Latest science news in Psychology & Sociology
Video Games May Shield Soldiers During Nightmares
Hardcore gaming may do more than kill time for generation kill.
Teen Marijuana Use Differs by Gender, Race and Other Factors
What factors are associated with a higher or lower risk of marijuana use among adolescents? There are some important differences for boys versus girls, according to a study in...
Conflict Of Interest? Few Meta-Analyses Identify Who Funded Drug Trials
More and more, policy decisions and what medications doctors prescribe for their patients are being driven by large 'studies of studies' called meta-analyses, which statistically combine results from many individual...
Robots that talk like cave-dwelling crickets
Scientists have taught robots to communicate by firing rings of pressurized air at each other
Sleep-deprived people make risky decisions based on too much optimism
The powers that be in Las Vegas figured out something long before neuroscientists at two Duke University medical schools confirmed their ideas this week: Trying to make decisions while sleep-deprived...
Cleansing the soul by hurting the flesh: The guilt-reducing effect of pain
Lent in the Christian tradition is a time of sacrifice and penance. It also is a period of purification and enlightenment. Pain purifies. It atones for sin and cleanses the...
Gene tests for child athletes add pressure: MDs
Marketers of genetic tests claim their mail-order kits can answer if a child is born to be an elite athlete.
A thorny path to reform
“What kind of immigration reform do we need?” asked Edward Schumacher-Matos of Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) during his introduction to the “Inequality and Social Policy” panel on March 3 in Tsai Auditorium. Schumacher-Matos,...
IRBs could use pre-clinical data better
In this week's PLoS Medicine, Jonathan Kimmelman from McGill University in Montreal, Canada and Alex London from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, USA argue that ethical reviewers and decision-makers pay...
The foundations of empathy are found in the chicken
A study has gained new insight into the minds of domestic hens, discovering, for the first time, that domestic hens show a clear physiological and behavioural response when their chicks...
High-volume portable music players may impair ability to clearly discriminate sounds
Growing numbers of people enjoy listening to music on portable music players or cell phones, and many tend to turn up the volume, especially in noisy surroundings. In a study...
Sunlight can influence the breakdown of medicines in the body
A new study has shown that the body's ability to break down medicines may be closely related to exposure to sunlight, and thus may vary with the seasons. The findings...
Depression after miscarriage can continue even after healthy birth
Women who experience depression and anxiety after a miscarriage continue to experience these symptoms even if they subsequently go on to have a healthy child, according to a study of...
Can ordinary people make money on Twitter?
Reports this week that celebrities are earning up to $10,000 per tweet on Micro-blogging site Twitter has caught the attention of ordinary social media users who are now asking how...
NBA mulling formal concussion policy
The NBA is consulting with an independent neurologist and may establish a league-wide policy for handling concussions by next season. In just the last four weeks, six NBA players have...
Activists condemn B.C. animal research project
The University of British Columbia is planning to build a new research centre at its Okanagan campus and animal rights activists say they're being kept in the dark about the...
100 years of scientific breakthroughs - by women
The Medical Research Council has produced a book celebrating great scientific achievements made by women in the past 100 yearsFrederika Whitehead
Psychiatrist discusses dangers of 'E-personality' in latest podcast
(PhysOrg.com) -- Psychiatrist Elias Aboujaoude, MD, discusses the Internet's psychological impact and how our online traits are unconsciously being imported into our offline lives in this podcast.
Study: Negative classroom environment adversely affects children's mental health
Children in classrooms with inadequate material resources and children whose teachers feel they are not respected by colleagues exhibit more mental health problems than students in classrooms without these issues,...
Passive news reports may lead readers to feel they can’t find the truth
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Passive news reporting that doesn't attempt to resolve factual disputes in politics may have detrimental effects on readers, new research suggests. The study found that people are...
Urge to Own That Clapton Guitar Is Contagious, Scientists Find
Social scientists have just published papers analyzing the “celebrity contagion” and “imitative magic” that lead collectors to bid high.
Receiving work-related communication at home takes greater toll on women, study finds
Communication technologies that help people stay connected to the workplace are often seen as solutions to balancing work and family life. However, a new study suggests there may be a...
At House E.P.A. Hearing, Both Sides Claim Science
Lawmakers left a House hearing on global warming with the views they arrived with.
Does 'women's work' still wash?
Determining who cooks and who cleans in a household may feel like a personal decision couples make, but UC Irvine sociologist Judith Treas says culture and societal characteristics have a...
Now you see him
Imagine if Harry Potters cloak were real , or that you could blot out the sight of something as easily as pressing a mute button to eliminate sound. To some,...
Check in lately? Foursquare revamps its app
(AP) -- Foursquare, the smart phone service that lets you "check in" to restaurants, bars and wherever else you want to tell friends you're at, is trying to help...
The need for men to back women
Life for women in the developing world is fraught with challenges. To overcome them, they need to continue pushing on their own behalf, but they also need more support from men, according...
World-Renowned International Longevity Center Begins New Chapter at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health
Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and the International Longevity Center (ILC) announced that the ILC, founded by Robert N. Butler, will be the foundation of an interdisciplinary center...