RxPG News : Psychology

Experience vital for complex decision-making

Wed, 20 May 2009 11:31:46 PST

Experience is vital when we have to make complex decisions based on uncertain or confusing information, a new study has found.

Decreased Dopamine processing ability - cause for high risk behaviour?

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 08:31:47 PST

Research reveals that novelty seekers have less of a particular type of dopamine receptor, which may lead them to seek out novel and exciting experiences--such as spending lavishly, taking risks and partying like there's no tomorrow.

Stimulating scalp with weak current improves dexterity

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:57:44 PST

Washington, Nov 3 - Stimulating the scalp with weak current and underlying motor regions of the brain could make you more skilled at delicate tasks.

Psychiatrist warns about impact of social networking sites

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:44:39 PST

A generation of Internet users who have never known a world where you can't surf on-line may be growing up with a different and potentially dangerous view of the world and their own identity, according to a warning delivered to the Annual Meeting of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Study shows how context dictates what we believe we see

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 07:21:30 PST

Scientists at UCL (University College London) have found the link between what we expect to see, and what our brain tells us we actually saw. The study reveals that the context surrounding what we see is all important – sometimes overriding the evidence gathered by our eyes and even causing us to imagine things which aren’t really there.

Loneliness could be bad for health

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 14:38:28 PST

New York, Aug 19 - Loneliness could be bad for your health, psychologists in the US have warned.

Do I know you? QBI researchers identify woman's struggle to recognize new faces

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 04:00:00 PST

The woman's condition, known as prosopamnesia, is extremely rare and has only been found in a handful of people around the world, according to University of Queensland cognitive neuroscientist Professor Jason Mattingley.

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.

Mapping attention, memory and language links in human brain

Sun, 20 May 2007 04:00:00 PST

A University of Arizona scientist who has specialized in studying how fireflies and other creatures communicate has won a million-dollar grant to conduct a pioneering 5-year study on the roles that attention and memory play when the human brain hears and processes spoken language.

Gender and Income Does Determine Cognitive Function

Fri, 18 May 2007 04:01:09 PST

There are limited gender differences in cognitive function than previously thought. Income does affect cognitive performance but less than expected when only healthy children are considered. And while basic cognitive skills steadily improve in middle childhood, they then seem to level off questioning the idea of a burst of brain development in adolescence.

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.

Virtual racing seems to lead to aggressive driving

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 08:18:26 PST

Psychologists have taken the âmedia primingâ effects of popular video console and PC-based games on the road, finding that virtual racing seems to lead to aggressive driving and a propensity for risk taking. Extending prior findings on how aggressive virtual-shooter games increase aggression-related thoughts, feelings and behaviors, researchers at Munich's Ludwig-Maximilians University and the Allianz Center for Technology found that of 198 men and women, those who play more virtual car-racing games were more likely to report that they drive aggressively and get in accidents. Less frequent virtual racing was associated with more cautious driving.

Emotional responses usually take over rational responses in decision making

Fri, 16 Feb 2007 08:26:52 PST

The human brain is set up to simultaneously process two kinds of information: the emotional and the empirical. But in most people, emotional responses are much stronger than the rational response and usually take over, according to Michigan State University environmental science and policy researcher Joseph Arvai.

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.

Touch tracking bypasses mind control

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 10:32:13 PST

For people unable to simultaneously rub their stomach while patting their head, a new twist may be at hand. Touch, rather than concentration, could let people multi-task with their hands, and this may also potentially help improve the performance of people with coordination problems, according to 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.

Irrational decisions driven by emotions

Fri, 04 Aug 2006 20:16:00 PST

Irrational behaviour arises as a consequence of emotional reactions evoked when faced with difficult decisions, according to new research at UCL (University College London), funded by the Wellcome Trust. The UCL study suggests that rational behaviour may stem from an ability to override automatic emotional responses, rather than an absence of emotion per se.

