The Question of Homework for Elementary Age Students One of the most frequent questions I am asked, when persons learn I am a psychologist specializing in child development, is “What’s the deal with so much homework these days?” I finally examined the research on this topic, specifically regarding elementary school children, and this is the short answer:  There is no evidence that homework for elementary school children is worthwhile. Harris Cooper, a professor of psychology and

In a recent article by Landry, et al, in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (2017), researchers looked at the relationship between sexual behavior and social media usage for teenagers.  The article discussed potential negative factors of social media, regarding health consequences for teens, and examined if there is an association between how often one utilizes social media and impulsive or risky sexual behaviors.  Risky sexual activity includes unprotected sex, alcohol usage when engaging in sexual

Microaggression is a topic that does not receive anything close to the current focus upon bullying and cyberbullying in the media.  Still, there is research indicating that microaggression can be very detrimental to recipients of it. Derald Wing Sue, a psychologist at Columbia University, defines microaggression as everyday slights and insults that minority persons and marginalized groups encounter.  Persons who enact microaggression often are unaware of their behaviors—the behaviors are revelatory of unconscious bias and

This paper was published in the March 2017 issue of the Pennsylvania Psychologist: There is evidence of bullying occurring in ancient times, if we believe our myths and literature to be reflective of actual experience.  In Homer’s great work, The Odyssey, Telemachos appears as a pitiful figure—as a boy, prior to receiving Athena’s support, he is repeatedly humiliated and shamed by the coarse suitors of Penelope, who slaughter his family’s livestock, grow drunk on wine, and

A psychologist’s exploration and assessment of a child’s attachment to a caregiver can be extremely useful for Family Court Judges in making determinations in dependency, delinquency, and child custody matters.  Unfortunately, this is an overlooked topic for many evaluators, even though the research is clear regarding the benefits of a secure attachment for a child and the risks for children when attachments are insecure, anxious, or disorganized. Many researchers specify two elements of a secure