Feature Channels: Behavioral Science

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Researcher finds adult women use the same techniques as adolescent girls

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Top-ranked reviewers on online retail sites such as Amazon.com may influence purchases, but a research study from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business finds that those who post reviews less often and more informally can be seen as more trustworthy and have more of an impact on sales.

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Michael “Mick” MacLean, associate professor of psychology, who has done extensive research on adolescent alcohol and substance use. Most recently, he’s implemented a strategy for reaching teens who are experiencing substance-related problems but are not yet addicted. Instead of berating them, trying to scare them, or using other well-worn tactics, MacLean suggests “motivational interviewing,” which he said has a significantly higher success rate.

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Virtual reality offers tantalizing hope as a way to relieve the anguish of physical and mental stress. For those dealing with acute pain, it can form a distraction for the mind. And for those suffering from trauma, it helps relive triggering situations in a supported way.

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Very few depression patients receive the treatment once known as ‘shock therapy’. But a new cost-effectiveness study suggests that the modern form of the approach, called ECT, should be made more available to patients who fail to get relief from two other types of treatment.

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Video games can be used for more than just entertainment, they can also help raise awareness for mental illness and diseases, said Doris C. Rusch, an associate professor of game design in DePaul University’s School of Design.

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New research from University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital delves into how digital media might affect the camp experience.

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By federal law passed in 1975, children with intellectual disabilities are supposed to spend as much time as possible in general education classrooms.But a new study suggests that progress toward that goal has stalled.

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Economic tumult in the early 2000s persuaded many young people to keep living with their parents, but the reasons why differ starkly by race, a study concludes.

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Researcher finds that relationships are at risk when people fail to set expectations about the sharing of private information.

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With unprecedented demographic trends leading to an aging workforce, a new emphasis on productive aging is needed to keep US workers of all generations as healthy and productive as possible, according to an article in the May Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

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“Between a bouquet that lasts one or two weeks at most and an orchid that can stay in bloom for three months and live up for 15 years or longer, orchids are definitely a winner for any mom’s heart,” said UF/IFAS environmental horticulture professor Wagner Vendrame, an orchid expert.

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For millions of Americans who are obese and living with diabetes, feelings of sadness, anger and anxiety are often part of daily life. A new Iowa State University study suggests those negative feelings may stem from problems regulating blood sugar levels that influence emotional response in the brain.

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What You Can Do, launched today by the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program, offers information and support for providers looking for ways to reduce firearm injury and death, particularly among patients at elevated risk.

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Parents of twins and other multiple-birth children experience higher than average rates of depression, anxiety and other mental health issues, particularly during the first three months, according to a survey study in the May issue of Journal of Psychiatric Practice. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

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Dr Ian Shuttleworth, a leading researcher from the School of Natural and Built Environment at Queen’s, discovered that the decrease predates the Great Recession and is not just explained by economic issues.

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On a late summer evening in 2017, members of the far-right descended on Charlottesville, Virginia with tiki-torches held up in defense of confederate general Robert E. Lee’s statue in what was dubbed a “Unite the Right” rally, which had been organized mostly online. The next day, August 13

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A Cornell University researcher and his colleague offer the first empirical evidence an the effect of personal endorsements in MBA programs.

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A joint UNLV and Oregon State University study found mothers who consumed their placenta passed on no harm to their newborn babies when compared to infants of mothers who did not consume their placenta.

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Cedars-Sinai investigators are examining the risk factors associated with mental health issues experienced by many women after giving birth. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 11 percent of women who give birth each year report symptoms of postpartum depression. Many experts believe the condition is even more prevalent, but the stigma associated with mental illness can prevent new mothers from seeking help.

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An international research team's analysis of DNA sequences suggests the Native American founding population that migrated from Siberia consisted of approximately 250 people.

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Issues of race and racism permeate American culture and media more than ever. The University of Washington's Center for Communication, Difference and Equity will hold a three-day conference to explore these issues and foster engagement and support among academics.

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Two Cornell University researchers say psychological science’s extensive study of bias offers an important lens to view conflicts of free speech vs. hate speech.

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The #MeToo movement has shed light on our culture's history of sexual violence and harassment. But what is being done to help women heal? New research from Rutgers' Tracey Shors found that women who are sexually assaulted and suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can learn to decrease negative thoughts and enhance self-worth by a combination of meditation and aerobic exercise.

