NIU Today

It’s not uncommon nowadays for grandparents to live with grandchildren, with many acting as full-time parents. And that family arrangement can bring unique challenges, says Laura Pittman, an NIU professor of psychology. Pittman blogs on the topic today on the Psychology Today website, examining questions related to how living in a grandparent-headed household influences a...

For nine hours every Saturday and 11 hours every Sunday, Tertia “Abby” Jeppson works a cash register at the local Menards store in her hometown of LaSalle-Peru. When she sometimes hears her name on the loudspeaker, the NIU senior usually has a good idea why: One of her colleagues is trying to help a customer...

In a new Psychology Today blog, NIU professor Christine Malecki discusses the pressures faced by parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). “It breaks my heart thinking of parents of children severely affected by ASD who are doing as much as they can, yet see only small steps of progress,” the NIU psychology professor...

Lazy days of summer? Think again. For nearly 30 undergraduate students on campus at NIU this summer, the season provided opportunities to work alongside professors and delve deep into research projects. Shekinah Bergmann, for example, worked with mechanical engineering professor Behrooz Fallahi and several graduate students, designing and building a robot, nicknamed “Nightwing.” It has...

NIU psychology professor Lisa Finkelstein found love at a professional conference. You can, too, she says. She is not talking about romantic love, but the kind of love that emanates from shared positive experience. And you can find it almost anywhere. In a newly posted Psychology Today blog, Finkelstein discusses how this type of love,...

An employee in the office receives a flexible time schedule, much to the irritation of her coworkers, who must stick to the 9-to-5 regimen. Because she often arrives an hour or two after everyone else, peers are forced to re-arrange daily meeting schedules. They feel it’s unfair and inequitable. What this woman’s coworkers don’t know...

NIU junior Linnea Scherer hopes to change the way women are portrayed in video games, and she already has developed an impressive game concept thanks to the McKearn Summer Fellows program she participated in last year. “The McKearn Fellows Program was amazing. It was what got me to this point,” says Scherer of Elburn, a...

NIU psychology professor Alecia M. Santuzzi and several of her students have posted a new blog entry in Psychology Today, examining research on whether some women in the workplace might be inclined to pull up the ladder after breaking the glass ceiling. Some research studies indicate that might indeed be the case, Santuzzi says. Graduate...

Guadalupe Lopez, a psychology major and 2013 Forward, Together Forward Scholar, is the recipient of a $1,000 scholarship from the Illinois Latino Council on Higher Education. The scholarships are awarded to Latino/a students in Illinois who exhibit outstanding commitment to learning, community service and leadership. Nearly 250 applicants were considered this year. Lopez and co-winner...

Even subtle features of language can have profound effects on how we think and feel, which in a legal context might affect legal decision-making, according to NIU postdoctoral student Andrew Sherrill and psychology professor Joe Magliano. The two blog on the topic today in the online edition of Psychology Today, discussing research on how language...

Following through on that New Year’s resolution to exercise more often will not only beef up your biceps, it will also help your brain. So says NIU psychology professor Angela Grippo. Grippo blogs on the topic today on the Psychology Today website, discussing research (including some of her own) that demonstrates how exercise improves both...

Got a New Year’s resolution in mind? NIU Psychology Professor Amanda Durik offers three motivational science-based tips that could help you accomplish your goals. Durik blogs on the topic this week on the Psychology Today website. (NIU psychology professors are regular contributors to the site.) She says accumulating research in the science of motivation suggests...