Articles tagged with Cognitive Psychology
A cross-cultural study found that people across six countries divide mental capacities into two broad groups: Perceptual-Experiential (emerging early) and Reflective-Evaluative (emerging later). This structure suggests a shared, intuitive framework for understanding mental development.
Researchers at Australian National University trained people to detect AI-generated faces using global qualities such as symmetry and attractiveness. The ability to spot AI faces improved significantly, with high performers achieving near perfection.
Researchers found that people are less likely to notice negative spoken words than neutral ones when focused on a visual task. The study suggests the brain's unconscious mind filters out harmful information to prevent distractions and mental fatigue.
A new study found that a low-cost, simple intervention using a self-help workbook paired with brief phone support significantly improves the mental health of displaced refugees. The program reduced psychological distress, PTSD symptoms, and improved wellbeing and daily functioning among participants.
A new study published in Frontiers in Psychology reveals that proactive brain training can strengthen the human mind before mental health challenges take root. The research found that a five-minute daily training program delivered digitally can lower stress, lift mental health metrics, and improve cognitive clarity among adults with an...
Researchers found that asking people to take multiple looks at unfamiliar faces improved identification accuracy by around 8%. This simple approach, which combines decisions made by the same person, outperforms gains from specialist training programs.
Researchers found that octopuses can use mirrors to find food out of sight, displaying spatial cognitive abilities. The study shows that octopuses traveled to the correct side approximately 73% of the time when searching for a reward.
A new analysis argues that current scientific methods may not be capable of reliably answering questions about AI consciousness. The study highlights the importance of developing more precise methods to investigate subjective experience, crucial for evaluating claims about animal welfare, AI ethics, or bioethics.
New research reveals that see-through or cut-out product packaging on a shelf increases the psychological desire to own it. Customers rely on various cues when making purchasing decisions, with visibility of a product influencing choices.
A study from Michigan State University found that people consistently underestimate their friends' cynicism and overestimate their benevolence. This biases can impact friendship maintenance and may be more pronounced in newer friendships.
The Universitat Jaume I has secured funding for five research projects worth nearly one million euros to strengthen its research activity. These projects focus on improving neural networks, understanding memory, tackling antimicrobial resistance, developing new materials, and assessing the impact of air pollution on neurocognitive health.
Researchers at UC Riverside have identified a key neural circuit, the locus coeruleus, which plays a central role in cognitive flexibility and adapting to new rules. Disrupting this circuit impairs the brain's ability to reorganize neural networks during complex decision-making.
A new study led by Murdoch University found that children of parents with severe mental illness are more likely to experience cognitive difficulties. The study analysed data from over 1.5 million people and found that offspring tended to perform lower across several cognitive domains, particularly where a parent had schizophrenia or bi...
A new study finds that individuals with higher resilience tend to place greater weight on positive aspects in cost-benefit decisions, a process mediated by brain activity. This regulated handling of negative information is linked to increased acceptance and improved psychological resilience.
Researchers propose that ibasho, community-led spaces of belonging and social purpose, support long-term recovery and resilience. By restoring routines, roles, and neighborhood connections, ibasho helps individuals regain stability, dignity, and a sense of purpose after disasters.
A study of over 400 pregnant women found that vivid mental images are directly linked to their opinion of vaccines and whether they get vaccinated. Positive mental images were associated with increased vaccination rates, while negative images predicted higher hesitancy towards certain vaccines.
Researchers found four mental states: recollections, connection to environment, bizarreness, and voluntary control, which appear across all three vigilance stages. A specific brain signature for the 'bizarre' dream-like state was also identified, characterized by reduced long-range connectivity between brain regions.
Renowned physician-scientist Francis Collins was recognized for his groundbreaking work on the Human Genome Project and leadership at the National Institutes of Health. The Center for BrainHealth Award honors pioneers who fundamentally reshape understanding of the brain and human potential.
A digital single-session intervention (SSI) has been shown to meaningfully improve young people's sense of hope and control over their lives. The tool provides short, accessible and evidence-based psychological support and wellbeing activities, increasing feelings of hope and self-agency while reducing feelings of being out of control.
A new study by Bournemouth University found that the brain reacts to emojis in a way similar to seeing real human faces, with neural responses occurring within 145-160 milliseconds. This suggests that emojis can be processed by the brain as meaningful emotional signals during online interaction.
