Psychology news

• Does getting 'expensive' drug affect how much patient benefits?

  28-01-2015 23:00
  People's perceptions of the cost of a drug may affect how much they benefit from the drug, even when they are receiving only a placebo, according to a new study of people with Parkinson's disease.
  
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• A way forward to solve the hard problem of consciousness | Letters

  28-01-2015 21:02
  
  I participated in the Greenland consciousness cruise referred to in your article (The I in mind, 21 January). The majority of the participants were in the Daniel Dennett camp, according to which proper respect for science requires us to deny the very existence of consciousness. David Chalmers invited myself (a panpsychist) and Professor Martine Nida-Rümelin (a dualist) along to serve as an alternative voice. What became clear to my mind is that a way forward on consciousness is beginning to
  
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• Pay pregnant smokers to quit, and soon it will be vouchers for burglars to behave | Melissa Kite

  28-01-2015 20:34
  
  Cash incentives may affect behaviour, but what about the moral implications of being rewarded for misbehaving?Savvy policymakers have long argued that working with people’s natural instincts always produces the best results. Incentivising citizens to act responsibly is an idea beloved of the centre-right, because when done correctly it can produce social benefits quicker than any penalty or tax, or so the argument goes. I suspect that if householders thought increased recycling would keep thei
  
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• Why upper motor neurons degenerate in ALS

  28-01-2015 20:19
  Scientists have revealed a mechanism underlying the cellular degeneration of the upper motor neurons that die in ALS, and developed a model system that will allow further research on the degeneration.
  
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• Your younger sibling is funnier than you (at least that’s what they say)

  28-01-2015 18:32
  
  A YouGov poll exploring the link between personality traits and birth order suggests that younger brothers and sisters are more likely to see themselves as the family’s jokers. But is there any evidence to back it up?
  
  Youngest siblings are the funniest. Youngest siblings have obviously known this for years, but now a YouGov poll has confirmed their suspicions. Hang on a second, younger brothers and sisters. What the poll results show is that youngest siblings are more likely to think the
  
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• Your Friends May Be Able to Predict Your Lifespan, Study Suggests

  28-01-2015 18:00 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: Yahoo News - HealthGiving new meaning to the oft-uttered exclamation that your friends know you better than you think, researchers from Washington University in St. Louis say close friends know each other well enough to have an idea of how long the other will live. "You expect your friends to be inclined to see you in a positive manner, but they also are keen observers of the personality traits that could send you to an early grave," says Joshua Jackson,...
  
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• Steven Spielberg Warns of Growing Anti-Semitism

  28-01-2015 18:00 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: The Age - World NewsFilm director Steven Spielberg told a group of Holocaust survivors on Monday that Jews are again facing the "perennial demons of intolerance" from anti-Semites who are provoking hate crimes and trying to strip survivors of their identity.
  
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• NFL Releases Chilling Anti-Domestic Violence Super Bowl PSA

  28-01-2015 18:00 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: U.S. News and World ReportThe ad features scenes of a disheveled house and a woman who is scared to speak up.
  
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• Mindfulness-Based Program in Schools Making a Positive Impact

  28-01-2015 18:00 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: ScienceDailyA social and emotional learning program started by Academy Award winning actress Goldie Hawn to help school children improve their learning abilities, be more caring, and less stressed is now backed by new scientific evidence.
  
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• Jewish Leaders Call for Europe-Wide Legislation Outlawing Antisemitism

  28-01-2015 18:00 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: The GuardianProposal would criminalise activities such as banning the burqa, forced marriage, female genital mutilation and Holocaust denial European Jewish leaders, backed by a host of former EU heads of state and governments, are to call this week for pan-European legislation outlawing antisemitism amid a sense of siege and emergency feeding talk of a mass exodus of Europe’s oldest ethnic minority. A panel of four prestigious international experts on...
  
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• Elderly Auschwitz Survivors Urge World Never to Forget

  28-01-2015 18:00 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: Yahoo News - Top HeadlinesSeventy years after the liberation of Auschwitz, ageing survivors and dignitaries gather at the site synonymous with the Holocaust on Tuesday to honour victims and sound the alarm over a fresh wave of anti-Semitism. On the eve of the landmark event, which is expected to draw several heads of state, a leading Jewish organisation was echoed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Hollywood mogul Steven Spielberg in highlighting violence against...
  
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• Beer compound could help fend off Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases

  28-01-2015 17:39
  
  The health-promoting perks of wine have attracted the spotlight recently, leaving beer in the shadows. But scientists are discovering new ways in which the latter could be a more healthful beverage than once thought. It turns out that a compound from hops could protect brain cells from damage -- and potentially slow the development of disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.
  
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• Novel compound switches off epilepsy development

  28-01-2015 17:38
  A novel compound helps curtail the onset and progression of temporal lobe epilepsy, researchers have discovered. The finding may contribute to the development of anti-epileptic therapies, they say.
  
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• New biological evidence reveals link between brain inflammation and major depression

  28-01-2015 17:38
  
  The measure of brain inflammation in people who were experiencing clinical depression was increased by 30 per cent, researchers have discovered. These findings have important implications for developing new treatments for depression.
  
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• Teenage misperception of weight may lead to adult obesity

  28-01-2015 17:00
  According to a new study, teens - particularly boys - of a healthy weight who falsely believe themselves to be overweight are at increased risk of obesity in adulthood.
  
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• Sundance 2015 review: The Nightmare – documentary shows truth more frightening than fiction

  28-01-2015 10:14
  
  Room 237 documentarian Rodney Ascher takes us into the dark, shows us screaming sufferers of sleep paralysis, then tells us we could well become one of them. Good luck ever resting againFor most of us, collapsing in bed is a reward after a full day. For some, like the eight interview subjects in The Nightmare, it’s just the start of a second, secret (and terrifying) life. Expanding his style from marvellous short The S From Hell (about unnerving corporate logos) and Room 237 (about people obse
  
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• Sexual offending treatment programmes in prisons and hospitals are ineffective

  28-01-2015 09:00
  
  Sexual offending treatment programmes do not rehabilitate criminals before they are released from prison, warns an expert in The BMJ.
  
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• Psychopathic Violent Offenders’ Brains Can’t Understand Punishment

  28-01-2015 03:21
  
  Psychopathic violent offenders have abnormalities in the parts of the brain related to learning from punishment, according to an MRI study.
  
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