When signing up for meal plans freshman year, many students wonder why they enter dining halls and leave with the dreaded freshman 15. Prof. David Levitsky, psychology and nutritional sciences, says that the availability of a greater variety of foods is linked to eating more and thus, weight gain.

According to Prof. Shimon Edelman, psychology, it was the pursuit of happiness — and his new book — that brought a crowd of local Ithacans to Buffalo Street Books Thursday night.

Why science should be integrated into our understanding of law, and how.

Prof. Emeritus Ulric “Rick” Neisser, psychology, died in Ithaca on Feb. 17 at age 83. His death was caused by Parkinson’s disease.

Children may not be as picky of eaters as previously thought. Cornell researchers have discovered that children actually desire more types of food on their plates than adults do.

Having taught more than 65,000 students in 48 years, Prof. Jim Maas, psychology, retired on Dec. 31, 2011. Maas’ most popular course, Psychology 1101: Introduction to Psychology, will resume in fall 2012 under a new professor. 

Circadian rhythm allows the body to predict when important daily events should occur, such as sleeping and eating. While our bodies try to maintain a steady circadian rhythm, in college it is easy to develop an out-of-sync clock, which may affect students’ ability to perform and maintain good health.

Minds are constantly adapting to their environments in order to direct behavior toward long-term goals, even if the conscious brain is not aware of doing so, according to a recent study by professors at Cornell and elsewhere.

Despite critics, Prof. Emeritus Daryl Bem, psychology, believes in extrasensory perception in the form of premonition.

While many people are familiar with the terms “music therapy” and “speech recognition,” the field of music psychology is less well-known, according Prof. Carol Lynne Krumhansl, psychology.