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A recent study finds that young people who get financial support from their parents have greater professional success, highlighting one way social inequality is transmitted from one generation to the next.

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Politicians will work harder at their jobs when their performance is reported to constituents early in their terms—but only where there’s a degree of competition from rival parties. These are the key findings of new research performed in Uganda by Vanderbilt's Kristin Michelitch, assistant professor of political science, who received an Andrew Carnegie Fellowship last year to research methods of holding politicians accountable in low-income, newly democratizing nations.

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In a North American first, researchers at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto have launched a pilot clinical trial to determine the safety, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy of using focused ultrasound to help patients with treatment-resistant major depression.

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Claude Desplan, a professor in NYU’s Department of Biology, and Paula England, a professor in NYU’s Department of Sociology, have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

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When you’re waiting in a busy restaurant or doctor’s office, it may matter whether the tables, light fixtures and other objects are round or square. In a laboratory study, researchers found the shape of physical objects in a service business affected customer satisfaction, depending on how crowded the business was in the experimental scenarios.

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Sabina Lim, MD, MPH, Vice President and Chief of Strategy, Behavioral Health, for the Mount Sinai Health System, is being honored by Institute for Community Living (ICL) with the “Health Care Innovators Award,” which recognizes national leadership in moving our health care system forward in new and innovative ways.

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Lonely consumers are capable of behaving morally, but aren’t motivated to, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York.

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Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine are preparing a first-of-its-kind, multidisciplinary investigation to determine if and how cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive compound found in the cannabis plant, provides therapeutic benefit to children with severe symptoms of autism spectrum disorder.

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Jesse Wozniak, assistant professor of sociology in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University, is exploring whether a post-conflict Iraq, specifically the police force, can transition to a democracy.

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A new meta-analysis of more than 135,000 people with major depression and more than 344,000 controls has identified 44 genomic variants, or loci, that have a statistically significant association with depression.

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Jesse Wozniak, assistant professor of sociology at West Virginia University, traveled to Iraq last summer to explore the results of post-conflict in the country and if its government, specifically the police force, can transition to a democracy.

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A new study in medical students finds that summer, not winter, is the season when people are most likely to have higher levels of circulating stress hormones. These non-intuitive findings contradict traditional concepts of the taxing physical toll of winter and the relaxed ease of summer. Researchers will present their findings today at the American Physiological Society (APS) annual meeting at Experimental Biology 2018 in San Diego.

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Previous research showed that the combination of two risk factors – parental separation/ divorce and family history of alcoholism (FH+) – can have negative effects on offspring, including an earlier onset of substance use among adolescents and young adults, lower educational attainment in adulthood, and a greater risk of alcohol dependence. This study looked at the impact of parental divorce and FH+ on offspring’s alcohol problems, marijuana use, and interpersonal relationships with parents.

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Parents and adults spend a lot of time worrying about the influence of peers when it comes to teen substance use. Using a unique sample of 476 twin pairs who have been followed since birth, a new study examines if there is a genetic component that drives teens’ desire for risk taking and novelty.

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Scientists identified light-induced electrical activity as the brain mechanism controlling chemical code switching related to stress. While studying neurotransmitter switching in rats, they found that specific neurons were responsible, with implications for imbalances underlying mental illness.

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A new Baylor study published in the Journal of Business Ethics suggests that feelings of ethical superiority can cause a chain reaction that is detrimental to you, your coworkers and your organization.

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A program designed to help coaches learn to identify and report suspected child abuse and neglect among their players has measurable impact 10 months later, a new study shows.

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USC’s Center for Artificial Intelligence in Society’s is developing a comprehensive algorithm that provides health practitioners the tool to form real-life peer support groups based on demographic, social and health-related data self-volunteered by patients.

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The crystal ball from the movie “The Wizard of Oz” – one of Hollywood’s most iconic objects – is coming to Cornell University Library this spring.

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Updated expectations are vital for making decisions Your midbrain encodes the expectation error and relays it to the frontal lobe to revise Dopamine neurons are likely involved in encoding identity errors and new expectations in brain

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Children with emotional and behavioral disabilities are the most isolated and have the lowest graduation rate of all students.One way to ensure better outcomes for these students is to help them learn how to self-regulate their behavior. This is an area in which Lisa Rafferty has focused her research and now relays to the next generation of teachers.

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While some research suggests that midlife is a dissatisfying time for women, other studies show that women report feeling less stressed and enjoy a higher quality of life during this period.