself a former member of the Humanities Washington speakers bureau.

“It just … » More …

By Samuel Putnam and Masha A. Gartstein, WSU professor of psychology

As early as the fifth century B.C., the Greek historian Thucydides contrasted the self-control and stoicism of Spartans with the more indulgent and freethinking citizens of Athens.

Today, unique behaviors and characteristics seem ingrained in certain cultures.

Italians wildly gesticulate when they talk. Dutch children are notably easygoing and less fussy. Russians rarely smile in public.

As developmental psychologists, we’re fascinated by these differences, how they take shape and how they get passed along from one generation to the next.

Our work explores the way a … » More …