Mice learn set shifting tasks to help treat human psychiatric disorders

Wed, 02 Aug 2006 11:48:00 PST

Mice that couldn't be dissuaded from the object of their attention by a piece of sweet, crunchy cereal may help researchers find new treatments and cures for human disorders like autism and Parkinson's disease. For the first time, a psychiatric test for monitoring many human mental abnormalities has been adapted for use in mice, according to researchers at Purdue University, University of California-Davis and Justus-Liebig University in Giessen, Germany. The test involves the ability to switch attention from one task to another, a skill often impaired in people with autism and similar illnesses.

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.

People more likely to help others they think are 'like them'

Mon, 10 Jul 2006 07:48:00 PST

Feelings of empathy lead to actions of helping but only between members of the same group according to a recent study. The research, led by Stefan Stürmer of the University of Kiel, is presented in the article "Empathy-Motivated Helping: The Moderating Role of Group Membership." The article discusses two different studies, one using a real-world, intercultural scenario and the other using a mixture of people with no obvious differences besides gender. Researchers concluded that, while all the people felt empathy for someone in distress, they only tended to assist if the needy person was viewed as a member of their own "in-group."

Avoiding Punishment Is Its Own Reward

Wed, 05 Jul 2006 14:50:00 PST

For my now-departed, wonderful old cat named Bear, life didn't get any better than raw shrimp. Seeing the little white package emerge from the fridge always caught his attention, but what set him into high-shriek mode was the sound of shrimp being peeled under running waterhe knew culinary bliss was at hand. Bear's behavior was perfectly in keeping with the theory of reinforcement learning: through instrumental conditioning, animals learn to choose responses associated with producing favorable outcomes and avoiding unpleasant onestypically by learning to associate two normally unrelated stimuli. The shrimp reward reinforced associations between stimulus (the sound of peeling and washing, rather than the sight of shrimp) and response (expectant wailing).

Does psychological treatment for adult sex offenders work?

Sat, 01 Jul 2006 17:43:00 PST

Psychological treatment for adult sex offenders can reduce reoffending rates but does not provide a cure, say experts in an editorial in this week's BMJ. Sexual offending is a public health issue and a social problem. Psychological treatment is widely used and is often mandated in the sentencing decision for sexual offenders. But just how effective are psychological treatment programmes? Are they too readily accepted uncritically? Specialists in psychology and criminology review the evidence from published studies. In an analysis of randomised controlled trials on behavioural treatments, they found that most studies were too small to be informative, although statistically significant improvements were recorded across some groups of offenders.

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.

Broca's area also organizes behavioral hierarchies

Thu, 15 Jun 2006 12:03:00 PST

Researchers have discovered that Broca's area in the brain--best known as the region that evolved to manage speech production--is a major "executive" center in the brain for organizing hierarchies of behaviors. Such planning ability, from cooking a meal to organizing a space mission, is considered one of the hallmarks of human intelligence. The researchers found that Broca's area--which lies on the left side of the brain about in the temple region--and its counterpart on the right side activate when people are asked to organize plans of action. They said their finding of the general executive function of Broca's area could explain its key role in language production. Importantly, the researchers found that this executive function of these cortical regions was distinct from the organization of temporal sequences of actions.

Erotic images elicit strong response from brain

Thu, 15 Jun 2006 11:36:00 PST

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis measured brainwave activity of 264 women as they viewed a series of 55 color slides that contained various scenes from water skiers to snarling dogs to partially-clad couples in sensual poses.

Men infer sexual interest before women do

Fri, 09 Jun 2006 13:53:00 PST

In the latest issue of Psychology of Women Quarterly, researchers find that men rate themselves and the women they just interacted with higher on sexual traits, such as flirtatiousness, than women rate men. The authors find that after a five-minute conversation with a stranger of the opposite gender, men were more likely to interpret ambiguous or friendly behavior as indicating sexual interest. "The findings suggest that men generally think in more sexual terms than women," the authors explain.

