Psychology news

• Rapid eye movement sleep: Keystone of memory formation

  13-05-2016 19:02
  For decades, scientists have fiercely debated whether rapid eye movement sleep -- the phase where dreams appear -- is directly involved in memory formation. Now, a study provides evidence that REM sleep does, indeed, play this role -- at least in mice.
  
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• Prenatal stress could enhance protective mechanisms of babies

  13-05-2016 18:00
  
  Maternal stress and depression during pregnancy may activate certain protective mechanisms in babies.
  
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• Evaluating animal threats and human intentions uses common brain network

  13-05-2016 17:21
  Assessing whether a fluffy bunny or a giant spider poses a threat to our safety happens automatically. New research suggests the same brain areas may be involved in both detecting threats posed by animals and evaluating other humans' intentions.
  
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• Study describes potential transmission of nongenetic behavioral traits to new generations

  13-05-2016 17:00
  
  Individual symptoms of psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety, avoidance and a heightened response to stress, can be transmitted from mother to child and even grandchild by multiple non-genetic...
  
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• Online therapy effective at treating depression and anxiety

  13-05-2016 17:00
  
  Doctors from the University of Pittsburgh showed that providing an online computerized cognitive behavioral therapy (CCBT) program both alone and in combination with Internet Support Groups (ISG)...
  
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• Italy Approves Same-Sex Civil Unions

  13-05-2016 16:19 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  Source: Google NewsItaly's Parliament approved a bill on Wednesday to legally recognize civil unions for same-sex couples, though some activists say the bill fell short of granting full equality...
  
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• Google Proposes New Emojis to Promote Gender Equality

  13-05-2016 16:18 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: The GuardianThe 13 new representations presented at the Unicode consortium include cartoon female engineers, chemists, plumbers and farmers. Google employees have proposed a new set of emojis aimed at promoting gender equality in the workplace, including cartoon female engineers, chemists, plumbers and farmers. The Google team presented the designs of 13 new emojis on Tuesday at the Unicode Consortium, a Silicon Valley not-for-profit group that runs an...
  
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• Yoga May Reduce Asthma Symptoms, Study Finds

  13-05-2016 16:08 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: Yahoo News - HealthResearchers studying the effects of yoga on asthma have found that regular practice could improve quality of life and alleviate respiratory symptoms for people with the condition. However, ahead of World Asthma Day, May 3, health professionals stress the importance of continuing prescribed treatments to help sufferers maintain active social, professional and sporting lives.
  
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• Many Young Americans Open to Idea of Slavery Reparations

  13-05-2016 15:52 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  Source: U.S. News and World ReportA vast majority of white Americans say there should not be reparations for African-American descendants of slaves, but more than half of blacks say it's a good idea and Hispanics are almost evenly split, according to a new poll.
  
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• The Power of Crowd-Augmented Cognition

  13-05-2016 15:49 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  Source: ScienceDailyCrowdsourcing has brought us Wikipedia and ways to understand how HIV proteins fold. However, most tasks have proven resistant to distributed labor, at least without a central organizer. Now a researcher has designed crowdsourcing frameworks that combine the best qualities of machine learning and human intelligence, allowing distributed groups of workers to perform complicated cognitive tasks.
  
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• Obamacare Bans Discrimination Against LGBT Patients

  13-05-2016 15:40 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: U.S. News and World ReportThe administration's rule stops short of requiring specific health care benefits.
  
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• Brazil's Feminists Fear Setbacks As First Woman President Suspended

  13-05-2016 15:38 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  Source: Yahoo News - Top HeadlinesHours after Dilma Rousseff, Brazil's first woman president, was suspended by a Senate vote to put her on trial for breaking budget laws, the man who took her place unveiled his cabinet: an all-male line-up of 23 ministers. The significance was not lost on feminists in the Latin American country, especially after a male-dominated Congress voted to remove Rousseff amid shouts of "Goodbye, dear!"
  
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• Identification of a network of brain regions involved in mathematics

  13-05-2016 14:45
  Scientists have just revealed that the brain has a network of brain regions involved in advanced mathematics, as well as simpler arithmetic operations. This network is only activated when numbers are seen, in a population of high-level university students including both experts in mathematics and non-mathematicians. These results were obtained using functional MRI on university students specializing in mathematics and other disciplines.
  
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• It's official: employers can't force you to be happy. Hallelujah | David Ferguson

  13-05-2016 13:00
  
  A US ruling says that that companies aren’t allowed to pressure staff to be relentlessly positive. That’s good news, because haters can helpRejoice, haters! The law now says that you don’t have to be happy about coming to work.In April, the National Labor Relations Board presided over a conflict between T-Mobile and some employees who felt that the company was asking too much by demanding that workers maintain a “positive work environment” at all times. Continue rea
  
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• Loneliness in midlife

  13-05-2016 11:00
  
  Loneliness is a widespread condition. It can make people depressed and even physically ill. The psychologists Maike Luhmann and Louise C.
  
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