Feature Channels: Behavioral Science

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Released: 27-Jun-2013 11:00 AM EDT
A Look Inside Children's Minds
University of Iowa

Ever wondered what's going on inside young children's brains when they're looking at things? Researchers at the University of Iowa have used optical neuroimaging for the first time on 3-and 4-year-olds to determine which areas of the brain are activated in "visual working memory."

Released: 26-Jun-2013 9:00 AM EDT
War-Torn Childhoods - Dubow Studies Ethnic, Political Violence’s Effect on Kids
Bowling Green State University

BGSU psychologist Dr. Eric Dubow is part of an international, multidisciplinary team studying the long-term effects of violence on children and, perhaps more importantly, looking for factors that may confer a degree of protection from its impact so that parents, communities and social agencies can provide effective support to the most vulnerable victims of circumstance.

Released: 25-Jun-2013 1:00 PM EDT
Blind(fold)ed by Science: Study Shows the Strategy Humans Use to Chase Objects
Ohio State University

A study found that people who are blindfolded employ the same strategy to intercept a running ball carrier as people who can see, which suggests that multiple areas of the brain cooperate to accomplish the task.

17-Jun-2013 1:00 PM EDT
Validating Maps of the Brain's Resting State
Vanderbilt University

A team of Vanderbilt researchers has provided important validation of maps of the brain at rest that may offer insights into changes in the brain that occur in neurological and psychiatric disorders.

   
Released: 17-Jun-2013 8:00 AM EDT
Babies Seeing Violence Show Aggression Later
Case Western Reserve University

Aggression in school-age children may have its origins in children 3 years old and younger who witnessed violence between their mothers and partners, according to a new Case Western Reserve University study.

Released: 12-Jun-2013 1:00 PM EDT
Workplace and Financial Stress Lead to Poor Health Choices
Indiana University

Two Indiana U. studies highlight the impact work and financial stress can have on health behaviors. The lead author urges workplace wellness programs to consider such impacts as the economy sputters along.

   
Released: 11-Jun-2013 11:00 AM EDT
Perfect Pitch May Not Be Absolute After All
University of Chicago

People who think they have perfect pitch may not be as in tune as they think, according to a new study in which people failed to notice a gradual change in pitch while listening to music. When tested afterward, people said notes that were in tune at the beginning sounded out of tune.

Released: 6-Jun-2013 12:15 PM EDT
Conservatives More Likely than Liberals to Identify Mixed-Race Individuals as Black
New York University

Conservatives are more likely than liberals to identify mixed-race individuals as Black, according to a series of new studies by researchers at NYU. Their findings, which appear in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, suggest that there is a link between political ideology and racial categorization.

Released: 4-Jun-2013 12:00 PM EDT
Mental Block: Iowa State Professor Discovers Way to Alter Memory
Iowa State University

A series of studies conducted by an Iowa State University research team shows it is possible to manipulate an existing memory simply by suggesting new or different information. The key is timing and recall of that memory.

Released: 4-Jun-2013 8:00 AM EDT
Never Forget a Face? Researchers Find Women Have Better Memory Recall Than Men
McMaster University

New research from McMaster University suggests women can remember faces better than men, in part because they spend more time studying features without even knowing it, and a technique researchers say can help improve anyone’s memories.

Released: 3-Jun-2013 2:00 PM EDT
Women Reject Sexually Promiscuous Peers When Making Female Friends
Cornell University

College-aged women judge promiscuous female peers more negatively than more chaste women and view them as unsuitable for friendship, finds a study by Cornell University developmental psychologists.

Released: 3-Jun-2013 12:00 PM EDT
More Attractive Real Estate Agents Mean Higher Prices and Profits
Columbus State University

A recent study of physical attractiveness and how it impacts real estate brokers’ pay and productivity shows that the more attractive the real estate agent, the higher the listing price of the home for sale.

   
Released: 31-May-2013 2:00 PM EDT
Psychologist Helps to Map Countries’ Entrepreneurial Spirit
University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin)

Researchers mapped the entrepreneurial personality structures in the United States, Great Britain and Germany, identifying regions where a feeling of entrepreneurial spirit is “most at home.”