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.

Prosopagnosia may affect 2 percent of population

Thu, 01 Jun 2006 12:47:00 PST

Researchers at Harvard University and University College London have developed diagnostic tests for prosopagnosia, a socially disabling inability to recognize or distinguish faces. They've already used the new test and a related web site (www.faceblind.org) to identify hundreds of "face-blind" individuals, far more than scientists had identified previously.

Nerve cells in brain decide between apples and oranges

Thu, 11 May 2006 13:37:00 PST

When you are in the supermarket pondering over whether to buy apples or oranges a special group of nerve cells in the brain is at work categorising the fruit according to their value, a study conducted at the Harvard Medical School in Boston showed.

How Visual Stimulation Turns Up Bdnf Genes to Shape the Brain

Sun, 07 May 2006 15:37:00 PST

Scientists have long known that brains need neural activity to mature and that sensory input is most important during a specific window of time called the "critical period" when the brain is primed for aggressive learning. Vision, hearing and touch all develop during such critical periods, while other senses, such as the olfactory system, maintain lifelong plasticity.

Humans perceive more than they think they do

Sat, 15 Apr 2006 18:22:00 PST

Faces tell the stories in UC Riverside Professor Larry Rosenblum's ecological listening lab, as volunteer test subjects show that they can "read" unheard speech -- not just from lips, but from the simple movements of dots placed on lips, teeth and tongue. They can also recognize people's voices just from seeing their faces, and vice versa, and seem to be able to distinguish among a variety of rooms on campus just from their echoes.

Specific Mechanisms May Not Exist For Facial Recognition

Fri, 07 Apr 2006 03:59:00 PST

Although the human brain is skilled at facial recognition and discrimination, new research from Georgetown University Medical Center suggests that the brain may not have developed a specific ability for understanding faces but instead uses the same kind of pattern recognition techniques to distinguish between people as it uses to search for differences between other groups of objects, such as plants, animals and cars.

Scent of fear impacts cognitive performance

Mon, 03 Apr 2006 06:50:00 PST

The chemical warning signals produced by fear improve cognitive performance, according to a study at Rice University in Houston.

Older people with stronger cognitive skills walk at a safer pace

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 16:39:00 PST

Psychologists wanting to help old people safely cross the street and otherwise ambulate around this busy world have found that from age 70 and up, safe walking may require solid "executive control" (which includes attention) and memory skills. For the old, slow gait is a significant risk factor for falls, many of which result in disabling fractures, loss of independence or even death. The finding may help explain why cognitive problems in old age, including dementia, are associated with falls. Cognitive tests could help doctors assess risk for falls; conversely, slow gait could alert them to check for cognitive impairment. The findings are in the March issue of Neuropsychology, which is published by the American Psychological Association (APA).

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.

Guilt and fear motivate better than hope

Sun, 12 Feb 2006 18:46:00 PST

In the first empirical work to examine both stated intentions and actual behavior, researchers argue that this sort of negative message â evoking both fear and guilt â is a far more effective deterrent to potentially harmful behavior than positive hopeful or feel-good messages.

How the brain makes a whole out of parts

Thu, 19 Jan 2006 17:57:00 PST

When a human looks at a number, letter or other shape, neurons in various areas of the brain's visual center respond to different components of that shape, almost instantaneously fitting them together like a puzzle to create an image that the individual then "sees" and understands, researchers at The Johns Hopkins University report.

Link in brain between sight and sound perception

Thu, 19 Jan 2006 15:57:00 PST

Just imagine listening to someone talk and also hearing the buzz of the overhead lights, the hum of your computer and the muffled conversation down the hallway. To focus on the person speaking to you, your brain clearly can't give equal weight to all incoming sensory information. It has to attend to what is important and ignore the rest.

The cognitive cost of being a twin

Mon, 21 Nov 2005 20:15:00 PST

Social and economic circumstances do not explain why twins have significantly lower IQ in childhood than single-born children, according to a study in this week's BMJ.