Researchers at the University of Houston found that distraction disrupts memory consolidation primarily due to demands on central executive processing. To improve short-term memory, focus attention on a task for a few seconds before switching, and avoid multitasking.
A new study by NUS confirms that word-picture guessing exercises with immediate feedback significantly improve adults' ability to recall new vocabulary in a second language. The research shows that attempting an answer first, even if not fully learned yet, strengthens memory and supports lasting learning.
Social media use has been linked to psychological distress and impaired functioning in some people, but the impact varies widely depending on how and why it's used. Researchers are debating how to measure social media addiction and need more rigorous studies to determine whether it should be classified as a clinical disorder.
Researchers develop molecular tool called SynTrogo, which enables selective dismantling of synaptic connections in brain circuits. By harnessing astrocytes, the system reduces synapse number while strengthening remaining connections, leading to enhanced long-term potentiation and improved memory.
Researchers developed a nasal spray that reversibly reduces brain inflammation, restores cellular power plants, and improves memory. The treatment bypasses the brain's protective shield through intranasal delivery, suppressing chronic inflammation and promoting successful brain aging.
A new study analyzed thousands of textual descriptions of two-person social interactions using generative AI, resulting in a comprehensive taxonomy of categories. The findings provide a data-driven framework for understanding the structure of social situations, including associations with conflict, power, and duty.
A research team identified distinct subregions within the default mode network (DMN) that act as senders and receivers of information, enabling flexible shifts between perception and memory-driven thought. The study reveals that the DMN is not functionally uniform but composed of subregions with distinct connectivity biases.
A new eight-week self-reflection program helps trainees deepen their understanding of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and develop reflective skills. The study found that the program improved satisfaction, self-awareness, and reflective practice among participants, suggesting its potential to support CBT education.
A new twin study reveals that innate IQ is a key predictor of future socio-economic status, with genetics playing a significant role. The study found that IQ is approximately 75% genetically predicted and that socio-economic status is mostly explained by genetics.
A Northwestern University study found that imagination is not just a copy of sensation, but emerges at later stages of processing when the brain represents information holistically. The researchers mapped brain activity during imagination and perception, finding overlap in higher-level association areas.
A research team led by LEE Doyun and KIM Yee-Joon found that the primary visual cortex encodes motion summaries and variability before higher brain regions transform them into category signals. This process, known as ensemble perception, allows the brain to capture the overall structure of a scene at a glance.
Researchers Jing Chen and Simon Fischer-Baum at Rice University have made significant contributions to psychological science, focusing on human-AI interaction and literacy. Their work explores trust in automation, human performance limitations, and how people interpret risk, aiming to improve safety and efficiency across industries.
A systematic review of social media platforms reveals that TikTok contains a substantial proportion of misleading information about mental health and neurodivergence, with higher rates of misinformation than other platforms. The study emphasizes the importance of credible sources and evidence-based content to combat spreading false ide...
A recent study published in Science found that humans and animals have overlapping preferences for certain qualities of an animal's call, with agreement strongest for lower-frequency sounds. The study used a gamified citizen science experiment involving over 4,000 human participants from around the world.
A new Northwestern University study has discovered a novel biomarker of schizophrenia that could also serve as a new drug candidate to treat the cognitive symptoms of the disorder. The study found that levels of the protein Cacna2d1 signal are reduced in patients with schizophrenia, resulting in overactive brain circuits.
Researchers used afterimages to measure brain predictions of visual consequences of eye movements, finding that predictions are accurate but subject to systematic errors. The brain's efference copy helps predict visual shifts, but this prediction falls short of the actual eye movement's consequences.
Researchers found that cortisol significantly worsens orientation in individuals, particularly in environments without landmarks. The brain's internal GPS system, grid cells, lose function under stress, leading to impaired navigation.
Cognitive neuroscientists are integrating genetics and AI to study language development and disorders. AI-based models can predict language development in children, while genetics research links rhythm disorders and dyslexia. The brain's wiring connecting language regions also reveals that language is a system, not a single 'thing'.
