Psychology news

• Zika infects neural cells related to skull formation, affecting their function

  03-10-2016 20:18
  Cranial neural crest cells -- which give rise to the bones and cartilage of the skull -- are vulnerable to Zika virus. The discovery, made by infecting in vitro cultures of human cells, offers a potential mechanism for how children born with the virus can have smaller-than-average skulls and disproportionate facial features.
  
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• How a fluctuating brain network may make us better thinkers

  03-10-2016 19:13
  For the past 100 years, scientists have understood that different areas of the brain serve unique purposes. Only recently have they realized that the organization isn't static. Rather than having strictly defined routes of communication between different areas, the level of coordination between different parts of the brain seems to ebb and flow. Now, by analyzing the brains of a large number of people at rest or carrying out complex tasks, researchers at have learned that the integration between
  
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• Brain waves can be used to detect potentially harmful personal information

  03-10-2016 19:09
  A researcher is working to advance research to develop secure user authentication methods, by looking at using brain waves as individual identifiers. However, those brain waves can tell more about a person than just his or her identity, warns this expert.
  
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• Complaints Against Police Nearly Vanish with Body-Worn Cameras

  03-10-2016 18:55 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  Source: ScienceDailyThe introduction of wearable cameras led to a 93% drop in complaints made against police by the public – suggesting the cameras result in behavioral changes that ‘cool down’ potentially volatile encounters, a year-long study of almost 2,000 officers across UK and US forces shows.
  
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• Study of 132 Companies Assesses Sexism in the Workplace

  03-10-2016 18:54 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: USA Today - Top StoriesJust as women are paid less than men for the same positions, women are less likely to be promoted, according to a new workplace study.        .
  
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• Is Colonizing Mars Inevitable? Some Say Yes

  03-10-2016 18:54 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: CBS News - U.S. NewsSpace entrepreneur and Tesla founder Elon Musk unveiled a plan this week for putting a permanent human colony on the red planet. Musk estimates it will take from 40 years to a century to get a self-sustaining colony going there. Jeffrey Kluger, Time Magazine's editor-at-large, joins "CBS This Morning: Saturday" to discuss why the "odds are very, very good" and why this long-term space mission would be a "mental test.".
  
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• The Transgender Republican Trying to Change Her Party

  03-10-2016 18:53 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: BBC News - AmericasThe Republican Party may not be the most natural home for a transgender woman from New Jersey - but Jennifer Williams is trying to change it from the inside.
  
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• Racial Disparities Persist in U.S. Schools, Large Study Finds

  03-10-2016 18:53 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: CNN - HealthIt's been more than a half a century since the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education ruling found that "separate but equal" has no place in U.S. public schools. And yet, true racial equality in our education system is yet to materialize.
  
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• Changing How Police Respond to Mental Illness

  03-10-2016 18:53 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: CNN - US NewsAt 18, Keith Vidal was a normal teenager, his mom said: a good kid and funny guy who liked basketball, played the drums and enjoyed the beach. On January 5, 2014, Vidal's mother said, her son was having a particularly bad day. He refused to go to the hospital for an evaluation, so his family called 911 for help. Police responded to the family's home in Brunswick County, North Carolina. Law enforcement from three agencies arrived, and Vidal was...
  
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• ADHD Drugs No Help with Homework, Report Concludes

  03-10-2016 18:53 via feeds.socialpsychology.org
  
  Source: Yahoo News - HealthGiving stimulants to kids with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may not help them complete homework or get better grades, a small study suggests. Researchers tested the effectiveness of medication against behavioral interventions in 75 children that attended a summer school program with classes each weekday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for eight weeks.
  
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• Does meditation keep emotional brain in check?

  03-10-2016 18:07
  Meditation can help tame your emotions even if you're not a mindful person, suggests a new study. Psychology researchers recorded the brain activity of people looking at disturbing pictures immediately after meditating for the first time. These participants were able to tame their negative emotions just as well as participants who were naturally mindful.
  
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• Brain game claims fail a big scientific test

  03-10-2016 17:38 via npr.org
  
  Study shows no strong evidence that practicing a narrow skill leads to overall improvements in memory or thinking.
  
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• Little evidence that brain-training games yield real-world benefits

  03-10-2016 17:34
  A systematic review of the scientific studies cited by brain-training companies as evidence that their products improve cognition in daily life finds no convincing evidence to support those claims. While people tend to improve on the specific tasks they practice, the researchers report, the conclusion that computerized brain-training programs yield broader cognitive benefits or improve real-world outcomes for their users is premature at best.
  
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• Brain diseases manifest in the retina of the eye

  03-10-2016 16:13
  Diseases of the central nervous system (CNS) may manifest as pathological changes in the retina of the eye. Research now shows that retinal changes may be detected earlier than brain changes. Findings from mouse models suggest that eye examination could be used as a noninvasive screening tool for human brain diseases.
  
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• Dopamine, facial recognition connected, shows study

  03-10-2016 15:32
  A link between the dopamine neurotransmitter system in the brain and an individual’s ability to recognize faces has been uncovered by new research. Dopamine is the "feel-good" chemical linked to the body's natural reward system. That system drives survival, providing individuals with motivation and rewards in the form of positive stimuli for vital behaviors such as eating nutritious food and procreating.
  
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• Ambiguous figure illusions: do they offer a window on the mind?

  03-10-2016 14:50
  
  Do you see a wife, or a mother-in-law in this picture? Ambiguous figures have intrigued scientists since the 1800s, but what can they tell us about our visual system? This figure is called ‘My Wife and my Mother-in-Law’. There are two different ways of interpreting this image. One is of a young lady looking back over her shoulder, the other of an elderly lady in profile looking down. This sort of image is referred to as an “illusory” or “ambiguous” figure. In
  
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• Effective Therapist Qualities and CBT

  03-10-2016 13:35 via counsellingresource.com
  
  It's not all about treatment methods such as cognitive-behavioral therapy: the qualities of therapists themselves strongly influence outcomes in work with individuals who have significant disturbances of personality or character. Tags: CBT, in practice, therapy
  
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• The secret life of a child therapist: you need to realise you can’t fix everything | Anonymous

  03-10-2016 09:45
  
  I see into forgotten corners. If more people could visit the UK’s deprived estates, maybe there would be more compassion for struggling parents and families
  You learn early on that you’re not going to make everything all right. Lots of kids just have very tough lives, whether one of their parents has a drink or drug problem, their dad’s just died, or they are seeing a lot of fighting going on. Sometimes social services do something about it. Mostly, they don’t because the
  
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• The secret life of a child therapist: you have to accept you can’t fix everything | Anonymous

  03-10-2016 09:45
  
  Getting a child with mental health problems to open up is a big ask. If only there was more compassion for struggling familiesYou learn early on that you’re not going to make everything all right. Lots of kids just have very tough lives, whether one of their parents has a drink or drug problem, their dad’s just died, or they are seeing a lot of fighting going on. Sometimes social services do something about it. Mostly, they don’t because they simply can’t.A lack of therap
  
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• Mindfulness meditation helps to control emotions, says study

  03-10-2016 09:00
  
  Brain studies suggest that mindfulness meditation can help to control negative emotions, even in people who are not 'mindful' by nature.
  
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• Are you attractive? It might depend on who you are with

  03-10-2016 09:00
  
  How attractive we appear to others may fluctuate, a study shows, after finding people judge an individual's attractiveness by the people they are with.
  
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