Researchers Identified Fear Factor Protein

Sat, 19 Nov 2005 15:13:00 PST

Researchers have identified a fear factor - a protein the brain uses to generate one of the most powerful emotions in humans and animals. The molecule is essential for triggering both the innate fears that animals are born with - such as the shadow of an approaching predator - as well as fears that arise later in life due to individual experiences. Eliminating the gene that encodes this factor makes a fearful mouse courageous. The finding, the researchers say, suggests new approaches for drugs designed to treat conditions such as phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety.

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.

We do not feel with our sensory cortices

Tue, 08 Nov 2005 21:43:00 PST

Perceiving a simple touch may depend as much on memory, attention, and expectation as on the stimulus itself, according to new research from Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) international research scholar Ranulfo Romo and his colleague Victor de Lafuente. The scientists found that monkeys' perceptions of touch match brain activity in the frontal lobe, an area that assimilates many types of neural information.

Choice Blindness Experiment Sheds More Light On Decision Making Processes

Sun, 09 Oct 2005 00:17:00 PST

When evaluating facial attractiveness, participants may fail to notice a radical change to the outcome of their choice, according to a study by researchers at Lund University, Sweden, and New York University. Equally surprising, the study shows that participants may produce confabulatory reports when asked to describe the reasons behind their choices.

The maternal instinct for commitment

Thu, 06 Oct 2005 00:45:00 PST

Scientists at the University of Aberdeen and the University of St Andrews have discovered that womens commitment to their romantic relationships increases when their body is preparing for pregnancy.

Link between body and action perception revealed

Sat, 24 Sep 2005 15:35:00 PST

Psychology researchers have long understood and accepted the importance of an individual's brain activity in motor areas when interpreting the actions of others. However, much less was known about the role the body plays in helping individuals process and understand the same information. With the help of two patients suffering from an extremely rare degenerative neurological condition, a Rutgers-Newark Psychology Professor and his team of researchers have established that the body plays a significant role in helping humans to perceive and understand the actions of others.

Women tend to model relationship behavior of their mothers

Tue, 20 Sep 2005 21:59:00 PST

Research showed that young adult women whose mothers reported cohabitation were 57 percent more likely than other women to report cohabitation themselves. In addition, daughters of cohabiting mothers tended to cohabit at earlier ages than others.

Expectations have a surprisingly big effect on pain intensity

Tue, 06 Sep 2005 20:18:00 PST

When it comes to controlling pain, positive thinking can be as powerful as a shot of morphine, according to new brain imaging research at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. Lowering participants expectations about pain levels reduced both pain-related brain activity and how much pain they felt.

Factors influencing preschoolers perceptions about cigarettes and alcohol

Tue, 06 Sep 2005 06:30:00 PST

When pretending to shop for a social evening, children two to six years old were nearly four times as likely to choose cigarettes if their parents smoked and children who viewed PG-13- or R-rated movies were five times as likely to choose wine or beer, according to a study in the September issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Male and female voices affect brain differently

Sun, 04 Sep 2005 09:23:00 PST

Scientists at the University of Sheffield have explained the differences in the way the male brain interprets male and female voices, explaining why people who hallucinate and hear false voices almost always hear a man. It also sheds new light on the way the brain processes voices to produce an `auditory face´ that allows people to determine aspects of someone´s physical appearance based solely on the way they sound.

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.

Investigating the controversy about whether bisexual men exist

Thu, 25 Aug 2005 03:19:00 PST

A study published in the current issue of Psychological Science investigates the controversy about whether bisexual men exist. In terms of behavior and identity, they clearly exist as there are men who have sex with both men and women. Upon measuring genital, as well as, self-reported sexual arousal to male and female stimuli, researchers found that, in general, bisexual men did not have a strong genital arousal to both male and female sexual stimuli. Instead, they had strong genital arousal to one sex or the other, but not to both. Most of the time, bisexual men had a genital arousal pattern similar to that of gay men, with stronger genital arousal to male stimuli. However, a subset of bisexual men had genital arousal patterns similar to those of heterosexual men.

