Psychology

Climate Debate Needs More Psychology

By Joel Shurkin, Inside Science-- The notion that Earth’s climate is changing—and that the threat to the world is serious—goes back to the 1980s, when a consensus began to form among climate scientists as temperatures began to rise noticeably. Thirty year ...

Article - Joel Shurkin - Oct 12 2015 - 9:42am

Psychologists Claim To Reduce Belief In God And Distrust Of Immigrants Using Magnetism

Psychologists writing in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience claim that both belief in God and prejudice towards immigrants can be reduced by directing magnetic energy into the brain. The team used transcranial magnetic stimulation, a way of tempo ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 14 2015 - 7:33am

Good Leaders Have Easier Motor Actions In Making Judgments, Not Just Better Instincts

People who have social power are strongly influenced by internal body cues stemming from their motor system when making judgments about preferences of paintings, objects, movements or letter sequences, according to a new paper in the Journal of Experiment ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 17 2015 - 9:30am

American Placebo- Why Are Rates Rising In The US?

A new study finds that rising placebo responses may play a part in the increasingly high failure rate for clinical trials of drugs designed to control chronic pain caused by nerve damage. Surprisingly, however, the analysis of clinical trials conducted si ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 15 2015 - 7:29am

Treating Bipolar Disorder Without Medication

Bipolar disorder is a diagnosis given to people who experience periods of intense low mood but also periods of elation and increased energy which can lead to impaired judgement and risky behaviour. The Royal College of Psychiatrists estimates that around ...

Article - The Conversation - Oct 15 2015 - 3:55pm

What Motivates Cyber Stalking After A Romantic Breakup

Social networking makes it easy to monitor the status and activities of a former romantic partner, an often unhealthy use of social media known as interpersonal electronic surveillance (IES) by about five scholars on the planet who hope the term will catc ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 25 2015 - 7:46am

How Stereotypes Hurt Patients

Warning: Stereotypes may be harmful to patients' health. A national study led by a USC researcher found people who encountered the threat of being judged by negative stereotypes related to weight, age, race, gender, or social class in health care set ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 27 2015 - 6:30am

Family Risk Of Breast Cancer Doesn't Affect The Self-Esteem Of Pre-Teen Girls- Yet

Girls from families with a history of breast cancer, or genetic mutations that increase the risk of a breast cancer diagnosis, seem to adjust just as well as other girls when it comes to general anxiety, depression and overall psychosocial adjustment, acc ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 20 2015 - 6:48pm

New Insights Into REM Sleep Crack An Enduring Mystery

REM sleep, the phase of night-time mammalian sleep physiology where dreams occur, has long fascinated scientists, clinicians, philosophers, and artists alike, but the identity of the neurons that control REM sleep, and its function in sleep have been cont ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 24 2015 - 4:35pm

People Are Anti-Vaccine Before Becoming Pregnant

Vaccinations are often about children, but anti-science beliefs are often not caused by having them, which reaffirms the contention that ant-vaccine sentiment falls along predictable cultural lines, and includes a raft of other positions, like denial of G ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 30 2015 - 7:43am