Latest science news in Psychology & Sociology
Robots that develop emotions in interaction with humans
The first prototype robots capable of developing emotions as they interact with their human caregivers and expressing a whole range of emotions have been finalised by researchers.
Alleged cancer faker gets new fraud charge
A woman accused of faking cancer in order to elicit donations for herself has been charged with an additional count of fraud over $5,000.
Woman In HP Scandal "Saddened" By CEO's Ouster
Jodie Fisher Says She and Mark Hurd Never Had Sexual Relationship, but Wouldn't Discuss Details of Harassment Claim
We are the cooking apes, the creatures of the flame
NPR’s most e-mailed story of the past week discussed the topic of how eating meat made humans smarter. It included an interview with Richard Wrangham, whose book Catching Fire: How...
Multitasking, Consciousness, And George Lucas
Humans can only be conscious of one task at a time. Tasks that user experience and interaction designers are concerned with are usually relatively complex. Tasks that require you to think...
Medicare's private eyes let fraud cases get cold
(AP) -- They don't seem that interested in hot pursuit. It took private sleuths hired by Medicare an average of six months last year to refer fraud cases to...
Cognitive Shortcuts - Do Foreign Faces Look Alike?
"All Americans look alike" is a common joke in Asia and a similar sentiment is expressed in virtually every other country populated by a race different than its tourists. ...
Chicago News Cooperative: Trying Improv as Therapy for Those With Memory Loss
A weekly improvisational acting workshop is a first-of-its-kind program that seeks to improve the quality of life for people dealing with the early stages of memory loss.
Rushing too fast to online learning? Outcomes of Internet versus face-to-face instruction
A new study suggests simply putting traditional classes online may have negative consequences, especially for lower-performing and minority students.
Lewis MacAdams: the L.A. River's best friend
An edited interview with the poet and writer who co-founded Friends of the Los Angeles River. Seriously? You still don't know there's a river in L.A.? That there wouldn't even be a...
Book Review - Packing for Mars - By Mary Roach
Highlights of Mary Roach’s look at the way humans adapt to spacefaring include zestful accounts of human-waste disposal, body odor control and astral sexual desire.
Tech to Help Monitor the Elderly
New Gadgets and Systems Take Burden Off Kids, Help Parents Stay Independent Longer
Video: Nana-Technology
Nursing homes for are costly but new technology is helping elderly Americans stay independent. Gerontologist Alexis Abramson showed off devices that can help monitor older family members.
Home Office figures for Sarah's law – fact or fiction? | Ben Goldacre
Claims that 60 children have been protected from child abuse by pilot scheme are impossible to verifyAccording to the Home Office, Sarah's law – which lets any parent find out if any...
This column will change your life: The art of remembering
Want a better memory? Here's howIf you had invented a revolutionary technique for improving human memory, and wanted to spread the news as widely as possible, you couldn't do much worse than...
Great dynasties of the world: The Freuds
Analyse this – the psychoanalyst's family tree by Ian SansomIn 1909 Sigmund Freud published a short essay titled Der Familienroman der Neurotiker. In James Strachey's famous English translation of the complete works of...
New 'hand' may alleviate phantom pain
JENA, Germany, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Amputees suffering from "phantom pain" may get relief from a modified prosthetic that can convince the brain the body part still exists, researchers...
Family Dinners Increase Parent-Teen Communication
Communicating with teenagers is tough for parents, but sitting down to dinner can help, a new study suggest.
The Star Trek Computer Is Stupid
As a freelancer, I ran into a pay issue with Human Resources, that worked like a bad Star Trek episode. Distilling down the two weeks of back-and-forth, we get this...
Popeye Cartoons Linked To Better Nutrition In Kids
That title reads like a headline from The Onion, right? Researchers have noted that while media is often blamed for violence and poor grades in kids, it can also...
Highlight: The brain seconds that emotion
Smells from your childhood kitchen, the sight of friends and family in old photographs, the feel of a well-worn flannel shirt…all these sensory experiences can conjure up powerful memories.
Ivy Bean was 104 and she surfed the web, but don't call her a 'silver surfer'|Mind your language
Stock phrases used by the media to lump people together are just lazy, condescending marketing speakA 104-year-old woman who lived in a Bradford nursing home and whose favourite meal was fish and chips...
Finding the Right Home - and Contentment, Too
The amenities that adult children think will keep their parents happy in a new facility often don't matter, studies show.
A little adversity bodes well for those with chronic back pain
A new study by researchers at the University at Buffalo and the University of California, Irvine, to be published in the September issue of the journal Pain, reveals that, for...
State cuts to community mental health services continues disturbing trend
Proposed cuts to community mental health centres in Illinois continues a disturbing trend in the state's lack of commitment to helping families and individuals experiencing a mental illness, according to...
Thinking About God Calms Believers, Stresses Atheists
Thinking about God can help relieve anxiety associated with making mistakes.
Teens Lead the Way in Shift Away from Email
As people spend more time on social networking sites such as Facebook, time spent emailing was down.
Research Shows Some May Be Wired for Wider Waists
(PhysOrg.com) -- Development of obesity may be predetermined by how neurons in the brain are plugged together. New research from the University of Cincinnati (UC) shows that the amount of...