Psychology News and Research

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Psychology is the study of human mental functions, behavior and processes.

Gallaudet University, UC Davis to co-sponsor Visual Learning Summit

How deaf children learn to read will be one of the topics of a conference at UC Davis Nov. 18-19. The Visual Learning Summit is co-sponsored by the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain, Gallaudet University's Science of Learning Center on Visual Language and Visual Learning, and the departments of psychology and linguistics at UC Davis.

16 Nov 2011

High school health classes fail to endorse safe sex habits

High school health classes fail to help students refuse sexual advances or endorse safe sex habits when teachers focus primarily on testing knowledge, a new study reveals.

16 Nov 2011

Sex during adolescence can have negative effects on body and mood well into adulthood

A new study suggests that sex during adolescence can have lasting negative effects on the body and mood well into adulthood, most likely because the activity occurs when the nervous system is still developing.

16 Nov 2011

Researchers examine how brain recognizes color

How the brain perceives color is one of its more impressive tricks. It is able to keep a stable perception of an object's color as lighting conditions change.

16 Nov 2011

Alcohol can readily decrease function of women's serotonin system

After only four years of problem drinking, a significant decrease in the function of the serotonin system in women's brains can be seen. This is the system that regulates such functions as impulse control and mood. It takes 12 years before a corresponding decrease is seen in men.

16 Nov 2011

Specific gene variant may increase risk of premature death in people with alcohol dependency

People who are alcohol-dependent and who also carry a particular variant of a gene run an increased risk of premature death. This is a recent finding from the interdisciplinary research at the Department of Psychology and the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

15 Nov 2011

Religion promotes optimism, support systems, and reduced mortality risk in older women: Study

A new study released last Thursday showed that those who attend religious services regularly are more optimistic and have a lesser tendency to be depressed, compared to those who do not attend services at all.

13 Nov 2011

Smoke-reducing chimneys prevent pneumonia among young children

Researchers at the University of Liverpool and the universities of California, Berkley and del Valle, Guatemala, have found that cases of severe pneumonia among young children are reduced by one-third in homes with smoke-reducing chimneys on cooking stoves.

11 Nov 2011

Study: Primary visual cortex is modulated only by attention

In everyday life, attention and awareness appear tightly interwoven. Attending to the scissors on the rinumber of behavioural observations have recently led scientists to postulate that attention and awareness are fundamentally different processes and not necessarily connected.ght side of your desk, you become aware of their attributes, for example the red handles. Vice versa, the red handles could attract your attention to the scissors.

11 Nov 2011

A woman’s brain can get damaged faster with alcohol abuse: Study

A latest study has shown that female alcoholics suffer damage to the part of their brain that controls moods, impulses and sleep three times faster than their male counterparts.

10 Nov 2011

MA State Legislature, Governor's Administration authorize Train Vets to Treat Vets program into law

The Massachusetts State Legislature and Governor's Administration recently authorized into law a "Train Vets to Treat Vets" program for the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology (MSPP)—in conjunction with the Massachusetts Department of Veterans Services—to establish a behavioral health career development program for returning veterans.

10 Nov 2011

'Social Norms and Alcohol Prevention' to address problem drinking in college students

Perceptions of peer drinking of alcohol may be the strongest predictor of excessive alcohol use among college students according to new research by Clayton Neighbors, a professor and director of the social psychology program in the department of psychology at the University of Houston.

10 Nov 2011

Sleep paralysis more frequent among students and psychiatric patients

What do Moby Dick, the Salem witch trials and alien abductions all have in common? They all circle back to sleep paralysis.

9 Nov 2011

Study explores how telework may impact work exhaustion

If you work from home part of the week as a teleworker, does it help reduce work exhaustion caused by juggling work and family commitments? The answer may depend on the level of conflict you have between work and home and your ability to recharge your batteries adequately, according to Professor Timothy Golden, from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY.

9 Nov 2011

UCSB researchers study how genotypes can express themselves differently as a function of culture

Two psychologists at UC Santa Barbara have provided a new twist on the old adage that people are products of both nature and nurture, in introducing a framework for understanding how these influences interact.

9 Nov 2011

Study examines psychological factors related to diabetes management

Genetics play a critical role in developing diabetes. So do eating properly, exercising and not smoking. According to a new study by an Ithaca College psychology professor and her two colleagues, people with diabetes who see themselves as responsible for their disease onset blame themselves for making poor lifestyle choices and are significantly less likely to monitor their glucose levels, properly inject themselves and make lifestyle choices that would benefit their condition.

9 Nov 2011