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

Tomiko Brown-Nagin has been named dean of Stanford’s Graduate School of Education.

Both Sides Now

Tomiko Brown-Nagin’s bifocal view of the civil-rights movement

What rights do children have in homeschooling?

Elizabeth Bartholet highlights risks when parents have 24/7 authoritarian control over their children.

Explore More From Current Issue

Massachusetts Hall at Harvard Red brick building with a large clock on top, surrounded by green trees.

With a grade inflation vote and in the courts, the University argued that it’s taking steps to change.

A blue refrigerator covered with animal pictures, notes, and drawings, surrounded by greenery.

An animal’s journey from grief to love shows how much humans need each other, too.

Colorful abstract design resembling an octopus with intricate swirls and patterns.

Growing liver implants, mapping the sense of smell, and journalism at risk