Psychology news

• Study Uncovers What Brains Do the Day After Sleep Is Disrupted

  21-01-2026 13:23 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: Science DailyWhen you're short on sleep and your focus suddenly drifts, your brain may be briefly slipping into cleanup mode. Scientists at MIT discovered that these attention lapses coincide with waves of fluid washing through the brain, a process that usually happens during sleep. It's the brain's way of compensating for missed rest. Unfortunately, that internal cleaning comes at the cost of momentary mental shutdowns.
  
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• Forceful Language May Lead People to Resist Health Advice

  21-01-2026 13:23 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: PsyPostWhen public health campaigns aim to change behavior, they often rely on urgent, directive language. A new analysis suggests, however, that telling people they must do something can backfire. The analysis, based on 35 studies involving more than 10,000 participants, found that forceful language threatens people's sense of freedom, which in turn fuels resistance and lowers the likelihood of agreement. The findings appear in the Journal of...
  
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• Penguins Shift Breeding Season So Fast Survival May Be at Risk

  21-01-2026 13:22 via socialpsychology.org
  Source: The Guardian - Climate CrisisPenguins in Antarctica have shifted their breeding season at record rates, apparently in response to climate change, suggests research published Tuesday in the Journal of Animal Ecology. Dramatic shifts in behavior were revealed by a decade-long study led by Penguin Watch at the University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes University. The changes threaten to disrupt penguins' access to food, increasing concerns for their survival.
  
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