Alcohol and Aggression

Statistics on violence support a strong link between alcohol intoxication and violent acts. Not all people, however, become aggressive when they are drinking. Researchers from Ohio State University and several other institutions conducted a laboratory experiment with result suggesting that the personality trait of being present-oriented heightens the chance of aggression after consuming alcohol.

One Trait Has Huge Impact On Whether Alcohol Makes You Aggressive

Virtual Violence Causes Brain Changes

There is ample research to support that violence in video games has cognitive, emotional, and psychological effects on those who play them. Research presented at the 2011 annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) provided evidence that video game violence alters regions of the brain involved in thought and emotional processes.

Violent Video Games Alter The Brain

Breakthroughs in Neuroscience: Schizophrenia, Depression, and Anxiety

Exciting new findings suggesting treatment directions for schizophrenia, depression, and anxiety were presented at Neuroscience 2011, the annual meeting for the Society for Neuroscience. Insights into how childhood stress can affect the brain, how factors believed to be involved in schizophrenia are related, and how a specific brain chemical enhanced antidepressant response are among the crucial findings presented.

New Understanding Of Brain Systems Suggests New Treatment Options For Schizophrenia, Depression And Anxiety

Multitasking Moms and Dads

Many people pride themselves on being able to multitask their way through a busy life. When it comes to parents, however, fathers may perceive multitasking as a much more positive thing than do mothers. Research conducted at Michigan State University revealed that mothers are multitasking about 2/5 of their waking hours and finding it to be a negative experience, whereas fathers are multitasking 1/3 of the time and finding it to be a positive experience.

Working Mothers Multitask More Than Fathers, And Don't Like It

The Healing Power of Dreams

Dreams and the sleep process have been a source of fascination for centuries. The content of dreams can range from the mundane to the bizarre. Sometimes they make sense to us; other times they lack meaning and structure. Dreaming occurs during REM sleep, a time at which our brain waves closely resemble those when we are awake and alert, yet we are deeply asleep. Individuals deprived of REM sleep can show cognitive, physical, and emotional deficits over time.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have found more support for the importance of REM sleep and dreams. Evidence suggests that our brains suppress stress chemicals and process emotional information during sleep, allowing healing from painful memories to take place.

During REM Sleep Stress Chemicals Shut Down And The Brain Processes Emotional Experiences

Teach Your Children Well . . . How to Trust and Love

Attachment theory, first proposed by John Bowlby in the early 20th century, supports the idea that how a child is treated by his or her parents will have a long lasting impact on the child's ability to participate in meaningful relationships. Adult attachment theory, as proposed by Hazan & Shaver, Bartholomew & Horowitz, and other researchers in the 1980s and 1990s, extended the original model to romantic relationships.

Support for the link between childhood attachment status and adult attachment status has been difficult to attain. Longitudinal research conducted at the University of Minnesota is helping to bridge that gap.

The Ability To Love Takes Root In Earliest Infancy

Trouble Sleeping? Pass On Taking Pills

Many people suffer from insomnia from time to time. Many others have poor quality sleep or don't get enough sleep. If you are one of them, think again before taking medication or drinking alcohol to try to help you sleep. You could be making matters worse.

Researchers at Ryerson University found that 40% of their college student participants suffered from poor sleep and expended a lot of energy in trying to force themselves to sleep, including self-medicating efforts. Cognitive behavior therapy to help understand mistaken ideas about sleep and replace them with more healthy ones is suggested as a more effective alternative.

Not Getting Enough Sleep? Popping A Pill Not The Best Way To Get Rid Of Insomnia In The Long Term Suggests Sleep Experts

Have a Headache? Take Some Music for Relief!

Music is an important part of many people's lives. It provides entertainment, keeps you company on long drives, gives you a soundtrack for memorable life moments, and helps some people focus on tasks. Researchers at the University of Utah Pain Research Center have found that listening to music can focus highly anxious people's attention away from pain.

