Star Wars: The Creation of Vader

Star Wars I-III answer the question: how did little Ani turn into the evil Darth Vader? As a developmental psychologist, I rewatched them to find out. Here's what I learned.

Stop Panicking, It's Bad For The Kids

Background noise often feeds anxiety and helplessness. And kids hear that too.

Getting Kids in Pain to School: Tips From the Trenches

The recommended rehab for kids in pain is to send them to school. But how? Some thoughts. Please add your own.

What You Should Never Say to Someone Who's Suffering


Kids in Pain, Part 1: Chronic vs. Acute Pain

A surprising number of children spend significant amounts of their lives in pain. What is chronic pain?

Don't Choose a Major: Choose the Skills You Want To Have

The job market today is more based on skills and knowledge than the degree on your transcript. So think about skills when you choose a major.

A 20-Second Experiment in Racial Stereotypes

A 20-second demonstration of where stereotypes come from. Knowledge is power.


Many of my students with documented disabilities hand me an accommodation letter and run from the classroom. This doesn't help me really understand what they need.

Invading Privacy in the Name of Safety

Whether or not we allow parents and governments to invade our privacy depends on how the question is framed - is it a safety or moral concern or is simply an issue that concerns only ourselves.

Why You Lied to Your Parents (and What They Really Knew)

Respecting children's boundaries while staying strict and engaged is the best way to encourage them to share information and to keep them from lying.

Music Probably Doesn't Make Kids Smarter. So What?

Music lessons probably don't make kids smarter. But they have lots of other benefits.

Moody Teen? Three Strategies That Help

It's not hormones that make teens volatile and moody, it's their crazy schedule and their physical needs. Teens grow as fast as toddlers and - like toddlers - will throw tantrums when they don't get what they want and need. You can't change their school days, but you can help them get what they need to stay happy and be easier to live with.

Getting Kids To Do Things: The Foot In The Door

Feel like all you do is nag your kid? It can be hard to help kids do what has to be done. Starting small can help.

Children Who Go to School in Pain

Imagine pain like an ice pick through your head, vertigo, and nausea. Imagine that a cat's footpad sounds so loud your eardrums feel like they are being sandpapered and the overhead lights feel like a harsh spotlight in your eyes when you've been hiding in the dark. Now imagine yourself in the middle of a high school corridor when classes are changing.

Tech Celibacy Isn't The Answer to Multi-Tasking

Tech celibacy probably isn't the answer to your problems. But perhaps inserting a bit of mindfulness into your choices might improve your quality of life.

Authoritative vs. Authoritarian Parenting Style

The difference between discipline and punishment is made clear in the phrases 'self-discipline' and 'self-punishment'. The difference between authoritative and authoritarian parenting is similar.

Cutting Clutter 2: Conquering "Survival By Bluff"

It's hard to throw something away when it's 'good enough' and you can imagine some (unlikely) scenario where it might come in handy in the future. Our family calls this 'Surviving by Bluff'. Pulling out and sorting a whole group of similar things can simplify the cognitive process of de-cluttering and make it easier to let things go.

Can Exercise and Cleaning Save 30 Billion in Eldercare?

Falls are the number one reason for the elderly to have a prolonged hospital stay. Exercise and de-cluttering are inexpensive routes to preventing a 30 billion dollar problem.

Step Away From The Keyboard: How Our Hands Affect Our Brains

Like many people, I spend hours of my day working at a keyboard. Would putting down the keyboard and picking up a pen–or a sewing needle or a hammer or a banjo–push my brain to develop in new ways?

Graduating? Asking for Recommendations

Everyone wants a letter of recommendation. Why do we want them? Why is it so hard to ask for them? How do you ask for one from people you are worried don't even remember you? Some simple tips for moving forward.

Grading Diamonds: Statistics In Real Life

Listening to someone describe how they were being trained to grade diamonds, I heard all the same things that I'd been telling students in my statistics class.

Graduating? Ten Habits to Cultivate

Do you roll your eyes when an adult says something obvious? How do you sound when you answer your phone? Although students graduating from college have been adults for years, somehow, graduating makes them 'real' adults where they're expected to act differently. Ten things to think about.

Withdrawn, Irritable Teen? Is It A Migraine?

Migraines often begin around puberty, are triggered by stress, lack of sleep, and hormone cycles, and manifest themselves as irritability, withdrawal, the inability to focus, and absentmindedness. Often they arrive without a headache. Are you sure that's a teen funk and not a migraine?

Raising Kids Who Eat Right

Most adults struggle with their own weight. We're bombarded with contradictory messages: Food! Fat! Fun! Diet! SlimFast! and It's all in your genes! What's a parent to do?

Talking With People With Hearing or Speech Problems

Many people - especially older folks - have hearing and language problems that can make it hard to communicate. Some simple tips for making talking easier.

Enjoying Holiday Eating!

Most people gain less weight than they think over the holidays. But weight can add up, and the heavier you are to start with, the more you're likely to gain over the holidays. The skinny on holiday eating.

Looking Out For Your Neighbors

As a culture, we are learning to look out for signs of neglect and abuse in children. Perhaps we also need to learn again to look out for our neighbors.

Taming the Teenage Eye Roll

Eye rolls communicate contempt. Nothing is more corrosive to a relationship.

Three Ways to Help Your Kids Stay Thin—and You, Too!

Our grandparents were right. New research tells us exactly how exercise, sleep, and structure help keep us thin. These findings complement a range of studies that show how these same lifestyle choices help us function well in a range of ways. Sounds like good parenting to me.

Cutting Clutter: The Problem of the Ugly Coffee Cup

How to de-clutter? Research on healthy people who are packrats can give us clues about how to make the process of cleaning out that closet a lot easier and less stressful.