Congratulations to Sarah Jahn and Silke Moeller for each receiving a 2021 Staff Excellence Award!

In the Derek Chauvin trial, jurors recently were in deliberation, finding themselves involved in one of the most significant police brutality cases in American history. A Star Tribune article titled, “Decision hour arrives for jurors in high-pressure, emotionally draining Chauvin trial,” covers how jurors may face heavy stress in many cases, particularly in high-profile proceedings. Pat Frazier, PhD, professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota states that jurors undergo vicarious trauma exposure paired with the pressure of making a decision and lack of emotional/mental support. Frazier points out that jurors really only have one another as a support system as they are not allowed to discuss the trial with anyone.

Ever wondered what astronauts do on their weekends off? According to a Smithsonian Magazine article titled, “How Do Astronauts Spend Their Weekends in Space?” astronauts maintain a pretty similar schedule to the normal 9 to 5 work-week most of us experience. Living in such a confined space, maintaining a healthy work-life balance and mental health is essential.

Researchers from the Auditory Perception and Cognition (APC) Lab in the Psychology Department recently released research on the effect of age on cortical tracking of word-level features of continuous competing speech. The paper titled, “Effects of Age on Cortical Tracking of Word-Level Features of Continuous Competing Speech,” was co-authored by Juraj Mesik, Lucia Ray, and Magdalena Wojtczak.