Psychology Headlines Around the World

"Good Samaritan" Survey Shows Charitable Giving Trends
Source: The GuardianSurvey found that a third of the world's population had given money to charity in the last month, and 45% had helped a stranger A third of the world's population has given money to charity in the past month, the largest study ever carried out into global social conscience reveals today. The "World Giving Index" used Gallup surveys of 195,000 people in 153 nations and asked people whether they had volunteered or given money or help in the last...
Among Elders, Memory Problems May Be More Common in Men
Source: ScienceDailyA new study shows that mild cognitive impairment may affect more men than women.
Teenage Self-Injury Identified and Treated by Radiologists
Source: Medical News TodayUsing ultrasound and a minimally-invasive procedure, radiologists can identify and treat patients who engage in a disturbing self-injury behavior known as self-embedding, according to a new study published in the online edition and October print issue of the journal Radiology. "This is a new way for radiologists to impact public and mental health," said the study's senior author, William E. Shiels II, D.O., chairman of the Department of...
Smoking Rate has Stopped Declining in the U.S.
Source: ABC News - World News TonightThe number of smokers in America has stopped declining, says a survey by the CDC, or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About one in five people still smoked in 2009, the same level as in 2005. The CDC says in a bad economy, states have spent $700 million on anti-smoking campaigns, while tobacco companies have spent $12 billion a year on marketing.
Psychological Violence During Pregnancy Linked to Depression
Source: Medical News TodayPsychological violence by an intimate partner during pregnancy, independent of physical violence, has been linked to a higher risk of developing postnatal depression, also known as postpartum depression, according to an article published in the medical journal The Lancet. As most social policies focus on the treatment and prevention of physical violence, this study has important policy implications, the authors explain. The study was carried out...
The Only Ones: Stories of What It Is Like to Be the Sole Survivor
Source: The GuardianWhat does it feel like to be the only person to survive a plane crash, a boat wreck or an ambush? Sole survivors tell their stories In February 2009, 24-year-old Nick Schuyler went fishing with three friends in the Gulf of Mexico. An attempt to salvage a stuck anchor capsized the boat, and the four men were forced to cling to the hull to survive. When rescuers found the upturned boat after 43 hours (see picture, above), he was the only one...
Text Messages Reveal the Emotional Timeline of September 11, 2001
Source: Medical News TodayThe terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 have been called the defining moment of our time. Thousands of people died and the attacks had huge individual and collective consequences, including two wars. But less is known about the immediate emotional reactions to the attacks. For a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, researchers analyzed text messages sent on September 11, 2001...
New Guidelines to Ease Sleepless Nights
Source: ScienceDailyInsomnia and other sleep disorders are very common, yet are not generally well understood by doctors and other health care professionals. Now the British Association for Psychopharmacology has released up-to-the-minute guidelines in the Journal of Psychopharmacology to guide psychiatrists and physicians caring for those with sleep problems.
Infant's Gaze May Be an Early, But Subtle, Marker for Autism Risk
Source: Medical News TodayKennedy Krieger Institute announced new study results showing an early marker for later communication and social delays in infants at a higher-risk for autism may be infrequent gazing at other people when unprompted. Published in the September issue of the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, the study also found that six-month-old high-risk infants demonstrated the same level of cause and effect learning skills when compared to low-risk...
Cyber-Bullying Defies Traditional School Bully Stereotype
Source: Washington Post - TechnologyThe advent of social networking sites and text messaging has allowed young girls the opportunity to take on a role traditionally reserved for boys, experts say.
Mindfulness Meditation Increases Well-Being in Adolescent Boys
Source: ScienceDaily"Mindfulness," the process of learning to become more aware of our ongoing experiences, increases well-being in adolescent boys, a new study reports.
Girls Think They Are Cleverer Than Boys from Age Four, UK Study Finds
Source: The GuardianTeachers' expectations may reinforce gender gap in school performance Girls think they are cleverer, more successful and harder working than boys from as young as four, a study has found. Boys come round to this view by the age of seven or eight and assume that girls will outperform them at school and behave better in lessons, research from the University of Kent shows. The study – Gender Expectations and Stereotype Threat – will be...
Improving Cognition in Computers
Source: U.S. News and World ReportScientists are studying how to design circuits that can recognize objects like people can.
Less Than 5 Hours Sleep Linked to Higher Mental Illness Risk
Source: Medical News TodayYoung healthy adults aged between 17 and 24 years who get less than an average of 5 hours' sleep each night have three times the risk of developing a mental illness compared to individuals of the same age who sleep eight to nine hours every night, according to a study carried out by the George Institute on Global Health, published in the medical journal Sleep. Researchers at the George Institute for Global Health carried out a survey involving...
Genetics Affect Whether We're Willing to Take Surveys, According to Survey
Source: Medical News TodayA new study from North Carolina State University shows that genetics play a key factor in whether someone is willing to take a survey. "We wanted to know whether people are genetically predisposed to ignore requests for survey participation," says Dr. Lori Foster Thompson, an associate professor of psychology at NC State and lead author of a paper describing the research. "We found that there is a pretty strong genetic predisposition to not...
Hooked on Headphones? Personal Listening Devices Can Harm Hearing
Source: Medical News TodayPersonal listening devices like iPods have become increasingly popular among young - and not-so-young - people in recent years. But music played through headphones too loud or too long might pose a significant risk to hearing, according to a 24-year study of adolescent girls. The study, which appears online in the Journal of Adolescent Health, involved 8,710 girls of lower socioeconomic status, whose average age was about 16. Their hearing was...
New Zealand Officials Permit "ARYAN" Auto License Plate
Source: The Age - World NewsA NZ woman has been allowed to keep her "ARYAN 1" licence plate because it is not intended to be a statement of white supremacy.
Belief in Witchcraft Widespread in Sub-Saharan Africa, Poll Finds
Source: Yahoo News - ScienceLiveScience.com - A new Gallup poll found that belief in magic is widespread throughout sub-Saharan Africa, with over half of respondents saying they personally believe in witchcraft. Studies in 18 countries show belief varies widely (ranging from 15 percent in Uganda to 95 percent in the Ivory Coast), but on average 55 percent of people polled believe in witchcraft.
U.S. Schoolchildren Smoking Less, But Decline Is Losing Steam
Source: Medical News TodayThe number of middle and high school children who use tobacco products has dropped since 2000, but the decline has been slowing down in recent years, says a CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) report Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The report calls for laws that require more impacting health warnings on tobacco packaging and advertisements, as well as greater funding for anti-tobacco programs. The Morbidity and Mortality...
Eye Movements Reveal Readers' Wandering Minds
Source: Medical News TodayIt's not just you...everybody zones out when they're reading. For a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, scientists recorded eye movements during reading and found that the eyes keep moving when the mind wanders-but they don't move in the same way as they do when you're paying attention. Erik Reichle, a psychological scientist at the University of Pittsburgh, is interested in how...