RxPG News : Behavioral Science

STAMP system can help medical professionals to predict violence

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 21:00:00 PST

A researcher who spent nearly 300 hours observing patients in an accident and emergency department has developed a method for identifying possible flashpoints, according to the latest Journal of Advanced Nursing.

New Insights Into the Nature of Pride as a Social Function

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 16:00:00 PST

Pride has perplexed philosophers and theologians for centuries, and it is an especially paradoxical emotion in American culture. We applaud rugged individualism, self-reliance and personal excellence, but too much pride can easily tip the balance toward vanity, haughtiness and self-love. Scientists have also been perplexed by this complex emotion, because it is so unlike primary emotions like fear and disgust.

Girls Select Partners Who Resemble Their Dads - Research

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 17:00:00 PST

Women who enjoy good childhood relationships with their fathers are more likely to select partners who resemble their dads research suggests. In contrast, the team of psychologists from Durham University and two Polish institutions revealed that women who have negative or less positive relationships were not attracted to men who looked like their male parents.

The benefits of social contact

Mon, 21 May 2007 04:00:00 PST

Have you ever wondered why people surrounded by friends or family appear happier and healthier? University of Virginia psychologist James Coan will set out to answer this question when he addresses the Association for Psychological Science's annual convention in Washington, DC, May 24th-27th.

Sex Differences are also Reflected in Brain

Fri, 11 May 2007 04:18:02 PST

When male primates tussle and females develop their social skills it leaves a permanent mark â on their brains. According to research published in the online open access journal BMC Biology, brain structures have developed due to different pressures on males and females to keep up with social or competitive demands.

Abstinence Education Does Not Impact Sexual Behavior

Sat, 14 Apr 2007 08:28:09 PST

A recent study of four abstinence education programs, conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., finds that the programs had no effect on the sexual abstinence of youth. But it also finds that youth in these programs were no more likely to have unprotected sex, a concern that has been raised by some critics of these programs.

School bullying affects majority of elementary students

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 01:59:57 PST

Nine out of 10 elementary students have been bullied by their peers, according to a simple questionnaire developed by researchers at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and the Stanford University School of Medicine. What's more, nearly six in 10 children surveyed in the preliminary study reported participating in some type of bullying themselves in the past year.

Cell phone tunes could reflect one's personality

Sun, 10 Dec 2006 14:17:59 PST

New Delhi, Dec 10 - Hello tunes - the myriad melodies you hear when you call someone on the mobile phone - could reflect the user's personality and also affect the mood of the listener, say psychologists.

Making the connection between a sound and a reward changes behavioral response

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 23:34:00 PST

If youve ever wondered how you recognize your mothers voice without seeing her face or how you discern your cell phones ring in a crowded room, researchers may have another piece of the answer.

How behaviors can be changed or created

Sun, 30 Jul 2006 03:06:00 PST

UC Riverside researchers have made a major leap forward in understanding how the brain programs innate behavior. The discovery could have future applications in engineering new behaviors in animals and intelligent robots. Innate or "instinctive" behaviors are inborn and do not require learning or prior experience to be performed. Examples include courtship and sexual behaviors, escape and defensive maneuvers, and aggression. Using the common fruit fly as a model organism, the researchers found through laboratory experiments that the innate behavior is initiated by a "command" hormone that orchestrates activities in discrete groups of peptide neurons in the brain. Peptide neurons are brain cells that release small proteins to communicate with other brain cells and the body.

How people behave differently when they are being watched

Thu, 29 Jun 2006 04:39:00 PST

A team from Newcastle University found people put nearly three times as much money into an 'honesty box' when they were being watched by a pair of eyes on a poster, compared with a poster that featured an image of flowers.

What do football and alcohol have to do with being a man?

Mon, 05 Jun 2006 17:01:00 PST

Men across the world will be getting the pints in and staring at the big screen this month as the World Cup kicks off in Germany. But what do football and alcohol have to do with being a man? A recent psychological study by the University of Sussex reveals that the roaring crowds may be drinking their way through the game in an effort to compensate for not being man enough to play in it.

Switch for brain's pleasure pathway found

Thu, 23 Mar 2006 18:04:00 PST

Amid reports that a drug used to treat Parkinson's disease has caused some patients to become addicted to gambling and sex, University of Pittsburgh researchers have published a study that sheds light on what may have gone wrong.

'Executive' monkeys influenced by other executives, not subordinates

Thu, 23 Mar 2006 17:47:00 PST

When high-ranking monkeys are shown images of other monkeys glancing one way or the other, they more readily follow the gaze of other high-ranking monkeys, Duke University Medical Center neurobiologists have discovered. By contrast, they tend to ignore glance cues from low-status monkeys; while low-status monkeys assiduously follow the gaze of all other monkeys.

Manipulating Cell Receptor Alters Animal Behavior

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 08:16:00 PST

Researchers at the University at Buffalo and the University of Pennsylvania were the first to demonstrate that two intracellular events, both stimulated by the same cell receptor, can provoke different behaviors in mammals.

Morphine addiction and the tendency to explore linked

Wed, 22 Feb 2006 01:13:00 PST

A team of researchers from the UAB has found experimental evidence in rats showing a link between addiction to morphine and the tendency to explore perseveringly. This is the first time a direct relationship has been found without other psychological characteristics, such as anxiousness, that might affect results. Published in Behavioural Brain Research, the results of this study are useful for planning preventative strategies in the risk population.

New study shows how self-prophecies may help

Sun, 12 Feb 2006 18:51:00 PST

By now, most of us have probably forgotten about our New Year's resolutions. But there's still hope: New research from the March 2006 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research shows that when people predict that they will do a socially good deed (such as recycling), the chances of them actually doing the good deed increases.

Loneliness might be Explained by Genes

Fri, 11 Nov 2005 19:29:00 PST

Heredity helps determine why some adults are persistently lonely, research co-authored by psychologists at the University of Chicago shows. Working with colleagues in The Netherlands, the scholars found about 50 percent of identical twins and 25 percent of fraternal twins shared similar characteristics of loneliness. Research on twins is a powerful method to study the impact of heredity because twins raised together share many of the same environmental influences as well as similar genes, thus making it easier to determine the role of genetics in development. "An interesting implication of this research is that feelings of loneliness may reflect an innate emotional response to stimulus conditions over which an individual may have little or no control," the research team writes in the article, "Genetic and Environmental Contributors to Loneliness in Adults: The Netherlands Twin Register Study" published in the current issue of the journal Behavior Genetics. Psychologists had previously thought loneliness was primarily caused by shyness, poor social skills, or inability to form strong attachments with other people. Scholars are becoming increasingly interested in the role loneliness plays in health. Other work by John Cacioppo, the Tiffany & Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor in Psychology at the University of Chicago and a member of the research team, shows that loneliness is a risk factor for heart disease. Loneliness is also at the base of a number of emotional conditions, such as self-esteem, mood, anxiety, anger and sociability.

Mixed results from abstinence-only intervention

Sun, 04 Sep 2005 08:28:00 PST

Teens report increased knowledge on HIV/STDs, and increased commitment, but likelihood of having sexual intercourse not reduced

Psychological and behavioural reactions to the bombings in London on 7 July 2005

Tue, 30 Aug 2005 19:00:00 PST

Almost two weeks after the London terrorist attacks, the majority of Londoners reported that they were coping well with their emotional responses, finds a study published online by the BMJ.