Dartmouth College professor to speak on interpersonal differences and race biases

Catherine J. Norris, assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences at Dartmouth College, speaks at Bates College on the intricacies of response to social and emotional stimuli at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday, May 5, in the Keck Classroom (G52), Pettengill Hall, 4 Andrews Road.

Norris‘ talk is titled The Good, the Bad, and the (Race-) Biased: Individual Differences Modulate Emotional Responses. The event is open to the public free of charge and is sponsored by the psychology department and the program in neuroscience.

Norris works in the areas of attitude, emotion, personality and psychophysiology, the study of the physiological bases of psychological processes.

People vary widely in how they respond to the world around them. Such individual differences can affect not only for interpersonal (and intergroup) interactions, but also mental and physical health. Neuroimaging and psychophysiological approaches are often useful for understanding differences in responses to social and emotional stimuli, as well as their downstream effects on health and happiness.

Norris will discuss studies that use a variety of physiological measures to examine the relationships between individual differences in such characteristics as well-being, neuroticism and race bias and aspects of behavior that may ultimately contribute to positive human functioning.

She has been published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, the Concise Encyclopedia of Psychology and Neuroscience and the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.