   
Released: 31-May-2013 8:00 AM EDT
Facebook Profiles Raise Users’ Self-Esteem and Affect Behavior
University of Wisconsin–Madison

A Facebook profile is an ideal version of self, full of photos and posts curated for the eyes of family, friends and acquaintances. A new study shows that this version of self can provide beneficial psychological effects and influence behavior.

30-May-2013 10:00 AM EDT
Fear: A Justified Response or Faulty Wiring?
Journal of Visualized Experiments (JOVE)

On June 3, 2013, a new article studying amygdala activity in human beings will be published as part of JoVE Behavior, a new section of the video journal that focuses on the behavioral sciences. The technique, developed by Dr. Fred Helmstetter and his research group at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, studies how the brain responds to anticipated painful stimuli, in this case an electric shock, in volunteer test subjects.

Released: 29-May-2013 11:00 AM EDT
Truth in Barcodes
Dartmouth College, Tuck School of Business

People lie about their health related behaviors. It’s a problem that has long bedeviled health research on issues ranging from diet to exercise to smoking. And it’s not just that we have faulty memories. Many of us stretch the truth to make ourselves seem more virtuous in the eyes of the person in the white coat. That makes drawing conclusions about behaviors that affect health from self-reported records tricky.

Released: 22-May-2013 5:00 PM EDT
Study Shows People Can Be Trained to Be More Compassionate
University of Wisconsin–Madison

Until now, little was scientifically known about the human potential to cultivate compassion — the emotional state of caring for people who are suffering in a way that motivates altruistic behavior. A new study by researchers at the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the Waisman Center of the University of Wisconsin–Madison shows that adults can be trained to be more compassionate.

14-May-2013 2:00 PM EDT
Migraine and Depression Together May Be Linked with Brain Size
American Academy of Neurology (AAN)

Older people with a history of migraines and depression may have smaller brain tissue volumes than people with only one or neither of the conditions, according to a new study in the May 22, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

19-May-2013 11:00 PM EDT
Aggressive Behaviour Linked Specifically to Secondhand Smoke Exposure in Childhood
Universite de Montreal

Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke in early childhood are more likely to grow up to physically aggressive and antisocial, regardless of whether they were exposed during pregnancy or their parents have a history of being antisocial.

   
Released: 21-May-2013 11:20 AM EDT
Waiting for a Sign? Researchers Find Potential Brain 'Switch' for New Behavior
University of Michigan

You're standing near an airport luggage carousel and your bag emerges on the conveyor belt, prompting you to spring into action. How does your brain make the shift from passively waiting to taking action when your bag appears?

Released: 17-May-2013 9:00 AM EDT
Nalanda Institute Launches First-Ever Certificate Program in Contemplative Psychotherapy
Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science

The Nalanda Institute announced that enrollment is now open for their inaugural Certificate Program in Contemplative Psychotherapy to begin in Fall 2013. The program offers therapists, health workers, coaches, educators and other professionals in the healing arts an opportunity to immerse themselves in the inspiring new field of contemplative neuropsychology.

   
Released: 14-May-2013 2:00 PM EDT
Power of Prayer: Studies Find Prayer Can Lead to Cooperation, Forgiveness in Relationships
Florida State University

Praying for a romantic partner or close friend can lead to more cooperative and forgiving behavior toward the partner, according to a new study co-authored by a Florida State University researcher.

Released: 7-May-2013 8:00 AM EDT
Tips for Combating Jealousy through Constructive Interpersonal Communication
National Communication Association

Members of The National Communication Association who study interpersonal communication can provide insight into how couples express, and work through feelings of jealousy.

Released: 6-May-2013 5:00 PM EDT
The Ants Go Marching … to the Rescue
Mount Holyoke College

Rescue behavior has been observed in primates, dolphins, and rats. Is this behavior, as some scientists suggest, evidence that animals feel empathy towards their kin? Enter the ants. Mount Holyoke’s Karen Hollis and her team observed ants undertake extreme risks to rescue nestmates. Are ants acting out of empathy or does rescue behavior emerge from simple biological mechanisms?