New prescriptions for stimulants among adults with ADHD more than doubled since the COVID-19 pandemic, with the largest increases among younger adults. The trend is driven by improved recognition and treatment of ADHD in adulthood, as well as increased access to care and virtual health services.
A new study models brain aging and resilience over the lifespan, uncovering individual factors that affect cognition and identifying potential biomarkers of healthy brain aging. Researchers are now incorporating diverse data, including social and lifestyle factors, to create a broader picture of the aging brain.
A new study suggests that over 40% of UK adults are happy to use ChatGPT for mental health support due to long waiting times for traditional services. However, experts caution that AI should not replace human healthcare professionals and raise concerns about the potential impact on education and physical health.
A randomized study of 14 young adults found that sparkling water consumption reduced subjective fatigue and improved executive function while playing virtual soccer for three hours. Players who drank sparkling water also committed fewer fouls and had better game enjoyment compared to those drinking plain water.
A recent study found that AI programs are up to 97% accurate at detecting pictures of deepfake faces, but performed at chance levels when it comes to detecting deepfake videos. Humans correctly identified real and fake videos about two-thirds of the time, picking up on subtle inconsistencies in movement and facial expressions. The stud...
Researchers investigated which characteristics of crystals made them fascinating to early humans, using experiments with chimpanzees. The chimps showed a strong attraction to transparent and crystalline properties, suggesting that this attraction may have deep evolutionary roots.
A team of MIT engineers identified tacit knowledge in volunteers who classified images, shifting focus to easier-to-classify areas without awareness. Bringing this concealed knowledge to the surface enhances experts' performance, suggesting a method for boosting learning experience in disciplines requiring keen observation skills.
A study from the University of East Anglia found that Covid lockdowns disrupted children's ability to self-regulate, leading to slower growth in executive functions. Reception-age children, who normally learn to socialize and navigate classroom routines, showed significant setbacks in cognitive flexibility and self-regulation skills.
Researchers found that veterans with prior concussions showed slower and less accurate eye movements, along with reduced performance on attention-based tasks. These subtle brain changes can be measured more than a decade after the original injury.
A new study from CU Anschutz links chronic back pain to heightened brain responses to everyday sounds and finds that Pain Reprocessing Therapy can improve sensory amplification. The research found specific brain changes associated with sound hypersensitivity, which can be treated with psychological therapy.
Researchers found no clear link between brain structure and navigation ability in healthy young adults, challenging decades-long assumptions. The study used advanced AI tools to analyze brain scans and detect subtle patterns, but found no measurable connection between brain structure and navigation performance.
Researchers found that children who aren't friends connect better through play when given a task to complete, especially during goal-directed activities. The study, which involved 148 children aged six to eight, shows that connected communication is crucial for social coordination and teamwork.
Research found that bilingual individuals were more creative in their native language but less so in their second language. The study suggests that the language we think in shapes our creativity and that vivid mental imagery plays a key role in divergent thinking.
A UBCO study found that all forms of touch with therapy dogs contribute positively to participants' emotional wellbeing, regardless of which part is interacted with. The research suggests that simple interaction with a therapy dog can make a difference in reducing stress and improving overall well-being.
People can use the musical context to predict what will happen next and feel emotions such as anxiety or happiness. Research shows that using more context improves accuracy in tasks such as remembering chunks of music and predicting the next notes.
A new study from the University of East Anglia found that babies with an increased likelihood of autism may struggle to settle into deep, restorative sleep. Those with high sensory sensitivity slept more lightly even in quiet environments.
Researchers at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center found that stellate ganglion block enhances the effectiveness of cognitive processing therapy for treating PTSD, leading to faster symptom reduction and improved outcomes.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University demonstrate that apes can use their imagination and play pretend, challenging long-held assumptions about animal cognition. The findings suggest that the capacity to understand pretend objects is within the cognitive potential of enculturated apes.
A new study by University of Toronto researchers found that day-to-day fluctuations in mental sharpness predict success or struggle. Mental sharpness is linked to productivity, goal-setting, and mood, with sharper days leading to more challenging goals and lower-sharpness days stalling on routine tasks.
A new study from Rice University suggests that drivers often misunderstand cyclist hand signals, which can lead to accidents. The research found that arm signals are the most effective way for drivers to understand a cyclist's intentions, but even these signals can be misinterpreted in certain situations.