The psychology of fiction, improving lifestyle habits, and more at the APA Annual Meeting

The Society for Personality and Social Psychology invites reporters to attend the Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association held in Washington, DC August 7- August 10, 2014.

SPSP (Division 8 of APA) is sponsoring a wide range of symposia, invited addresses, poster sessions, awards, and a social hour.

Highlights of Division 8's program includes:

Habits in Everyday Life; How to Form Good Habits and Change Bad Ones

Wendy Wood will explain the cognitive and neural bases for lifestyle habits such as eating, exercise, and energy use, along with interventions to change unwanted habits and to develop beneficial habits that persist even when willpower is low.

Thursday, August 7th at 11:00 AM ET

Convention Center Room 140B

Fiction and Its Relation to Real-World Empathy, Cognition, and Behavior

Raymond Mar discusses how we engage with narrative fiction daily, but are often unaware of the broad effects of these experiences. Recent research illuminates how we come to imagine ourselves within fictional narrative worlds and the outcome of these mental simulations.

Thursday, August 7th, 1:00 PM ET

Convention Center Room 143B

Translational Research in Personality and Psychotherapy: The Shift from Disorder Back to the Person

Jefferson Singer presents translational research on traits, self-regulation, narrative identity, and relational dynamics that links laboratory and clinic. These findings encourage a more holistic approach to psychotherapy rather than a focus on disorder.

Saturday, August 9th, 11:00 AM ET

Convention Center Room 143B

More information:
www.apa.org/convention/

Provided by Society for Personality and Social Psychology