Cultural foundations of human social behavior

Understanding how cultural, biological mechanisms foster empathy and altruism

2014-02-16

(Press-News.org) CHICAGO --- Joan Chiao, assistant professor of psychology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University, will discuss her research "Cultural and Neural Basis of Empathy" at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Chicago.

Her presentation is part of the symposium "Physiological and Cultural Foundations of Human Social Behavior" to be held from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15 in Grand Ballroom E of the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

The session will focus on recent findings in social neurosciences and behavioral economics on the physiological and cultural foundations of these traits of human social behavior.

Chiao has conducted extensive research on how cultural and biological forces give rise to everyday emotion and social interaction. She uses a "cultural neuroscience" framework to investigate how cultural factors influence basic psychological and neural processes underlying social behavior and emotion processing.

INFORMATION: (Source contact: Joan Chiao at 847-467-0481 or jchiao@northwestern.edu)

NORTHWESTERN NEWS: http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/ END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Contemplating the workplace of tomorrow

2014-02-16

CHICAGO --- Robert Gordon, the Stanley G. Harris Professor in the department of economics in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University, will present "Long-Term Unemployment, Shrinking Participation and Future Economic Growth" at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Chicago. His presentation is part of the symposium "Will the Workplace of Tomorrow Have Any Workers? Computing, Productivity and Jobs" to be held from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15 in the Water Tower room at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. In ...

Top-down and bottom-up approach needed to conserve potato agrobiodiversity

2014-02-16

Mashed, smashed and fried, Americans love potatoes, but only a few varieties are grown in much of North American agriculture. In South America, where potatoes originated, more than 5,000 varieties continue to exist. A Penn State geographer is gathering all the information he can about the agrobiodiversity of these uniquely adapted tubers with an eye toward sustainability of this fourth largest food crop worldwide. "In the U.S. we rely primarily on 10 to 12 types of potatoes total," said Karl Zimmerer, department head and professor of geography. "In fact, mostly we use ...

Robotic fish aids understanding of how animals move

2014-02-16

The weakly electric black ghost knifefish of the Amazon basin has inspired Northwestern University's Malcolm MacIver and an interdisciplinary team of researchers to develop agile fish robots that could lead to a vast improvement in underwater vehicles used to study fragile coral reefs, repair damaged deep-sea oil rigs or investigate sunken ships. MacIver will discuss the research at a press briefing, "Robots from Nature: Making Mechanical Animals," to be held at 1 p.m. CST Saturday, Feb. 15, in Vevey Room 3 of the Swissôtel Chicago. The briefing is part of the American ...

Stanford scientist to unveil 50-state plan to transform US to renewable energy

2014-02-16

Stanford Professor Mark Jacobson and his colleagues recently developed detailed plans to transform the energy infrastructure of New York, California and Washington states from fossil fuels to 100 percent renewable resources by 2050. On Feb. 15, Jacobson will present a new roadmap to renewable energy for all 50 states at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Chicago. The online interactive roadmap is tailored to maximize the resource potential of each state. Hovering a cursor over California, for example, reveals ...

Research on urban ghettos must recognize differences among cities

2014-02-16

Research on urban neighborhoods must take into account differences among cities and rely on some techniques that have not been used extensively by sociologists studying neighborhood effects, according to Mario Small, professor of sociology at the University of Chicago. Small, who is also dean of UChicago's Division of the Social Sciences, studies urban neighborhoods and has studied the diversity of experiences for people living in poor neighborhoods in cities across the country. Studying only a few neighborhoods extensively fails to capture important differences, ...

Making biodiverse agriculture part of a food-secure future

2014-02-16

Is biodiverse agriculture an anachronism? Or is it a vital part of a food-secure future? Given the need to feed an estimated 2.4 billion more people by the year 2050, the drive toward large-scale, single-crop farming around the world may seem inexorable. But there's an important downside to this trend, argues Timothy Johns, Professor of Human Nutrition at McGill University in Montreal, in a paper to be presented Saturday, Feb. 15, at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago. Diets for most people around the world are becoming ...

LGB individuals living in anti-gay communities die early

2014-02-15

February 12, 2014 -- In the first study to look at the consequences of anti-gay prejudice for mortality, researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health found that lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals who lived in communities with high levels of anti-gay prejudice have a shorter life expectancy of 12 years on average compared with their peers in the least prejudiced communities. "The results of this study suggest a broadening of the consequences of prejudice to include premature death," noted the study's lead author, Mark Hatzenbuehler, PhD, ...

Beat-keeping sea lion shows surprising rhythmic ability

2014-02-15

Ronan, a California sea lion at Long Marine Laboratory at the University of California, Santa Cruz, became an Internet sensation last year when UCSC scientists published a paper describing her ability to bob her head in time with rhythmic sounds and music in a variety of tempos (see video). Ronan is the first non-human mammal convincingly shown to be able to keep the beat. Her range and versatility in matching different beats is impressive, according to Peter Cook, who began working with Ronan as a graduate student at UC Santa Cruz. Cook, now a postdoctoral fellow at ...

The new Africa -- green shoots in biosciences

2014-02-15

Cambridge UK, Feb 10, 2014: This key session will bring African experts in person to Chicago to report on how agricultural biotechnology is starting to have a real impact on the crucial smallholder farming sector in particular. However, the session will also warn that this fledgling bioscience revolution needs to be carefully nurtured. According to moderator Sir Brian Heap, African economies are now among the fastest growing in the world. "While many of the world's farmers have benefitted from advances in bioscience, African farmers and citizens could possibly benefit the ...

University institutes are shaping future of research

2014-02-15

In an age of specialization, building networks of outstanding scientists, engineers and clinicians is helping the development of creative solutions to complex societal needs. But how do you successfully surmount the barriers between disparate disciplines? Northwestern University professor Chad Mirkin is no stranger to the challenges of building diverse teams. He is the founding director of the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN), a flourishing institute that brings together more than 190 faculty researchers from 25 different disciplines. Mirkin will discuss ...

Cultural foundations of human social behavior

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: