Psychology news

• Harris and Trump Have Starkly Different Visions on Climate Change

  31-08-2024 10:53 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: U.S. News and World ReportAs the Earth sizzled through a summer with four of the hottest days ever measured, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have starkly different visions on how to address a changing climate while ensuring a reliable energy supply. While Harris has voted in favor of laws to curb climate change, Trump has pledged to dismantle Biden's "green new scam" and led chants of "drill, baby, drill" at the Republican National...
  
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• A New AI Tool Creates Hyperrealistic Photos. Can You Tell the Difference?

  31-08-2024 10:53 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: CBS News - U.S. NewsSeveral new artificial intelligence tools have been released this summer that create hyperrealistic photos, making it easier than ever to alter, or entirely fabricate, an image. Experts say it's becoming increasingly difficult for consumers to discern what is real and what is fake. Among the most powerful new tools is FLUX.1, or Flux, a free AI image generator released in August, which allows for the creation of hyperrealistic images without a...
  
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• Young Girls Are Using Anti-Aging Products They See on Social Media

  31-08-2024 10:52 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: U.S. News and World ReportPreteen girls around the U.S. have been flocking to beauty stores to buy anti-aging skin care products, a trend captured in viral videos with the hashtag #SephoraKids. And as a result, girls as young as 8 are turning up at doctors' offices with rashes, chemical burns, and other allergic reactions to products not intended for children's sensitive skin. Equally troubling to parents and child psychologists, this trend may have lasting effects on...
  
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• School-Based Mindfulness Programs May Boost Kids' Mental Health

  31-08-2024 10:52 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: U.S. News and World ReportTeaching school kids to practice mindfulness can boost their mental health—and, maybe, even their grades. That's the takeaway from a new review of more than 40 research studies on school-based mindfulness interventions, such as seated or slow-walking meditation. The review appears in the journal Psychiatry Online. In a nutshell, mindfulness programs teach kids to pay attention to the present moment and not to be judgmental about it.
  
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• Laws Allow Women Behind Bars to Tell Their Stories of Abuse

  31-08-2024 10:51 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: U.S. News and World ReportAdvocates for domestic violence survivors in Illinois celebrated earlier this month when Governor JB Pritzker signed a bill into law making it easier for those who are incarcerated to get reduced sentences. The idea is that women who received harsh sentences without a court hearing about their histories of abuse should get a chance to tell their stories in court and potentially be resentenced. New York, California, and Oklahoma have similar laws.
  
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• Black Students Still Disciplined at Higher Rates, U.S. Report Concludes

  31-08-2024 10:51 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: U.S. News and World ReportRacial differences in how U.S. schools discipline students received media attention 10 years ago, during a national reckoning with racial injustice. A decade later, change has been slow to materialize. In many schools around the country, Black students remain more likely to receive punishments that remove them from the classroom, including suspensions, expulsions, and being transferred to alternative schools. Here's what an Associated Press...
  
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• Women's College in Virginia Bars Transgender Students

  31-08-2024 10:49 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: U.S. News and World ReportSweet Briar College in Virginia has instituted an admissions policy that bars transgender women, making the school an outlier among U.S. women's colleges. The private women's liberal arts school said that the policy stems from the legally binding will of its founder, who died in 1900, and that the document requires it to "be a place of "girls and young women" as its founder "understood at the time." Some students and most faculty members...
  
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• Pope Francis Says Earth Is "Sick" in New Climate Change Warning

  31-08-2024 10:49 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: U.S. News and World ReportPope Francis on Friday urged people around the world to better protect the environment, ahead of a 12-day trip to Southeast Asia next week in which the pontiff is expected to urge global action on climate change. "If we took the planet's temperature, it will tell us that the Earth has a fever. And it is sick," the pope said in a video message. "We must commit ourselves to... the protection of nature, changing our personal and community habits."
  
