McGill Psychology Department

09/04/2025

Does knowing what you want in a relationship impact loneliness and well-being? PhD student Katya Kredl, Dita Kubin, PhD, and Professor John Lydon, PhD, explored this question in two studies with 375 single young adults. Using both cross-sectional and longitudinal methods, they examined participants’ dating experiences. Their findings showed that among single young adults who were actively dating, not having clarity about what they wanted in a romantic relationship predicted greater loneliness over time. In turn, this loneliness was linked to lower life satisfaction. This suggests that clarity about romantic goals during the early dating stages may play an important role in the well-being of single individuals.

The goal of the current study was to explore the role of relationship clarity—the extent to which someone understands what they want in a relationship—in single young adults' dating experiences. We h...

06/17/2025

We've extended our Fall 2025 deadline for the Experimental Psychology Program!

06/12/2025

We’re PSYCH-ed about convocation! This spring, we are thrilled to celebrate all of our graduates: 627 Bachelor’s degrees, 2 Master’s degrees, and 7 PhDs! Félicitations à tous et à toutes!

06/09/2025

Congratulations to our PhD student, Jeffrey To, who was chosen as one of 25 finalists in the federal 2025 Social Science and Humanities Research Council Storytellers challenge! His powerful 3-minute video on his research about the multiple definitions and perceptions of diversity, equity and inclusion, was selected among 161 entries. As a finalist he will be competing in the in a live story telling competition at the Science Writers and Communicators of Canada (SWCC) conference. We’re cheering you on Jeffrey!

05/08/2025

Emotions can shape what we remember — even events that happen before them! A study led by PhD student Jamie Snytte, Professor Signy Sheldon, and their team explored how emotion impacts memory for neutral events.

In two behavioural experiments, participants watched one emotional video and one either emotional or neutral video. They found that people remembered neutral videos worse if they were shown before an emotional one — but only when both videos were conceptually related (like scenes from the same TV show). When the videos weren’t related, emotion had no retroactive effect.

This study shows that context matters when it comes to how emotions influence memory! Read more here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40073692/

03/29/2025

Exciting research & an upcoming event from the Roy pain lab!

Fibromyalgia isn’t just about pain—it also affects cognition. A new study from the Roy pain lab led by PhD Student Erika Gentile, Professor Mathieu Roy, PhD, explored the cognitive profile of fibromyalgia and the pain, psychological, and clinical predictors of this profile.

The team found that those with fibromyalgia showed worse verbal memory & executive function, with pain severity & poor sleep as key predictors. These findings offer insights for neuropsychological testing in this population and highlight potential treatment targets: better pain management & sleep improvements.

📖 Read more here: https://doi.org/10.1037/neu0000993
📅Meet Prof. Roy & learn more at the BRAMS-CRBLM Lecture Series on Wednesday, April 9th, 3-4:30 pm!
👉 https://brams.org/events/brams-crblm-lecture-series-conference-by-dr-mathieu-roy-mcgill-university-roy-pain-lab/

BRAMS-CRBLM Lecture Series – Conference by Dr. Mathieu Roy, McGill University, Roy Pain Lab Come and meet him in person! Université de Montréal, Pavilion Marie-Victorin, Room D-427 : Please register via the Doodle link. The lecture will also be available via Zoom and will be recorded. No registr...

03/20/2025

The Music4Pain Research Network is hosting a free webinar: Experimental Pain versus Clinical Pain in Mechanistic Research, scheduled for Wednesday, March 26, 2025, from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM (EST). This webinar will discuss the advantages, disadvantages, and related challenges of using experimental pain versus clinical pain in mechanistic research. Register here: https://tinyurl.com/yckyf4bz

03/12/2025

Support us! We are fundraising for the Psychology Research Experience Stipend (PRESti) today, as part of . This will allow more undergrads to participate in paid summer research opportunities. When you make a gift, your donation will be matched up to dollar for dollar! Head over to https://tinyurl.com/efwcte2j and help us reach our goal.

Soutenez-nous! Aujourd’hui, nous amassons des fonds pour le projet — Psychology Research Experience Stipend (PRESti) — dans le cadre de . Le don que vous verserez sera bonifié, jusqu’à un dollar pour chaque dollar reçu. Visitez le https://tinyurl.com/efwcte2j et aidez-nous à atteindre notre objectify.

Discover McGill’s vision for our third century, and read about the many ways philanthropy is helping our students, researchers and professors make the world a better place.

02/23/2025

DEI efforts should focus on fixing systems, not individuals—a key finding from PhD student Jeffrey To. His research, recently featured in The Conversation, explores why one-time training isn't enough and how societal structures must evolve.

https://theconversation.com/dei-needs-to-fix-systems-not-people-247877

02/21/2025

Music helps relieve pain, but what’s the best type of music? While music is known to reduce pain, the specific musical properties that enhance pain relief remain unclear. PhD student Wenbo Yi and Professors Caroline Palmer and Mathieu Roy explored how music tempo influences its pain-relieving effects.

Participants were exposed to painful thermal stimulation under different conditions: silence or music that either matched or differed from their individual rhythm—the natural rate at which they sing or tap when producing a simple melody. The researchers found that pain ratings were lowest when the music’s tempo matched the participant’s individual rhythms.

These findings highlight the potential for personalized music therapy in pain management.

Read more here:

ndamental element of music—tempo—affects its pain-relieving properties. One important finding in research on temporal dynamics of music is that people tend to sing or tap at a characteristic rate when asked to produce a simple melody. This characteristic rate, known as the spontaneous production...

02/18/2025

DEI efforts should focus on fixing systems, not individuals—a key finding from PhD student Jeffrey To. His research, recently featured in The Conversation, explores why one-time training isn't enough and how societal structures must evolve.

Read the featured article on The Conversation here:

Experts argue that bias is systemic, and solutions should focus on changing policies and structures, not just individual behaviour.

01/24/2025

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings are out, and we are thrilled to be the highest-ranked department at McGill, and #21 in the world (climbing from #28 last year). Thank you to our students, faculty, and staff for their outstanding work!

Read more here:

McGill makes Times Higher Education Top 50 list for six subjects