Popular Science articles about Psychology & Sociology

UCLA study finds that searching the Internet increases brain function

UCLA scientists have found that for computer-savvy middle-aged and older adults, searching the Internet triggers key centers in the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning. The findings demonstrate that Web search activity may help stimulate and possibly improve brain...

Duke team explains a longtime visual puzzler in new way

A team of neuroscientists at Duke University Medical Center has suggested an entirely new way to explain a puzzling visual phenomenon called the flash-lag effect.

Facebook is 'social glue' for university freshers

The first few weeks at university can be a difficult time for freshers as they attempt to settle in to their new academic and social life.

Looking through the broken mirror

Researchers at The University of Nottingham are hoping to learn more about the causes of autism and Asperger's Syndrome, by putting a controversial theory to the test.

Critical genetic link found between human taste differences and nicotine dependence

Could an aversion to bitter substances or an overall heightened sense of taste help protect some people from becoming addicted to nicotine? That's what researchers at UVA have found using...

Methamphetamine enters brain quickly and lingers

Using positron emission tomography (PET) to track tracer doses of methamphetamine in humans' brains, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory find that the addictive and...

M.I.N.D. Institute researchers find important clue to learning deficit in children with autism

A study by researchers at the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute has discovered an important clue to why children with autism spectrum disorders have trouble imitating others: They spend less time...

Americans and the economy: Angry feelings, fear exceeds terrorism risk

In the first three days of the country's economic meltdown that began Sept. 29, 81 percent of Americans surveyed in a national poll agreed or strongly agreed that the financial...

Transparency in politics can lead to greater corruption

Why are some countries more prone to political corruption? Viviana Stechina from Uppsala University, Sweden, has investigated why corruption among the political elite was more extensive in Argentina than...

Gene hunt in dyslexia

Scool? Skuul? Or perhaps shcool? The beginning is a delicate time – especially in reading and writing. Twisted letters or other beginner´s mistakes disappear quite fast as learning progresses. Nevertheless...

A new hand -- and signs of sensory recovery

Four months after a successful hand transplant -- 35 years after amputation in an industrial accident at age 19 -- a 54-year-old man's emerging sense of touch is registered in...

Despite 'peacenik' reputation, bonobos hunt and eat other primates too

Unlike the male-dominated societies of their chimpanzee relatives, bonobo society—in which females enjoy a higher social status than males—has a "make-love-not-war" kind of image. While chimpanzee males frequently band together to hunt and kill monkeys, the more peaceful bonobos were...