Psychology

Hiding Cigarettes At Convenience Stores Reduces Risk Of Teen Use

Most people who take up cigarette smoking, and place themselves at greater risk of cancer and lung ailments, start when they are young. A new RAND Corporation analysis finds the answer may be as simple as hiding them. The scholars created a laboratory rep ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 23 2015 - 8:45am

Angelina Jolie Effect: Why There Are So Many More Double Mastectomies

Researchers at a breast cancer prevention clinic in Manchester have observed an increased uptake of preventative double mastectomies since May 2013, when Angelina Jolie announced that she had undergone the procedure.   Researchers from the Genesis Prevent ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 24 2015 - 10:48pm

Have We Reached Peak Pizza?

How does the price impact your evaluation of a restaurant meal? Psychologists have long believed that we judge experiences based on their most intense moment (the peak) and the last part of the experience (end). But that can change dramatically depending ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 27 2015 - 2:00pm

Scientists Limit Autistic Behavior

Autism spectrum disorder is a group of social and neurodevelopmental disorders that include difficulty with interpersonal interaction, communication and excessive repetitive behaviors. Currently, though there are medications to treat some symptoms but no ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 3 2015 - 9:00am

Praying For Climate Change Action

Religion can be a 'lynchpin' for achieving widespread global action on climate change, says psychologist Dr. Paul Bain from Queensland University of Technology. ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 3 2015 - 2:39pm

Quick To Blame, Slow To Credit

We often read others’ intentions in what they do- if we disagree with someone's science, for example, we assume they are shills for money, but if we like their results, they are beacons of truth. But it's more overt than assuming Bernie Sanders i ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 3 2015 - 3:53pm

My Genes Made Me Do It: The Problem Of Determinism And Diminished Culpability

There have been recent high-profile claims suggesting genetics and neuroscience are set to radically change the way we think about crime and punishment. Author Sam Harris, for example, argues that recent discoveries in neuroscience undermine our notion of ...

Article - The Conversation - Dec 5 2015 - 8:30am

Is Sexual Dysfunction Overdiagnosed Or Undertreated? Yes

The difference between mild sexual difficulties and diagnosable sexual dysfunction is an ongoing debate among health professionals, but it has been stirred up recently by changes to diagnostic criteria. Unlike science and medicine, psychology still uses sy ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 4 2015 - 8:00am

Chomsky Was Right, We Do Have A 'Grammar' In Our Head?

A team of psychologists say MIT linguist Noam Chomsky's discredited belief that we possess an "internal grammar" that allows us to comprehend even nonsensical phrases holds up. ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 8 2015 - 7:36am

Impulsive? That's One More Thing You Can Blame On Your Parents

'Delay discounting' is the tendency, given the choice, to take a smaller reward that is available immediately, instead of a larger reward that will be delivered in the future- and that is a trait that can be inherited. Yes, your impulsive nature ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 8 2015 - 11:30am