Psychology News and Research

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

What's wrong with being shy?

What's wrong with being shy, and just when and how did bashfulness and other ordinary human behaviors in children and adults become psychiatric disorders treatable with powerful, potentially dangerous drugs?, asks a Northwestern University scholar in a new book that already is creating waves in the mental health community

12 Oct 2007

Adaptive technology for visually impaired engineers

By adding features to commonly used chemical-engineering software packages, researchers at the University of Arkansas, the University of Akron and Chemstations Inc. have developed adaptive technology that allows blind or visually impaired students and working professionals to perform the essential functions of chemical-engineering process design.

12 Oct 2007

Poor self-esteem can trigger the primal fight-or-flight response

Few can tolerate such romantic or professional rebuffs as "It's not you, it's me" and "we regret to inform you that your application was not successful." But while a healthy dose of self-esteem can absorb the shock of rejection, poor self-esteem can trigger the primal fight-or-flight response, according to a new study from the University of California, Berkeley.

12 Oct 2007

Through the labyrinth: the truth about how women become leaders

The glass ceiling -- the once ubiquitous metaphor referring to a subtle barrier built upon biases that block women from the highest positions of leadership -- doesn't apply today, according to a new book co-written by Alice Eagly, professor and chair of psychology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University.

12 Oct 2007

Behavior of drug-dependent offenders

Researchers at the University of Leicester have worked with Northamptonshire Police's Scientific Support Unit to research whether or not drug-dependent offenders were more likely to be apprehended through forensic science techniques than those who were not.

10 Oct 2007

Stress is a contributing factor in human disease

In a review of the scientific literature on the relationship between stress and disease, Carnegie Mellon University psychologist Sheldon Cohen has found that stress is a contributing factor in human disease, and in particular depression, cardiovascular disease and HIV/AIDS.

10 Oct 2007

Stress and disease likely linked

A new commentary in the Oct. 10 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association explores whether psychological stress leads to disease and concludes that the link is likely.

10 Oct 2007

Nationwide Children's Hospital receives grant from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Nationwide Children's Hospital received a $299,779 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation made under its Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative to identify the linkages between the quality of nursing care processes and the quality of outcomes.

10 Oct 2007

Body-mind meditation helps reduce stress

A team of researchers from China and the University of Oregon have developed an approach for neuroscientists to study how meditation might provide improvements in a person's attention and response to stress.

9 Oct 2007

Default options for medicine, healthcare

Anyone who has ever tried to set up an internet account or wants to make a purchase on a company's website, has experienced the ‘default option,' an event or condition that will be set in place if no alternative is actively chosen.

3 Oct 2007

Binge drinkers who feel regret less likely to repeat behaviour

People who binge-drink are less likely to do so again if they feel regret for their actions, suggests a study by psychologist Dr Richard Cooke of Aston University in Birmingham.

2 Oct 2007

Toddlers learning language skills earlier than expected

Toddlers are learning language skills earlier than expected and by the age of 18 months understand enough of the lexicon of their own language to recognize how speakers use sounds to convey meaning.

2 Oct 2007

Genetics and learning

New research is giving scientists fresh insights into how genetics are a prime factor in how we learn.

2 Oct 2007

Depression, aging, and proteins made by a virus may all play role in heart disease

Researchers here have linked an increase in two immune system proteins essential for inflammation to a latent viral infection and proposed a chain of events that might accelerate cardiovascular disease.

2 Oct 2007

Best weight-loss plans for heart health

Over the past three decades, the rising obesity epidemic has been accompanied by a proliferation of weight-loss plans. However, as a new study by researchers from the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) reveals, these weight-loss plans vary significantly in their ability to positively affect heart health.

1 Oct 2007

Job stress and work environment can contribute to depression

Job stress and a lack of social support in the workplace were associated with major episodes of depression in men, according to a study led by a University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry psychologist.

1 Oct 2007

Females explain influence of past on future differently than males

A new study finds that young girls and women are more likely to believe that negative past events predict future events, compared to boys and men.

29 Sep 2007

Deviancy training among friends may lead to more trouble

Friendships can be beneficial, but watch out when talk about deviant topics is the best way to get a laugh in an adolescent relationship, because such interaction may well lead to questionable behavior down the road, say University of Oregon researchers.

29 Sep 2007

Babies raised in bilingual homes learn new words differently than infants learning one language

Infants who are raised in bilingual homes learned two similar-sounding words in a laboratory task at a later age than babies who are raised in homes where only one language is spoken.

29 Sep 2007

Stealth learning fosters science education

Rochelle Schwartz-Bloom, a Duke University pharmacology professor who left the lab bench to focus on science education, has developed a tactic for keeping students hands in the air at the end of class.

27 Sep 2007