February 2012
18 posts
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“I constantly struggle with the backlash against the DSM 5 — the latest revision...”
– psychcentral
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The Last is Liked Best
If it’s the last, you’ll like it the best. That is the finding of a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
“Endings affect us in lots of ways, and one is this ‘positivity effect,’” says University of Michigan psychologist Ed O’Brien, who conducted the study with colleague Phoebe C....
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Emotions Are Expressed More Strongly on Left Side...
psych-facts:
In my biopsychology class for the topic of emotions, one of the things that I learned is that the right hemisphere of brain processes emotions more than left. And I learned that this shows when the left side of face expresses emotions more strongly than the right (Right Hemisphere controls Left Side of Body).
Digging further into the fact, I found a study that shows this. The study...
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The Environment and Intelligence
What kinds of experiences hinder intellectual development and what kinds of environmental “nutrients” promote it?
Here are some of the factors associated with reduced mental ability:
Poor prenatal care. If a pregnant woman is malnourished, contracts infections, smokes, is exposed to secondhand smoke, or drinks alcohol regularly, her child is at risk of having learning disabilities and a lower...
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Contagious Weight Changes
“We know that obesity can be socially contagious, but now we know that social networks play a significant role in weight loss as well, particularly team-based weight loss competitions,” said lead author Tricia Leahey, Ph.D., of The Miriam Hospital and Alpert Medical School. “In our study, weight loss clearly clustered within teams, which suggests that teammates influenced each...
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Do beautiful people have more desirable traits?
Is the “beautiful is good” stereotype accurate? Do beautiful people indeed have desirable traits?
For centuries, those who considered themselves serious scientists thought so when they sought to identify physical traits (shifty eyes, a weak chin) that would predict criminal behavior.
Or, on the other hand, was Leo Tolstoy correct when he wrote that it’s “a strange illusion … to suppose...
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"HOW I GOT BANNED FROM PSYCHOLOGY TODAY’S FACEBOOK...
psychology-studyofthesoul:
So, I found this interesting because:
1) …I really don’t like PsychologyToday anymore; after taking Introduction to Clinical Psychology, I realized how…um…biased they are. In a way. If you like it, that’s cool. But personally, I’m not into it anymore.
2) …a popular psychology magazine refuses to accept facts PROVED by psychology research. What?
3) …MEN AND WOMEN ARE...
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Why group work is ineffective
Have you ever been a member of a group that got virtually nothing accomplished? If so, you may have been a victim of social loafing, a phenomenon in which people slack off in groups (Latané,Williams, & Harkins, 1979; North, Linley, & Hargreaves, 2000). As a consequence of social loafing, the whole is less than the sum of its parts. Some psychologists believe that social loafing is a...
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No scientific basis justifies gay marriage ban
The American Psychological Association praised a newly released court decision from California today (Feb. 7) that declared the state’s same-sex ban unconstitutional.
The ban, known as Proposition 8, is a ballot measure banning same-sex marriage in California that passed by 52 percent in 2008. The measure came after the California Supreme Court struck down two anti-gay marriage laws five...
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Does the Moon Affect How You Sleep?
Nope.
When there’s a full moon are you more restless, finding it difficult to sleep well? If you answered yes, you’re not alone. But it’s just not true.
Even though popular belief has long held that a full moon interferes with a good night’s sleep, Austrian scientists have shown that sleep patterns are not affected by the phases of the moon.
Reuters reports that...