03/20/2012

The psychology undergraduate newsletter provides a weekly update on the latest course information, upcoming events, and currently available job, internship, and research opportunities relating to your major! Find past issues here. If you would like to start receiving the Psych Scoop directly to your inbox, send a request to: psyadvis@umn.edu.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
PSYCHOLOGY ADVISING FEATURED EVENTS
--1.WHAT CAN I DO WITH A MAJOR IN PSYCHOLOGY? FIND OUT!
ANNOUNCEMENTS
--2.PSYCHOLOGY BS MAJORS: NSCI 1100 ACCEPTED FOR OUTSIDE FOUNDATION
PSI CHI/PSYCHOLOGY STUDENT ASSOCIATION
--3.MEETING WED. 3/21 PRIVATE PRACTICE PSYCHOTHERAPIST GUEST SPEAKER
--4.PSI CHI APPLICATIONS ARE DUE WEDNESDAY 3/28!
--5.INVOLVEMENT OPPORTUNITIES WITH PSI CHI & PSYCH CLUB!
--6.MEMBER OF PSI CHI AND WALKING IN COMMENCEMENT THIS MAY?
EVENTS
--7.INTERESTED IN INDUSTRIAL/ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCH?
--8.INTERESTED IN MARKETING/ADVERTISING CAREERS? ATTEND EXPO!
--9.INFO SESSION FOR MAY SESSION CEDAR-RIVERSIDE IMMERSION
LECTURES/COURSES
--10.CAB COLLOQUIUM: A DECISION NEUROSCIENCE APPROACH TO AUCTIONS
--11.SOC PSY COLLOQUIUM: AFFECTIVE ADAPTATION & PLEASURES OF UNCERTAINTY
PROGRAMS OF INTEREST
--12.UMD ONLINE CERTIFICATION FOR COUNSELING PATHOLOGICAL GAMBLERS
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PSYCHOLOGY ADVISING FEATURED EVENTS
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1.WHAT CAN I DO WITH A MAJOR IN PSYCHOLOGY? FIND OUT!
Wednesday, March 28; 2:30 - 4:00 pm
N639 Elliott Hall
Don't miss this excellent opportunity to learn about job and career possibilities you may pursue following completion of your Psychology degree. Psychology Undergraduate Advising will host a panel of psychology alumni in medical, finance, human resource, mental health, and research positions who will discuss their career paths and current positions. They'll also share important tips for making a smooth transition from school to the world of work and point out what they did as undergraduates that was helpful (or not!). This event can be useful for those early on in their undergraduate career as well as for those nearing graduation. Attend to learn more about the process and possibilities! The event is FREE--bring a pen, paper, and your questions. You must RSVP for the event by Monday, March 26th 2012 by emailing psyadvis@umn.edu, noting you are RSVPing for the WCIDWAMIP event. Seating is limited, so act fast!
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
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2.PSYCHOLOGY BS MAJORS: NSCI 1100 ACCEPTED FOR OUTSIDE FOUNDATION
If you are pursuing the Bachelor of Science in Psychology, please note there is an additional course you may take to work toward your Outside Psychology Foundation Clusters requirements. NSCI 1100: Human Neuroanatamy may be counted toward the Biological Science Foundation Cluster. This is a 4 credit course typically offered fall terms through the Neuroscience Department. If you have taken or choose to take this course, you must be in contact with Psychology Undergraduate Advising at psyadvis@umn.edu to request an exception be made on your APAS, as it will not automatically recognize this course as counting toward the BS requirement. Please contact us with any additional questions.
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PSI CHI/PSYCHOLOGY STUDENT ASSOCIATION
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PLEASE NOTE: All students interested in Psychology are welcome to participate in Psi Chi/ Psychology Student Association activities. No previous participation or membership is required. If you're interested, please attend!
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3.MEETING WED. 3/21 PRIVATE PRACTICE PSYCHOTHERAPIST GUEST SPEAKER
The next Psi Chi/Psychology Club meeting will be on Wednesday, March 21st, from 3:00 - 4:00pm in N639 Elliott. Suzanne Dresdner, MSW, LICSW is a private practice psychotherapist and will be our guest speaker for this meeting. She will be speaking about her profession and is available to answer questions for those who would like to learn more about psychology in practice. You do not have to be a member of Psi Chi to attend-- all are welcome! If you have questions, attend a meeting or send an email to psichi@umn.edu for more information.
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4.PSI CHI APPLICATIONS ARE DUE WEDNESDAY 3/28!
The deadline for applying to become a member of Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology, is March 28th. You can learn more about what it means to be a member of Psi Chi here. Applications can be picked up and submitted outside S104 Elliott Hall. Completed applications can be returned to the drop box.
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5.INVOLVEMENT OPPORTUNITIES WITH PSI CHI & PSYCH CLUB!
In addition to meetings this semester, we will be having a bake sale and will be attending Relay for Life. Click here to join our Relay team! If you have questions, would like to become a member, or want to get involved in the bake sale or Relay for Life, attend a meeting or send an email to psichi@umn.edu for more information. We are currently accepting Psi Chi applications for Spring semester!
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6.MEMBER OF PSI CHI AND WALKING IN COMMENCEMENT THIS MAY?