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• Some People with Schizophrenia Fight Stigma on Social Media

  29-08-2024 11:17 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: United Press International - Health NewsPeople with schizophrenia have been challenging the stigma of their mental disorder by posting on social media, trying to dispel the myth that they're prone to injuring themselves or others. "People will treat me like I am dangerous just because of my illness," said Kody Green, who creates social media content about schizophrenia. Yet, "studies show that people with schizophrenia are more likely to be victims of violent crime than the...
  
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• Top South Korea Court Says Climate Law Doesn't Protect Basic Rights

  29-08-2024 11:16 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: U.S. News and World ReportSouth Korea's top court said on Thursday the climate change law did not protect basic human rights and lacks targets to shield future generations, in a landmark ruling after activists blamed the government for failing to effectively tackle climate change. About 200 plaintiffs, including young climate activists, filed petitions to the court, arguing that their government was violating its citizens' human rights by not doing enough on climate...
  
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• Google Relaunching Problematic Tool for AI-Generated Images

  29-08-2024 11:16 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: United Press International - Health NewsGoogle has retooled its controversial Gemini artificial intelligence tool for generating images of people, and made it customizable. Google originally launched the Gemini AI image-generation program earlier this year but pulled it after it produced controversial images that led to many accusing the program of having biases. Among the images that led to claims of bias were those that depicted a Black viking, an Asian Nazi soldier, and a female...
  
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• Summer picks: the science of ‘weird shit’ – podcast

  29-08-2024 06:00
  
  The psychologist Chris French has spent decades studying paranormal claims and mysterious experiences, from seemingly impossible coincidences to paintings that purportedly predict the future. In this episode from April 2024, Ian Sample sits down with French to explore why so many of us believe in what he terms ‘weird shit’, and what we can learn from understanding why we are drawn to mysterious and mystic phenomena Continue reading...
  
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• U.S. Surgeon General Flags Parental Stress As Urgent Health Issue

  28-08-2024 18:46 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: CBS News - HealthParents are stressed out, which can lower their mental health and in turn negatively affect children, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said in an advisory Wednesday. Dr. Murthy—who in the past has issued advisories related to gun violence, social media use, and a youth mental health crisis tied to an "epidemic of loneliness"—called for changes to national attitudes toward parenting and caregiving in the report, titled "Parents Under Pressure."
  
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• AI Textbooks and Chatbots Are Changing the Way Students Learn

  28-08-2024 18:46 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Canadian Broadcasting Company - Top Stories NewsThis year, Pearson Education and McGraw-Hill have launched generative AI tools embedded into digital textbooks. More broadly, new artificial intelligence tools will be part of the curriculum at over 100 Canadian universities and colleges this fall. Although there's enthusiasm about the educational possibilities that AI offers, there are also concerns about issues such as bias, misleading information, and the lack of student-teacher interact
  
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• Non-Cognitive Skills: A Hidden Key to Academic Success

  27-08-2024 15:41 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Science Daily - Top SocietyA new study has revealed that non-cognitive skills, such as motivation and self-regulation, are as important as intelligence in determining academic success. These skills become increasingly influential throughout a child's education, with genetic factors playing a significant role. The findings, published in Nature Human Behaviour, suggest that fostering non-cognitive skills alongside cognitive abilities could significantly improve educational...
  
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• AI Spots Cancer and Viral Infections at Nanoscale Precision

  27-08-2024 15:41 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Science Daily - Top HealthResearchers have developed an artificial intelligence tool that can differentiate cancer cells from normal cells, as well as detect very early stages of viral infection inside cells. The findings pave the way for improved diagnostic techniques and disease monitoring strategies. The AI can detect cellular changes as small as 20nm, or 5,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair—much finer than human observers can see using traditional...
  
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• Teen Mental Health Improving, CDC Reports, But Still Has Far to Go

  27-08-2024 10:27 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: APA PsycPORT™: Psychology NewswireYoung people are faring better in their mental health in the past few years after a period of increased sadness and hopelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic, a report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found. But mental health experts aren't celebrating a victory just yet. This is because reported rates of kids feeling blue is still high, especially among teenage girls, 53% of whom report feeling sad or hopeless.
  