Released: 3-May-2013 10:00 AM EDT
Violent Video Games Have Lower Effects on Highly-Exposed Teens
Wolters Kluwer Health: Lippincott

Teenagers who are highly exposed to violent video games—three or more hours per day—show blunted physical and psychological responses to playing a violent game, reports a study in the May issue of Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine, the official journal of the American Psychosomatic Society. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

   
Released: 1-May-2013 11:40 AM EDT
Wide-Eyed Fear Expressions May Help Us – and Others – to Locate Threats
University of Toronto

Wide-eyed expressions that typically signal fear seem to enlarge our visual field making it easier to spot threats at the same time they enhance the ability of others to locate the source of danger, according to new research from the University of Toronto.

26-Apr-2013 11:55 AM EDT
Boston Bombings Unhappiest Day in Five Years, New Sensor Shows
University of Vermont

The day of the Boston Marathon was the saddest day in nearly 5 years of observations by a team of scientists from the University of Vermont and The MITRE Corporation. For the first time, results from their "hedonometer" are being made available to the public for free at a new website.

   
Released: 29-Apr-2013 5:45 PM EDT
Voter Optimism Wanes in Run-up to Election Day
University of California, Riverside

Voters who remain optimistic about their candidate or cause up to Election Day -- despite negative news about the chances of victor -- are more motivated to vote but also more disappointed if things don’t turn out their way.

Released: 26-Apr-2013 12:00 PM EDT
Most People Suffering from PTSD Not Receiving Effective Treatment
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Over the years, evidence-based therapies, like prolonged exposure therapy, have been shown to successfully ameliorate PTSD severity in patients. The trouble is, the majority of these patients haven’t been getting them, researchers report in Psychological Science in the Public Interest.

Released: 17-Apr-2013 12:00 PM EDT
Harsh Parental Discipline May Not Have Negative Long-Term Consequences On Children
Montefiore Health System

Maternal love can counteract aggressive behaviors by children.

Released: 17-Apr-2013 7:00 AM EDT
People Who Have Never Lost a Loved One Perceive Bereavement as Far More Devastating Than Someone Who Has Suffered a Previous Loss
University of Haifa

The study was presented last week at a conference on “Memorial Days and Other Days,” sponsored by the University of Haifa’s International Center for the Study of Loss, Bereavement and Human Resilience .

Released: 16-Apr-2013 12:00 PM EDT
Optimism Can Lead to Unrealistic Voter Expectations in Elections
Iowa State University

An Iowa State psychology professor looks at optimism and knowledge influence voter expectations in the weeks leading up to an election.

Released: 11-Apr-2013 2:00 PM EDT
CliffsNotes to Overcoming Gym Fears by Loyola Psychologist
Loyola Medicine

Loyola psychologist gives specific practical tips on how to navigate a gym when you are intimidated or self-conscious. How to hold your own with various personalities including the overattentive trainer, gym busybody and more are explored in detail.

Released: 10-Apr-2013 9:30 AM EDT
Adaptable Leaders May Have Best Brains for the Job
American Psychological Association (APA)

Effective leaders’ brains may be physically “wired” to lead, offering the promise of more precise identification and training, according to studies of U.S. Army officers published by the American Psychological Association.

Released: 8-Apr-2013 1:00 PM EDT
Reframing Stress: Stage Fright Can Be Your Friend
University of Rochester

Fear of public speaking tops death and spiders as the nation’s number one phobia. But new research shows that learning to rethink the way we view our shaky hands, pounding heart, and sweaty palms can help people perform better both mentally and physically.

Released: 8-Apr-2013 8:00 AM EDT
Mind Over Matter? Study Reveals for the First Time That Core Body Temperature Can Be Controlled by the Brain
National University of Singapore (NUS)

A team of researchers led by Associate Professor Maria Kozhevnikov from the Department of Psychology at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences showed, for the first time, that it is possible for core body temperature to be controlled by the brain. The scientists found that core body temperature increases can be achieved using certain meditation techniques (g-tummo) which could help in boosting immunity to fight infectious diseases or immunodeficiency.