Study Assesses Pain Relieving Benefits From Music

Hot or Not? Some Men Tend to Overestimate Their Own Attractiveness

In the world of romance, miscommunications between men and women are frequent and are often based on misinterpretations of the other person's behavior. Consider this scenario:

Guy 1: "Aw, man, I met this HOTTIE at that party last night."

Guy 2: "Oh, yeah?"

Guy 1: "I could tell just how much she wanted me, dude. She kept smiling at me."

Guy 2: "Sweet! Did you get her phone number?"

Guy 1: "Nah, I asked, but she didn't give it to me, but she's just playing hard to get. I know it. She really wants me. I bet she'll be at Jane's party this weekend. I can't wait!"

At that same moment across town . . .

Woman 1 (a/k/a HOTTIE): "I had fun at the party last night, but this one guy kept following me around and bugging me."

Woman 2: "Oh, no! What did you do?"

Woman 1: "Well, I kind of wanted to tell him off, you know? But I was just very polite and distant, and he still kept following me around. It was creepy."

Woman 2: "How did you finally get away from him?"

Woman 1: "Well, after he asked for my phone number -- which I would have NEVER given him -- I got too uncomfortable and left. I hope I don't see him at Jane's party this weekend."

Why does this happen? Researchers at Williams College and the University of Texas at Austin have some insights.

All It Takes Is A Smile (For Some Guys)...

Connecting Addiction with Depression and Anxiety

Scientists have long believed that certain types of drug abuse are connected with depression and anxiety at a biochemical level. The evidence to support this theory continues to accumulate at an impressive rate. Research done at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health indicated that individuals with depression and anxiety were more likely to take prescription narcotics for non-medical reasons (in other words, to abuse them). Read more of this research summary at Medical News Today.

Link Between Opioid Abuse And Mood And Anxiety Disorders

Self-Expression Protects Teens from Peer Pressure

Being able to talk about one's thoughts and feelings to trusted family and friends is important at any age. Recent research reveals, however, that teens who are able to talk freely to parents tend to be better able to resist peer pressure, including pressure to use drugs. This research review from WebMD explains more.

Teens Who Can Express Themselves More Likely to Avoid Drugs

Decision Making: Practice Makes Perfect?

Well, not perfect really, but this research summary from the Association of Psychological Science describes an experiment in which older adults showed superior decision making skills over college aged adults.

Decision Making Changes With Age – and Age Helps! - Association for Psychological Science

The Brain and Speech

While scientists have long studied the function of specialized areas of the brain, advances in technology have allowed us to see that there are more complex relationships between brain areas and behavior than previously believed. This article summary from the Association for Psychological Science describes current research on speech and the brain.

Speaking and Understanding Speech Share the Same Parts of the Brain - Association for Psychological Science

Self-Affirmations Can Ease Social Insecurity

Shyness is a difficult burden to bear. Contrary to what some people believe, shy people want and need to connect with other people, but they feel the costs of potential rejection are too high. This research summary from the Association of Psychological Science describes the results of an experiment where socially insecure individuals became more secure when prompted to think about their valued strengths and characteristics.

Psychologists Interrupt the Miserable Cycle of Social Insecurity

"We Have an Eyewitness, Your Honor . . ."

Eyewitness testimony is commonly a key turning point that dooms the villain in fiction about crime. Many people deem eyewitness testimony to be a highly reliable source of information, but is this really true? Over the past few decades, science has allowed us to understand the fallible nature of memory much better, and now even the United States Supreme Court is taking notice. Here's an interesting article on this topic from the New York Times.

34 Years Later, Supreme Court Will Revisit Eyewitness IDs

Acceptance, Rejection, and Exclusion

Human beings are highly social creatures. To varying degrees, we all have a compelling need for belonging and acceptance. Experiencing rejection by others or being excluded from groups to which we want to belong can have powerful consequences. This summary cited by the Social Psychology Network provides some further insights.

Social Acceptance and Rejection: The Sweet and the Bitter

Domestic Violence Victims and Dropping Charges

Why do some domestic violence victims fail to follow through on or drop charges against their alleged abusers? This fascinating study cited by the Social Psychology Network used analyses of telephone conversations between victims and their incarcerated alleged abusers and yielded some surprising results.

