Psychologists Have Found a Way to Measure When People ‘Click’

Each semester, Emma Templeton, a Ph.D. candidate and investigator for Dartmouth Social Systems Lab, sits down for coffee dates with a rotating cast of ambitious college kids. It’s part of her job as a resident fellow for Dartmouth’s East Wheelock House. The conversations that she has are as diverse as the young minds that occupy the dormitory. Some students are looking for academic guidance; some want help organizing a social event; and some just need a listening ear. “The experience can take so many different shapes," she says. "I’m never sure how it’s going to go when I show up."