Different event-related potentials (ERPs) to pictures and words that describe the same object

Thu, 18 Aug 2005 02:26:00 PST

A paper published in the recent issue of Psychophysiology describes differences in the brain's response (event-related potentials, or "ERPs") to pictures and words that describe the same object. In two studies, the authors evaluated how the brain reacts differently to a picture of an object or its name when people were looking for either the picture or the name in a visual display.

Financially richer people tend to be happier - Study

Mon, 15 Aug 2005 20:55:00 PST

Financially richer people tend to be happier than poorer people, according to sociological researcher Glenn Firebaugh, Pennsylvania State University, and graduate student Laura Tach, Harvard University. Their research is focused on whether the income effect on happiness results largely from the things money can buy (absolute income effect) or from comparing one's income to the income of others (relative income effect).

Prenatal alcohol exposure can lead to slower cognitive reaction times and poorer attention

Mon, 15 Aug 2005 20:39:00 PST

Decades of research have left little doubt that prenatal alcohol exposure has adverse effects on intellectual and neurobehavioral development. A recent study of the effects of moderate to heavy prenatal alcohol exposure on cognitive function confirms earlier findings of slower processing speed and efficiency, particularly when cognitive tasks involve working memory. Results are published in the August issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

The effort required to correctly hear and identify words may diminish the resources needed to memorize them

Sun, 14 Aug 2005 14:20:00 PST

In a new study, Brandeis University researchers conclude that older adults with mild-to-moderate hearing loss may expend so much cognitive energy on hearing accurately that their ability to remember spoken language suffers as a result.

Hand Movements Suggest Continuous Language Processing

Thu, 11 Aug 2005 17:08:00 PST

Michael Spivey et al. explore the use of hand movements, recorded as a continuous response, to track the temporal dynamics of cognitive language processing.

Significant long-term impact of stalking found on victims' psychological health

Sun, 07 Aug 2005 14:40:00 PST

The first community-based study of its kind in Germany has confirmed findings from other countries, including the UK, the USA and Australia, which reveal a substantial incidence of stalking.

Mental-State Reasoning Is Universal Milestone in Child Development

Sun, 31 Jul 2005 14:06:00 PST

A major social-cognitive achievement of young children is the understanding that other people act on the basis of their own representations of reality rather than on the basis of reality itself.

Fathers more involved when paternity is established in the hospital

Fri, 22 Jul 2005 01:00:00 PST

A study published in the recent issue of Journal of Marriage and Family examines the effectiveness of in-hospital paternity establishment for babies born to unwed parents. The research shows that though establishing paternity at any time increases the amount of formal and informal child support and the amount of father-child visits, in-hospital establishment is associated with better outcomes.

Brain networks change according to cognitive task

Thu, 02 Jun 2005 16:10:00 PST

Using a newly released method to analyze functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), Northwestern University researchers have demonstrated that the interconnections between different parts of the brain are dynamic and not static. This and other findings answer longstanding debates about how brain networks operate to solve different cognitive tasks. They are presented in the current (June 1) issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

Human brain can learn without thinking - Research

Fri, 27 May 2005 18:27:00 PST

Watch out -- you may learn something and not even know it, says Takeo Watanabe, an associate professor of psychology at Boston University's Center for Brain and Memory. Watanabe and his team recently pinpointed the mechanism that makes subliminal learning work. Long considered the realm of science fiction, subliminal learning occurs when individuals are influenced by a stimulus they are unaware of, like words played back below the threshold of hearing or images flashed on screen faster than the eye can perceive. Watanabe's recent findings grew out of his team's previous work in which they established that subliminal learning is real and that the brain is capable of learning without consciously focused attention.

