Latest science news in Psychology & Sociology
Crafting Your Image For Your 1,000 Friends On Facebook Or MySpace
Students are creating idealized versions of themselves on social networking websites -- Facebook and MySpace are the most popular -- and using these sites to explore their emerging identities, psychologists...
Stress Hinders Rats' Decision-making Abilities
A single exposure to uncontrollable stress impairs decision making in rats for several days, making them unable to reliably seek out the larger of two rewards.
Triple-Murder Stuns Silicon Valley Firm
A fatal workplace shooting has saddened friends, colleagues, and family members, and left Silicon Valley employees shook up.
Prognosis after attempted suicide impaired by psychiatric disorder
People who have attempted suicide at some point in their lives are more likely to actually succeed in committing suicide at a later date. The risk is particularly high for...
Study examines working couple's retirement patterns
When retiring, men are more likely than women to move directly from work to retirement, but overall the retirement patterns for dual-income married couples are complex and call for additional...
New tool trains athlete brains to react 53 percent faster
All great athletes know that in order to perform well, they can't just depend on their physical capabilities. Speed and efficiency in decision-making are just as essential. Two researchers from...
Rats identify specific sounds in noisy environments
A study conducted on hundreds of rats could help us understand how the brain identifies specific sounds in a noisy environment. The investigation, soon to be published in the journal...
Researchers report on how to improve long-term learning
Combine the aphorisms that 'practice makes perfect' and 'timing is everything' into one and you might get something resembling findings published in this month's issue of Psychological Science. Proper spacing...
Protests Over a Rule to Protect Health Providers
A Bush administration proposal would protect health care providers who cite religious or moral objections.
Well: A Call for Caution in the Rush to Statins
Is it time to put cholesterol-lowering statin drugs in every medicine cabinet?
Mind: In Psychiatry, Can a Punch Line Be a Lifeline?
When is it safe -- let alone useful -- to joke with a psychiatric patient?
Findings: In Bias Test, Shades of Gray
Are there problems with the way researchers have been using split-second reactions on a computer test to diagnose an epidemic of racial bias?
The Dead Tell a Tale China Doesn’t Care to Listen To
The Tarim mummies have become protagonists in a political dispute over who should control the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.
God and Evolution Can Co-exist, Scientist Says
A Christian scientist is going public with his belief in God and acceptance of evolution.
The Psychology Of Deja Vu
All of us have experienced being in a new place and feeling certain that we have been there before. A new report published in Current Directions in Psychological Science describes...
Woman receives tailor-made trachea without need for anti-rejection drugs
A Colombian woman has received the world's first tailor-made transplanted trachea, grown by seeding a donor organ with her own stem cells to prevent her body rejecting it, an international...
Sex appeal of Action Man scars revealed
They give Action Man a certain ruggedness and bestow instant testosterone on movie heroes, but according to psychologists, facial scars can also make men more attractive to the opposite sex.
Letters: Clash of rights over medical research and privacy
Letters: How disappointing it was to read your article on the NHS medical research plan, which appeared to reject proposed changes to the present situation
Bible gets a reality check
Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: A prime-time TV show about biblical archaeology presents findings that will annoy believers as well as skeptics — which suggests the show just might be...
Sleep makes room for memories
Study shows sleep reduces harmful buildup of too many connections in the brain
Falling home ownership, equity, affect college enrollment
Sagging college enrollments may be the next symptom of the sub-prime mortgage mess, according to a University of Michigan economist.
Methamphetamine abuse linked to underage sex, smoking and drinking
Teens who have never done drugs, but engage in other risky behaviours such as drinking, smoking and being sexually active, are more likely to use crystal meth, medical researchers at...
Controversy over sex studies found to have lasting impact
When then-Rep. Patrick Toomey criticized a small group of federally funded sex studies - demanding "Who thinks this stuff up?" on the floor of Congress - his proposal to yank...
Anti-same-sex marriage amendments spark distress among GLBT adults and families, says new research
Amendments that restrict civil marriage rights of same-sex couples - such as Proposition 8 that recently passed in California - have led to higher levels of stress and...
Color perception shifts from right brain to left
(AP) -- Learning the name of a color changes the part of the brain that handles color perception.
Taboo Lifts on Sex in Nursing Homes
Researchers hope to help nursing homes accommodate sex of residents.
TWAS calls for one per cent GDP investment in science
On its 25th anniversary, TWAS has called on governments to put science at the centre of their policy-making.
Discovery of a "Transsexual Gene" Raises More Questions Than Answers
A few weeks ago, Hanna Rosin's wrenching and well-researched article about young transsexuals—including a girl named Bridget (née Brandon), whose first words were "I like your high heels"—zipped around the...