Psychology

Is This Brain Scan Technology The Next Generation Polygraph?

‘Munchausen's syndrome by proxy’ describes women alleged to have fabricated or induced illnesses in children under their care, purportedly to attract attention. Where conclusive evidence of guilt exists the condition's aetiology remains speculati ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 2 2007 - 10:47am

Monkeys Rationalize Their Decisions Too

Like adults, children and monkeys rationalize their decisions following a tough choice, Yale University researchers report in Psychological Science. The tendency to rationalize after, for instance, deciding what job to take, which car to buy, or who to mar ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 6 2007 - 10:51am

Oxytocin Increases Generosity In Humans

In a new research study, Neuroeconomist Paul J. Zak of Claremont Graduate University and his colleagues gave doses of oxytocin and a placebo to participants, who were then offered a blinded, one-time decision on how to split a sum of money with a stranger ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 7 2007 - 12:01am

'Emotional' Eaters Most Likely To Regain Lost Weight

A new study led by researchers at The Miriam Hospital’s Weight Control & Diabetes Research Center finds that dieters who have the tendency to eat in response to external factors, such as at festive celebrations, have fewer problems with their weight lo ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 8 2007 - 11:22am

Psychotherapists And Zen Meditation

An investigation by researchers published in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics indicates the practicing of Zen meditation by psychotherapists matters. The study aimed to examine whether, and to what extent, promoting mindfulness in psyc ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 12 2007 - 12:07pm

What Happens When Alcoholics View Alcohol-Related Pictures?

Several studies demonstrated that alcohol-dependent patients show altered responses to alcohol-related cues. It is assumed that the regular association of these cues with the ingestion of alcohol leads to conditioned reactions, motivating reward or relief ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 12 2007 - 11:08pm

Odd Statistic: Families Of ICU Patients Who Die Rate Care Higher Than Those With Families That Survive

New research reveals that the families of patients who died in the intensive care unit (ICU) had higher satisfaction of care ratings than families of patients who survived their time in the ICU. The study in the November issue of CHEST shows that while the ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 13 2007 - 11:50am

Study In Babies Says Knowing Good People From Bad May Be Biological

In the first evidence of its kind to date, Yale researchers find that infants prefer individuals who help others to those who either do nothing, or interfere with others’ goals, it is reported today in Nature. “This supports the view that our ability to ev ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 21 2007 - 7:55pm

Money Motivates-- Especially When Your Colleague Gets Less

Brain scanning experiment shows how much we take others' earnings as a measure of our success. The feelings an individual has on receiving his paycheque depend critically on how much his colleague earns. Hard evidence for this comes from an experimen ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 24 2007 - 12:35am

Study: We Like Movies More When We're With People Like Us

A new study from the Journal of Consumer Research suggests that the presence of other people may enhance our movie-watching experiences. Over the course of the film, movie-watchers influence one another and gradually synchronize their emotional responses. ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 4 2007 - 7:08pm