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• "Clean Beauty" Near Impossible, But Some Keep Trying

  27-08-2024 10:27 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: U.S. News and World ReportThe beauty industry, worth billions of dollars and dominated by a few major brands, has an ugly underbelly. The making and disposing of cosmetics contributes to planet-warming carbon emissions, deforestation, pollution, and waste. And there's little regulation governing beauty products in many countries. But despite the uphill battle, some business owners are trying to tackle these problems, and consumers have begun demanding sustainability and...
  
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• White House Slams Donald Trump for "Antisemitic, Dangerous" Remarks

  27-08-2024 10:26 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Google NewsPennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro responded to former President Donald Trump's characterization of him as a "highly overrated Jewish Governor" by saying the Republican nominee is "continuing to spew hate." Last month, Mr. Trump said in a radio interview that "If you're Jewish" and vote for a Democrat, "you're a fool, an absolute fool." Trump also contended that Kamala Harris, whose husband is Jewish, "doesn't like Israel" and "doesn't like...
  
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• Trans Kids Often Seek Help From Teachers, Not Parents

  27-08-2024 10:25 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: United Press International - Health NewsTroubled transgender students are more likely to turn to school staff than their own parents for support, researchers reported Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. Among students who felt depressed or anxious, trans teens in the study were roughly 75% less likely than cisgender teens to seek help from parents than from adults at school, 50% less likely to seek help from siblings, and 25% less likely to seek support from friends.
  
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• Public Trust in Drinking Water Safety Is Low Around the World

  27-08-2024 10:25 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Science Daily - Top SocietyA new study finds more than half of adults surveyed worldwide expect to be seriously harmed by their drinking water within the next two years. The study, published in Nature Communications, was based on data from 148,585 adults in 141 countries. Because perceptions shape attitudes and behaviors, distrust in water quality has a negative effect on people's health, nutrition, and psychological well-being, even when the water meets safety standards.
  
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• Has Israel Taken Action to Prevent Incitement to Genocide?

  27-08-2024 10:23 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: BBC News - Top HeadlinesAs part of an interim judgement in January, the International Criminal Court ruled that Israel must prevent public statements inciting genocide. Although the court does not have the power to enforce this ruling, Israel agreed to submit a report on actions it has taken to investigate and prosecute possible instances of incitement. The court received the report in February but has not made its contents public, making it unclear whether Israel has...
  
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• ‘Anger is blinding’: family therapists on how to resolve sibling feuds

  27-08-2024 09:00
  
  With talk of an Oasis reunion, experts explain how sibling relationships can be particularly ‘intense and problematic and rewarding’For most of the 1990s and 2000s, the Gallagher brothers clashed on stage and traded high-profile insults in newspaper interviews and on social media. So rumours of an Oasis reunion tour in 2025 have prompted furious speculation about how the pair repaired a rift that for decades appeared intractable.Family therapists told the Guardian that although sibli
  
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• Police Officers Begin Using AI Chatbots to Write Crime Reports

  26-08-2024 16:52 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: U.S. News and World ReportOklahoma City's police department is one of a handful to experiment with AI chatbots to produce the first drafts of incident reports. Police officers who've tried it are enthused about the time-saving technology, while some prosecutors, police watchdogs, and legal scholars have concerns about how it could alter a document that plays a role in who gets imprisoned. The system is sold by Axon, developer of the Taser and a dominant U.S. supplier of...
  
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• No brothers or sisters? That doesn’t mean you’ll grow up spoiled and lonely | Emma Beddington

  26-08-2024 12:00
  
  It’s time to ditch the stereotypes about only children. The same goes for the cliches about conscientious and controlling eldest siblingsAre only children selfish, spoiled and lonely? Duh, no, a piece in the New Scientist recently concluded, unpicking all these stereotypes.There are many more only children now: in 2022, 44% of UK families with dependent children had just one child. According to researchers at University College London’s Faculty of Education and Society, they are doin
  
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• Do you really want a divorce? Or are you just ‘getting divorcey’?

