A study found that people with higher levels of ADHD symptoms also showed greater distractibility, which can impact daily activities and tasks. Increasing task difficulty can help improve focus and performance for both individuals with high and low distractibility traits.
New research suggests that proactively doing things for others can effectively cope with everyday worries and strains. The study found that helping behaviors boosted participants' daily well-being, reducing negative emotions and improving mental health in response to stress.
Research found that young men with greater interest in babies showed smaller increases in testosterone in response to sexually explicit stimuli, indicating a 'slow' life-history strategy. In contrast, men who didn't like babies as much were more physiologically aroused by novel sexual stimuli.
A new study published in Psychological Science found that people who respond quickly to general knowledge questions and visual tasks are perceived as more charismatic. The researchers speculate that mental speed may facilitate charisma by enabling quick masking of inappropriate reactions and making humorous associations.
A new report analyzes factors driving public trust in policing, finding that respectful treatment and transparent decision making are key to building cooperation. The study highlights the importance of procedural justice in fostering perceptions of police legitimacy.
A special section in Perspectives on Psychological Science provides policy memos to the President from a 'Council of Psychological Science Advisors', offering recommendations on obesity, consumer debt, terrorism, and climate change. The section features articles translating scientific findings into federal policy improvements.
New research using computer modeling shows that memory of one individual can indirectly influence another via shared social connections. Collaborative inhibition occurs when groups converge on similar information, limiting overall learning.
Researchers found that reminders helped young children control impulsive behavior, while waiting didn't make a difference. The study suggests that training individuals to look for tangible cues can help improve inhibitory control. Effective reminder-based interventions could involve setting up situations where cues are always present.
Researchers found that high math motivation can buffer the negative effects of math anxiety on math learning, while low motivation is linked to poor math performance. The study used twin data and college student samples to investigate the complex relationship between math anxiety, motivation, and math achievement.
Research suggests that personal anxiety and mass media coverage interact to determine what people remember about a disease. The study found that selective media coverage can cause people to forget certain health facts, particularly those related to symptoms.
A new study found that older adults were better than young adults at correcting their factual errors, with improved performance on low-confidence errors. This challenges the notion that older adults are less accurate and suggests a focus of attention driven by a desire to prioritize truth over confidence.
Teaching children theory of mind enables them to engage in deception, suggesting a causal link between the cognitive ability and lying behavior. Children who received ToM training were more likely to lie in hide-and-seek tasks compared to those in control groups.
A study by researchers at the University of Fribourg and the University of Paris-Saint-Denis found no evidence for a link between conspiracist thinking and perceptions of randomness. Instead, participants who reported strong conspiracy theories tended to report other types of conspiracist beliefs, but not necessarily an intention or de...
Research finds that men are associated with creativity and innovative thinking in the workplace, while women's achievements are often undervalued. This bias is perpetuated by stereotypes and can impact career advancement and recognition.
A comprehensive report finds telecommuting can boost job satisfaction and productivity, but only when implemented carefully. Key moderating factors include employee choice, scheduling control, relationships with supervisors and coworkers, and work dependency.
A new study suggests that mindfulness meditation can make memories less accurate, leading to confusion between real and imagined experiences. Participants who engaged in a 15-minute mindfulness meditation session were more likely to falsely recall words from a list, even when the list did not include the actual word.
Research suggests that feeling sadness can change how we perceive color, with participants who were induced to feel sad being less accurate in identifying colors on the blue-yellow axis than those who were led to feel amused or emotionally neutral.
A recent study has found that preterm birth is associated with lower academic abilities in childhood and lower educational attainment in adulthood, leading to less wealth. The research also showed that the effects of prematurity on math abilities can last into the fifth decade of life.
A new study suggests that maintaining close relationships with peers in adolescence can have long-term benefits for adult physical health. The research found that both high-quality friendships and a drive to fit in with peers were associated with lower anxiety, depressive symptoms, and improved overall health.
Researchers found that Twitter users shared messages from people with different ideological views for non-political issues like sports events, but converged on similar ideologies for overtly political topics. The study also revealed dynamic shifts in polarization over time for certain issues, such as the Newtown school shooting.
A Norwegian study of nearly 1,000 children found that time spent in daycare had little impact on aggressive behavior. The longer children stayed in non-parental care, the smaller the effects became.
Studies show that changes in moral behavior, not memory loss, cause loved ones to say the patient isn't 'the same person' anymore. Moral faculties form core of individual identity perception, according to researchers.
Research found that parents' frequent help with math homework exacerbates children's math anxiety, leading to lower math achievement. Math attitudes play a crucial role in determining children's success, and parents' own anxiety can be a significant factor.
A study found that participants who mimicked a partner's dilated pupils were more likely to trust them in an investment game. The researchers suggest that group membership plays an important role in interpreting pupil signals, and that mimicry of dilating pupils is particularly beneficial in in-group interactions.
This special series of articles explores the core psychological processes underlying maladaptive thought processes like worry and rumination. The research highlights cutting-edge methodologies and advances our understanding of these processes.
Research finds that kindergartners, but not preschoolers, perceive hard work as increasing the value of unappealing prizes. This suggests that children's cognitive strategies for handling disappointing rewards differ at different ages.
Research found that people use their neighborhoods as a gauge of wealth distribution, influencing wealthy individuals' perceptions of the broader population's wealth. The study also revealed a chain-like relationship between household income, social-circle income, and perceived fairness.
A study published in Psychological Science found that individuals who perceive themselves as experts are more likely to claim knowledge of fake information. This phenomenon, known as 'overclaiming,' can lead to uninformed decisions with devastating consequences.
Research suggests that cognitive training can improve shooting abilities by enhancing response inhibition, particularly in individuals with ADHD. The study found that participants who underwent response inhibition training shot fewer civilians in simulated scenarios, indicating a potential new approach to firearms training.
Research using photos and sentencing data from Florida inmates found that those perceived as less trustworthy on their face received death sentences, even after adjusting for other factors. The study highlights the influence of facial biases in decision-making processes, particularly in high-stakes situations like capital punishment.
Researchers found that playing Tetris after reactivating traumatic memories reduces their occurrence over time. The study suggests a potential preventative treatment for PTSD by bringing back traumatic memories under controlled conditions.
Research found that partners who date soon after meeting are more physically attractive than those who know each other for longer periods. The study suggests that having more time to get acquainted allows other factors like compatibility to make a person appealing, rather than just physical attractiveness.
New research suggests that depressed people often choose to increase rather than decrease their sadness in daily life. Studies found that depressed participants preferred sad music and re-watched sad images more frequently than non-depressed individuals. The findings highlight the importance of motivation in regulating emotions.
A new study found that people allocate medical resources equally across groups, but make more efficient decisions when presented with individual patient information. This bias towards equality can lead to suboptimal allocation decisions, but may also have positive outcomes in certain contexts.
New research found that children's altruistic behaviors are associated with better physiological regulation and lower family wealth. Children who donated tokens to help others showed greater vagal flexibility and higher vagal tone, indicating better health and well-being.
Researchers develop method to suppress guilty memories, reducing their impact on behavior and brain activity. The study uses EEG and Implicit Association Tests to demonstrate the effectiveness of suppressing crime-related memories.
New research suggests that feeling inauthentic can lead to psychological consequences similar to immoral behaviors, including feelings of moral distress and impurity. Inauthentic individuals were more likely to engage in cleansing-related behaviors, such as using hand sanitizer or washing their hands.
Research shows that imagining a visual target before searching for it is faster and more efficient than actual practice. This study suggests that the human brain benefits from visualization, which changes how information is processed early on in the visual system.
Researchers discovered that near wins, such as coming close to winning a game or scratch-off lottery ticket, can intensify motivational energy and lead individuals to pursue unrelated goals. This 'near win' effect is thought to extend motivation beyond the original goal, resulting in faster completion of tasks.
Researchers provide guidelines to evaluate apps for real educational benefits, focusing on features that promote active participation, sustained engagement, and social interaction. They warn against apps with distracting 'bells and whistles' and those that present information in a vacuum.
Researchers found that measuring time in days instead of years can make future events feel closer and prompt people to start planning earlier. Participants planned to save four times sooner when considering time in days compared to years, even after accounting for age, income, and education.
Researchers found that situational ambiguity enables people to cheat and justify their actions more easily. In experiments, participants were more likely to report incorrect values when the correct answer was not clear, indicating a self-serving bias.
A comprehensive new report integrates research from psychological science, linguistics, and neuroscience to provide an evidence-based guide for evaluating the quality of educational apps. The report presents four principles that can help distinguish between apps with true educational value and those that masquerade as such.
A study published in Psychological Science found that people produce chemical compounds, or chemosignals, when they experience happiness that are detectable by others who smell their sweat. This implies that someone who is happy will infuse others with happiness through the scent of their sweat, similar to how smiling can be infectious.
New research finds that teachers' perceptions of student behavior are influenced by race, with black students being labeled as 'troublemakers' more often than white students. This can lead to harsher discipline and perpetuate racial disparities in school discipline.
Researchers found children with high self-control had 40% less time unemployed as adults, highlighting early life self-control as a powerful predictor of job success. Long-term benefits include increased employment rates and productivity.
A study by Ryan Boyd and James Pennebaker uses psychological theory to analyze Shakespeare's plays, revealing a unique psychological profile that strongly identifies him as the author of Double Falsehood. The analysis also sheds light on Theobald's character, contradicting previous accounts.
A study by Daniel C. Feiler and Adam M. Kleinbaum found a 'network extraversion bias' in the emerging social networks of MBA students, where extraverts are over-represented. The effect is more pronounced in the networks of socially outgoing people, suggesting that introverts may be better socially calibrated.
Research shows that children as young as 5 years old exhibit the bystander effect when others are present and available to help, suggesting they take responsibility into account. The study's findings highlight the complexity of young children's helping behavior and indicate that interventions should address diffusion of responsibility.
The special section reviews current scientific research on loneliness, exploring its biological, genetic, social, and behavioral aspects. Studies demonstrate a link between social isolation, loneliness, and mortality, as well as the effectiveness of various interventions to prevent or mitigate loneliness.