Psychology
Mathematics is a skill. Some people are better at it than others, so an individual person's math ability can range anywhere from being able to do simple arithmetic to calculus and abstract set theory.
But there is some math ability we all share, according to psychologists: a simple ability to estimate and compare quantities without overtly counting, like when choosing a checkout line at the grocery store - guesstimating, though not quite as lazy as it sounds.
Previous studies have suggested there's a connection between how well a person does at the approximate number system and how…
Oxytocin, called the 'love hormone' in popular accounts, affects men and women differently in social contexts, say a group of psychologists. In men it improves the ability to identify competitive relationships whereas in women it facilitates the ability to identify kinship.
Oxytocin is released in our bodies in various social situations. Our bodies release it at highwe levels during positive social interactions such as falling in love, experiencing an orgasm or giving birth and breastfeeding and in previous papers,
Prof. Simone Shamay-Tsoory from the Dept. of Psychology at the…
Breast reduction surgery has been linked to measurable improvements in several important areas of both physical health and quality of life, according to a new paper.
The study used the BREAST-Q© questionnaire, a well-validated survey instrument, to document the physical and psychosocial health benefits of breast reduction surgery. "The improvement in physical well-being is important for justification of insurance coverage," according to Dr. Michelle Coriddi and colleagues of Wexner Medical Center at the Ohio State University.
The study was designed to evaluate and confirm the benefits of…
Psychotherapy done over the Internet work is just as effective as face-to-face psychotherapy according to a new paper.
The authors from the University of Zurich assumed that the two forms of therapy were on a par but found that the results for online therapy even exceeded their expectations.
Six therapists treated 62 patients, the majority of whom were suffering from moderate depression. The patients were divided into two equal groups at random and assigned to one of the therapeutic forms. The treatment consisted of eight sessions with different established techniques that stem from…
Positive psychology is so powerful it can change gene expression, according to a paper in PNAS.
A good state of mind, your happiness levels, affect your genes, say academics in psychoneuroimmunology, psychology and psychiatry at UCLA and the University of North Carolina. Different types of happiness have different effects on the human genome, they have determined.
People who have high levels of what is known as eudaimonic well-being - the kind of happiness that comes from having a deep sense of purpose and meaning in life, like Mother Teresa - showed very favorable gene-…
Though we have access to a seemingly limitless amount of new music each day, we keep coming back to songs or albums, mostly stuff we liked at college age.
It's common to prefer the familiar - even by college students who may self-identify as preferring new music. People pick familiar with even when they believe they would prefer less familiar music. It's one of the reasons why the Pandora algorithm is regarded so highly. Yet we often hear the complaint that radio stations are playing the same songs over and over - and even Pandora plays the same 50 or 100.
“In three studies, we examined the…
When President Ronald Reagan told the Soviet Communists to "tear down this wall" in his legendary Berlin speech, it resonated with a lot of people. Reagan was regarded as someone who could do things and listeners reacted accordingly. Some random guy standing on the wall saying the same thing would have had far less impact.
Or take the examples of what students think when a journalism professor who has little experience in journalism critiques their writing. A speaker's power to act on their words influences how a listener perceives the meaning of their message, according to a paper by…
Does buying a Snickers bar instead of a Milky Way improve a baseball team's chance to win? You can't prove it doesn't - and for that reason the most superstitious baseball fans have little brand loyalty beyond their baseball team.
A paper in the Journal of Consumer Research by Gita V. Johar of Columbia Business School and Eric J. Hamerman of Tulane University shows a sports fan will easily switch to a different product if the fan believes the new brand will bring about good luck or eliminate bad luck. Routines are simultaneously that important and completely malleable, they say.
This…
Hank |
Is sex as addictive as cocaine or alcohol?
It depends on who you ask. Obviously there is an entire industry built up around the idea that it is, just like there is an industry build around homeopathy and curing gay people, but that doesn't mean the NIH should be funding those things.
A new study sets out to puncture the notion that sex addiction is an actual physical addiction rather than a new label created in an era when psychologists and psychiatrists had set out to over-pathologize everything (which may be coming to a close - the NIH said they are not going to use DSM 5 for anything more…
Shy? You may be less happy. Surveys say so.
In its happy journey into becoming anthropology, epidemiology is increasingly tackling social issues like they are diseases and using surveys as verification. They have time now, since that whole malaria problem has been solved. Dr. Catharine Gale, Reader in Epidemiology at the University of Southampton, and colleagues from the University of Edinburgh and University College London looked at survey results and concluded that young adults who are more outgoing or more emotionally stable are happier in later life than their more introverted…