Congress Talks About Behavioral Research

Congress is holding hearings on the proposed budgets of various federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health. In addition to long-time Congressional advocate Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), behavioral science has a new friend in the House: Rep Tim Ryan (D-OH), who in this video is talking to NIH Acting Director Raynard Kington and other NIH officials about stress research and about a new NIH initiative on basic behavioral research. View Video

Academic Career Values and Choices: Two Perspectives

Two contributions that follow in this issue — speaking clearly but in very different voices and emerging from contrasting professional and life stages — provide distinctive but complementary perspectives on core issues raised in my presidential columns on academic life, values, and career choices faced on the road to tenure and beyond in our science.?

Try A Little Powerlessness

Self-control is one of our most cherished values. We applaud those with the discipline to regulate their appetites and actions, and we try hard to instill this virtue in our children. Think of the slogans: Just say no. Just do it. We celebrate the power of the mind to make hard choices and keep us on course. But what if we can’t just do it? What if “it” is too difficult or our strategy for success is misguided?

Ode to Joy and Serenity and Curiosity and . . .

Young patas monkeys love to play tag on the savannahs of West Africa, and they have an odd play habit. When they are being chased, they fling themselves on to saplings, which bend and catapult them in unexpected directions. This exuberant and quirky behavior disappears as the speedy red monkeys grow into adulthood, with one exception ...