Jailhouse Phone Calls Reveal Why Domestic Violence Victims Recant

Even a Little Exercise Helps

Many people do not exercise because they have the mistaken belief that exercise has to be a huge commitment of time and energy in order to be effective. However, recent research cited by the Social Psychology Network suggests that even a little exercise may help a lot.

Benefits of Daily Exercise are Comparable to Giving Up Smoking

Seeing Only The Things You Like

Humans have the tendency to focus on what they like and tune out what they don't like. Here's some interesting research to support that concept.

You Don’t Like What You Ignore - Association for Psychological Science

Twins and Genetic Studies

The participation of twins, especially identical twins, is especially valued in genetically-related research. Here's why.

What can twins teach us about genetics? - Association for Psychological Science

The Down Side of Excess Positive Emotion

Bipolar disorder is characterized by extremes in positive and negative emotions which often results in a variety of self-destructive behaviors. Here is some recent research exploring the extreme positive emotion experienced in one of the phases of bipolar disorder.

Bipolar Disorder: The Drawbacks of Excessive Positive Emotion - Association for Psychological Science

Gender and Workplace Mistakes

While we have come a significant way in accepting both men and women in a wide variety of jobs, there are still serious issues to be addressed. This fascinating research shows the lingering power of the concepts of "men's jobs" and "women's jobs."

Mistakes are more tolerated if you’re the right gender for the job - Association for Psychological Science

Risk Perception Between The Sexes

It's no great surprise that men and women perceive many situations differently. Here's some research that supports that risk appears to be one of them.

Men and women perceive risks differently - Association for Psychological Science

Rosy Shades of Love?

A little dash of delusions about your romantic partner may help your relationship survive. Check out this research!

Rose-colored glasses may help love last - Association for Psychological Science

Comfort Food and Loneliness

Are you sad, anxious, or lonely? If you are like quite a few people, you may find yourself reaching for a high-fat comfort food to ease your distress. Here's some recent research that sheds light on this connection.

Eating fatty foods make people feel happier, less lonely, studies show - Association for Psychological Science

Discard This Old Interviewing Advice!

For many years, a popular interviewing tip was to mirror the body postures of the interviewer to make yourself seem more like him or her. The idea behind this is the interviewer would perceive you as a better fit for the organization. However, recent research has revealed why this old tip may be a bad idea.

Why mirroring an interviewer’s body language and mannerisms can make you seem incompetent - Association for Psychological Science

Memory Power

Here's some of the latest research on human memory.

Your memory is not as powerful as you think - Association for Psychological Science

Why Do So Many People Love Videogames?

Videogames, from the simplest flash games on the computer to elaborate multiplayer online world simulations, are now a permanent part of modern culture. What draws so many people to them?

Getting to The Heart of The Appeal of Videogames - Association for Psychological Science

Happiness: One Size Does NOT Fit All

Something that makes you happy when you're 20 may have little happiness value to you when you're 40. Here is some research examining why that is so.

What Makes You Happy? It May Depend on Your Age - Association for Psychological Science

Oxytocin: More Than Just a Feel Good Body Chemical?

Here's a look at some research showing other aspects of oxytocin.

Oxytocin: Not Such a Cuddly Hormone After All - Association for Psychological Science

Voice Recognition and Dyslexia

Many people think of dyslexia as an issue only involving reading and writing. The Association for Psychological Science (APS) recently reported on research supporting an auditory component for dyslexia as well.

Recognizing voices harder for people with dyslexia - Association for Psychological Science

Why Nagging Women and Silent Men Drive Each Other Crazy

The Association for Psychological Science (APS) recently reported on research that provides some insight to this age-old question.

Why Nagging Women and Silent Men Drive Each Other Crazy - Association for Psychological Science

Why Seeing (The Unexpected) Is Often Not Believing

Here's an interesting article from NPR describing an experiment to illustrate why, among other things, eyewitness testimony is not as accurate as we might think it is. Also check out the neat embedded video of the classic selection attention procedure.