Latest science news in Psychology & Sociology
Landmark Study Links Sleep, Memory Problems In Elderly African-Americans
A landmark study shows that African-American seniors who have trouble falling asleep are at higher risk of having memory problems -- raising the possibility that identifying and treating sleep difficulties...
Critical Genetic Link Found Between Human Taste Differences And Nicotine Dependence
Researchers report that two interacting genes related to bitter taste sensitivity, TAS2R16 and TAS2R38, play an important role in a person's development of nicotine dependence and smoking behavior. The researchers...
Pajama Gamblers Could Lose Their Shirts: Online Gambling Can Be Dangerously Comfortable
People who gamble from the comfort of their home tend to think they're more in control of their gambling than people who gamble in casinos, according to a new study...
What Do You Know? Not As Much As You Think
We've all met know-it-alls -- people who think they know more than they actually do. If they're talking about products, like wine or motorcycles, they might actually know as much...
Marijuana Use Takes Toll On Adolescent Brain Function, Research Finds
Brain imaging shows that the brains of teens that use marijuana are working harder than the brains of their peers who abstain from the drug.
Subconscious Encounters: How Brand Exposure Affects Your Choices
Products with visible brand names are everywhere; many times we don't even notice them. But how much do those unnoticed exposures affect brand choices? Quite a bit, according to a...
Searching The Internet Increases Brain Function
Scientists have found that for computer-savvy middle-aged older adults, searching the Internet triggers key centers in the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning. The findings demonstrate that Web search...
Being Altruistic May Make You Attractive
Displays of altruism or selflessness towards others can be sexually attractive in a mate. In three studies of more than 1,000 people, researchers discovered that women place significantly greater importance...
Babies distinguish between happy, sad music
(PhysOrg.com) -- Babies as young as 5 months old can distinguish an upbeat song from among gloomier compositions; and by the time they're 9 months, they can also pick out...
Blindsight: How Brain Sees What You Do Not See
Blindsight is a phenomenon in which patients with damage in the primary visual cortex of the brain can tell where an object is although they claim they cannot see it....
New insight into Bloom's syndrome
Two independent papers in the October 15th issue of G&D detail the discovery of a previously unidentified fourth component of the Bloom's syndrome complex.
Really?: The Claim: A Woman Is More Fertile After a Miscarriage
This popular claim, floated in many online fertility forums, may not hold up.
Cases: Always a Doctor, Even in the Dying of the Light
My father took pride in keeping up with the latest in medicine, and the functions of his body were fascinating to him in a detached, scientific way.
Well: Healthful Messages, Wrapped in Fiction
A book series aimed at girls that focuses on real-life issues seems to work, one study suggests.
Kansas Gym Ghost Mystery Solved
A recent surveillance video at Anytime Fitness depicted what many believe to be a ghost.
China issues blanket recall of milk for melamine testing
China is recalling all liquid and powdered milk made before Sept. 14 and Chinese manufacturers must test it for melamine contamination, Chinese government news agency Xinhua reported Tuesday.
Interview: Quick on the uptake
Douglas Kell tells Elinor Richards about his findings on drug uptake and the implications for drug discovery and development
Pleasure seekers: Clubbing is a controlled rave experience
Clubbers—people who dance the night away in dance clubs—are seeking communal, ecstatic experiences. And, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, modern clubbers get a more...
Obama takes campaign into video games with ad
U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama has taken his campaign into video games with an ad in EA's Burnout Paradise.
Soothing Music Reduces Stress, Anxiety And Depression During Pregnancy
Music therapy can reduce psychological stress among pregnant women, according to research just published in a special complementary and alternative therapy medicine issue of the UK-based Journal of Clinical Nursing.
When Seeing IS Believing
New research published in the journal Science explains why individuals seek to find and impose order on an unruly world through superstition, rituals and conspiratorial explanations by linking a loss...
Celebrity adoption of charitable causes oversold
Celebrities do have the ability to focus awareness on charitable and political causes but their power to move the news machine to shape policy agendas has been oversold, according to...
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.
Helsinki Urban/Nature Interactive Invites World-Wide Visitors Via Flickr
CityWall is a large interactive touch display in central Helsinki Finland. The interactive 3D touch screen display portrays the ever changing landscape of Helsinki as nature and urban life...
The Financial Fiasco: Emotional, Irrational, Inevitable
The global financial crisis of 2008 comes as no great surprise to people who study human behavior and decision-making.
Religiosity Curbs Teen Marijuana Use By Half, National Study Finds
While many congregations of different faiths preach against drug abuse, it has been unclear whether a youth's religious involvement has any effect on his risk of drug abuse. Now a...
Brain responds when women wear makeup: scientists
When a woman puts on makeup and looks in the mirror, it is as if she is seeing a different person, Japanese scientists said Tuesday.
Fertility reform held up by MPs, says watchdog
Plans to overhaul UK fertility laws held up by political squabbling over abortion rights, argues HFEA