  26-08-2024 12:00
  
  Whether it’s your partner that’s getting on your nerves, or your friends, or even your pet, sometimes you just want to burn everything to the ground and start over. But will you feel the same way tomorrow?A friend of mine has a useful phrase to describe an experience I think many of us can relate to: she calls it “getting divorcey”. She isn’t actually married, but you don’t have to be, to recognise what she’s talking about.Getting divorcey is what happen
  
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• I love Springsteen and my daughter is a huge Swiftie – and that’s created a bridge between us

  25-08-2024 10:00
  
  How our mutual love of music – and interest in each other’s tastes – brought my daughter Laila and me closer togetherIt is a cloudy Saturday evening in Edinburgh in early June and I am in a rugby stadium surrounded by young women who are wearing glitter and homemade friendship bracelets. Pink stetsons and shiny bodysuits abound, middle-aged men in TK Maxx less so. This is not my tribe – I am here with my 12-year-old daughter, Laila, to see Taylor Swift in concert. She has
  
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• Riots, shootings, sadism… blame it on the boredom of social media | Martha Gill

  24-08-2024 19:00
  
  It’s a dangerous emotion that makes us crave drama, and one exacerbated by the modern world‘The age of boredom… has now passed”. So begins On Boredom, a 2021 essay collection that claims the likes of TikTok and YouTube have driven it to extinction. These days, “the time needed to be bored is no longer available”. This view, that boredom has been blotted out, is widely held – so much so that psychologists have started to worry that we have lost something
  
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• Diabetes Complications Strongly Tied to Mental Health, Study Concludes

  24-08-2024 18:17 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Science Daily - Top HealthWhen a person has chronic diabetes complications—such as heart attack, stroke, and nerve damage—they are up to three times more likely to have a mental health disorder such as depression or anxiety, according to a new study based on 500,000 people with diabetes and 350,000 without the disease. Researchers say the findings highlight a need for clinicians to actively screen for mental health disorders in patients with diabetes.
  
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• ‘The liberating truth is: they’re probably not thinking about you’: Oliver Burkeman on how to quit people-pleasing

  24-08-2024 11:00
  
  In an extract from his new book on making the most of our finite time on Earth, the writer argues that worrying about how friends and colleagues are feeling is an agonising way to live“Great news! I found the cure for my anxiety!!” the author Sarah Gailey once announced on social media. “All I need is for everyone I know to tell me definitively that they aren’t mad at me, once every 15 seconds, for ever.” I know how she feels. For years, I possessed a remarkable sup
  
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• Actor Gillian Anderson on female desire, singer Chappell Roan’s slow and steady rise, and how to stop people-pleasing – podcast

  24-08-2024 06:00
  
  Actor Gillian Anderson on prudes, powerful women, and collecting secret fantasies; How singer-songwriter Chappell Roan slow-burned her way to stardom; and Oliver Burkeman tells you how to stop being such a people-pleaser. Continue reading...
  
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• Study Reveals What Has Worked to Fight Climate Change

  22-08-2024 15:41 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: U.S. News and World ReportTo find out what works when nations try to fight climate change, researchers looked at 1,500 ways that countries have tried to curb heat-trapping gases. What they found was that successes were rare. Since 1998, only 63 initiatives resulted in significant cuts of carbon pollution, according to the study, published Thursday in the journal Science. So, what worked best? Policies requiring someone to pay when carbon is emitted into the atmosphere.
  
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• Ozempic-Like Weight Loss Drugs May Protect Against Alzheimer's

  22-08-2024 15:41 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Google NewsA weight loss drug similar to Ozempic may slow cognitive decline in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease, suggests a study presented recently at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Philadelphia. The findings, which have not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal, add to the growing evidence that GLP-1 agonists—a class of medications that includes the popular diabetes and weight loss drugs—may also protect the brain.
  