   
Released: 4-Apr-2013 6:00 PM EDT
Study Links Suicide Risk with Rates of Gun Ownership, Political Conservatism
University of California, Riverside

Residents of states with the highest rates of gun ownership and political conservatism are at greater risk of suicide than those in states with less gun ownership and less politically conservative leanings, according to a UC Riverside study.

Released: 3-Apr-2013 5:00 PM EDT
Avoid Impulsive Acts by Imagining Future Benefits
Washington University in St. Louis

Why is it so hard for some people to resist the least little temptation, while others seem to possess incredible patience, passing up immediate gratification for a greater long-term good? The answer, suggests a new study from Washington University in St. Louis, is that patient people focus on future rewards in a way that makes the waiting process seem much more pleasurable.

Released: 1-Apr-2013 1:45 PM EDT
By Keeping the Beat, Sea Lion Sheds New Light on Animals’ Movements to Sound
American Psychological Association (APA)

Move over dancing bears, Ronan the sea lion really does know how to boogie to the beat.

Released: 26-Mar-2013 3:20 PM EDT
Study Finds Saliva Testing Predicts Aggression in Boys
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

A new study indicates that a simple saliva test could be an effective tool in predicting violent behavior.

Released: 26-Mar-2013 12:00 PM EDT
Violent Video Games Are a Risk Factor for Criminal Behavior and Aggression
Iowa State University

New evidence from Iowa State researchers demonstrates a link between video games and youth violence and delinquency. The research shows a strong connection even when controlling for a history of violence and psychopathic traits among juvenile offenders.

Released: 25-Mar-2013 9:00 AM EDT
New Study Finds That Young Children Endorse Fairness, but Often Don’t Practice What They Preach
Boston University College of Arts and Sciences

A new study co-authored by Boston University Assistant Professor of Psychology Peter Blake finds that young children endorse fairness norms related to sharing, but often act in contradiction to those norms when given a chance to share.

Released: 21-Mar-2013 10:30 AM EDT
Do I Know You? Memory Patterns Help Us Recall the Social Webs We Weave
Cornell University

With a dizzying number of ties in our social networks – that your Aunt Alice is a neighbor of Muhammad who is married to Natasha who is your wife’s boss – it’s a wonder we remember any of it. How do we keep track of the complexity? We cheat, says a Cornell University sociologist in Scientific Reports (March 21), a publication of Nature.

Released: 20-Mar-2013 2:35 PM EDT
Media Coverage of Mass Shootings Contributes to Negative Attitudes Towards Mental Illness
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

First study to confirm influence of media portrayals of mass shootings involving a shooter with mental illness on attitudes towards persons with mental illness.

Released: 20-Mar-2013 10:55 AM EDT
Like It? We Love It! Facebook Assures Us We're Good Enough
Cornell University

Facebook profiles reassure our self-worth because they offer a place where we can display the personal characteristics and relationships we value most, says a Cornell University communication expert in the March 2013 edition of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

Released: 18-Mar-2013 8:00 AM EDT
It’s in the Cards: Human Evolution Influences Gamblers’ Decisions
McMaster University

New research from an international team of scientists suggests evolution, or basic survival techniques adapted by early humans, influences the decisions gamblers make when placing bets. The findings may help to explain why some treatment options for problem gamblers often don’t work, the researchers say.

Released: 15-Mar-2013 9:00 AM EDT
'Practice' Makes a Perfect Lure for Internet Gambling
University of Adelaide

New research from the University of Adelaide has studied the behaviour of young people lured into internet gambling through so-called 'free-play' or 'practice' modes.

Released: 13-Mar-2013 11:00 PM EDT
Scientists Reveal a New Sign of Aging in Perception Research
Gettysburg College

The contrasting nature of facial features is one of the signals that people unconsciously use to decipher how old someone looks, says Psychology Prof. Richard Russell, who has been collaborating with researchers from CE.R.I.E.S. (Epidermal and Sensory Research and Investigation Center), a department of Chanel Research and Technology dedicated to skin related issues and facial appearance.

Released: 11-Mar-2013 7:00 PM EDT
Children Who Avoid Scary Situations Likelier to Have Anxiety
Mayo Clinic

Children who avoid situations they find scary are likely to have anxiety a Mayo Clinic study of more than 800 children ages 7 to 18 found.



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