Video: computerized tests evaluate people's risk of attempting suicide

Learn about computerized tests that evaluate whether someone is at risk of attempting suicide. Plus, related links and an article from the magazine archives.

Professor of psychology Matthew Nock studies suicide: what causes people to take their own lives; how to predict who will try; and how to prevent it from happening. Nock adapted the Stroop test and the Implicit Association Test—two computerized tests used for other purposes in psychology—to assess suicide risk. Watch the video below to see how these tests work. Read more about Nock's work—and find other relevant links, such as a tool for assessing self-injurious behavior such as cutting—in "A Tragedy and a Mystery," from the January-February 2011 issue (and the sidebar, "Studying Self-Injury"). See also "The Enigma of Suicide," a 1983 Harvard Magazine feature by George Howe Colt.

You might also like

How AI Is Reshaping Supply Chains

Harvard Kennedy School lecturer on using AI to strengthen supply chains

This Astronomer is Sounding a Warning on 'Space Junk'

As debris accumulates in low Earth orbit, the danger of destructive collisions continues to rise.

Understanding AI Vulnerabilities

As artificial intelligence capabilities evolve, so too will the tactics used to exploit them. 

Most popular

What Trump Means for John Roberts's Legacy

Executive power is on the docket at the Supreme Court.

The Harvard Professor Who Quantified Democracy

Erica Chenoweth’s data shows how—and when—authoritarians fall.

Three Harvardians win MacArthur Fellowships

A mathematician, a political scientist, and an astrophysicist are honored with “genius” grants for their work.

Explore More From Current Issue

A lively concert in a modern auditorium with an audience seated on multiple levels.

Concerts and Carols at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Tuning into one of Boston's best chamber music halls 

A person walks across a street lined with historic buildings and a clock tower in the background.

Harvard In the News

A legal victory against Trump, hazing in the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, and kicking off a Crimson football season with style

Map showing Uralic populations in Eurasia, highlighting regional distribution and historical sites.

The Origins of Europe’s Most Mysterious Languages

A small group of Siberian hunter-gatherers changed the way millions of Europeans speak today.