Latest science news in Psychology & Sociology
Amputee able to move robotic hand with his mind
An Italian-led team of scientists talk of a breakthrough in thought-controlled prostheses that connects an artificial limb through electrodes. ...
Dream-enacting behavior is common in healthy young adults
Dream-enacting behaviors are common in healthy young adults, and the prevalence of specific behaviors differs between men and women.
Adults have dreamlike thoughts during sleepwalking and sleep terrors episodes
Short, unpleasant, dreamlike mental activity occurs during sleepwalking and sleep terrors episodes, suggesting that people with these sleep disorders may be acting out dreamlike thoughts.
Sleep changes predict onset of physical changes associated with puberty
A new study suggests that changes in children's sleep patterns that typically occur between the ages of 11 and 12 years are evident before the physical changes associated with the...
Probing Question: Is forensic science on TV accurate?
Turn on the television any evening and you're apt to see a scene such as this: Five crime scene investigators, or CSIs, return to the crime scene at night to...
Are the effects of pornography negligible?
A Universite de Montreal researcher, funded by the Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Family Violence and Violence Against Women, has launched a new study to examine the effects of pornography on...
MU researchers develop digital solutions to support divorced families
More than half of all marriages end in divorce, and the majority of these involve children, according to the National Centre for Health Statistics. Conflict between parents, before and after...
Facebook profiles capture true personality, according to new psychology research
Online social networks such as Facebook are being used to express and communicate real personality, instead of an idealised virtual identity, according to new research from psychologist Sam Gosling at...
Ethnic pride key to black teen mental health
Ethnic pride may be as important as self-esteem to the mental health of young African-American adolescents, according to a new study in the Nov./Dec. issue of the journal Child Development...
Binge drinking youths find getting old a drag
Young men who believe that happiness declines with age are more likely to engage in risky health behaviours such as binge drinking. Their misguided negative view of the ageing process...
Fear of anxiety linked to depression in above-average worriers
Anxiety sensitivity, or the fear of feeling anxious, may put people who are already above-average worriers at risk for depression, according to Penn State researchers. Understanding how sensitivity to anxiety...
Loneliness can be contagious
Loneliness, like a bad cold, can spread among groups of people, research at the University of Chicago, the University of California-San Diego and Harvard shows...
Psychologists suggest parents should wait to teach toddlers self-control
Toddlers are distractible. Their minds flit constantly here and there, and they have a terrible time concentrating on even the most stimulating project. They might be fascinated by a colourful...
N.Y. Sex Offenders Kicked off Social Sites
3,500 Sex Offenders Purged from Facebook, MySpace as Result of New State Law
Public's Foreign Policy Opinions Based On White House Rhetoric
Political scientists from the University of Missouri say that the general public knows very little about foreign policy, and what they do know is based primarily on "rhetoric" from whatever...
Chubby hubby is common, but ethnicity matters
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study helps untangle how marriage, gender and ethnicity are related to body weight. The study of almost 8,000 men and women will be published in the...
Message for women and dogs: keeping ovaries is linked to longevity
(PhysOrg.com) -- This year, hundreds of thousands of women and pet dogs will undergo a hysterectomy and have their ovaries removed along with their uterus. Now, two independent research studies...
Mathematical model of a simple circuit in a chicken brain raises fundamental questions
(PhysOrg.com) -- The Web site Neuroanthropology asks visitors to complete this quote, "One of the difficulties in understanding the brain is ...". In addition to the typical facetious remarks, such...
Gay, bisexual men who have social anxiety tend to engage in risky sex
A Ryerson University HIV researcher has found a link between social anxiety and unsafe sexual activities among gay and bisexual men, some of whom are HIV-positive.
Funds to fuel study into child brain disorders
A Canada-wide research network aimed at finding treatments for children with developmental brain disorders was one of three funding announcements made by the federal government on Tuesday.
Are You SAD? Updates On Seasonal Affective Disorder
The days are getting shorter, and it's dark out when you leave work. If you look out your window at 5 pm and it's dark - I'm not sure how...
First transgenic prairie voles may help unlock secrets of pair bonding
Researchers have generated the first transgenic prairie voles, an important step toward unlocking the genetic secrets of pair bonding. The technology will enable scientists to perform a host of genetic...
Depressed women can lose weight as successfully as others do
Women with major depression were no less likely than were women without it to have successful results with a weight loss program, according to an article in the Winter 2009...
Rom Houben's Coma Real, Communication Maybe Not
Doubts have been raised over a coma victim's retelling of his experiences.
People Who Hate Their Government Kill Other People, Historian Claims
According to one historian, the anti-government rallies that made their way across the country last summer, known as tea parties, may explain more about Americans than their views on high...
My perspective on the IPCC e-mail flap and Obama's upcoming trip to Copenhagen
Here’s a link to a BBC page that puts the recent flap over IPCC e-mails in perspective. It’s certainly not a clear-cut case, but politics will make it seem so --...
God’s beliefs sound familiar
According to a study, when people guess at God’s beliefs, they presume their own – perhaps adding to existing certainty.
3 Questions: Suzanne Corkin on the world’s most famous amnesic
H.M., the well-known amnesic patient whose condition helped scientists understand memory and memory impairment, died a year ago at the age of 82. H.M. (whose full name, Henry Gustav Molaison, was disclosed only...