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• Inflammation in Childhood Linked to Mental Health Issues in Adulthood

  22-08-2024 15:40 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Science Daily - Top HealthChildren who have persistently experienced inflammation are at a higher risk of experiencing serious mental health disorders in early adulthood—including psychosis and depression—according to a study published recently in JAMA Psychiatry. The research also found that people who had experienced inflammation at a young age were at a higher risk of developing cardiometabolic diseases such as insulin resistance—an early form of diabetes.
  
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• Blood Tests Revolutionize Alzheimer's Diagnosis

  22-08-2024 15:40 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Google News - HealthNew research reveals that highly accurate blood tests for Alzheimer's can improve diagnosis accuracy and expedite treatment and research participation. These tests measure biomarkers like phosphorylated tau, which correlate with cognitive decline and brain atrophy. Implementing these blood tests in clinical practice could drastically reduce the wait times for diagnosis and help identify patients early for new treatments.
  
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• Vaccination Could Shield Against Mental Issues After Severe COVID

  22-08-2024 11:28 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: U.S. News and World ReportPeople stricken with a severe case of COVID-19 have a higher risk of mental illness in the year after their infection, a new study warns. However, vaccination appears to reduce that risk, researchers reported August 21 in the journal JAMA Psychiatry. For example, people hospitalized for COVID have a 16 times higher risk of developing depression, whereas vaccinated people have no higher risk than do those never infected with COVID, results showed.
  
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• Baby boomers: why the swaggering levels of overconfidence? Could it be your age? | Mark Egan

  22-08-2024 11:00
  Think of Britain’s Covid debacle and the Post Office scandal. As a behavioural scientist, I have seen how ruinous blind belief can be Confidence is complicated. Ted talks try to teach you how to get it; parents want it for their children; for those who don’t have it, it seems almost impossible to acquire. Entrepreneurs, social-media influencers and job applicants will project certainty even when internally racked with self-doubt – which is perhaps no surprise, given that virtua
  
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• Americans Have Mixed Feelings About AI in Healthcare, Poll Finds

  22-08-2024 08:55 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: United Press International - Health NewsMost Americans believe artificial intelligence should be used to improve healthcare, a new national survey reports. However, many people expressed reservations about AI. For example, even though 75% of Americans thought AI could help minimize human errors, and 70% would be comfortable with AI taking notes during an appointment, most respondents said they found the use of AI in healthcare a little scary, and 70% had concerns about data privacy.
  
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• New App Might Help Young Adults Handle Anxiety

  21-08-2024 10:27 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: United Press International - Health NewsIt's not a replacement for actual psychotherapy, but a newly designed app could help young adults with mental health issues lower their anxiety, researchers reported Tuesday in the journal JAMA Network Open. The app, dubbed "Maya," uses cognitive behavior therapy techniques to teach coping strategies to young adults (aged 18 to 25). That's an age often rife with stress, as people transition from the family home into college and the workplace.
  
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• Study Detects Consciousness in Unresponsive Patients

  20-08-2024 11:59 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Science Daily - Top HealthNew research has found that brain scans can detect consciousness in some brain-damaged patients who are unresponsive. In the study, published August 15 in the New England Journal of Medicine, 241 people with severe brain injury were monitored while hearing instructions such as "imagine opening and closing your hand." Their brain responses showed that 25% of participants repeatedly followed this instruction covertly over a period of minutes.
  
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• How Excessive Heat Can Affect Your Mental Health

  20-08-2024 11:59 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: U.S. News and World ReportAs people in many countries around the world sweat through another scorching summer, experts warn that extreme heat can impair mental as well as physical health. Sizzling temperatures can trigger feelings of anger, irritability, aggression, stress, and fatigue because of its impact on serotonin, a key neurotransmitter that regulates sleep, mood, and behaviors. It can also worsen episodes of depression, says Dr. Asim Shah of the Baylor College of...
  
