Latest science news in Psychology & Sociology
News in Brief: Humans
Music keeps the mind sharp, plus chimp self-recognition, bullying's bodily effects and more in this week's news
How to tell when someone is lying
When someone is acting suspiciously at an airport, subway station or other public space, how can law enforcement officers determine whether he’s up to no good? The ability to effectively...
Video game effects on kids: Not all black and white, expert argues
A new article argues that existing video game literature can't be classified in black and white terms. Instead, there's a vast gray area when considering the multiple dimensions of video...
The New Old Age: Antipsychotics Overused in Nursing Homes, Audit Finds
A government audit finds that nearly one in seven nursing home residents receives powerful antipsychotic drugs, though they are not approved for such use.
On 9/11, Americans may not have been as angry as you thought they were
On September 11, 2001, the air was sizzling with anger -- and the anger got hotter as the hours passed. That, anyway, was one finding of a 2010 analysis of...
Pace of brain development still strong in late teens
The brain changes during the teen years, for instance by pruning away connections that no longer seem needed. By measuring the brainwave signals of sleeping teens ages 15-16 and again...
Francesco Redi And The First Science Experiment
I had a question posed to me last week; 'what was the first science experiment?' The downside to knowing a lot, including copious amounts of trivia and a completely unnecessary pantheon...
Wanted: Better ways to search online video
Demand for online video is growing, but our ability to search for content within web video remains weak, Dan Misener writes.
Video: Keeping vinyl records alive
CBS News RAW: While many music lovers opt for the ease and convenience of new music technologies, there is still a market for those who love the "warm" sounds of...
Wide-reaching report finds strong support for nurse and pharmacist prescribing
Greater powers introduced by the government to enable specially trained nurses and pharmacists to prescribe medication in England have been successfully adopted, according to a new report.
Connectivity brain networks essential for voluntary action control
Which brain mechanisms can we use to consciously suppress behavior? Psychologists in the Netherlands have demonstrated that voluntary action control -- such as braking in time for a traffic light...
Researchers measure the value of a smile
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Bangor University have placed an economic value on a smile, demonstrating scientifically the effect that a genuine smile can have on our decision-making. The psychologists call...
Ask Stephen Hawking
We are interviewing the Cambridge cosmologist, Stephen Hawking, and we need your help. NowProfessor Hawking is speaking at the Google Zeitgeist event that kicks off this weekend in London. As luck would have...
Black patients more likely to be monitored for prescription drug abuse
(Medical Xpress) -- Despite studies that show that whites are more likely than blacks to misuse prescription pain medications, a new study reveals that blacks are significantly more likely than...
UA psychology professor seeks relief for chronic headache sufferers
(Medical Xpress) -- Dr. Beverly Thorn, chair of The University of Alabama's psychology department, is seeking volunteers for a key study into how "mindfulness meditation" can help manage chronic pain...
Pooh, Peter Rabbit & Clifford: Males Dominate Children's Books
Girls haven't reached equality in the children's book realm.
Internet Use Linked to Teen Drinking
Teens who drink alcohol spend more time using the computer for activities such as social networking than do those who don't drink alcohol.
How to heal psychological damage
From Haiti to Gaza, psychologist James Gordon counsels survivors of disasters around the worldPerhaps it has always been this way. But it seems that we have been inundated with disasters – both...
Census Data Reveals a Shift in Patterns of Childbearing
Women with college degrees are having children later in life, while the percentages of childless women and never-married mothers have also grown.
High rates of unemployment does not decrease insurgent attacks against government, allied forces
Despite contrary belief, reducing unemployment in locations with active insurgencies does not decrease the rate of insurgent attacks against government and allied forces. Additionally, it was found that unemployment in...
Dementia, mild cognitive impairment common in 'oldest old' women
Mild cognitive impairment, dementia, and their subtypes are common in the "oldest old" women, which includes those 85 years of age and older, according to a new study.
In Defense Of High Baseball Salaries
People often argue that athletes such as ball players are overpaid and that it reflects society’s inability to set priorities straight. If baseball is important or entertaining enough to such...
Breastfeeding leads to better behaviour in children, researchers claim
Interaction between mother and child seen as significant factor in research based on Millennium Cohort StudyBabies who are breastfed are less likely to have behavioural problems by the age of five than those...
In praise of … dandelions | Editorial
Irrepressible and raffish, this weed is a rebel, an outsider and saboteur of neat lawns and raked bedsIn human terms it would be the child you would rather yours didn't play with,...
Child sex-abuse suits settled after MD's bogus study
A hospital in Hartford, Conn., has settled lawsuits with 32 people who say they were sexually abused by a prominent, now-dead doctor believed to have molested scores of children over...
We actually 'become' happy vampires or contented wizards when reading a book
Bad news for muggle parents! A new study by psychologists finds that we more or less "become" vampires or wizards just by reading about them.
English: it's a neologism thang, innit | Sarah Churchwell
Yes, these new Scrabble terms are abominations – but without them the English language would witherYou can feel the collective shudder among language purists: "innit", "grrl" and "thang" have been admitted into the...
Holder’s mission
When U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder uses the word “epidemic” to describe the rise of violence witnessed by children, he is not indulging in hyperbole. Use of the word is part of...