Discover Psychology: Science You Can Use

The "greying population" is the fastest growing group in Canada. Age-related changes in perceptual and neural function have implications for virtually every aspect of our lives—from recreation to transportation, health care and the work force. Recent research shows that although aging leads to declines in some abilities, others are spared and may even improve. I will discuss the implications of these changes and the trade-offs in visual and neural processing that occur with age, and evidence that demonstrates we really can teach older brains new tricks.

Kinship plays a fundamental role in our daily affairs, as it does in the affairs of many other critters. Yet, there is an embarrassing dearth of psychological research into the effects of kinship on human behaviour and decision-making. Drawing from work on other organisms (animals, plants, amoebae, and bacteria), I will explain why kinship is special, how we come to recognize our kin—including those we have never met before—and how its effects extend far beyond common notions of "the family." Finally, I will show how a better understanding of kin recognition can help us to understand problems as diverse and significant as mate choice, suicide terrorism, and racism.