Deadlines intensify emotions - Study

Thu, 26 May 2005 19:18:00 PST

Amateur observers and scholars alike have remarked that older people often have more intense and complex emotional lives than their younger cohort. What accounts for the difference, wondered psychologist Ursina Teuscher: Wisdom gained with the gathering years? A shift in values thanks to greater life experience? Or, is it a keener sense of time a precious and, of necessity, diminishing resource?
To test the notion that time limits and approaching endings add fuel to feelings, Teuscher, a post-doctoral researcher in the cognitive science department of the University of California, San Diego, asked 165 young subjects to imagine themselves in several different scenarios.

Effect of Trait Self-Objectification on Body Shame

Thu, 26 May 2005 19:16:00 PST

When many women look in the mirror, they see themselves as a collection of body parts -- and they don't like what they see.

Childrens fears learned through observation

Mon, 11 Apr 2005 12:33:00 PST

Psychologists have found evidence which suggests that children can learn to be fearful of something just by observing another's facial expressions.

It aint what you say - its the way that you say it

Mon, 11 Apr 2005 12:33:00 PST

People who are confident about what they are saying are more likely to persuade others of their point of view confirm psychologists.

Different styles of mother-infant interaction affect different aspects of infant cognition

Fri, 08 Apr 2005 04:16:00 PST

Although the quality of mother-child interaction and its effect on general IQ and later schooling is a widely researched topic, it has never been studied using the same infants over a period of time across several cognitive domains.

Juggling the finances is source of student stress

Fri, 08 Apr 2005 04:16:00 PST

The pressure of money problems is leading to increased rates of depression, anxiety and stress amongst university students.

Worrying about Maths just makes it worse

Fri, 08 Apr 2005 04:16:00 PST

People who worry about their ability to do mathematics are hampering their chances of doing well. Worrying about mathematics means that vital psychological resources are used which impacts on an individual's ability to solve arithmetic problems.

Fighting appears to provide professional fighters with a forum to enrich their friendships

Fri, 08 Apr 2005 04:16:00 PST

Contrary to stereotypes, fighting appears to provide professional fighters with a forum in which to establish, strengthen and enrich their friendships.

Psychological stress in overseas aid workers

Fri, 08 Apr 2005 04:16:00 PST

Aid agencies should provide psychological support for their staff "as a matter of course", says a psychologist who has studied the way traumatic events affect aid workers.

Control key to self examination

Fri, 08 Apr 2005 04:16:00 PST

Whether people carry out self examination for health conditions is related to how much control they feel over their health.

Different paths lead to similar Cognitive Abilities

Wed, 06 Apr 2005 19:11:00 PST

Despite the divergent evolutionary paths of dolphins and primates -- and their vastly different brains -- both have developed similar high-level cognitive abilities, says Emory University neuroscientist and behavioral biologist Lori Marino.

New Research into Human Ability to recognize Faces

Tue, 05 Apr 2005 17:39:00 PST

Recognizing faces is effortless for most people, and it's an ability that provides great evolutionary and social advantages. But this ability is impaired in people who have suffered brain damage or in those with a rare congenital condition, and research by Carnegie Mellon University psychologists reveals startling insights into how the brains of those individuals operate.

Eye Training Can Improve Performance for Radiologists

Fri, 01 Apr 2005 16:50:00 PST

A new study suggests there may be a better way to sharpen the eyes of radiologists, military pilots and other professionals for whom identifying objects or patterns in a monitor or visual display often quickly and with pinpoint accuracy is a critical part of the job.

Police Officers' Racial Bias Can Be Eliminated

Fri, 01 Apr 2005 16:34:00 PST

Although police officers are more likely to wrongfully shoot certain races, they can overcome this tendency.

Potentially Successful People are the Most Likely to Choke Under Pressure

Tue, 01 Mar 2005 16:34:00 PST

Have you ever studied hard for an important test, gone in prepared, and just somehow bombed anyway? You might have said to yourself, "I just choked under the pressure."