Our Psi Chi chapter may subsidize the cost of commencement honors cords. If you are interested, please attend a meeting to let us know or send an email to psichi@umn.edu so that we may determine interest.
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EVENTS
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7.INTERESTED IN INDUSTRIAL/ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCH?
Check out the next Minnesota Professionals for Psychology Applied to Work (MPPAW) meeting TONIGHT, Tuesday, March 20th. Justin Bethke and Michael Durando from Target Corporation will be presenting on Employee Opinion Surveys. They will be sharing how an increased executive appetite for survey data has led the survey team to undertake a significant redesign of the survey program. The meeting will be held at Solera in downtown Minneapolis. It begins at 5:30 p.m. with a social hour, followed by the presentation, which begins at 6:20 p.m. and concludes by 7:45 p.m. For more information about membership, upcoming events, and job postings, check out the MPPAW website.
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8.INTERESTED IN MARKETING/ADVERTISING CAREERS? ATTEND EXPO!
Thursday, March 22; 11:00am - 2:00pm
Carlson School Atrium
The purpose of the event is to provide an opportunity for students to connect with employers representing various aspects of marketing. The flow will feel like a mini career fair with tables and student mingling. Please note that not all companies will have open jobs and are attending solely to provide you with insights into various marketing functions. This is your chance to learn more about what you can do as an undergrad to progress toward a career in marketing or advertising, and what this job market is all about. Come speak to employers from advertising agencies, integrated marketing firms, mid-size companies, and more! The FREE event is open to all U of M students and does not require registration! For more information search the 'Career Events' section on GoldPASS.
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9.INFO SESSION FOR MAY SESSION CEDAR-RIVERSIDE IMMERSION
Wednesday, March 21st; 3:00 - 4:00pm
269 Appleby Hall
What can a neighborhood teach us about leadership and social change? ID 3960: Global Leadership for Social Change- A Cedar Riverside Immersion is a 3 credit May session course that parallels the immersion experience of study abroad, and could be usable toward your Psychology major requirements! Students in this course will be learning and working in the Cedar Riverside community and examining questions of leadership, power, cultural diversity and social change. The course involves an exciting blend of community engagement, neighborhood excursions, readings, and lively discussions. In the community, we learn from organizers, social justice activists, businesses leaders, elected officials, and community residents. It includes an overnight residential component, a neighborhood theater performance and meals at local restaurants. Attend the info session to meet the instructor and get an overview of this unique and exciting course! If you would like more details as to how this may be used toward Psychology major requirements, contact psyadvis@umn.edu.
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LECTURES/COURSES
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10.CAB COLLOQUIUM: A DECISION NEUROSCIENCE APPROACH TO AUCTIONS
Thursday, March 22; 4:00 pm
N-119 Elliott Hall
Come learn about recent work from Samuel McClure, Ph.D. and Assistant Professor at Stanford University. Cognitive neuroscience offers the potential to constrain models of the processes that underlie decision-making. He will discuss some of his recent work using this approach to investigate a phenomenon in auctions known as the winner's curse. Auctions are competitive social environments in which people often bid more than theory prescribes - commonly resulting in net financial loss. He proposes that bidding is well characterized as reinforcement learning with biased reward representations based on social preferences. They developed a new learning algorithm to model trial-by-trial changes in behavior. Indicative of reinforcement learning, prediction errors estimated with this model correlated with activity in the striatum and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Additionally, they found that winning and losing auctions evoked activity in areas related to social and emotional processes, including the temporal-parietal junction and anterior insula. Connectivity analyses suggest that monetary and social value signals are integrated in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and striatum. Based on these results, it is argued for a novel, brain-based, mechanistic account for the integration of reinforcement history and social preferences in economic decision-making. Dr. McClure will also hold open office hours from 1:30 to 3:00 in S214 Elliott.
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11.SOC PSY COLLOQUIUM: AFFECTIVE ADAPTATION & PLEASURES OF UNCERTAINTY
Monday, April 2; 10:00 - 11:30 am
N639 Elliott Hall
The colloquium in Social Psychology is a great way to learn about cutting edge studies in the field. For this installment, speaker Dr. Timothy D. Wilson will present on "Affective Adaptation and the Pleasures of Uncertainty." How do people adapt to emotional events? He will present a model of affective adaptation that argues that people attend to self-relevant, unexplained events, react emotionally to them, explain or make sense of the events, and thereby adapt to the events (i.e., they attend to them less and have weaker emotional reactions to them). One implication of this argument is that if people can be prevented from making sense of positive events, the pleasure that these events cause might be prolonged. He will present evidence for this "pleasure of uncertainty" effect and discuss its implications.
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PROGRAMS OF INTEREST
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12.UMD ONLINE CERTIFICATION FOR COUNSELING PATHOLOGICAL GAMBLERS
The University of Minnesota Duluth's Continuing Education program has launched a new certificate. Studies in Gambling Addiction: Counseling the Pathological Gambler is a 60-hour noncredit professional development certificate. This program is aimed to provide useful supplemental knowledge for individuals planning to or currently working in the area of mental health, substance abuse or addiction counseling, public health, or employee assistance programs to name a few. For more information on the program and registering, see the online counseling certificate.