Latest science news in Psychology & Sociology
How memory is disrupted in those with disease linked to learning disabilities
Imagine if your brain lost its working memory -- the ability to hold and manipulate information in your mind's eye. That's the plight faced by millions of people with neurofibromatosis...
The protective brain hypothesis is confirmed
'In the past, it was thought that one of the selective advantages of having a large brain is that it facilitates the development of new behaviour to respond to the...
Studies explore effects of war on former child soldiers
Two studies found that how child soldiers adapt upon returning home depends on the communities they return to. The first study, of 150 former child soldiers in Sierra Leone, found...
Digital Age Presents New Problems for Historians
Scholars of a future past will face a challenge very different from the job of contemporary academics.
Broadband picture may not be so bleak
In March, the Federal Communications Commission released its National Broadband Plan, in which it reported that `the actual download speed experienced on broadband connections in American households is approximately 40-50%...
Young children especially vulnerable to effects of 9/11
Two longitudinal studies examine the relationship of maternal PTSD and depression to the mental health and behavior of children who were affected by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The first study...
Probing Question: Can autistic people succeed at work?
The actress Claire Danes, usually so expressive and radiant, looks blank and awkward. The scene is an HBO movie in which Danes plays Temple Grandin, an autistic woman who became...
Consumer Psychologist Examines Effectiveness Of Reward Programs
(PhysOrg.com) -- Rewards programs. Everyone is doing them - airlines, casinos, airlines, hotels and grocery chains - all with the intent to build customer loyalty. Everybody has one,...
Northern science camps get funding boost
The federal government has committed $600,000 to support science and technology camps for young people across Canada's North in hopes of inspiring them to pursue careers in the sciences.
Behaviour problems in school linked to 2 types of families
Contrary to Leo Tolstoy's famous observation that 'happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,' a new psychology study confirms that unhappy families, in...
Why walking flat-footed hurts habitual high-heels wearers
When it comes to shoes, some women will go through hell for a pair of Jimmy Choos. But what effect does wearing high heels have on our bodies? Clinicians have known for...
Statistical Importance, In Architecture
Art is a subjective experience. Just like those hippie artists to fly in the face of the millenia old of tradition[1] of putting things in order so that we might...
Sri Lankan children affected by war, tsunami, daily stressors
Two studies on Sri Lankan children affected by trauma found that both daily stressors and traumatic events contribute to children's psychological health. The first study, of 400 adolescents who survived...
'Tough love' no good for obesity interventions, study finds
Obese people support lifestyle-change interventions, rather than those that purely promote weight loss. Researchers interviewed 142 obese people about their opinions on interventions ranging from gastric bands to legal regulation,...
Vatican revises its rules on clerical sex abuse
By NICOLE WINFIELD 2010-07-15T20:22:21Z VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The Vatican revised its in-house rules to deal with clerical sex...
Health providers need to do more to understand and support lesbians who are overweight
Healthcare professionals need to develop greater understanding of the specific needs of lesbian patients and adopt a more sensitive approach to the advice they give them, according to research in...
Family wanted dying woman's eggs kept
BOSTON, July 15 (UPI) -- The family of a dying woman asked Boston doctors to keep her alive so her eggs could be harvested and she could become a...
Top 3 Causes of Workplace Stress Revealed
Health care costs, workplace safety and the rate of absenteeism among fellow employees are the top three causes of work-related stress.
Better alignment needed between high schools, community colleges
High schools need to work with community colleges to align their curricula better and to reduce the number of students who need to enroll in remedial courses, according to a...
Is witchcraft homeopathy? | Andrew Brown
There's no such thing as "religion" as the different examples of witchcraft and homeopathy showIn all the fuss about whether homeopathy is a sort of modern witchcraft, it takes a sharp mind...
Researchers Discover Novel Therapeutic for Chronic Pain
Columbia scientists working to combat injury-related depression, substance abuse and suicide due to unremitting, persistent pain may have discovered a new way of treating that pain: a powerful analgesic dubbed...
Top court to rule on internet luring case
Canada's top court is to decide the extent to which internet users must go to confirm the age of the person they're chatting with when an online conversation turns to...
Experts Skeptical About 'Digital Drugs' Claims by Teens
Teenagers claim that listening to binaural music replicates the effects of illicit drugs. They call the process i-doping. But according to experts in behavioral psychopharmacology, the effect has more to...
I don't know how, but homeopathy really does work | Rachel Roberts
More of a mystery is why scientists continue to debunk it despite mounting evidence that homeopathy is effectiveI was a dedicated scientist about to begin a PhD in neuroscience when, out of...
Tokyo trials digital billboards that scan passers-by
Digital advertising billboards being trialled in Japan are fitted with cameras that read the gender and age group of people looking at them to tailor their commercial messages.
Rise of health scares has social basis
(PhysOrg.com) -- Attempts to communicate health pandemics accurately are thwarted by rapid growing interest in health scares that spread socially rather than through individuals feeling a genuine need to find...
Diabetes shouldn’t deter young athletes: York U study
TORONTO, July 15, 2010 — A new study led by York University researchers finds that young athletes with Type 1 diabetes may experience a marked decrease in performance as...
Stamps generate more returns than bonds and gold
(PhysOrg.com) -- Is stamp collecting only of interest to passionate hobbyists? Far from it. Stamps can be a valuable addition to an investment portfolio, generating average long-term yields of up...