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• Women and Investing: Statistics Show Progress, Not Parity

  20-08-2024 11:58 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: U.S. News and World ReportThe participation rate of women in the financial markets has been on a steady increase in recent years, as documented by many surveys conducted by various organizations. Overall, the results show how much progress has been made toward closing the gap between men's and women's investing participation, and how much work remains to be done. As Women's Equality Day approaches, here's an overview of studies on gender equity in investing.
  
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• Just Say "Climate Change"—Not "Climate Emergency"

  20-08-2024 11:05 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Science DailyThe terms "climate change" and "global warming" are not only more familiar to people than common synonyms, but they also generate more concern about the warming of the earth, according to a new study published in the journal Climatic Change. Overall, "climate change" and "global warming" were rated as most familiar, most concerning, and most urgent, and "climate justice" the least, with ratings for "climate crisis" and "climate emergency"...
  
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• Google and Selena Gomez Fund Teen Mental Health in the Classroom

  20-08-2024 10:49 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: U.S. News and World ReportThe unprecedented mental health crisis for U.S. children often surfaces where they spend much of their time: school. With that in mind, Google's philanthropic arm has partnered with actress Selena Gomez to center mindfulness as an educational goal at the start of the new school year. The move comes amid lawsuits claiming Google-owned YouTube and other social media sites have fueled the youth mental health crisis by deliberately designing...
  
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• Summer picks: what does the science say about birth order and personality? – podcast

  20-08-2024 06:00
  
  We all know the cliches about older siblings being responsible, younger ones creative, and middle children being peacemakers. But is there any evidence our position in the family affects our personality? In this episode from March 2024, Madeleine Finlay meets Dr Julia Rohrer, a personality psychologist at the University of Leipzig, to unpick the science behind birth order Continue reading...
  
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• Scrolling through online videos increases feelings of boredom, study finds

  19-08-2024 15:00
  
  Boredom is linked to attention – so switching content or skipping forwards and backwards feels more tedious than watching one videoBrowsing videos on TikTok or YouTube can be a hit-and-miss affair, with gems lurking amid mediocre efforts. But researchers have found that switching to another video, or skipping forwards and backwards in the same one, actually makes people more bored.Dr Katy Tam at the University of Toronto Scarborough, the lead author of the research, said boredom was closel
  
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• Bout of Shingles May Raise Odds for Cognitive Decline

  19-08-2024 09:05 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: U.S. News and World ReportOlder Americans already dread shingles, and they may now have one more reason to do so: the disease may be associated with cognitive decline. A new study, based on data from nearly 150,000 people, found a 20% higher risk that an older person would experience "subjective cognitive decline" if they'd gone through a bout of shingles. The study was published on August 13 in the peer-reviewed journal Alzheimer's Research & Therapy.
  
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• Meet the People Whose Hearts and Brains Age More Slowly

  19-08-2024 08:47 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: BBC News - Top HeadlinesTsimanes, a semi-nomadic indigenous community living deep in the Amazon rainforest, reportedly have the healthiest arteries ever studied, and their brains age more slowly than those of people in North America, Europe, and elsewhere. Remarkably, elderly Tsimanes do not show the same signs of diseases typical of old age such as hypertension, diabetes, or heart problems, and their rate of Alzheimer's disease is zero. Scientists are trying to figure...
  
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• Why dismissing the loudness of modern life is the key to regaining the stillness of the present | Sara Mussa

  18-08-2024 17:00
  
  The unspoken moments in our lives can provide more information than a thousand wordsThe modern mind is a column where experts discuss mental health issues they are seeing in their workHave you ever wondered about the unspoken moments in your life that can provide more information than a thousand words?For example, the moment when the waiter asks you and a friend how your food was and you instinctively glance at each other and with one look you acknowledge that the fish was too salty, but reply &
  
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