Mismatched Messages Improve Mathematics Instruction

Thu, 17 Feb 2005 16:34:00 PST

Researchers at the University of Chicago have come up with a technique for teachers to use that increases student understanding of mathematics: explain how to solve a problem in one way, and also provide an alternative approach through gesture.

RxPG News : Psychology

Experience vital for complex decision-making

Decreased Dopamine processing ability - cause for high risk behaviour?

Stimulating scalp with weak current improves dexterity

Psychiatrist warns about impact of social networking sites

Study shows how context dictates what we believe we see

Loneliness could be bad for health

Do I know you? QBI researchers identify woman's struggle to recognize new faces

STAMP system can help medical professionals to predict violence

New Insights Into the Nature of Pride as a Social Function

Girls Select Partners Who Resemble Their Dads - Research

The benefits of social contact

Mapping attention, memory and language links in human brain

Gender and Income Does Determine Cognitive Function

Sex Differences are also Reflected in Brain

Abstinence Education Does Not Impact Sexual Behavior

School bullying affects majority of elementary students

Virtual racing seems to lead to aggressive driving

Emotional responses usually take over rational responses in decision making

Cell phone tunes could reflect one's personality

Touch tracking bypasses mind control

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

Irrational decisions driven by emotions

Mice learn set shifting tasks to help treat human psychiatric disorders

How behaviors can be changed or created

People more likely to help others they think are 'like them'

Avoiding Punishment Is Its Own Reward

Does psychological treatment for adult sex offenders work?

How people behave differently when they are being watched

Broca's area also organizes behavioral hierarchies

Erotic images elicit strong response from brain

Men infer sexual interest before women do

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

Prosopagnosia may affect 2 percent of population

Nerve cells in brain decide between apples and oranges

How Visual Stimulation Turns Up Bdnf Genes to Shape the Brain

Humans perceive more than they think they do

Specific Mechanisms May Not Exist For Facial Recognition

Scent of fear impacts cognitive performance

Older people with stronger cognitive skills walk at a safer pace

Switch for brain's pleasure pathway found

'Executive' monkeys influenced by other executives, not subordinates

Manipulating Cell Receptor Alters Animal Behavior

Morphine addiction and the tendency to explore linked

New study shows how self-prophecies may help

Guilt and fear motivate better than hope

How the brain makes a whole out of parts

Link in brain between sight and sound perception

The cognitive cost of being a twin

Researchers Identified Fear Factor Protein

Loneliness might be Explained by Genes

We do not feel with our sensory cortices

Choice Blindness Experiment Sheds More Light On Decision Making Processes

The maternal instinct for commitment

Link between body and action perception revealed

Women tend to model relationship behavior of their mothers

Expectations have a surprisingly big effect on pain intensity

Factors influencing preschoolers perceptions about cigarettes and alcohol

Male and female voices affect brain differently

Mixed results from abstinence-only intervention

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

Investigating the controversy about whether bisexual men exist

Different event-related potentials (ERPs) to pictures and words that describe the same object

Financially richer people tend to be happier - Study

Prenatal alcohol exposure can lead to slower cognitive reaction times and poorer attention

The effort required to correctly hear and identify words may diminish the resources needed to memorize them

Hand Movements Suggest Continuous Language Processing

Significant long-term impact of stalking found on victims' psychological health

Mental-State Reasoning Is Universal Milestone in Child Development

Fathers more involved when paternity is established in the hospital

Brain networks change according to cognitive task

Human brain can learn without thinking - Research

Deadlines intensify emotions - Study

Effect of Trait Self-Objectification on Body Shame

Childrens fears learned through observation

It aint what you say - its the way that you say it

Different styles of mother-infant interaction affect different aspects of infant cognition

Juggling the finances is source of student stress

Worrying about Maths just makes it worse

Fighting appears to provide professional fighters with a forum to enrich their friendships

Childrens fears learned through observation

It aint what you say - its the way that you say it