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Current Psychology News Events, Discoveries and Articles

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Chart junk? How pictures may help make graphs better
Those oft-maligned, and highly embellished, graphs and charts in USA Today and other media outlets may actually help people understand data more effectively than traditional graphs, according to new research from North Carolina State University. (2009-11-05)

MU Researchers Find Internet Search Process Affects Cognition, Emotion
Nearly 73 percent of all American adults use the Internet on a daily basis, according to a 2009 Pew Internet and American Life Project survey. (2009-11-05)

Java and nighttime jobs don't mix: study
Night-shift workers should avoid drinking coffee if they wish to improve their sleep, according to research published in the journal Sleep Medicine. (2009-11-04)

Sights and sounds of emotion trigger big brain responses
Researchers at the University of York have identified a part of the brain that responds to both facial and vocal expressions of emotion. (2009-11-03)

UI study reveals second pathway to feeling your heartbeat
A new study suggests that the inner sense of our cardiovascular state, our "interoceptive awareness" of the heart pounding, relies on two independent pathways, contrary to what had been asserted by prominent researchers. (2009-11-03)

Study shows that sleep deprivation can negatively affect information processing
A study in the Nov.1 issue of the journal Sleep shows that sleep deprivation causes some people to shift from a more automatic, implicit process of information categorization (information-integration) to a more controlled, explicit process (rule-based). (2009-11-02)

Crushing cigarettes in a virtual reality environment reduces tobacco addiction
Smokers who crushed computer-simulated cigarettes as part of a psychosocial treatment program in a virtual reality environment had significantly reduced nicotine dependence and higher rates of tobacco abstinence than smokers participating in the same program who grasped a computer-simulated ball. (2009-10-28)

'Culture of we' buffers genetic tendency to depression
A genetic tendency to depression is much less likely to be realized in a culture centered on collectivistic rather than individualistic values, according to a new Northwestern University study. (2009-10-28)

The pain of torture can make the innocent seem guilty
The rationale behind torture is that pain will make the guilty confess, but a new study by researchers at Harvard University finds that the pain of torture can make even the innocent seem guilty. (2009-10-27)

Iowa State study finds high volume video gamers have more difficulty staying attentive
Parents have long lectured their children about the mind-numbing effects of playing video games all day. And a new Iowa State University study has found that high volume action video game players -- those who play around 40 hours per week -- actually had more difficulty keeping focused on tasks requiring longer, more proactive attention than those who played video games less than a couple of hours a week. (2009-10-23)